Tojolabal (Mayan): Phonemes and Verb Morphology

Abstract

1 Tojolabal is a Mayan language spoken by approximately 10,000 Indians in the southeastern part of the state of Chiapas, Mexico. Data for this article were gathered by the authors in the field during various periods from 1943-47. The phonemic material as here presented is by Supple; the morphological material is by Supple and Douglass jointly. The authors wish to express their appreciation to William Wonderly and Viola Waterhouse for their suggestions in the analysis and presentation. 2Were Spanish loan words considered, the following phonemes would be added: b, d, g. tion. Each consists of two allophones: aspirated stop in utterance final position as in k'anip [k'anip'] squash flower, nahat [nahat'] long, and unaspirated stop in utterance initial or medial position as in pakan [pak'an] setting, nupan [nupan] married, tinan [tinan] upside down, 6atat [ts'atat'] class of plant. k is at velar point of articulation. Before t, it is unaspirated as in koktik [k'oktik'] our feet but in all other positions it occurs aspirated as in kak [k'ak'] my grass, p'akal [pSak'lh] corncob, pokg ta [pok's tA] it suppurated. The voiceless aspirate affricates 0 and 6 are at alveolar and alveopalatal points of articulation. aamal [ts'amAlh] pretty, soa?a [sts'a?9] he is selecting it, Oa4 [ts'ats'] strong, 6e?e [t?' e?] cold, 6amal [tU'amalh] rotten, ?uh6um [?uhtg'iim] chills, ci? [t'i?] sweet, ?i6 [?itg'] chile. Aspirate consonant h is at glottal point of articulation. hel [helh] my debt, mohan [mohan] near, p'eh [pceh] road. Glottalic consonants are those in which an articulatory feature of glottal closure is present, with or without accompanying stop or affricate articulation. The glottalic series completely parallels the aspirate se ies.