1

ADVANCED WORKSHOP

GRAMMAR OF HIEROGLYPHIC MAYA

Brussels, October 29-31 2013

K1196

Tutors:

Alfonso Lacadena & Albert Davletshin

Universidad Complutense de Madrid

Russian State University for the Humanities
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SUMMARY

Thanks to the decipherment of Maya Hieroglyphic writing, studies in Maya

grammar have been assuming an ever greater importance from the eighties onward,
because grammar constitutes the indispensable foundation for correct interpretation
and understanding of Maya inscriptions.

According to the current theory, Classic inscriptions record a prestigious

language of Cholan affiliation we call Hieroglyphic Mayan today. Hieroglyphic Mayan
was used everywhere in the Maya Lowlands; its use does not correspond to any known
linguistic and political entities. Even Postclassic Codices and the celebrated Diego de
Landa's "Relación de las cosas de Yucatán" of the 16th century feature Hieroglyphic
Mayan. Still, lexical and grammatical isoglosses from vernacular Mayan languages and
non-Mayan glosses are attested in the inscriptions. The Advanced Workshop will offer
an up-to-date outline of Maya grammar including phonology, morphology, syntax and
dialectology. Particular attention will be given to the most recent suggestions and
approaches.

CONTENTS:

BASIC GRAMMAR OF HIEROGLYPHIC MAYA ………………………………………… 5

by Alfonso Lacadena

HISTORICAL LINGUISTICS HELPS TO READ MAYA GLYPHS ……………………….. 69

by Albert Davletshin

HIEROGLYPHIC MAYAN INTERLINEAR GLOSSED TEXTS ……………………….….. 78

by Albert Davletshin
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BASIC GRAMMAR OF HIEROGLYPHIC MAYA1

by Alfonso Lacadena

The languages of Maya hieroglyphic texts

At least five Maya languages have been identified in the hieroglyphic texts:
hieroglyphic Eastern Ch’olan (related to modern Ch’olti’ and Ch’orti’), hieroglyphic
Western Ch’olan (related to modern Chontal and Ch’ol), hieroglyphic Tzeltalan (related
to modern Tzeltal and Tzotzil), hieroglyphic Yucatecan (probably enclosing two
dialectal variants, related to modern Yucatec, Lacandon, Itzaj and Mopan), and a fifth
hieroglyphic language farther South, probably related to the major K’ichean group. One
of these languages, the one of Eastern Ch’olan affiliation (also called Epigraphic
Mayan, Classic Ch’olti’an, or simply Classic or Hieroglyphic Maya), was used as written
prestige language throughout the Maya Lowlands, independently of political boundaries
and the presence of other local vernaculars, fulfilling the same function that Akkadian
or Latin played in the Ancient Near East and Mediaeval Europe, respectively.2 Since
Maya hieroglyphic writing was used for two millennia (from the 4th century BC to the
17th century AD), the written languages experienced changes that affected their
phonology and morphology, as well as the graphic system that registered them.
Presented here is a sketch of that Classic or Hieroglyphic Maya in which most
of the preserved texts are written, in its more abundant period of documentation, the
late Classic Period (600-900 AD).

1. PHONOLOGY AND GRAPHEMICS

History of writing shows a varied picture in which many different degrees of

affiliation between language and writing can be found. Not all the writing systems
reflect with satisfactory accuracy the languages they register, very often because the
users of writing systems did not take part in their invention. Although some times
through time scribes did develop new signs in the graphic inventory or established new
orthographic conventions in order to improve their writing system, in other cases the
weight of tradition prevented improvements or delayed them.
The Maya did not invent writing in Mesoamerica, nor even their own writing
system. Some indications suggest that Maya probably borrowed the script from their
Mixe-Zoquean neighbors —from Olmec or from Epi-olmec, their successors— in the
Late Preclassic, at the beginning of the second half of the first millennium BC, adapting
it to their phonological needs. However, such an adaptation was not immediate and
probably not complete, and it spanned for several centuries. All this explains certain
peculiarities in the Maya script and justify why it is important to talk about phonetics
along with graphemics.

1
This sketch is an extended version of the grammatical introduction that I wrote in Spanish in
th
2010 for the 15 European Maya Conference in Madrid. I have included here some more
materials, images and explanations for this 2013 Advanced Workshop, trying to improve it with
pedagogical purpose. Both are a synopsis of ‘Gramática de las lenguas mayas jeroglíficas’
(‘Grammar of Maya hieroglyphic languages’), a book that I am currently writing. I’m deeply
thankful to Harri Kettunen, who corrected the English version and improved it with comments.
2
Vid. Houston, Robertson and Stuart 2000; Lacadena and Wichmann 2002; Wichmann and
Lacadena 2005; Beliaev and Davletshin 2005.
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As an example, seemingly (and surprisingly) Maya scribes did not developed

phonograms with b’V value until at a relatively late date, writing both /b’/ and /m/ with
mV signs:

mu

b’u

TIK, Stela 31
Hauberg Stela

ma

CPN, Stela 9
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1.1. Maya phonemes

1.1.1. Classic Maya Consonants

HIEROGLYPHYC MAYA CONSONANTS

Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal

Plain Impl. Plain Ejec Plain Ejec.. Plain Ejec. Plain Ejec Plain

Oral Stops p’ b’ t t’ k k’ ʔ
Affricates tz tz’ ch ch’
Fricatives s x j h
Nasals m n
Liquids l
Glides y w

1.1.2. The vocalic nucleus

Probably one of the most eagerly debated questions amongst epigraphers and linguists
today is the exact nature and inventory of Classic Maya vowels, if there were
conventions to represent them in the script, and, if so, which ones were these exactly.
We will follow here the main proposal of Houston, Robertson and Stuart (1998; 2004,
2007) —inspired in the brilliant observation made by Stuart in 1997—, with the
adjustments suggested by Lacadena and Wichmann (2004; s.f).3 According to this
system, in the Classic period there were five basic vowels expressed in five different
ways: short, long, followed by aspiration, followed by a glottal stop, and rearticulated.

V a, e, i, o u
VV aa, ee, ii, oo, uu
Vh ah, eh, ih, oh, uh
Vʔ aʔ, eʔ, iʔ, oʔ uʔ
VʔV aʔa, eʔe, iʔi, oʔo, uʔu

Seemingly, the writing system did not represent these peculiarities using different
phonograms (for example, one sign for Ca, and other for *Caa, *Cah, *Ca’ o *Caʔa),4
but through certain fixed spelling conventions for some of them, playing with the
synharmony or disharmony of the mute vowels of the final sign in relation to the vowel
of the preceding phonogram or logogram. Thus, based on observed statistic
correspondences, we can infer the following rules:

a) Rule A: Short vowels: (CV1C/CV1-CV1  CVC)

3
For other alternatives to this system, see Kaufman and Justeson (2003), and Boot (2009).
4
But see Wichmann (2002).
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CAC-Ca / Ca-Ca  CaC K’AN-na, k’an ‘yellow’; k’a-b’a, k’ab’ ‘hand’

CEC-Ce / Ce-Ce  CeC PET-ne, pet[e]n ‘island’; PET-te, pet ‘round’
CIC-Ci / Ci-Ci  CiC IXIK-ki, ixik ‘woman, lady’; wi-tzi, witz ‘hill’
COC-Co / Co-Co  CoC ch’o-ko, ch’ok ‘tender, young, child’
CUC-Cu / Cu-Cu  CuC cha-hu-ku, chahuk ‘lightning’; ma-yu-yu, mayuy ‘fog’

b) Rule B: Long vowels: (CVC/CV-Ci {V=a, e, o, u}, CVC/CV-Ca {V=i}  CVVC)

CAC-Ci / Ca-Ci  CaaC B’AK-ki, b’aak ‘bone’; tz’i-b’a-li, tz’i[h]b’aal ‘drawing’

CEC-Ci / Ce-Ci  CeeC ke-ji, keej ‘deer’ (Yucatecan)
CIC-Ca / Ci-Ca  CiiC AHIN-na, ahiin ‘crocodile’; u-si-ja, usiij ‘vulture’
COC-Ci / Co-Ci  CooC OK-ki, ook ‘foot’; o-to-ti, otoot ‘house’
CUC-Ci / Cu-Ci  CuuC TUN-ni, tuun ‘stone’; su-tz’i, suutz’ ‘bat’.

c) Rule C: Vowels+glottal: (CVC/CV-Ca  CVʔC {V=e, o, u}, CVC/CV-Cu CVʔC

{V=a, i})

CAC-Cu / Ca-Cu  CaʔC CHAN-nu, chaʔn ‘watch, guard’; b’a-tz’u, b’aʔtz’ ‘monkey’
CEC-Ca / Ce-Ca  CeʔC CH’EN-na, ch’eʔn ‘cave’; se-ka, Seʔk (month, Yuc.)
CIC-Cu / Ci-Cu  CiʔC si-pu, siʔp ‘offense, sin’(?); chi-ku, chiʔk ‘agouti’
COC-Ca / Co-Ca  CoʔC -o-b’a, -oʔb’ ‘plural’; pi-xo-la, pixoʔl ‘hat’
CUC-Ca / Cu-Ca  CuʔC HUN-na, huʔn ‘book’, b’u-la, b’uʔl ‘beans’

Another way to indicate a glottal stop was through vowel insertion, doubling the vowel
of the preceding sign, as in

mo-o, moʔ ‘macaw’

tz’i-i, tz’iʔ ‘dog’
te-e, teʔ ‘tree’
ko-o-ha-wa, koʔhaw ‘kind of helmet/headdress’
yo-o-NAL, yoʔnal ‘belly’
ya-a-la-ni, yaʔlaan ‘he/she says it’.

How both conventions are equivalent can be seen in the various ways of writing the
name of the ruler Nuʔn Jol Chaahk, of Tikal as mentioned in the inscriptions at Dos
Pilas, where /nuʔn/ is written as nu, nu-u, nu-na and nu-u-nu:

nu JOL CHAK-ki nu-u JOL CHAK-ki nu-u JOL CHAK-ki nu-u JOL CHAK-ki
Nu[ʔn] Jol Chaahk Nuʔ[n] Jol Chaahk Nuʔ[n] Jol Chaahk Nuʔ[n] Jol Chaahk

nu-na JOL CHAK-ki nu-u-nu JOL-[CHAK]

Nuʔn Jol Chaahk Nuʔn Jol Chaahk
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Vowel insertion is also used in phonetic complementation to logograms ending in

glottal, as

HAʔ-a, haʔ ‘water’

K’AB’Aʔ-a, k’aab’aʔ ‘name’
TEʔ-e, teʔ ‘tree’

Sometimes both resources, Rule C and vowel insertion, were combined, as in

2
o-la, oʔl / oʔ[h]l? ‘heart (anymic)’
che-e-na, cheʔen ‘I/he say(s)’
u-ko-o-ma, Ukoʔm (anthroponym, of uncertain meaning)

Old controversies:

Some spellings have been specially debated for a long time, giving divergent
transcriptions: a-ku, a-ku-la, and AK-la, giving ahk, ahkal (HRS) or ahkuʔl (LW); MUT-
la, giving Mutal (HRS) or Mutuʔl (LW); or –Co-ma endings, giving –oom (HRS) or –oʔm
(LW). In the core of the controversy is the acceptation or not of morphosyllables as a
viable category of signs, and the credibility conceded to the different suggested spelling
rules.

BNK, Stela 2

BNK, Stela 1

OJG

YAX Lintel 10
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1.1.3. The case of preconsonantal /h/

An exception to the preceding rule was, seemingly, the sound /h/ before consonants,
which, as the general rule, was not written,5 having to be reconstructed by the
knowledgeable reader. The evidence for reconstructing /h/ in this case comes from
historical linguistics. For example,

a-ka ʔa[h]k ‘turtle’

b’a-la-ma b’a[h]lam ‘jaguar’
b’u-ku b’u[h]k ‘clothes’
ti-li ti[h]l ‘tapir’
tz’i-b’i tz’i[h]b’ ‘painting, writing’

The omission of /h/ affects important contexts such as passive derivation or certain
classifiers, being restituted by the reader:

mu-ka-ja mu[h]kaj ‘was buried’ (from muk ‘bury’, where –h-…-aj is the
morpheme for passive derivation)
–tz’a-ka –tz’a[h]k (classifier for beings placed in sequence, one after
another)

Highly interestingly, sometimes the Maya scribe wrote the preconsonantal /h/ as
a glottal, probably because it sounded in that way and the scribe thought that this was
the way in which it should be written, thus using the conventions corresponding to
glottal representation (vowel insertion and/or Rule C). An interesting example is the
adverb ‘today, in the morning’, written at Palenque as sa-mi-ya and sa-a-mi-ya.

sa-mi-ya sa-a-mi-ya

In the second example, vowel insertion shows that the scribe is clearly writing a glottal.
However, comparative linguistics show that this adverb is to be reconstructed as
*sahm-, with preconsonantal /h/, not as *saʔm-, with glottal.6 Perhaps other examples
where the Maya scribe wrote a glottal /’/ but historical linguistics reconstruct
preconsonantal /h/ —which constitute another group of the problematic examples in the
ongoing bitter academic debate— could be explained in this way.7 As Robert Wald said
some time ago, we must take into account not only how the Maya scribe wrote, but
also how the Maya scribe thought that certain forms should be written.
5
First suggested by John Justeson in the 1980s.
The reconstructed form is *sahmi and not *saʔmi, as shown by the presence of /aj/ and /ah/ in
6

Ch’ol, Choltí and Ch’orti’ (languages that keep the sequence *ahC of proto-Maya), and the form
/áa/ in Yucatec (which corresponds to proto-Maya *ah). Thus, Chontal sami adv ‘hoy (en la
mañana, antes del momento)’ (Keller & Luciano 1997: 209), sami adv t ‘hoy (desde que inicia el
día hasta este momento)’ (Pérez & Cruz 1998: 67); ch’ol sajmäx adv ‘desde hoy’ (Aulie & Aulie
1978: 103), sajmäl ‘hoy’ (Schumann 1973: 92); choltí çahmi, zahmi ‘endenantes’ (Morán 1935:
Voc. 27), çacmi ‘oi’ (ibid.: 48); ch’ortí sajmi adj ‘hoy en la mañana (pasado)’ (Pérez & al. 1996:
177); yucateco sáamal ‘mañana’, sáansamal ‘cada día, diariamente’ (Bastarrachea & al. 1992:
117).
7 2
Like (y)o-la/OL-la/ o-la ‘heart’, ne-na ‘mirror’, (y)e-b’a/e-b’u ‘stairway’, or che-e-b’u ‘quill’.
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Maybe the important question that we should ask is what we ought to

transcribe: what the Maya scribes actually wrote —sa-a-mi-ya, saʔmiiy—, or the
corrected form —sa[h]miiy— according to what we know is the correct historical form?
Consider these spellings:

1.1.4. Problematic phonemes and graphemes: /ä/, /p’/, and wu

/ä/
At some moment in their development, Western Ch’olan Chontal and Ch’ol, as well as
Itzaj and Mopan in the Yucatecan group developed /ä/ schwa from former short /a/
vowels. We don’t know exactly when or how the new phoneme was represented in the
script, if it did indeed. In the colonial era, /ä/ was written simply as a, in the Acalan
Chontal, or as u in the Colonial Ch’ol. The following examples may be related to this
question:

/p’/
Not reconstructable for proto-Maya, /p’/ is, however, present in all the modern Lowland
Maya languages. It is not clear when /p’/ appeared. Wichmann (2005) suggested that it
was a late development, perhaps not present during the Classic times. By the Spanish
Conquest /p’/ was already there, being included in the famous Landa alphabet as pp.
If indeed /p’/ was present during the Late Classic, the question is if the Maya had p’V
phonograms for it.

CHN, Casa Colorada

K1606
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wu
Although not clearly deciphered yet, the syllabic grid has a cell for wu. The question is
if a phonogram with such a value did exit. Its existence or absence bears directly on
the spelling of certain glyphic forms.

CHN Monjas, Lintel 5A (drawing by I. Graham)

CHN Monjas, Lintel 2A (drawing by I. Graham)

1.1.5. Abbreviations

It is common in many writing systems of the world to abbreviate words, mainly in those
contexts where there is no ambiguity. Abbreviated spellings are usually names, titles,
place names or frequent expressions. More rarely, verbal expressions are spelled in
abbreviated form, probably because accuracy (e.g. tense, aspect, person, voice) is
more important for their correct understanding. For example, in English, Mr., M[iste]r,
Dr., d[octo]r, Fla, Flo[rida], J., J[ohn]. If we find Dir. preceding the name of a person,
we will read automatically Dir[ector] (without thinking about all the possibilities of /dir/ in
English (direct, direction, dirt, dire…), because the context is semantically controlled.
In Maya writing, signs involving /h, j, l, m, n, ’/ appear as the most underspelled
phonemes, usually before consonants and at final position, mostly in contexts of
personal names and place names. Thus the adjective k’uhul ‘holy’, usually preceding
the ajaw ‘lord, king’ title was usually written simply as K’UH, k’uh[ul], more rarely as
K’UH-lu, k’uh[u]l, and exceptionally as K’UH-JUL, k’uhul, or phonetically as k’u-hu-lu,
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k’uhul. Place names like B’akal, Mutuʔl and Kanuʔl —three important kingdoms of the
Classic Period —can appear written as B’AK-la, MUT-la, ka-KAN-la, or merely as
B’AK, MUT, and ka-KAN.
The most common underspellings are the suspension or syncope (ionly the
beginning of the word is written), as in these examples of the sajal title

sa-ja-la sa-ja sa
sajal saja[l] sa[jal]

and contraction (the beginning and the end of the word is written, with something
missing inside the word), as in the name of the month K’anasiiy, usually written as
K’AN-a-si-ya, but sometimes also as K’AN-a-ya:

K’AN-a-si-ya K’AN-a-ya
K’anasiiy K’ana[sii]y

Underspellings by contraction are frequent when a _C final logogram is followed by a

CV syllabic sign, writing a word ending in _VC, thus not being written the last vowel:
_C-C(V), _C[V]C. For example,

u-CHOK-wa AJAW-li MUT-la

Which vowel was the intended one in the various cases is another main problem in
Maya epigraphy.

1.1.6. Morphophonemics

Some phonemes can change or be suppressed depending on the phonological

environment. These processes explain why certain forms are written as they are,
showing that for some Maya scribes Hieroglyphic Maya was a spoken language.
However, sometimes analytical forms are preferred, probably showing cases where for
certain scribes the written language was more a learnt literary one. Here are some of
them:
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1. ta-u- / ti-u- tu’-

CML Urn 26, Spine 3

Unknown provenance

PAL, K’an Tok’ Panel Emiliao Zapata Panel

2. _VC-VC > _(V)CVC

PAL, Bodega PAL, TI, east

ITN, Stela 17 YAX, Lintel 29

3. h > ʔ (_VhCCV_ > _VʔCCV_) (with exceptions)

YAX, Lintel 2
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4. u-uu > uu

However, u-uuy gives –u’y at Palenque:

PAL, Sarcophagus Lid

5. ih-i > i

YUL, Lintel 1

K1440

QRG, Stela C
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6. ih-ii > ii

TIK Stela 31 CNC Looted Panel PNG, Altar 1

7. ih-a > iya (also ih-e > iye?)

8. _h/j-j_ > j

9. VV > V (if followed by stressed syllable)

Lady Aligator Panel PAL, TXXI, Bench

2. PRONOUNS

Pronouns are one of the most important elements in Maya grammar. They are
present in verbal compounds as an obligatory feature indicating Subject and Object, as
well as in relational expressions and possessive structures. The classification of nouns
is based on what can be or cannot be possessed and how.
As a general characteristic, Maya pronouns do not express masculine or
feminine. For example, u- is both ‘he’ or ‘she’, as well as ‘it’.
There are two classes of pronouns: dependent pronouns that cannot appear
alone (being prefixes or suffixes), and independent pronouns that can stand alone.
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2.1. Dependent pronouns

Dependent pronouns are divided into two series: the ergative series and the absolutive
series:

2.1.1. The ergative series (E)

Ergative pronouns are morphemes prefixed to the word (noun, adjective, verb). Their
function is to mark (1) the Subject of transitive constructions, (2) the possessor in
possessive constructions, and (3) the person in relational nouns (see below).
There are two allomorphs of ergative pronouns depending on whether the word
to which they prefix begins with a consonant or a vowel.

HIEROGLYPHIC MAYA
PRONOUNS OF THE ERGATIVE SERIES
PERSON BEFORE BEFORE (1)TRANSITIVE (2) POSESSIVE
CONSONANTS VOWELS SUBJECT
1ST SINGULAR ni- w- ‘I’ ‘my’
2ND SINGULAR a- aw- ‘you’ ‘your’
3RD SINGULAR u- y- ‘he, she, it’ ‘his, her, its’
1ST PLURAL ka- — ‘we’ ‘our’
2ND PLURAL — — ‘you’ ‘your’
3RD PLURAL u- y- ‘they’ ‘their’

For example,

uchokoʔw upakal (ti) upaat

u-chok-oʔw-Ø u-pakal (ti) u-paat
‘he/she throws/threw it’ ‘his/her shield’ ‘behind him/her’

2.1.2. The Absolutive Series (A)

Absolutive pronouns are morphemes suffixed to the word (noun, adjective, verb). Their
function is to mark (1) the Object of transitive verbs, and (2) the Subject of intransitive
and stative verbs.

HIEROGLYPHIC MAYA
PRONOUNS OF THE ABSOLUTIVE SERIES
PERSON MORPHEME (1) OBJECT (2) INTRANSITIVE /
STATIVE SUBJECT
1ST SINGULAR -eʔn ‘ me’ ‘I’
2ND SINGULAR -at ‘you’ ‘you’
3RD SINGULAR -Ø ‘him, her, it’ ‘he, she, it’
1ST PLURAL -oʔn ‘us’ ‘we’
2ND PLURAL — ‘you’ ‘you’
3RD PLURAL -oʔb’ > -ob’ ‘them’ ‘they’

For example,

uchokoʔw huli uk’aab’aʔ

u-chok-oʔw-Ø hul-i-Ø u-k’aab’aʔ-Ø
‘he/she throws/threw it’ ‘he/she arrived’ ‘it is his name’
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It is the equation of the transitive Object and the intransitive Subject what makes
Classic or Hieroglyphic Maya an ergative language (like Sumerian or Basque).

2.2. Independent pronouns

Independent pronouns are built with the particle haʔ plus a pronoun of the Absolutive
Series, thus haʔ-en, haʔ-at, haʔ-Ø, haʔ-oʔb’. The resultant forms, influenced by
morphophonemic processes, are not predictable. Thus, haʔ-oʔb’ gives haʔoʔb’, but
haʔ-at gives hat and haʔ-eʔn gives seemingly hiin.

HIEROGLYPHIC MAYA
INDEPENDENT PRONOUNS
PERSON
1ST SINGULAR hiin > hin hi-na > hi-ni ‘I’
2ND SINGULAR hat ha-ta ‘you’
3RD SINGULAR haaʔ > haʔ ha-i > ha-a ‘he, she’
1ST PLURAL — ‘we’
2ND PLURAL — ‘you’
3RD PLURAL haʔoʔb’ >haʔob’ ha-o-b’a > ha-o-b’o ‘they’

For example,

haaʔ tzakwiiy Waxaklajuʔn Ub’aah Chan

‘he [was who] conjured Waxaklajuʔn Ub’aah Chan’

chak patan … ta hat

‘much tribute … for you’

K1398
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COP Tp. 11

3. NOUNS

This is a very rich category. Nouns do not have masculine or feminine gender in
Maya languages. In the cases where it is marked, like with certain animals or titles, it is
done by the prefixes aj- (masculine) and ix- (feminine).

3.1. Absolute and possessed forms of nouns

There are two main situations in which a noun can be involved: the absolute
form, and the possessed or relational form. Both are distinguished by means of the
presence or absence of certain suffixes. There are nouns whose natural form is not
being possessed (like witz ‘hill’, ek’ ‘star’ o b’ahlam ‘jaguar’), while other are usually
possessed (like parentage expressions). In respect to possessed forms, there is also a
distinction between non-permanent or alienable possession, and intimate or inalienable
one.

3.2. Classes of nouns

3.2.1. Neutral nouns

These are nouns like k’in ‘sun’, tuun ‘stone’, witz ‘hill’, tz’iʔ ‘dog’, otoot ‘house’ or k’uh
‘god’. Neutral nouns do not take any special suffix in both their absolute or possessed
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forms, except in the intimate possession, where they are suffixed by –VV1l o –il. For
example,

pakal ‘shield’
u-pakal ‘his/her shield, the shield of’

tuun ‘stone’
u-tuun ‘his/her stone, the stone of’
u-tuun-il ‘his/her stone, the stone of (intimate possession)

k’uh ‘god’
u-k’uh-uul ‘his/her god, the god of’

Sometimes possession introduces subtle changes in meaning:

uxul ‘carving, to carve’

y-uxul-uul ‘the inscription of’

3.2.2. Body parts

Body parts constitute a special category of nouns. Two classes of body parts can be
distinguished according to the kind of suffixation in the context of possession:

a) Body parts that are inflected without suffix in the absolute form, and –el o –il in the
intimate possessed form:

b’aak ‘bone’ u-b’aak-el ‘his/her bone’

ch’ich’ ‘blood’ u-ch’ich’-el ‘his/her blood’
joʔl ‘skull’ u-joʔl-il ‘his/her skull’

b) Body parts that are inflected by –is in the absolute form, leaving the possessed form
unmarked (some clothes and personal ornaments, like jewels are included in this
class):8

k’ab’-is ‘hand’ u-k’ab’ ‘his/her hand’

tiʔ-is ‘mouth’ u-tiʔ ‘his/her mouth’
oʔhl-is ‘heart’ y-oʔhl ‘his/her heart’

Traditionally these two kinds of body parts have been interpreted as depending on
owners’ control (in the first class there is no control, in the second there is).
Interestingly, these classes correspond nicely with the two categories of bodies that
ethnologist P. Pitarch describes in modern Tzeltal communities, called by him ‘cuerpo-
carne’ and ‘cuerpo-presencia’.

8
In the Western Ch’olan area –al is used instead of –is.
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NAR Bone YAX Bone

COM Urn 26, Spine 6

3.2.3. Parentage expressions

Their natural form is to be possessed (one is always a ‘mother’, ‘brother’ or ‘wife’ of

someone). When they are not possessed they are followed by the word winik ‘person’
or ch’ok ‘boy, young one’. Thus,

sakuʔn winik ‘elder brother’ (lit. ‘elder brother-person’)

u-sakuʔn ‘the elder brother of’

There are many parentage terms identified in the texts:

al ‘son/daughter’ (of a woman)

mijiiin (miin?) ‘son/daughter’ (of a man)
ichaan ‘mother’s brother’
atan ‘wife’
mam ‘father’s father’
 22

mim ‘mother’s father’ (Yucatecan)

sakuʔn / sukuʔn ‘elder brother’
ihtz’iin ‘younger brother’
unen ‘baby, child’

3.2.4. Derived nouns

Nouns can be derived from other nouns, adjectives and verbs. The main suffixes
involved in such derivations are:

3.2.4.1. Derived from nouns and adjectives

-aal derives nouns with instantiation meaning from other nouns

tz’ihb’ ‘painting’ tz’ihb’-aal ‘drawing, decoration’

-il derives nouns with abstract meaning from other nouns or adjectives

ajaw ‘lord, king’ ajaw-il ‘lordship, kingdom’

-lel derives nouns with abstract meaning from other nouns

ajaw ‘lord, king’ ajaw-lel ‘lordship, kingdom’

-lil derives nouns with abstract meaning from other nouns (Yuc.)

ajaw ‘lord, king’ ajaw-lil ‘lordship, kingdom’

-V1l derives nouns with collective meaning from other nouns

teʔ ‘tree’ teʔ-el ‘wood, forest’

3.2.4.2. Derived from verbs

-aj derives nouns from CVC transitives

tek’ ‘to step on’ tek’-aj ‘the stepping on’

pas ‘to open’ pas-aj ‘opening’

-al derives nouns from motion and change-of-state –VV1y intransitives, passives in
–n-aj and –w-aj, and antipassives in -ma

ehm-ey ‘descend’ ehm-al ‘descending’

tz’ihb’-n-aj ‘be painted/written’ tz’ihb’-n-aj-al ‘painting, writing’
uxul-w-aj ‘be carved’ uxul-w-aj-al ‘carving, inscription’
tzutz-ma ‘finish, complete’ tzutz-ma-al ‘finishing, completion’

-b’aaj derives nouns from CVC and non-CVC transitive verbs

ch’ak ‘chop’ ch’ak-b’aaj ‘chopping, decapitation’

 23

-eʔl derives nouns from root intransitives and derived intransitives in –Vj (-aj ~ -iij),
and passives in –h-…-aj

och ‘enter’ och-eʔl ‘entering’

joyaj ‘debut, joy-eʔl ‘debut’
make something for the first time’
tihmaj ‘be satisfied, tihmaj-e’l ‘satisfaction, pleasing’
pleased’

-oʔl derives nouns from CVC transitives

chok ‘throw, cast’ chok-oʔl ‘throwing, casting’

-ib’ derives nouns with instrumental meaning from verbs

uk’ ‘drink’ uk’ib’ ‘(drinking) vessel’

-Vl derives nouns with instrumental meaning from verbs

pok ‘wash’ pokol ‘washer’

 24

YAX Lintel 24 (drawing by I. Grajam)

 25

CRN Panel 3 (drawing by N. Grube)

3.2.5. Complex nouns

Complex nouns can be formed by the combination of two nouns, or a verb plus a noun.
In some cases they are lexicalized forming an indissoluble unit. For example,

k’intuun ‘drought, drought time’ (k’in ‘Sun’, tuun ‘stone’)

elk’in ‘east’ (el ‘arise’, k’in ‘Sun’)
ochk’ahk’ ‘fire-entering’ (och ‘enter’, k’ahk’ ‘fire’)
chumtuun ‘stone-sitting’ (chum ‘sit’, tuun ‘stone’)

3.2.6. Agentives

Agentives denote the possesor of something or the person who performs an action.
They are translated as ‘(s)he/person of …’. The main agentive morphemes are

aj- derives agentives from nouns and verbal nouns, with generic sense of ‘person
that has or does something’. It does not indicate genre, being both masculine o
feminine.

tz’ihb’ ‘painting, writing’ aj-tz’ihb’ ‘painter, scribe’

mahy ‘tobacco’ aj-mahy ‘tobacco person’
winik b’aak ‘twenty captives’ aj-winik b’aak ‘he of twenty captives’
 26

-oʔm derives agentives from nouns, verbal nouns, and both intransitive and transitive
verbs. In the case of nouns, verbal nouns and intransitive verbs –oʔm is directly
suffixed to the root; in the case of transitive verbs, they have to be
intransitivized first through antipassivization, using the –(o)n antipassive suffix.

k’a(ʔ)y ‘song, announcement’ k’a(ʔ)y-oʔm ‘singer, announcer’

ahk’ ‘give’ ahk’-n-oʔm ‘giver’
mak ‘close’ mak-n-oʔm ‘closer’

Agentives can be inflected for possession, like

ajk’in ‘priest’ y-ajk’in ‘the priest of’

CLK Structure Sub 1-4 (drawings by S. Martin)

 27

CPN Stela A (drawing by L. Schele)

3.2.7. Demonyms

Some morphemes derive nouns with demonymic menaing (‘he of, he from’):

aj- derives demonyms from place names

aj-chakhaʔ ‘he from Chakhaʔ’

 28

-naal derives demonyms from place names, with the meaning of ‘inhabitant of’

Mutuʔl-naal ‘inhabitant of Mutuʔl’

3.2.8. Anthroponyms, titles, theonyms, and place names

Anthroponyms (names of persons), theonyms (names of supernatural beings), titles

and toponyms (place names) constitute special categories regarding possession and
syntax. For example, anthroponyms, theonyms and toponyms cannot be possessed. In
Maya languages you cannot say ‘my Laura’ or ‘mi Buenos Aires querido’ (as in the
famous tango). On the contrary, titles can be possessed. Thus, we can say ‘the scribe
of’ or ‘the war captain of’.

3.2.8.1. Anthroponyms

Many Maya anthroponyms correspond to objects or beings of the natural world ore ven
with entire sentences (in the case of appellatives of deities), there is no way to identify
Maya personal names besides syntax or context. Some examples of Maya names:

Sak Maax (‘white-monkey’)

Chiliim B’ahlam (‘reclining jaguar’)
Yihch’aak Bahlam (‘jaguar paw’)
Yax Uk’uk’um K’awiil (‘green are the feathers of k’awiil’)

Feminine names are prefixed by ix o ixik ‘lady, woman’:

Ix K’ab’al Xook (‘Lady Shark Flipper’)

Ix Pakal (‘Lady Shield’)
Ix Uneh B’ahlam (‘Lady Jaguar Tail’)

3,2.8.2. Theonyms

Theonyms are words or appellatives that identify or describe an aspect of a god.

K’awiil (god of abundance and royalty)

Ahan (maize god)
Chaahk (god of thunder)
Muyal Chan K’awiil (‘K’awiil is the Cloud of the Sky’)
Ta Xin Chan K’inich (‘K’inich is in the Middle of the Sky’)

3.2.8.3. Titles

Titles, denoting rank, office or activity, work as appositions to the name, although they
can also stand alone. It is possible to say Tiloʔm sajal ‘the sajal Tiloʔm’, or simply sajal
‘the sajal’. In the context of Hieroglyphic Maya (Ch’olan) ranks or office titles are placed
after the personal name (the opposite in Yucatecan). Titles can be possessed (for
 29

example, y-ajk’uhuʔn ‘the priest of’, u-yajawteʔ ‘the war captain of’). In these cases, the
possessor is always higher in rank or hierarchy in respect to the possessed. There are
titles bore by women. In those cases, they are preceded by ix(ik) ‘lady, woman’.
The main titles attested in Classic times are the following:

- Rank or office titles

ajaw ix(ik) ajaw

‘lord, king’ ‘queen, royal
princess’

kaloʔmte’ ix(ik) kaloʔmte’

(high political office, uncertain meaning)

sajal ix(ik) sajal

(noble, principal, governor?)

b’aah kab’ ix(ik) b’aah kab’

‘head of the land, first of the land’ (prince)

- Priestly titles
 30

ajk’uhuʔn ix(ik) ajk’uhuʔn

‘priest, worshipper’ ‘priestess, worshipper’ (?)

ajk’uh ajk’in yajaw k’ahk’ sak tiʔ huʔn

‘priest’ ‘priest, ‘lord of fire’
(posible late form of ajk’uhuʔn) divinator’

- Military titles

b’aah teʔ yajawteʔ ch’ahoʔm ajaw b’aah b’aah toʔk’

‘first spear/baton’ ‘lord of spears’ ‘lord of men’ pakal ‘first flint’
(war captain) (war captain) ‘first
shield’

- Other administrative or courtly titles

eb’eʔt b’aah tz’am anaab’ lakam

‘messenger, ambassador’ ‘first (of the) throne’ ? ‘banner’ ?
(district leader)

ajtz’ihb’ b’aah cheʔb’ ajuxul ?

‘scribe, painter’ ‘first quill’ ‘carver’

Other titles appear in the hieroglyphic corpus without denoting specific offices or ranks,
but indicating the performance of certain activity, like ‘announcer’ or ‘singer’,

k’ayoʔm / k’aʔyoʔm
‘announcer, singer’
 31

or like the military related ones, like the so-called ‘count of captives’, or ‘the guardian of’
expression (from chaʔn ‘watch, look after, guard’), which precedes the names of
important captives.

aj-N-b’aak
‘he of N captives’

uchaʔn ~ uchan
‘the guardian of’

Other titles are generic or honorific, like those given to elite members, or those that are
translated as ‘wise’ or ‘literate person’.

ch’ahoʔm ixik k’uhul ixik ch’ok ixik ch’ok

‘man’ ‘lady’ ‘holy lady’ ‘boy, infant’ ‘girl, infant,
maiden’

itz’aat ~ itz’at matz

‘wise’ ‘literate’

3.2.8.4. Place names

Place names refer to natural or supernatural locations. They refer to physical or

biological features of the landscape, so it is common to find them composed with nouns
like (h)a’ ‘water’ o witz ‘hill’:

Tiʔpaʔ ‘(at the) shore of the stream’

Yaxha’ ‘clear/blue water’
Hixwitz ‘hill of the jaguar’
K’uhteʔel ‘cedar wood’
 32

…or built places, such as:

Xuhkalnaah ‘cornered house’

Chaahknaah ‘house of Chaahk’ or ‘lightning house’

Some special suffixes are specially involved with place names, such as –nal ‘place of’,
–uʔl, –uul, –il, –iil and –al, probably indicating ‘(place of) abundance of’, or ‘(place
where) something abounds’.

K’ihnhaʔnal ‘place of the hot water’

K’anwitznal ‘place of the mesa hill’
Kanuʔl ‘where serpents abound’
Yaxniil ‘where yaxuun abound’

Other locations seem to be formed by suffixing –n-ib’ (Eastern) and –l-ib’ (Western
Ch’olan) to a noun or a verb.

One of the most important titles are the so-called Emblem Glyphs (EG), which
are place names to which the title ajaw ‘lord, king’ is attached (‘lord/king of…’), thus
naming the kingdoms of the Classic period. This title is sometimes preceded by the
adjective k’uhul ‘holy’ (‘holy lord/king of…’), considered a variant of the title belonging
to the most important and powerful kingdoms.

3.2.9. Plural

Plural markers are not obligatorily marked in Maya nouns, if the general context implies
plural or if it has already been indicated in another way (for example, using a number or
an adjective of quantity). However, the plural form can be explicitly expressed with the
suffix –taak (with collective meaning), as in

ajaw ‘lord, king’ ajaw-taak ‘lords, kings’

ch’ok ‘boy, infant’ ch’ok-taak ‘boys, infants’

DPL Stela 8
 33

4. ADJECTIVES

Just like nouns, Maya adjectives do not mark masculine or feminine gender.
Syntactically, adjectives precede the noun which they qualify (as in English, but the
reverse in Spanish). In the case of possession, the adjective is placed in between the
possessive ergative pronoun and the noun.

4.1. Primary adjectives

Some primary adjectives have been identified in the hieroglyphic texts. For example,
lakam ‘big’, noh ‘big’, oʔn ‘many’, ach’ ‘new’, tat ‘thick, dense’, or colours, sak ‘white’, ik’
‘black’, yax ‘green, blue’, chak ‘red’, and k’an ‘yellow’.

lakam tuun
‘big stone’ (stela) (lakam ‘big’, tuun ‘stone’)

sak maax
‘white monkey’ (sak ‘white’, maax ‘monkey’)

4.2. Derived adjectives

Adjectives can be derived from nouns and verbs using certain suffixes:

-V1l derives adjectives from nouns

k’ahk’ ‘fire’ k’ahk’-al ‘fiery’

k’uh ‘god’ k’uh-ul ‘holy’

- V1ch derives adjectives from nouns, with the meaning of ‘to have the quality of’

k’ihn ‘anger’ k’ihnich ‘angry, brave’

-Vm derives adjectives from nouns, other adjectives and verbs

chil ‘lay down’ chil-iim ‘lying, reclining’

.

CHN Monjas L4
CPN Stela 10
 34

KJT Stela 5

5. NUMBERS

Numbers are not marked for gender. Syntactically they precede the counted
object or being.

5.1. Cardinal numbers

Most numbers are written with logograms (bars and dots or head variants), and
only exceptionally using syllabic signs. That is why we don’t know the exact
pronunciation of some of them, having to recur to comparative linguistic
reconstructions. Number ‘zero’, actually meaning ‘no, nothing’ is the only one that is
usually written with phonetic signs, as mi or mi-li, probably mi[h] or mil (<mih-il).

There are basic forms from ‘one’ to ‘eleven’:

juʔn ‘one’
chaʔ ‘two’
uux ~ hux ‘three’
chan ‘four’
hoʔ ‘five’
wak ‘six’
uuk ~ wuk ‘seven’
waxak ‘eight’
b’olon ~ b’alun ‘nine’
lajuʔn ‘ten’
b’uluch ~ buluk ‘eleven’

From ‘twelve’ to ‘nineteen’, the number is composed with laj(uʔn) ‘ten’, plus the basic
form, with the exception of ‘twelve’, which is irregular:

lajchan ‘twelve’
uuxlajuʔn ‘thirteen’
chanlajuʔn ‘fourteen’
ho’lajuʔn ‘fifteen’
waklajuʔn ‘sixteen’
uuklajuʔn ‘seventeen’
waxaklajuʔn ‘eighteen’
 35

b’olonlajuʔn ‘nineteen’

For ‘twenty’ there are two forms, winik (or winaak?) and k’aal. Winik and k’aal are used
in different contexts: winik is used for ‘twenty’ and numbers between ‘twenty’ and ‘thirty
nine’; k’aal is used for multiples of ‘twenty’. Thus, for example,

uuxwinik ‘twenty three’ (3 + 20)

hoʔk’aal ‘one hundred’ (5 x 20)

5.2. Ordinal numbers

There is a suppletive form for ‘first’, which is b’aah. Other ways to indicate ‘first’
are using the adjectives naah and yax (as opposed to wiʔil ‘last’), and are specialized
depending on context, not being interchangeable among them (for example, one can
say b’aah uxul ‘first sculptor’, but not *naah uxul or *yax uxul; or naah hoʔtuun ‘first
hoʔtuun’, but not *b’aah hoʔtuun or *yax hoʔtuun).
The other ordinal numbers (exceptionally also ‘first’) are composed by prefixing
u- to the number. Compare:

hoʔlajuʔn winikhaab’ ‘fifteen winikhaab’s’

u-hoʔlajuʔn winikhaab’ ‘the fifteenth winikhaab’’

5.3. Numeral classifiers and mensuratives

Some Maya languages, amongst them the hieroglyphic languages, use numeral
classifiers (but not proto-Maya). These classifiers are words that are attached to the
number, before the counted noun (they cannot be alone, without a number). Their
function is to classify the counted noun within a general category. In modern Maya
languages those categories are certainly rich: ‘animate’, ‘inanimate’, ‘human or
supernatural’, ‘periods of time’, ‘four-legged animals’, ‘trees’, ‘shrubs’, ‘long objects’,
‘round objects’, ‘flat objects’, different foodstuffs, and so on.
However, numeral classifiers are not abundant in the hieroglyphic corpus,
perhaps suggesting that their inclusion in the written language was a recent
phenomenon and a process in progress.

The classifiers that have been identified are the following:

-b’ix counts of five and seven

-pis count for years (Yuc.) and units of time (months)
-teʔ units of time (days in a month)
-tz’ahk things placed in order or sequence
-tal things placed in order or sequence
-tikil human beings

It is very difficult to translate numeral classifiers into a language that lacks them, such
as English or Spanish. For example:

[u]waklajuʔntz’ahk ch’aho’m
‘the sixteenth man’ (belonging to a class of things placed in order —like kings in
a dynasty)’
 36

Numeral classifiers are sometimes confused with other nouns that usally follow
numbers, like mensuratives or units of measurement. For example,

b’olon nahb’
‘nine hand-spans’

Note that in this case there is no problem in translating: nahb’ ‘hand-span’ is simply a
noun, not a category of classification.

CPN Tp. 11 Bench (drawing by L. Schele)

IXZ Stela 4 (drawing by L. Schele)

 37

YAX HS 2, Step X (drawing by I. Graham)

6. VERBS

As in any other language in the world, the first main distinction in the verbal
system is between intransitive and transitive. In intransitive constructions the main two
components are the verb and the Subject that performs an action; in transitive
constructions besides the verb and the Subject (Agent), there is an Object (Patient)
that undergoes the action.

Subject and Object

In Maya verbs the Subject must be clearly expressed, and, in the case of being
a transitive verb, also the Object. This is done by dependent pronouns, which are
prefixed or suffixed to the verb stem. Since Maya languages are of the ergative type,
the pronoun that denotes the Subject in intransitive constructions is not the same one
that denotes the Subject in transitive constructions.
The Subject (Agent) of transitive verbs is marked with a pronoun of the Ergative
Series (E), which are always prefixes. These ergative pronouns are the same used in
possession. That is to say, ni- means ‘my’, but also ‘I’; u- means ‘his/her’, but also
‘he/she’. The Subject of intransitive verbs is marked with a pronoun of the Absolutive
Series (A), which are always suffixes. Since almost all of the hieroglyphic texts are
written in third person, the most frequent pronouns will be u- or y- in the case of
transitives, and –Ø in the case of intransitives.
In the active voice of the transitive verbs the Object (Patient) has to be indicated
in the verbal stem by an absolutive pronoun.

ujuluʔw chij
u-jul-uʔw-Ø chij
3sE-shoot-ACT-3sA deer
‘he/she shoots/shot (at) the deer’
 38

huli
hul-i-Ø
llegar-THEM-3sA
‘he/she arrived (to a place)’

In the first case, since it is a transitive construction,–Ø refers to the Object ‘it, the deer’;
in the second case, since it is an intransitive construction,–Ø refers to the Subject ‘he,
she’.

Verbal time and aspect

Time refers to when an action is performed, whether in the past, present or

future. Aspect refers to the state of an action, whether it is unfinished (incompletive),
finished (completive), or is being done at that moment (progressive).
As in modern Maya languages, Hieroglyphic Maya verbal system focuses on
aspect, and it is marked in the verbal stem.9 Time is expressed by adverbs, by
temporal indicators or phrases like dates, or simply understood by context. This
characteristic of Maya verbs may cause some problems in translation, because
languages such as English or Spanish are systems based on time, not on aspect, and
therefore we will, for example, be inclined to translate incompletive for present or
completive for past.
Seemingly, some Maya verbal forms are not inflected even for aspect. That is
what happens with CVC transitive verbs in the active voice, such as u-tzutz-uʔw-Ø,
which can be translated both as ‘he/she finishes it’ or as ‘he/she finished it’ (like English
I cut or you hit), and also probably with the passive, mediopassive, antipassive and
positional forms. However, some non-CVC transitives and some intransitives did mark
aspect.
Our insufficient knowledge of the incompletive aspect probably comes from the
fact that incompletive actions are rare in the preserved hieroglyphic corpus due to
literary genre, which clearly favored, along with third person subjects and objects, the
completive aspect.

6.1. Intransitive verbs

Classes of intransitive verbs:

6.1.1. Stative expressions (‘to be’)

In Maya languages there is no verb equivalent to English ‘to be’ (or Spanish ‘ser,
estar’). Predicates implying the verb ‘to be’ are built suffixing an absolutive pronoun to
a noun or adjective expression. Since the absolutive pronoun of the third person
singular is –Ø, in fact any noun or adjective can potentially be involved in this kind of
constructions. For example,

ajaw ajaw-Ø
‘the lord’ ‘he is a/the lord’

sak sak-Ø
‘white’ ‘he/she/it is white’

9
For an alternative explanation based on time, see Houston 1997.
 39

Notice that these stative expressions can be combined with ergative pronouns:

y-ajaw y-ajaw-Ø
‘the lord of’ ‘he is the lord of’

TNA Captive Panel (drawing by S. Martin)

6.1.2. The verb ‘to exist, have’

It is probably represented by the verb aʔn, whose cognates are well attested in
Lowland Maya languages, but poorly documented in the hieroglyphic corpus, where it
is restricted to a single context, the so-called impersonation verb. In this case, it follows
the expression ub’aahil ‘the image of’, in which a personage —usually the ruler or
another member of the elite— impersonates a deity or a supernatural being. The
construction is as follows:

ub’aahil aʔn — name of a deity/supernatural being — personage’s name

‘is the existing image’ or ‘is the image of’
 40

6.1.3. Root intransitive verbs in –i

These are regular intransitives verbs. In the basic form they are inflected with the –i
thematic suffix:

cham-i ‘die’
hul-i ‘arrive (to)’
tal-i ‘arrive (from)’
och-i ‘enter’

These verbs are inflected with –eʔl in the incompletive, and –Ø (unmarked) in the
completive:

ahn-eʔl ‘go(es), run(s)’ ahn-i ‘went, ran’

hul-eʔl ‘arrive(s) to’ hul-i ‘arrived to’

6.1.4. Verbs of motion and change of state –VV1y

A group of intransitive verbs involved in changes of state or motion has the thematic
suffix –VV1y. Seemingly, these forms do not distinguish incompletive and completive
aspect.

lok’-ooy ‘leave, flee’

k’aʔ-aay ‘finish, rot’
pul-uuy ‘burn’

DPL, HS2
 41

YAX Lintel 27

6.1.5. Positional verbs in –laj / –waan

This group is comprised of intransitive verbs that describe the position in which the
Subject is. In the Classic Period they were marked by the thematic suffixes –laj and –
waan (formerly Western Ch’olan, later spreading to the Eastern Lowlands), and –l-(iiy)
(Western Ch’olan). Seemingly, positional verbs do not distinguish between
incompletive and completive forms:

chum-laj / -waan ‘to sit down’

pak-laj ‘to be face down’
waʔ-laj / -waan ‘to be standing up’
chum-l-(iiy) ‘to sit down’ (Western Ch’olan)

Some transitive verbs show both active and positional inflection:

pat-aʔw ‘to make’

pat-laj / -waan ‘to get made’

In the Classic Period we can find another positional in –h-…-aj (chu-h-m-aj, instead of
chum-laj or chum-waan) as archaism —in eastern Peten, as in Caracol—, or as
evidence of Tzeltalan language —as in Tonina.
 42

6.1.6. Intransitive verbs derived from nouns and adjectives in –Vj (–aj ~ -iij)

The suffix –Vj (–aj or –iij depending on the case) derives intransitive verbs from nouns
or adjectives with the meaning of ‘to do what the root indicates’. The derived verbs are
always intransitive:

ahk’ot ‘dancing, a dance’ ahk’ot-aj ‘to dance’

joy ‘debut’ joy-aj ‘to debut, make something for the first time’
witz ‘mountain’ witz-iij ‘to (get piled like a) mountain’
uʔh ‘necklace’ uʔh-aj ‘to (be adorned with) necklace’
tak ‘dry’ tak-iij ‘to dry up’

These verbs can also be derived from complex nouns:

k’al ‘to tie’, huʔn ‘headband’ > k’alhuʔn ‘headband-tying’ (‘crowning’) >
k’al-huʔn-aj ‘to get crowned’

YAX Lintel 2 (drawing by I. Graham)

 43

Unknown provenace (drawing by C. Prager)

6.1.7. Inchoative verbs in -aan

The suffix –aan derives intransitive verbs with the meaning of ‘becoming or be
converted into what the root indicates’:

ajaw ‘lord, king’ ajaw-aan ‘to become king’

NAR Stela 22
 44

6.1.8. Affective verbs in –laj

Affective verbs describe actions involving repeated sounds or actions:

b’aj ‘hammer’ b’aj-laj ‘to hammer’

yuhk ‘shake’ yuhk-laj ‘tremble, shake (as in an earthquake)’

DPL HS 4 DPL HS2

PAL Bodega

6.1.9. The impersonal verb uht-i

Although the verb uht bears the thematic suffix –i of root intransitive verbs, it is an
impersonal verb that only appears in third person, in its two meanings of (a) ‘happen,
come to pass’, and (b) ‘get made’. For example,

uhti Sakhaʔ
‘it happened (at) Sakhaʔ’

uhti tz’aptuun
‘it happened the stone-planting’

uhti uxuul
‘the inscription got made’

The verb uhti has not always been well understood, as well as the syntax of the
sentences in which it participates. In its meaning ‘to happen’, uhti is one of the most
important verbs in Maya texts, usually taking the role of main verb in narratives.
 45

PNG Stela 3 (drawing by D. Stuart)

6.1.10. Irregular verbs

Cheʔ ‘say’, ab’(i) ‘say’, b’ixiin ‘go’, pakax ‘return, come back’.

6.2. Transitive verbs

6.2.1. Classes of transitive verbs

Like other Maya languages, Hieroglyphic Maya distinguishes between two main
classes of transitive verbs, according to their structure: CVC transitives (consonant-
vowel-consonant), and non-CVC transitives, that is, any other transitive verb that does
 46

not have CVC structure (for example CVhC, VC, VCVC, etc.), or the ones that are
derived from nouns or other intransitive verbs:

- CVC transitives, for example

mak ‘close, cover’

chuk ‘seize, capture’
tz’ap ‘plant, drive into ground’
muk ‘bury’.

- Non-CVC transitives, for example

il(a) ‘see’
aʔl ‘say’
tz’ihb’-a ‘paint, write’ (derived from tz’ihb’ ‘painting, writing’)

transitive verbs derived from positionals, such as

tz’ak-b’u ‘place in order’ (from positional tz’ak ‘to be in order’

and -b’u causative)

and verbal nouns like

uxul ‘carving/to carve’.

These two main classes of transitive verbs will be derived in different ways according to
the voice.

6.2.2. The voices of transitive verbs

As in modern Maya languages, there are four voices in Hieroglyphic Maya: active,
passive, mediopassive and antipassive. Consider these examples in English:

Active (ACT) the storm flooded the field

Passive (PAS) the field was flooded (by the storm)
Mediopassive (MP) the field got flooded
Antipassive (APAS) the storm floods
it was the storm that flooded the field
the storm field-floods

In the active voice —the storm flooded the field— there is an active verb that
describes an action (flooded), and two arguments: a Subject/Agent (the storm) and an
Object/Patient (the field), that suffers the action.
In the passive voice —the field was flooded (by the storm)— the former Object
(the field) is promoted as the Subject of the new intransitive derived verb; the former
active Subject/Agent is demoted, being suppressed or moved to an oblique phrase (by
the storm). The resulting passive verb is intransitive, because it only has one argument,
the Subject.
In the mediopassive voice —the field got flooded— the former Object becomes
the Subject of the sentence. Different from the passive voice, in the mediopassive
there is no implicit Agent, as if the Subject acts on itself. This is the typical voice for
actions like ‘the door closes’, ‘the roof broke’, where the Subject has at the same time
the characteristics of an Agent and a Patient.
 47

Antipassive voice implies a promotion of the active Subject (the storm). Such a
promotion can be done (a) simply by suppressing the Object (the storm floods —
without mentioning what it floods), which is called absolute antipassive; (b) focusing the
Subject (it was the storm that flooded the field), which is called agent focusing
antipassive; or (c) incorporating the Object into the verb (the storm field-floods), which
is called object incorporation antipassive. Since in all the cases the Object is demoted
(because it is deleted, because the Subject is in focus or because the Object is
incorporated into the verb), for the Maya the final resulting verbal construction is
intransitive.
Considering the CVC or non-CVC shape of the transitive verbs, the morphemes
involved in the different voices, which are suffixed to the verb, are the following:

HIEROGLYPHIC MAYA
VOICE DERIVATION OF TRANSITIVE VERBS
ACTIVE PASSIVE MEDIOPASSIVE ANTIPASSIVE
CVC E-CV1C-V1ʔw-A CV-h-C-aj-A CV1C-VV1y-A CVC-VV1w-A
non-CVC E-Verb-V-(n)-A Verb-n-aj-A Verb-VV1y- A Verb-on-A
E-Verb-A Verb-w-aj-A Verb-k’-a(j)-A Verb-an-A

For example, with third person Subject and Object,

CVC TRANSITIVES
Example ACTIVE PASSIVE MEDIOPASSIVE ANTIPASSIVE
E-CV1C-V1ʔw-A CV-h-C-aj-A CV1C-VV1y-A CVC-VV1w-A
Tzutz u-tzutz-uʔw-Ø tzu-h-tz-aj-Ø tzutz-uuy-Ø tzutz-uuw-Ø
‘finish’ ‘he finishes/ed it’ ‘it is/was ‘it gets/got ‘he finishes/ed’
finished’ finished’

non-CVC TRANSITIVES
Example ACTIVE PASSIVE MEDIOPASSIVE ANTIPASSIVE
E-Verb-A Verb-n-aj-A Verb-VV1y- A Verb-on/-an-A
Uxul y-uxul-Ø uxul-n-aj-Ø uxul-uuy-Ø *uxul-on-Ø
‘carve’ ‘he carves/ed it’ ‘it is/was uxul-k’a(j)-Ø ‘he carves/ed’
carved’ ‘it gets/got
carved’

Some verbs are irregular in their derivation, like ahk’ ‘give’ who, in spite of being
non-CVC, is inflected with –V1ʔw in the active voice,10 or ila ‘see’ who is derived in the
passive voice with –aj, not –n-aj.11

10
As in modern Chontal.
11
In the language of the Classic Period and in 17th century Cholti ila ‘see’ is irregular, deriving
the passive in –a(j). In modern Ch’orti’, however, the passive of ira ‘see’ is regular, thus ir-n-a
‘be seen’.
 48

DPL Stela 15 (drawing by S. Houston)

Miscellanous Text (drawing by Peter Mathews)

 49

K1398

COB Panel C

Emiliano Zapata Panel (drawing by D. Stuart)

 50

6.2.3. Derived transitive verbs

Transitive verbs with causative meaning can be derived from intransitive verbs.
If ending in vowel, they mark the incompletive in –n.

-b’u derives transitive verbs from positional verbs

tz’ak ‘placed in order’ tz’a-b’u ‘to place something in orther’

- (e)s derives transitive verbs from intransitive verbs

uk’ ‘shout, cry’ uk’-es ‘to make something shout’

-kun derives transitive verbs from positional and inchoative verbs (Yuc.)

paal ‘young’ pal-kun ‘to renew something’

6.2.4. Perfect

Seemingly, verbal expressions with perfect form are derived suffixing –VV1j or –VVj
(not necessarily synharmonically) to transitive verbs. Also seemingly, in the Western
Lowlands, perfect forms are derived suffixing–ooj to CVC transitives, and –ej to non-
CVC ones. All these forms are prefixed by an ergative pronoun to the verb denoting the
Subject:

ya-la-ji ya[ʔ]laaj y-aʔl-aaj ‘he has said it’

yi-la-ji yilaaj y-il-aaj ‘he has seen it’
u-PAT-b’u-ji upatb’uuj u-pat-b’u-uuj ‘he has placed it in order’
ya-le-je ya[ʔ]lej y-aʔl-ej ‘he has said/ordered it’ (Palenque)
u-CHOK-ji uchok[oo]j u-chok-ooj ‘he has thrown/cast it’

CPN Altar Z (drawing by L. Schele)

 51

PAL House C, HS

6.3. Participles

Participles derive a predicative adjective form from a verb, but unlike adjectives they
cannot be possessed:

- VV1l present participle joch’ ‘drill’ joch’-ool ‘(is) drilled’

-eʔm present participle tzutz ‘finish ’ tzutz-eʔm ‘(is) finished’

-oʔm future participle tzutz ‘finish’ tzutz-oʔm ‘(will be) finished’

-b’il passive participle k’ahk’ ‘burn’ k’ahk-b’il ‘(has been) burnt’

Dumbarton Oaks Celt

 52

EKB Col 1 IXK Stela 2

YAX Lintel 31 (drawing by I. Graham)

CHN T4L, Lintel 1

 53

6.4. Imperative

Due to literary genre, imperatives are poorly represented in the preserved Maya
corpus. As it seems, the second person imperative is made suffixing –V1 to CVC
transitives, and –Vn to non-CVC transitives:

pu-lu pulu ‘burn!’

u-tz’u u[h]tz’u[n] ‘smell!’

The imperative of other persons than the second is made suffixing –ik to the verb,
followed by an absolutive pronoun.

cho-ko-na
cho[ʔ]koʔn
choʔ-ik-oʔn
erase-OPT-1PA
‘let us erase it!’

K1398

K1196
 54

6.5. Optative

Optative is also poorly attested in the Maya hieroglyphic corpus. It is probably made
postposing the adverb naʔik ‘let’s hope’ to the verbal form —as attested in Cholti— or
suffixing –ik to the verb.

7. THE ADPOSITION

Adpositions are particles or expressions that go together with a noun or a

nominal syntagm conforming an adpositional syntagm that has a noun as nucleus. We
can distinguish prepositions and relational nouns:

7.1. Prepositions

ta / ti ‘to, with, on, in, for’ (general preposition) (if followed by -u- the form is
contracted as tu’)
tahn ‘in, in the middle of’
chaʔn ‘since’
(ta) xin ‘in the middle of’
ichiil ‘in, inside’ (Yuc.)

7.2. Relational nouns

Relational nouns indicate (1) the spatial relationship between two nouns,
describing positions such as ‘in front of’, ‘along with’, ‘over’ or ‘after’, as well as (2) the
grammatical case ‘by, because of’. They are composed by a preposition (optative),
followed by an ergative pronoun (E) prefixing a noun, a verbal noun or a verbal
expression in the perfect:

(1) Spatial relationships

(PREP)-E-b’aah ‘over’ (b’aah ‘head’)

E-itaaj ‘with, in the company of, along with’ (it / et ‘accompany’)
E-ichnal ‘in front of, at the presence of’ (ichVn ‘chest’)
(PREP)-E-paat ‘behind of, after of’ (paat ‘back’)

(2) Grammatical case:

E-eʔt /-ejet / -eʔtej ‘by, because of the doing of’ (e’t ‘work’)
E-kab’aaj ‘by, because of the supervision of’ (kab’ ‘supervise’?)

Since Maya texts are customarily written in the third person, we will find as
ergative pronouns the allomorphs u- and y-, depending on whether the word begins
with a consonant or a vowel (ti-u-b’aah ‘over him/her’, y-itaaj ‘with him/her’, y-ichnal ‘at
the presence or in front of him/her’, u-kab’aaj ‘by him/her’, y-eʔtej ‘by him/her’, u-paat
‘after him/her/it’).
 55

K2914
 56

PNG Panel 2 (D. Stuart)

 57

K4996
 58

YAX Lintel 16 (drawing by I. Graham)

8. ADVERBS

Some adverbs have been identified in the hieroglyphic corpus. Syntactically,

they precede the verb.

o’n ‘many’
uux / o(o)x ‘many, abundantly’
cha’ ‘again, for the second time’
ma’, mach ‘no, not’
 59

ik’al ‘next day, tomorrow’

(juʔn) pas ‘next day, the other day’
yuwal ‘now, then’
wal ‘during’

PAL Tp. XIX (drawing by D. Stuart)

PNG Stela 12 (drawing by D. Stuart)

 60

9. CLITICS AND PARTICLES

i- ‘then, and then’

che ‘thus’
-iiy ‘already’, ‘in the past’? (full form -ijiiy?
-heʔn / -heʔ-w ‘in the past’
-ij ‘in the past’
-ij-iiy ‘in the future’
-lat ‘elapsed time’ ?
-aʔ ‘this one’
-eʔ ‘this one’ (Yuc.)

SOME MORE TEXTS…

NJT Drawing 23 NJT Drawing 25

(Naj Tunich drawings by A. Stone)
 61

NJT Drawing 24

NJT Drawing 65
 62

NJT Drawing 28 NJT Drawing 29

 63

NJT Drawing 66
64
65
66
 67

QRG Stela E (drawing by M. Looper)

 68

QRG Stela J (drawing by M. Looper)

QRG Zoomorph G (drawing by M. Looper)

 69

HISTORICAL LINGUISTICS HELPS TO READ MAYA GLYPHS

by Albert Davletshin

Historical linguistics (also called comparative linguistics) is the study of

language change and language history. Its main concerns are to describe observed
changes in particular languages, reconstruct their prehistory and determine their
relatedness and also study the history of particular words, i.e. etymology. Mayan
languages constitute a language family of considerable time depth which consists of 30
languages still spoken in Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala today. Several Mayan
languages are attested in Colonial dictionaries and grammars, sometimes called
Classic Mayan languages. Hieroglyphic Mayan is the only ancient Mayan language and
it has been shown that it is a Cholan language, possibly related to modern Ch'orti' and
Colonial Ch'olti' (Campbell 1984; Justeson, Norman, Campbell, Kaufman 1985;
Houston, Robertson, Stuart 2000; Wichmann 2002). All Maya inscriptions are written in
Hieroglyphic Mayan even inscriptions found in Yucatan peninsula and three Postclassic
Codices survived. However, dialectal spellings and vernacular grammatic forms are
found in inscriptions from the periphery of the Maya world (Lacadena 2011, Lacadena,
Wichmann 2002, 2005).

Mayan historical linguistics is of great help for epigraphists. First of all, we can
use lexical data from modern and colonial dictionary when we encounter with an
unknown word in inscriptions. Lexical data from Ch'orti', Ch'olti', Ch'ol and Ch'ontal are
of great importance because Hieroglyphic Mayan is in particular close to presently
spoken Ch'olan languages. Second, we should resort to the help of Tzeltal de
Bajachón, because this language preserves the archaic phoneme velar fricative /j/, lost
in other Lowland Mayan languages (Grube 2006), sometimes we should resort to the
help of Yukatek, because Yukatek preserves the distinction between short, long and
glottalized vowels (Houston, Stuart, Robertson 1988; Lacadena, Wichmann 2006).
Yukatek data are also helpful because Colonial Period Yukatek dictionaries are much
more extensive compared to dictionaries of Ch'olan languages. It also is of particular
significance because velar fricative, long and glottalized vowels are part of the
 70

phonological inventory attested in Hieroglyphic Mayan. Third, thanks to historical

linguistics we can identify dialectal glosses in Maya inscriptions.

The following concepts of historical linguistics are crucial for undertaking the
above mentioned tasks: regular phonetic correspondences, sound changes in
progress, retentions, innovations and language relatedness.

Two languages are considered genetically related if they descent from a

common proto-language. From a practical point of view, two languages are related if
they show a good deal of shared vocabulary, that is, they have words with similar or
identical meaning where sounds of two languages are transformed one into another by
means of regular sound correspondences. Such sound correspondences between
spoken languages reflect individual sounds of the ancestral proto-language and
sometimes sounds in specific phonetic environments. In theory, all sound
correspondences are regular; if a word shows a correspondence which seems to be
irregular it might be a loanword or, alternatively, a given sound correspondence has not
yet been well-understood. Compare the following words containing reflexes of proto-
Mayan palatalized dental stop *ty before front vowels12.

Meaning Glyphs Ch'orti' Ch'ol Yukatek K'iche'

Tree te-ʔe teʔ tyeʔ cheʔ cheeʔ

Bench te-mu ... tyem cheem teem13

step on te-k'a-ja tek'- tyek'- chek'- cheeq'-

Mouth ti-ʔi tiʔ tyiʔ chiʔ chiiʔ

Hot ? tikaw tyikäw chakaw ?

12
In historical linguistics, an asterisk indicates that the word or sound is not directly
attested, but has been reconstructed by means of comparative method.
13
The K'iche' cognate teem possibly represents a loan from Cholan languages as the
irregular t correspondence suggests.
 71

It has been suggested that a glyphic spelling CHAK-wa may spell the word chakaw
'hot', because this word is found in Classic Yukatek dictionaries. However, comparison
with words containing reflexes of proto-Mayan *ty demonstrates that the related word
'hot' in Hieroglyphic Mayan would sound as *tikaw, not as *chakaw.

Until the date, no p'V syllabic signs which could be confirmed by phonetic
cross-readings have been identified in Maya writing. This fact implies that p'V syllables
are absent in the syllabic grid. The glottalized bilabial stop p' is a consonant found in all
modern Lowland Mayan languages except Ch'orti'. It has been shown (Wichmann
2006) that this phoneme represents a later - probably Postclassic - development
shared by most Lowland languages: *p and *b' become p' in CVC roots where the other
consonant is either a fricative /s, j, h/, a stop /t, ch, k, ʔ/ or a lateral /l/ (and where V
may be of any type). In one case a p' word 'sticky, glued' is written with the b'a syllable
suggesting that the phonetic change didn't take place in Hieroglyphic Mayan. It is the
name of a spirit-companion la-b'a-TEʔ HIIX Lab'teʔ-Hiix 'Glued-to-Wood-Jaguar'
(K3395).

Meaning Glyphs Ch'ol Tzeltal Tzotzil

Sticky la-b'a läp'- lap'- lap'-

This fact means that p' in words in Lowland Mayan languages corresponds to b' or p in
words in Maya inscriptions.

Relatedness of languages is relative; some Mayan languages are more related

to one another in comparison to other members of the family. They may share more
 72

common traits and they may have an intermediate ancestral language within the family,
as for example, Ch'olan languages (Ch'ol, Ch'ontal, Ch'olti' and Ch'orti' which descend
from proto-Ch'olan) and Tzeltalan languages (Tzeltal, Tzotzil which descend from
proto-Tzeltalan). Only innovative traits can be used for determining specific relatedness
of any two languages, because retentions represent their common heritage received
from the proto-language. Retentions reflect relatedness to all languages of a family,
while innovations reflect common history shared by two or more languages within the
family. Long and glottalized vowels found in Hieroglyphic Mayan do not mean that
Hieroglyphic Mayan is particularly close to Yukatek or proto-Mayan; they indicate only
that such archaic traits as vowel length and glottalization were lost in modern Ch'olan
languages. At the same time the sound change *eeh -> *ii is found in all Ch'olan
languages, including Hieroglyphic Mayan (Brown, Wichmann 2004). There are no
exceptions to this rule attested in Hieroglyphic Mayan.

Meaning Glyphs Ch'ol Tzeltal Yukatek K'iche

Broom mi-so- mis mes míis14 mees

Road b'i-ji b'ih b'e b'eh b'eh

Deer chi-ji chih chij15 kéeh keeh

Only two exceptions to the rule stated above are attested; both are place-names from
Yucatan and represent dialectal glosses: a Chichen Itza place-name Kalkeejtooʔk'
written as ka-la-ke-ji-to-TOOʔK' and ʔAhkankej 'Place of Roaring Stags' written as
ʔAHKAN-na ke-je on a vessel in Chochola style. Note that the e vowel in the last
example is short suggesting a Lacandon dialectal gloss.

A similar change *ooh -> *uu is found in many glyphic spellings and show no
exceptions: mu-chi muuch 'toad', pu-lu- puul- 'to burn', su-tz'i suutz' 'bat', TUUN-ni
tuun 'stone', yu-k'e- ʔuuk'- 'to cry', ʔu-ni ʔuun 'avocado'. This sound change is
restricted to Ch'olan and Huastecan languages.

The sound change *eeh -> *ii is the only solid phonological argument for
considering Hieroglyphic Mayan to be a Ch'olan language. To the date Mayan
14
Probably míis is a Ch'olan loan in Yukatek.
15
Probably chij is a Ch'olan loan in Tzeltal.
 73

historical phonology cannot demonstrate that Hieroglyphic language is in particular

related to Western Ch'olan (Ch'ol, Ch'ontal) or Eastern Ch'olan (Ch'olti', Ch'orti').

Sometimes, we can see how one sound replaces another so that the same
word may be written in different ways in Mayan inscriptions: JOL-la joʔl ~ JOL-lo jol
'head' (loss of vowel glottalization), ch'a-ji ch'aaj ~ ch'a-ja ch'aj (loss of vowel length),
si-ji sij ~ si-hi sih 'gift' (loss of verlar fricative), ka-ya kay ~ cha-ya chay 'fish'
(palatalization of velar stops before back vowels a, o and u). Such sound changes are
called sound changes in progress. Sound changes in progress can be used neither for
determining relatedness of two languages nor for identifying dialectal glosses.

Palatalization of verlar stop k and k' before front vowels *k -> ch is an independent
sound change, and it has been already completed by Classic Period (Dmitriy Beliaev
pers. comm., 2004).

Meaning Glyphs Ch'ol Tzeltal Yukatek K'iche

Deer chi-ji chih chij kéeh keeh

Maguey chi-hi chih chi kih kih

Quotative che-he-na cheʔ xchi kih kih

earth oven chi-ti-ni - - <kitin>16 -

Cave CH'EEʔN-na ch'en ch'en ch'éʔen -

All exceptions to this rule show a morpheme boundary bewteen a velar stop and a front
vowel, i.g. yu-k'i-b'i 'his drinking vessel', ʔu-ja-chi-li 'his engraving'. It seems to be that
the morpheme boundary stops the process of palatalization before the front vowels.

The most important for epigraphers correspondence sets for Hieroglyphic Mayan are
found in Appendix 1.

16
Angle brackets <> show that the word is found only in Colonial dictionaries where
such important feature as vowel length is unmarked.
 74

Appendix 1. Correspondence sets for Hieroglyphic Mayan.17 Two reflexes of the same
proto-sound imply different development of the same phoneme in different
environments.

pM HM CHRT CHLT CHL CHN TZE TZO YUK KCH

*p P p p p p p p p p

p' p' p' p' p' p'

*b' b' b' b' b' b' b' b' b' b'

p' p' p' p' p' p'

*t T t t t t t t t t

*t' t' t' t' t' t' t' t' t' t'

*ty T t t t t t t t ch

ch

*ty' t' t' t' t' t' t' t' t' ch'

ch'

*tz Tz tz tz tz tz tz tz tz tz

*tz' tz' tz' tz' tz' tz' tz' tz' tz' tz'

*ch Ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch

*ch' ch' ch' ch' ch' ch' ch' ch' ch' ch'

*k k ch ch ch ch ch ch k k

ch

*k' k' ch' ch' ch' ch' ch' ch' k' k'

ch'

?*q K k k k k k k k q

?*q' k' k' k' k' k' k' k' k' q'

17
The following abbreviations are used: pM – proto-Mayan, HM – Hieroglyphic Mayan,
CHRT – Ch'orti', CHLT – Ch'olti', CHL – Ch'ol, CHN – Ch'ontal, TZE – Tzeltal de
Bajachón, Tzo Tzotzil, YUK – Yukatek, KCH – K'iche'.
 75

*l L r l l l l l l l

*r Y y y y y y y y r

*m M m m m m m m m m

*n N n n ñ n n n n n

*ŋ N n n ñ n n n n j

*s S s s s s s s s s

*x X x x x x x x x x

*j j>h h h h h j h ћ>h j

*h H h h h h h h h h

*w W w w w w w w w w

*y Y y y y y y y y y

PM HM CHRT CHLT CHL CHN TZE TZO YUK KCH

*i I i i i i i i i i

*e E e e e e e e e e

I i i i i

*a A a a a a a a a a

ä ä o

*o O o o o o o o o o

U u u u u

*u U u u u u u u u u
 76

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International Journal of American Linguistics 70.2: 128-186.
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Publications in Linguistics no. 81. Los Angeles: University of California.
Campbell, Lyle (1984) The Implications of Mayan Historical Linguistics for
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Justeson and Lyle Campbell, pp. 1–17. Institute for Mesoamerican Studies Publication
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Campbell, Lyle (1988) The Linguistics of Southeast Chiapas, Mexico. Provo,
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Campbell, Lyle (1999) Historical Linguistics: An Introduction. Cambridge: MIT
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Fox, James A. (1978) Proto-Mayan Accent, Morpheme Structure Conditions,
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Cobos, and Merle Greene Robertson, vol. 2, pp. 275–314. México, D.F.: Instituto
Nacional de Antropología e Historia and Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán.
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the Western Lowland Maya region. In: Waters-Rist, Christine Cluney, Calla McNamee,
and Larry Steinbrenner (eds.), Art for Archaeology’s Sake. Material Culture and Style
across the Disciplines. Proceedings of the Thirty-Third Annual Conference of the
Archaeological Association of the University of Calgary, pp. 32-48 Calgary: The
University of Calgary Archaeological Asssociation.
Wichmann, Søren (2002) Hieroglyphic evidence for the historical configuration
of Eastern Ch’olan. Research Reports on Ancient Maya Writing, 51. Washington, D.C.:
Center for Maya Research.
Wichmann, Søren (2006) Mayan historical linguistics and epigraphy: a new
synthesis. Annual Review of Anthropology 35: 279-294.
 78

HIEROGLYPHIC MAYAN INTERLINEAR TEXTS

by Albert Davletshin

In linguistics, an interlinear gloss is a series of brief explanations placed

between a line of original text and its translation into another language. When glossed,
each line of the original text acquires one or more lines of transcription known as an
interlinear glossed text. Such glosses help the reader follow the relationship between
the source text and its translation, and see the structure of the original language. In its
simplest form, an interlinear gloss is simply a literal, word-for-word translation of the
source text. A standardized set of parsing conventions and grammatical abbreviations
used for glossed texts is explained in the Leipzig Glossing Rules (Conventions for
interlinear morpheme-by-morpheme glosses,
http://www.eva.mpg.de/lingua/resources/glossing-rules.php).
An interlinear text for Hieroglyphic Mayan will consists of the following lines
assigned to individual sentences:

1. glyp hic sign-by-sign transliteration, where signs within a hieroglyphic block are
separated by hyphens,
2. reconstructed phonetic transcription,
3. morphophonemic transliteration, where individual morphemes within a word are
separated by hyphens,
4. morpheme-by-morpheme glosses,
5. free translation.

Enclosed below, please, find a list of proposed glosses for Hieroglyphic Mayan and
interlinear morpheme-by-morpheme of two texts suggested as an example.
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Proposed glosses for Hieroglyphic Mayan

Pronominals:

Set A (Absolutive Case):

-ø Abs3 3rd person, singular and plural

-eʔn Abs1Sg 1st person, singular

-at (?-eʔt) Abs2Sg 2nd person, singular

-oʔn Abs1Pl 1st person, plural

Set B (Ergative Case):

ʔu- Erg31 3rd person, singular and plural, consonant

initial stems

ni- Erg1Sg1 1st person, singular, consonant initial stems

ʔa- Erg2Sg1 2nd person, singular, consonant initial stems

y- Erg32 3rd person, singular and plural, glottal stop

initial stems

niw- Erg1Sg2 1st person, singular, glottal stop initial stems

ʔaw- Erg2Sg2 2nd person, singular, glottal stop initial

stems

w- ?Erg2Pl2 ?2nd person, plural, glottal stop initial stems

Set C (Independent Emphatic Pronouns):

haʔi Ind3Sg 3rd person, singular

haʔoʔb' Ind3Pl 3rd person, plural

haʔat Ind2Sg 2nd person, singular

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neʔn ?Ind1Sg 1st person, singular

hiin ?Dem ?demonstrative pronoun (this?)

Thematic suffixes:

-Vʔw IPFV.TR imperfective (?) transitive verbs

-VVn IPFV.DerTR imperfective (?) derived transitive verbs

-i PFV.NTR perfective (?) intransitive verbs

-el IPFV.NTR imperfective (?) intransitive verbs

-aj IPFV.DerNTR1 imperfective (?) derived intransitive verbs

-iij IPFV.DerNTR2 imperfective (?) derived intransitive verbs

(morphophonetic variant of the suffix –aj?)

-laj POS1 positional verbs

-waan POS2 positional verbs (dialectal variant)

-laj AFF affective verbs

-VVj PRF perfect

-Vk OPT optative

-V IMP imperatives from CVC transitive verbal

stems

-oʔm FUT unavoidable future (prophetic future)

Verbal clitics:

-iiy DXS deictic clitic, mostly referring to events in the

past

ʔi- THEN then

wa- PROG progressive/durative aspect

xa- ALREADY already

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maʔ NEG negative particle

Valency-decreasing and valency-increasing suffixes:

-h- PAS infix of passives from CVC transitive verbal

stems

-n- DerPAS1 suffix of passives from derived transitive

verbal stems

-w- DerPAS2 suffix of passives from derived transitive

verbal stems (dialectal variant)

-VVy MID middle voice (state of change verbs)

-ey VC.MID middle voice (state of change verbs) of

glottal stop initial verbal stems

-Vw APAS antipassives from CVC transitive verbal

stems

-oon VC.APAS antipassives from non-CVC transitive verbal

stems

-ø DerAPAS antipassives from derived transitive verbal

stems

Verbal derivation:

-b'u(-*b'a) POS.CAUS causatives from positional verbal stems

-es CAUS causatives from other intransitive verbal

stems

-kun(-*kin) ADJ.CAUS causatives from noun and adjectives

(Yukatek gloss)

-aj INCH1 inchoatives from nouns

-VVn INCH2 inchoatives? from nouns (dialectal variant?)

Adjectival derivation:
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-Vl ADJ1 adjectives from nouns

-VVl STAT.PART stative participles from transitive and

positional verbal stems

-b'il PRF.TR.PART perfect participles from transitive verbal

stems

-eʔm ?PRF.NTR.PART perfect participles from intransitive verbal

stems

-il ADJ2 adjectives from compound nouns

Numerals:

-ij TIME.FUT counting of time periods (in N days)

-jiiy TIME.PST counting of time periods from the past (N

days later)

-lat CL count of days

-heʔw CL count of days

-heʔn CL count of days (dialectal variant)

-b'ix CL counting of either 5 or 7 days

-tal CL count of days

-teʔ CL default numeral classifier

-pik CL counts of 8000

-tz'ak CL count of successors

-pis CL count of years

-kob CL count of twins

Noun inflection:

-il INAL1 inalienable possession

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-el INAL2 inalienable possession for some body

substances such as blood, bones, skin and
hair

-is ABS unpossessed form of body parts

ti PREP1 default marker of oblique case/ preposition

ta PREP2 default marker of oblique case/ preposition

(dialectal variant)

Noun derivation:

-il ABST1 abstract nouns

-lel ABST2 abstract nouns (dialectal variant)

-aj NMZ1 nominalizer

-il NMZ2 nominalizer (compound verbs)

-eʔl NMZ3 nominalizer, gerundival nouns

-an NMZ4 nominalizer (few nouns only)

-Vl TOP place-names from nouns (where "X"

abounds)

-aal NOUN nouns from nouns

-taak COL collective nouns

-aʔ AG3 suffix of agentive nouns (from verb and

nouns)

ʔaj- AG1 prefix of agentive nouns (from verb and

nouns)

ʔix- FEM female prefix (from verb and nouns)

-oʔm AG2 suffix of agentive nouns (from verbs)

-ib' INSTR instrumental nouns from verbs (instruments

and places)

-VVb' ?AG4 suffix of agentive nouns (from verbs)

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+ + compound nouns and verbs

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Examples of Hieroglyphic Mayan Interlinear Glossed Texts.

Text 1. Yaxchilan Lintel 24 (Drawing by I. Graham)

 86

А1-F3 (1) ti-5-ʔEB'DAY 15-ma-MAK ʔu-b'a-hi ti-CH'AJB'-li ti-K'AHK'-la-hu-lu

ʔu-CH'AJB'-chan-WINAAKHAAʔB'-ʔAJAW ʔITZAMNAAH-
B'AHLAM-ʔu-cha-CHAN-nu ʔa-NIK?-ki K'UH-PAʔ-CHAN-ʔAJAW-
wa

А1-F3 (2) ti hoʔ ʔeb' hoʔlajuʔn mak ʔub'aah ti ch'ajb'il ti k'ahk'al hul ʔuch'ajb'
chanwinaakhaaʔb' ʔajaw ʔitzamnaahb'ahlam ʔucha'n ʔajnik k'uhul
paʔchan ʔajaw

А1-F3 (3) ti hoʔ ʔeb' hoʔlajuʔn mak ʔu-b'aah-ø ti ch'ajb'-il ti k'ahk'-al hul ʔu-
ch'ajb'-ø chan-winaakhaaʔb' ʔajaw ʔitzamnaaj b'ahlam ʔu-cha'n-ø ʔaj-
nik k'uh-ul paʔ+chan ʔajaw

А1-F3 (4) PREP1 five ʔeb' fifteen mak ERG31-image-ABS3 PREP1 sacrifice-
ABST1 PREP1 fire-ADJ1 spear ERG31-sacrifice-ABS3 four-twenty.years
king ʔitzamnaaj jaguar ERG31-master-ABS3 AG1-flower? god-ADJ1
broken+sky king

А1-F3 (5) On the day 11 ʔEb', the 15th day of the month Mak it is his image in
penitence with the fiery spear, it is the sacrifice of the four-k'atun king
ʔItzamnaaj-B'ahlam, ʔAj-Nik's master, godly Paʔchan king.

G1-4 (1) ʔu-b'a-hi-ti-CH'AJB'-li ʔIX-...N-na-XOOK-ki ʔIX-k'a-b'a-la-XOOK-ki

ʔIX-KALOʔM-TEʔ

G1-4 (2) ʔub'aah ti ch'ajb'il ʔix...n?xook 'ixk'ab'alxook ʔixkaloʔmteʔ

G1-4 (3) ʔu-b'aah-ø ti ch'ajb'-il ʔix-... xook 'ix k'ab'-al xook ʔix-kaloʔmteʔ

G1-4 (4) ERG31-image-ABS3 PREP1 sacrifice-ABST1 FEM-... shark FEM-hand-

ADJ1 shark FEM-overlord

G1-4 (5) It is her image in penitence of ʔIx-...n-Xook ʔIx-K'ab'al-Xook, she from

the lineage of overlords.

H1-4 (1) T'AB'-yi yu-xu-lu ʔa-CHAAHK?-li ʔa-na?-la

H1-4 (2) t'ab'aay yuxul ʔa...l ʔa...l

H1-4 (3) t'ab'-aay-ø y-uxul ʔAj?-...l ʔAj?-...l

H1-4 (4) ascend-MID-ABS3 ERG32-sculpture AG1?-... AG1?-...

H1-4 (5) ʔA...l ʔA...l's sculpture got raised.

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Text 2. Incised Shell K8895 (drawing by P. Mathews)

(1) ʔa-wu-le-li-ya ti-ni-...-la me-te-ya-ʔa-la-ni ʔo-po-ya-ʔa-la-ji-ya hu-

b'i-ʔu-hu-chi 2po-lo-tz'i-ʔi b'a-che-b'u

(2) ʔawuleliiy ti ni...al met yaʔlaan ʔop yaʔljiiy huub' ʔuhuuch pohpol tz'iʔ
b'aah cheʔhb'

(3) ʔa-hul-el-iiy ti ni-...-al met y-aʔl-aan-ø ʔop y-aʔl-VVj-iiy-ø huub' ʔu-

huuch-ø pohp-ol tz'iʔ b'aah cheʔhb'

(4) ERG2Sg1-come-IPFV.NTR-DXS PREP1 ERG1Sg1-?-ADJ1 nest ERG32-

say-IPFV.TR-ABS3 lorikeet ERG32-say-PRF-DXS-ABS3 shellfish
ERG31-shell-ABS3 mat-ADJ1 dog first quill

(5) Then? you are coming to my (such-and-such) nest, Lorikeet says, as it

has been said by Shellfish. It is the shell of Pohpol-Tz'iʔ, the first quill
(palace title of chief scribe).