USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > Madisonville > Indian Village Site and Cemetery Near Madisonville, Ohio > Part 39
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tan-a into t-an 2 tan-a w-atan into t-an w-atan.
tan-u into t-un tan-u y-atan into tan y-atan.
tan-k remains tan-k tan-k atan remains tan-k atan.
Ki or k contracts with the pronoun as follows:
ki-in into k-in. ki-a into k-a. ki-u into k-u. ki-k into q.
1 Lopez (§ 72), speaks of the ki- used with the pronoun for the present and ti- for the past, giving, respectively, kin, ka, ku and tin, ta, tu.
? Lopez (§ 163) makes this contraction ta instead of tan, tu instead of tun, resulting in the same forms as the contraction seen in the past tense of t or ti and the pronoun into ta and tu. In the 1st person, singular, the resulting forms in the present and past agree, tan-in, and t-in both giving tin. In all the other persons the forms in the present and past do not agree.
44
GRAMMAR
Past, t, forms with the pronoun the following.
t-in remains t-in or t'-in. t-a remains t-a or t'-a. t-u remains t-u or t'-u. t-k becomes t'.
J'ok may contract with the pronoun as follows:
J'ok-in into o'-in. J'ok-a into o'-a.
J'ok-u into o'-u.
J'ok-k becomes s'oq.
Future, he, may contract with the pronoun as follows:
he-in into he-n.
he-a into b-a. he-u into h-u. he-k remains he-k.
A more detailed consideration of these particles will now be attempted.
Present time. This is expressed in the pronoun by the Indians with whom I worked by the particle tan.1 The union of this par-
1 The early Spanish grammars do not recognize these time particles. Bel- tran, however (§ 262) notes the particle tan as expressing present time. He does not speak of the contracted forms. The Motul Dictionary has the follow- ing entry under tan, " presencia, tin tan, ta tan, tu tan." Perez (1866-1877) has the following, "Tan, verbo impersonal: el acto ó capacidad de hacer o ejecutar. Tan u tal, está viniendo." This would seem to show that the uncontracted forms were employed in early times.
The Ticul dictionary (Perez, 1898) gives the following under tan, "en presencia, con tin, ta, tu, se usa tin tan, en mi presencia, ante mi."
San Buenaventura (fol. 19) gives the particle tan as always prefixed to the active verb in ik:
tan in kambesik, ) am showing something.
This indicates that the uncontracted form was in good use in his time. Cruz (1912) frequently uses the uncontracted form of the nominal pronoun with tan in his examples of the present tense. He is more inclined, however, to employ it with a negative;
ma tan a betik, you are making nothing.
baaš ten tan u kanik, why does he not learn?
Palma y Palma (p. 177) uses the forms tin, tan, tun, etc., for his transitive verbs in the present tense. These are undoubtedly the contracted forms of tan-in, tan-a, tan-u as he specifically mentions (p. 177) these forms compounded with taan. His interpretation of tin, however, differs from the one given here. He states that it is formed from ti " cuando se dice al por à el. . . . Tin en el
45
THE PRONOUN
ticle with the pronoun is seen above. Tan seems to convey the idea of continued action in the present:
tin (tan-in) šotik tše, I am now cutting wood or I am now engaged in the act of cutting wood.
tan-k han-al, we are eating, we are engaged in the act of eating. tun (tan-u) wen-el, he is sleeping.
With vowel stems, where y is the semi-vowel added only in the 3d person, the form of the pronoun of this person with tan shows the dropping of the u, the true pronoun, and the tan is retained:
tan yooqot, he is dancing.
rather than
tun (tan-u) yooqot.
which might be expected.
The use of tan with the pronoun to express present time seems to be less common in many parts of the peninsula than the use of the ki- or k- compounded with the nominal pronoun.1 This form is
presente de indicativo tanto se puede considerar sincopa de ti in, como de taan in. Ti in betik. Esto vale lo hago. Taan in betik. Esto vale lo estoy haciendo."
Lopez (§§ 158, 163), in writing of synalephe, uses as illustrations forms in tan:
tin bin for tan in bin, 1 am going. tin hanal for tan in hanal, 1 am eating.
He makes no mention in any other part of his grammar of this use of tan in the present tense.
1 Beltran (§ 161) gives the form ki as denoting present time when com- pounded with the nominal pronoun. He often uses his pronoun t-en, t-ets, etc., with this;
ten ki-in wal-ik, contracting to ten kin walik, I am saying it.
He repeats the same form (§ 34) in the preterit; ten kin yakunah, I loved someone.
These sentences should more properly be translated;
I am the one who is talking.
I am the one who loved someone.
In § 101 he states that the particle ki appears as if it were a pronoun but it is merely used for ornament or for greater signification and denotes present time. Here he uses it without the verbal pronoun compounded with t, as above, but notes that it combines with the nominal pronoun into k-in, k-a, k-u, etc.
Palma y Palma uses the forms in k -. He states (p. 171) that it indicates ac- customed action;
.
46
GRAMMAR
recognized at Valladolid but is far less common than that with tan.
The forms in k- or ki- seem, in some cases, to express the idea of a potential mood when used with the future stem in -e:
k-in putš-e, I may strike it.
k-in hant-e, I may eat it.
tuuš k-a bin, where may you be going, where are you going?
The contrast between the use of tan and k with the nominal pro- noun is seen in the following:
le winik k-u tal, the man is going to come, the man may come.
le winik t-un (tan-u) tal, the man is coming, the man is in the act of coming.
When k- or ki- is used the idea may in some cases be translated by the Spanish term "a veces," sometimes.
Future time. This may be expressed by the nominal pronoun compounded with the particle he. The uncontracted forms are found in use among the Mayas as well as among the Lacandones. The contracted forms are shown above. Here, as in the case with the present particle, tan, the first person, dual and plural, does not show contraction. I have been unable to find the derivation of this particle. Undoubtedly this he, as in the case of the tan and J'ok, is derived from a former stem.1
t-in be-t-ik, 1 am doing it. k-in be-t-ik, I am accustomed to do it.
k-in bin, I am accustomed to go.
Zavala uses the forms in k for the present, both of the transitive and in- transitive;
k-in naak-al, I am climbing. k-in kanan-t-ik, I am guarding it.
Lopez follows Beltran and uses the forms in k- or ki- with the nominal pro- noun. He uses it always in combination with the verbal pronoun with t -; ten, tetš, etc.
Martínez thinks that the k-in is a contraction of ka-in.
1 This particle for future time may be a late development. Whereas tan, t, and o'ok are mentioned by the early writers as having some time significance I have found this future time particle, he, given only by several of the later authorities.
Cruz (1912) has the following; he in oikti, I shall give it.
Ruz (1844, p. 88) has the following; ten he in binel, 1 shall go. tetš he a binel, thou wilt go. letilé he u binel, he will go.
k-toon he k binel, we shall go. teeš he a binel, you will go. leti le-ob he u binel, they will go.
47
THE PRONOUN
hên (he-in) bin-[el]-e, I shall go. he-k han-al-e, we shall eat.
hu (he-u) han-t-ik-e (han-t-k-e), he will eat something.
Past time. This is expressed in the nominal pronoun with the particle t. This t unites with the pronoun as we have shown above (p. 44). The resulting form for the first person singular t-in is the same as that for the present pronoun with tan, tan-in contracting to t-in. The history of the two forms is, however, entirely differ- ent. It may be possible that the form expressing past time is pro- nounced with a slightly more explosive character to the initial t than is given to the same form expressing present time. In the first person dual and plural there is an unusual change. The pro- nominal prefix k is dropped and the sign of the past (t) is changed to the fortis (t'). There is necessarily a slight hiatus in this form before the explosive t and the initial consonant sound of the ver- bal stem.1
t-in or t'-in puts-ah, I hit something. t' (t-k) han-t-ah, we ate something.
This t, expressing a past, is undoubtedly the same as that found used directly with the intransitive verb (p. 72) : 2
t-bin-en, I went. t-han-en, 1 ate.
The prefix s'ok is used with the nominal pronoun to convey the idea of action just completed.3 This s'ok is the root of the verb,
Lopez (§ 107) writes; " En vez del futuro imperfecto de indicativo se usa fre- cuentemente el presente, anteponiéndole la partícula he seguida de los pronombres in, a, u, etc. y posponiéndole una e:
he in betike, I shall do it.
Martínez has suggested to me that he is a contracted form of helel, now, to-day. He does not consider the forms in he good Maya.
The Motul and Ticul dictionaries give he as meaning " el que, la que, lo que."
1 Palma y Palma (p. 212) accepts this time particle compounded with the nominal pronoun. In the 1st person plural, however, he gives k or ka instead of t'.
Lopez (p. 50) has t in this place but makes no mention of it being the fortis. Martínez consider this t stands for ten.
? Compare Beltran, § 85. This tense sign, t, should not be confounded with ti or t, meaning " to " and given in the early Spanish grammars as the sign of the dative.
' Beltran (§ 85) also uses the verb s'ok for a preterit with transitive and in-
48
GRAMMAR
" to finish or complete." This is added directly to the forms of the pronoun. Here, again, the Lacandones and many of the Mayas use the uncontracted forms. The contracted forms used by some are seen above. The only unusual contraction is that for the first person dual and plural where s'ok-k becomes s'oq, the two k sounds making a velar k (q). The verb is used in the present stem with s'ok:
'in (s'ok-in) wen-el, I have just been sleeping.
J'oq (s'ok-k) han-t-ik, we have just been eating something, or we have finished eating something.
CASE. It is only in the pronoun that we have any suggestion of case in Maya and even here there are only three; - subjective, objective, and possessive. The oblique cases are all expressed by prepositions.
Subjective. The subject of the verb is always expressed by the pronoun even when there is a noun for the subject. This subject, the nominal pronoun, is really a possessive:
winik u putš-ik Pedro, or u putš-ik winik Pedro, the man is hitting Peter, literally, the man, his hitting something, Peter.
Objective. The forms of the verbal pronoun are used as the object:
tin putš-ik-etš, I am hitting you; literally, present time, 1 am hitting something, present time, you; or, you are the object of my hitting.
In the future the -e, the sign of this tense, is placed at the end of the form:
hu putš-ik-en-e, he will hit me.
transitive verbs. He does not mention the contracted forms made with the nominal pronoun;
J'ok u hantik, he ate it, (ya lo comió),
J'ok u lubul, he fell (ya acabó de caer).
Coronel and San Buenaventura (fol. 17) show the form s'ok in an example which they both give to illustrate the statement that the -ik form is used when an active verb follows a neuter and the latter does not denote action;
J'oki in kanik palaltši, acabé de aprender á rezar.
Lopez (§ 106) states that the form in s'ok is used " con mucha frecuencia " as a preterit perfect; " que significa terminar, acabar y ya ";
han-en, yo comi. J'ok in han-al ya comi.
He has another form with s'ok combined with ili to form the pluperfect. I did not find this form.
J'okili in hanal, I had eaten.
49
THE PRONOUN
The indirect object is expressed by the particle t and the verbal pronoun :
tin 'ib-t-ik-t-ets, contracted to tin s'ib-t-etš, I am writing something to you.
POSSESSIVE PRONOUN. The nominal pronoun is really a posses- sive and is naturally used to express possession. There is little doubt that the possessive idea is uppermost even in the use of this nominal pronoun with a finite verb.1
tin (tan-in) šotik tše, 1 am cutting wood; literally, in present time, my cut- ting something, in present time, wood.
The forms of the nominal pronoun used to convey the idea of possession are attached to the name of the object possessed rather than to that of the possessor;
u-huun Juan, John, his book.
u peq winik, the man's dog.
With nouns beginning with a vowel the nominal pronoun of the third person (u) is often dropped when the semi-vowel is added. There is no cause for confusion in this as y is only added in the 3d person :
u-y-ototš, becomes y-ototš, his house.
Natural possession. There is another form indicating possession made by prefixing the usual form of the nominal pronoun to the name of the object possessed and, at the same time, suffixing the particle -il to the same word. This indicates in most cases, not so much possession, as a natural and often inseparable relation- ship between the possessor and the thing possessed. The possessor is very often an inanimate object; ?
1 Lopez (§ 56) seems to fail to recognize the idea of possession when these forms are used as the subject of the verb. He calls this pronoun "mixed" "porque se usa indistintamente como pronombre personal y como adjectivo posesivo.
in qat in hant in wah, quiero comer mi pan,
donde tenemos el pronombre in empleado, en el primer caso, como personal y en el segundo, como posesivo."
2 Seler (p. 115) writes in this connection, "Im Maya wird dabei, wenn der betreffende Gegenstand zu einer dritten Person gehört und diese dritte Person ausdrücklich genannt ist, das Possessivpräfix der dritten Person als überflüssig night gesetzt."
50
GRAMMAR
u-ha-il ts'en, the water of the well. u-na-il Chichen, the houses of Chichen, more properly, u-na-il-ob. u-na-il winik, the houses for the men. u-s'on-il ke the gun for deer.
DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUN. This is found in three forms. There is no well developed system defining the noun in relation to the speaker, the person addressed, and the person spoken of. The demonstrative roughly corresponds to the Spanish, este, ese, and aquel. I am inclined to think, however, that this similarity is more apparent than real and that there are distinctions in the three sets of forms which will come out later.
The demonstrative is expressed by the suffixes -a, -o, and -e; the first denoting " this one here," the second, " that one there," and the third, " that one at a distance." When one of these is found it is always in connection with the prefix le, itself a demon- strative or a sort of definite article. The latter is sometimes used alone:
lē winik-a, this man here.
le winik-o, that man there, pointing to the place.
le winik-e, that man at an distance.
The prefix le-, also found in the form leeti or leti, the demon- strative of the 3d person, is used, in some cases, in place of the personal pronoun with past tenses of the intransitive:
leeti bini, he went (usually written lay ti).
The same form is used redundantly with transitive verbs and the nominal pronoun:
leeti tu putš-ob, he hit them, more correctly, putš-ah-ob. leeti-ob tu putš-ob, they hit them. maš putše, who hit him? leeti putše, he hit him.
The demonstrative particles are also used with te, as te-la, te-lo, and tē-le contracted, in some cases, into t-la, t-lo, t-le.1
REFLEXIVE PRONOUN. This is made by adding the particle -ba to the usual forms of the nominal pronoun. This is best seen in
1 The Spanish grammars give only the forms te-la and te-lo. Beltran (§ 145) notes the syncopation of the e into t-la, t-lo, and they note that with le an e is added to the noun;
le-peq-e, that dog.
51
THE VERB
transitive verbs with the nominal pronoun as subject and the same form repeated as the object;
tin putš-k-im-ba, contracted from putš-ik-in-ba, I am hitting myself. The n changes for euphony to m as Chilam Balam for Chilan Balam. It should be noted that the verbal pronoun is not used as the object as might be expected. In a past tense we have tin putš-im-ba, 1 hit myself.
The normal form does not seem to be used. This would be tin putš-ah-in-ba.
The reflexive is also seen in the form
tin nas'-k-im-ba, I approach, literally, my nearing it, my, myself.
RECIPROCAL PRONOUN. This relation is expressed by the par- ticle tan-ba or ba-tan: 1
u ba-tan-ba-ob, entre si mismos.
tun putš-k-u-tan-ba-ob, they are hitting one another. .
INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS. These end in š and occur at the be- ginning of the sentence:
maš il-etš, who saw you? maš ta-wil-ah, whom did you see?
baaš ta-5'ibol-t-ah, what do you desire?
tuuš ka-bin, where are you going?
maš meya-n-ah-i, who worked?
baaš ta-mis-t-ah, what are you sweeping?
THE VERB
CLASSIFICATION.
I. Action or state in -al, -el, -il, -ol, -ul.
(a) Pure action or state.
(b) Causal, s. Root in be.
II. " Endowed with " in -tal.
1 San Buenaventura states that tanba is used as a reciprocal in the 2d and 3d person plural. Beltran (§ 47) correctly adds that it can also be used in the 1st person plural.
Palma y Palma (p. 216) gives the reciprocal pronoun as tam-ba; tin qol-tam-ba.
In explaining this form he writes " No vale, me golpeo a mi, sino me golpeo con otro ó con otros en pelea."
52
GRAMMAR
III. Neuter stems.
(a) Stem alone.
(b) Agent, t. Roots in kin and kun. Verbs in -ankil.
IV. Auxiliary " to be " (verbal pronoun).
Root in yan.
V. Irregular and defective verbs.
It does not seem necessary to classify the verbs into the four conjugations according to the methods of the early Spanish gram- marians.1 In place of these conjugations it has seemed more wise to make the following divisions: 2 .
Class I. Verbs in -al, -el, -il, -ol, and ul, denoting action or state. The ending in -1 with a vowel corresponding to that of the root denotes the effect of the action or state upon the subject of the verb: 3
tin lub-ul, I am falling, literally, I am affected by the act of falling, my fall. tin kim-il, I am dying, literally, 1 am affected by the act of death, my death.
tin kim-s-il, I am being killed, literally, I am affected by someone causing me to die, my caused death.
tin wem-el, I am descending, literally, I am affected by the descent.
1 The 1st Conjugation of Beltran and of the other early grammarians is the intransitive verb, and their 2d, 3d, and 4th Conjugations are the active or transitive verb. There is a general correspondence between these conjuga- tions and the classes given here. The 1st Conjugation is my Class I a, the 2d is Class I b, the 3d, composed of monosyllabic stems, is Class IIIa, and the 4th, made up of polysyllabic stems, is Class III b.
For a comparison of the forms given by Beltran, San Buenaventura, and Coronel with forms found today, see p. 286-289. These tables have been taken, for the most part, from the paradigms given by the early grammarians in question. A few forms have been added from the text of the grammars. It should be noted that the forms of the subjunctive, infinitive, and optative have been omitted as forms corresponding with these are not generally found among the present Mayas.
: This classification has been briefly outlined in Tozzer, 1912.
3 For skeleton paradigms of the various classes of verbs, see p. 283-285.
Lopez (§§ 70, 76), following the analogy of the three Spanish conjugations in ar, er and ir, makes five conjugations of the verb in -1, corresponding to the five vowels used with it.
53
THE VERB
These verbs may be further divided into two subclasses:
(a) Pure action or state. The transitive or applicative form is made by dropping the suffix in -1 and adding -ik and other time particles directly to the root:
tin het-el, 1 am performing the act of opening.
tin het-ik, 1 am opening something.
tin nas'-al, 1 am approaching.
tin nas'-ik, I am approaching something.
tin nas'-ah, 1 approached something.
(b) Causal verbs. These make the transitive or applicative form by dropping the suffix in -1 and adding the causal s before the time particles of the verbal stem:
tin ban-al, I am tumbling down, my being affected by the tumble. tin ban-s-ik, I am causing something to tumble down.
tin kim-il, ] am dying.
tin kim-s-ik, I am causing something to die, I am killing something.
Root in be. There is a subdivision in Class I b. A large number of verbal stems are made by adding be, the root of the verb mean- ing " to make " before the causal and the transitive endings, -ik, -ah, and -e : 1
tin kam-be-s-ik, I am teaching sc meone, 1 cause to make learn someone. tin kim-be-s-ik, 1 injure someone, I cause to make someone die.
tin yah-be-s-ik, ] wound someone, 1 cause to make someone wounded.
tin qin-be-s-ik, I sun something, I cause to make something sunned, 1 warm something.
tin qiš-be-s-ik, I fill something with thorns, 1 cause to make something thorny.
Some of these verbs more properly belong in Class III as they are also used with the sign of the agent, t:
tin qin-t-ik, 1 warm something, 1 do something by means of the sun. tin qiš-t-ik, 1 make something thorny, I do something by means of thorns.
1 These causal verbs with be form the 2d Conjugation of the Spanish gram- mars although they are not recognized as causal. The verb used in the para- digm for this Conjugation is kambesah which is described below.
Seler (p. 92, 93) states that t and s (z) are " employed with passive themes to render transitive expressions." His examples of the use of s in this connec- tion show the causal relationship although this is not mentioned by him. The following sentences with his translation make this clear; kim, to die, kim-s-ah, to kill.
aak, fresh, green, aakesah, aksah, to water, to make fresh.
Lopez (§ 103) has much to say concerning the forms of the neuter verb in -1 and the corresponding form of the active verb in -s-ik but no mention is made that this s is a causal.
54
GRAMMAR
This same root, be, is sometimes used with verbal roots or nouns, the sign of the agent, and the transitive endings to denote an in- transitive idea. The root or noun always precedes the nominal pronoun : 1
tal tin be-t-ik, I am making it to come, I am coming.
qai tin be-t-ik, I am singing, I am making it by means of song.
These forms are exactly equivalent to the forms:
tal-in-kah or tin tal, tin qai.
A distinguishing feature of Class I verbs is that the past tense of the intransitive is formed by dropping the -1 of the present stem and adding the verbal pronoun directly to the root:
nas'-en, 1 approached, literally, I am an approacher.
em-etš, Le went down.
kim-i, he died.
ooq-on, we entered, literally, we are enterers.
Thus it will be seen that all verbs of Class I may be used either in the intransitive or transitive or applicative according to the ending employed; the first, denoting simply the effect of the action or state on the subject, and the second, expressing the action or state as directed toward an object. In considering the intransitive and transitive by themselves this subject will be discussed more fully later (p. 64).
Class II. This class of verbs are those in -tal which have the meaning " endowed with." 2 They are intransitive only and form the past in 1-ah with the verbal pronoun : 3
1 Palma y Palma (p. 172, 173) gives these forms and comments on the fact that neither Beltran nor San Buenaventura speak of them. Palma y Palma uses the nominal pronoun compounded with k in his form with be. He gives three ways of saying, " 1 am going ";
bin-in-kah tin bin bin kin be-t-ik. and he adds " todas son muy corrientes." It is quite possible that the form used with be shows a late development in the language.
2 Seler (p. 81) explains these forms as follows; - " Es liegen hier alte No- mina vor. kuš, das als solches im heutigen Maya nicht mehr existirt, eigentlich k'us zu schreiben, entspricht dem Qu'iché-Cakchiquel k'us und heisst ' Herz.' kah ist 'das Gesetzte, Gergründete, die Ansiedlung, das Dorf." He repeats the mis- take of limiting the use of these forms with the verbal pronoun. In the present and future tenses the nominal pronoun is used.
3 Coronel and the other grammatists have a rule that verbs in -tal which have an 1 in the root form the past, not in -lah, but in -hi, as kul-tal, kul-hi.
55
THE VERB
tin kuš-tal, I am living; literally, my being endowed with a heart. kuš-l-ah-i, he lived. tin kah-tal, I am dwelling; literally, my being endowed with a pueblo. kah-1-ah-en, I dwelt. tin tšui-tal, I am hanging.
The same suffix, -tal, is found with verbs of Class IV and with nouns with the same meaning as above:
keel-en, I am cold.
keel-tal-en, 1 am always cold (" endowed with " cold).
kalan, a drunken man. kalan-tal, a drunkard.
Class III. This class is composed of those verbs formed from stems which are nominal in character and which have been called neutral. These verbs may or may not be monosyllabic and they have no uniform ending in the present of the intransitive as those of the former class. The distinction between this class and Class I is seen in these two examples:
Class 1. tin lub-ul, I am falling, my being affected by the act of falling, my fall.
Class Ill. tin s'on, I am shooting, literally, my gunning.
Other examples of Class III follow: 1
From nai, a dream, tin nai, 1 am dreaming, my dreaming. tub, saliva, tin tub, 1 am spitting, my saliva. qai, a song, tin qai, 1 am singing, my song. baab, a crab, tin baab, 1 am swimming, my crabbing.
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