 |
Grammar translation: Cakchiquel case study: Pronoun incorporation (with consonant stems) |
Reading:
Rat yayoke'. Roj yojsamyj. Roj yatqato. Yin ninmala ri nuwych yin roma rije yikitzila'.
Jorge niwyr pa ruwi ri rukiej. Alberto nitzupe' pa ruwi ri qajay roj.
Grammar :
Person markers, with a few exceptions, combine with ri "the" to create pronouns and with tense, y- "present" x- "past" to show the doer (S) of the action of an intransitive verb. Notice that the third person is always the exception, especially when marking the tense.
Possessive markers combine with nouns and
the location marker pa to create new preposition and with
transitive verbs to indicate the doer (S) of the action. Preceeding the
marker of the doer (S) of the action, the tense and the person marker
that indicated the doer in instransitive sentences now indicate the
receiver (O) of the action. Because the verb agreement changes
according to whether a verb is transitive or intransitive, Cakchiquel
is considered an ergative language. Notice how the third person is the
exception, especially when marking the tense.
Vocabulary:
Rat yayoke'. Roj yojsamyj. Roj yatqato. Yin ninmala ri nuwych yin roma rije yikitzila'.
Jorge niwyr pa ruwi ri rukiej. Alberto nitzupe' pa ruwi ri qajay roj.
Grammar :
Person markers, with a few exceptions, combine with ri "the" to create pronouns and with tense, y- "present" x- "past" to show the doer (S) of the action of an intransitive verb. Notice that the third person is always the exception, especially when marking the tense.
| Pronouns:
the + person marker |
actions: tense + person marker (S)+
intransitive action (consonant stem) |
|
| ri + in = yin "I" (exception) |
y + i(n) + wyr = yin yiwyr
"I am sleeping, I sleep" |
yin xiwyr "I was sleeping, I
slept" |
| ri + at = rat "you" |
y + a(t) + wyr = rat yawyr "you
are sleeping, you sleep" |
rat xawyr "you were sleeping,
you slept" |
| rija "her, she, it" (exception) |
ni + wyr = rija niwyr "he/she/it
is sleeping, he/she it sleep" (exception) |
rija xwyr "he/she/it was
sleeping, he/she, it slept" |
| ri + oj = roj "we" |
y + oj + wyr = roj yojwyr ""we
are sleeping, we sleep" |
roj xojwyr "we were sleeping, we
slept" |
| ri + ix = rix "you (pl)" |
y + ix + wyr = rix yixwyr
"you(pl) are sleeping, you (pl) sleep" |
rix xixwyr "you (pl) were
sleeping, you (pl) slept" |
| ri + e = rije "they" (exception) |
y + e + wyr = rije yewyr "they
are sleeping, they sleep" |
rije xewyr "they slept" |
| possessive +
noun |
prepositions:
pa + possessive + noun |
actions: tense + person marker (O) +
possessive (S) + transtive action (consonant stem) |
|
| nu + wych = nuwych yin "my face" |
pa nuwych yin "touching me/ on
me" pa nuwi yin "on top of me" |
y + at + in + to = yin yatinto
"I am helping you" x + at + in + to = yin xatinto "I helped you" |
rije yikitzila' "they are
treating me badly" rije xikitzila' "they treated me badly" |
| a + wych = awych rat "your face" |
pa awych rat "touching you/on
you" pa awi rat "on top of you" |
y + at + ru + to = rije yatruto
"he is helping you" x + at + ru + to = rije xatruto "he helped you" |
rije nkitzila' "they are
treating him badly" rije xkitzila' "they treated him badly" |
| ru + wych = ruwych rija "his/her
face" |
pa ruwych rija "touching you/on
you" pa ruwi rija "on top of you" |
y + at + qa + to = roj yatqato
"we are helping you" x + at + qa + to = roj xatqato "we helped you" |
roj yeqatzila' "we are treating
them badly" roj xeqatzila' "we treated them badly" |
| qa + wych = qawych roj "our face" |
pa qawych roj "touching us/on us" pa qawi roj "on top of us" |
y + in + a + to = rat yinato
"you are helping me" x + in + a + to = rat xinato "you helped me" |
yin xintzila' "I treated him
badly" yin nintzila' " I am treating him badly" |
| i + wych = iwych rix "your (pl)
face" |
pa iwych rix "touching you (pl) pa iwi rix"on top of you (pl)" |
y + in + ru + to = rija yinruto
"he is helping me" x + in + ru + to = rija xinruto "he helped me" |
yin yatintzila' "I am treating
you badly" yin xatintzila' "I treated you badly" |
| ki + wych = kiwych rije"their
face" |
pa kiwych rije "touching them" pa kiwi rije "on top of them" |
n + ru + to = rija nuto
"she is helping him" x + ru + to = rija xuto "she helped him" |
rija yirutzila' "he treated me
badly" rija xirutzila' "he treated me badly |
| n + in + to = yin ninto "I am
helping him" x + in + to = yin xinto "I helped him" |
|||
| actions: |
things: |
| "help" -to |
"horse" kiej |
| "sleep" -wyr |
"house" jay |
| "treat badly" -tzila' |
"ear" xkin |
| "squat" -tzupe' |
"face" wych |
| "be late" -yoke |
"hill" juyu' |
| "work" -samyj |
other
useful words: |
| "rub, feel" -mala |
"because" roma |
| "preposition indicating
location" pa |
|
| "preposition meaning touching
the surface" pa (possessive)-wych |
|
| "preposition meaning above or on
top of" pa (possessive)-wi |
|
| "the" ri |
Translation:
1. She is rubbing my ear.
2. We were late.
3. I am helping the horse.
4. You were working on top of their house.
5. The horse is working on the side of the hill.
6. We are feeling her face.
7. She is sleeping on top of the house.
8. He treated us badly.
2. We were late.
3. I am helping the horse.
4. You were working on top of their house.
5. The horse is working on the side of the hill.
6. We are feeling her face.
7. She is sleeping on top of the house.
8. He treated us badly.