USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > Madisonville > Indian Village Site and Cemetery Near Madisonville, Ohio > Part 42
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Class la. t-in sul-ah in-meya, I finished my work; literally, in past time, my finishing something, in past time, my work.
Class 1 b. t-a kim-s-ah in yum, you killed my father.'
Class III a. t-u s'on-ah ke, he shot the deer.
Class III b. t-a 5'ib-t-ah huun, you wrote the letter.
1 It has already been pointed out (p. 68) that Coronel and San Buena- ventura make no distinction in the present between the form of the transitive and that of the intransitive. In the past tense, however, both make the same distinction between the transitive and intransitive as that made here and in Beltran. Coronel changes the -ah of the past to i when a question is asked; mak kambesi palalob, who showed (it to) the boys?
Seler (p. 91, 92) has much to say about this -ah. He considers this is used with the original passive nominal roots to express a transitive idea. He fails, it seems to me, to recognize that this -ah, as a sign of the past, is exactly equiv- alent to the -ik as the sign of the present with transitive verbs, although later in his paper (p. 118) he recognizes the -ah as used " in the preterite of the transitive root conjugation."
? In a few cases when the verbal pronoun is used as an object this sign of the past is omitted:
tu putš-en, he struck me.
As will be pointed out later (p. 94) the -ah is usually omitted in response to questions.
: Seler (p. 86) gives this form excepting the time particle of the pronoun and translates it literally, " thy dead one is my father." He writes, " Immerhin kann man sich der Anschauung nicht verschliessen, dass den transitiven und den passiven Verbalausdrücken dieselben Nominolthemata passiver Bedeutung zu Grunde liegen, die zur Bildung der passiven Ausdrücke nach den Regeln der
79
THE VERB
As in the present there is a syncopation of the a of the ending -ah when the verbal pronoun beginning with a vowel is used as the object :
tu kam-be-s-ah-en becomes tu kambe-s-h-en, he showed something to me.
Action just completed is expressed by the nominal pronoun com- pounded with the root of the verb, s'ok, to finish. The verbal stem takes the -ah for the past : 1
J'ok-a puts-ah-en, contracted to s'a puts-h-en, you have just finished hit- ting me.
J'ok-k kim-s-ah ke, contracted to s'oq kim-s-ah ke, we have just finished killing the deer.
There is a form of the past in -ki. This is used in clauses with the idea of " since " or " after." ?
Distant past in the transitive is expressed by the suffix m com- pounded with the usual sign of the past, -ah.3 In most cases the temporal sign with the pronoun is omitted in these forms:
prädikativen Aussage mit dem Personalpronomen verbunden werden, zur Bildung der tronsitiven Ausdrücke mit dem Possessivpräfixe versehen werden." 1 readily admit the passive relationship shown in verbs of Class 1 (p. 63) but this form is to be explained as follows; - my causing (s) someone in past time (ah) to die (kim) my (in) father (yum). The use of the causal emphasizes the activity of the subject.
1 Beltran (§ 85) gives the form in 'ok. He also uses it with the intransitive verb.
Ruz (1844) has the form in s'ook for the future perfect, the preterit perfect and the pluperfect tenses.
Lopez has the form in s'ok uncontracted with pronoun and a form in J'okili for the pluperfect.
? Compare Seler (p. 121, 122). Beltran (§§ 174, 175), notes the statement of San Buenaventura regarding variations in his 4th Conjugation in using the -ki and not -ah for the past. Beltran states that the form in -ki may be used with all verbs but he limits the use to the meaning, " despues que 6 desde que."
kim-ki in yume oqomuol, after my father died, I was sad.
Coronel uses the -ki form for the past with reservation regarding clauses. He also has the form iki when the verbal root has two consonants preceding this ending;
kokint-iki.
The forms of the past made by adding kutsi to the forms of the present which are given in all the Spanish grammars are not commonly employed at the present time. 1 was unable to find the forms given in the early grammars for the Preterito Pluscuamperfecto in ili kutši.
3 Ruz (1844, p. 81, 82), in his preterit perfect and pluperfect, has a form in -ma following the -ah of the past rather than preceding it as above;
80
GRAMMAR
in putš-m-ah-etš, 1 hit you a long time ago.
u s'on-m-ah-en, he shot me a long time ago.
a kim-s-m-ah, you killed it a long time ago.
u het-m-ah-ob, they opened it a long time ago.
u yal-m-ah tan-il-ob, he spoke these words a long time ago (Xiu ms.).
MODES. There is no sharp distinction between the different modes in Maya. The Spanish grammarians in their endeavor to find corresponding forms for everything in the Latin grammar give forms for the different modes which are, in many cases, most artificial.
Indicative Mode. There is no occasion to comment on this.
Subjunctive Mode. This is really lacking in Maya.1 The idea of a future possibility is expressed by certain forms of the future and
ten in sah-t-ah-ma, 1 have feared. ten in sah-t-ah-ma katši, I had feared.
Lopez (§ 98) has the same forms as Ruz, calling them a pretérito indifinido. He gives examples for both intransitive and transitive verbs; u-hant-ma-ob, lo han comido.
in-hant-ah-ma-wah, yo he comido pan.
1 Beltran and his predecessors use the form of the Futuro Imperfecto with various modifications for all tenses of the Subjunctive. The bin is dropped, as observed in my form, and Beltran gets the following forms; ten nakaken, 1st Conjugation. ten in bike, 3d Conjugation.
ten in kambes, 2d Conjugation. ten in kanante, 4th Conjugation.
It will be observed that he prefixes the verbal pronoun compounded with t. This verbal pronoun is quite unnecessary. As the form stands with Beltran the meaning of ten nakaken would be, " I am the one who may ascend." For the Preterito Imperfecto of the Subjunctive Beltran uses hi or hiwill as a prefix to the forms for the present;
hi or hiwil nakaken.
These forms for the past of the subjunctive are the same as those given by Coronel and San Buenaventura for the present of this mode, Coronel using hij for hi. The use of this form in hi or hij is clearly incorrect as h conveys the meaning of past time.
Beltran in his text (§§ 73, 74) states that the better form of the subjunctive of transitive verbs adds a final -e. This seems to agree with my statement that the subjunctive is a future. He also gives forms for the subjunctive in -ina:
naka-k-en ina, or in nah nakal, yo subiéra.
in kambes ina, or in nah in kambes, yo lo enseñára.
It should be noted that Coronel and San Buenaventura give forms in ka-ina
81
THE VERB
I have regarded these forms as belonging to a potential mode. A conditional statement is usually introduced by the particle wa, if. The verb has no special form in the conditional clause. The future is usually employed in the main clause:
wa (or wai) yan taqin, hen bin-e, if I had money I should go.
Potential Mode. The idea of a future possibility is expressed by certain forms of the future. The most common is the use of the nominal pronoun compounded with k- (p. 46). The suffix of the future, -e, may or may not be retained in intransitives: 1
k-in putš-e, I may strike him. k-in qai or k-in qai-y-e, I may sing.
k-in s'on or k-in s'on-e, I may shoot.
The defective verb, utšak, has the meaning, “ it is possible, per- haps " and it is sometimes used in connection with the preceding forms.2
The future in ak and the verbal pronoun are also used to express a future possibility. The prefix, bin, is usually omitted: 3 lub-n-ak-en, I may fall. bin-n-k-etš, you may go. 'on-[n]-ak-i, he may shcot.
Imperative Mode. In the intransitive this is usually formed by adding the suffix -en to the shortened stem or root: 4
for the Optative. I consider all these forms in hi, hiwil and ina alone or com- bined with kutši, ili kutši, and ili kotsom as artificial in their formation.
Coronel and San Buenaventura give only the present and the imperfect of the subjunctive. Beltran has, in addition, the preterit and two futures.
Palma y Palma (p. 190) in criticizing these forms of Beltran writes very truthfully, "Y así formas del subjuntivo. Yo no sabré decir de una manera fija cual es la causa de esto; pero sospecho que consiste en el afán de calcar las formas verbales de los tiempos mayas á las de los verbos castellanos y latinos empleando para esto partículas del futuro, del pasado ó del futuro y pasado para hacer los tiempos llamados mixtos como habré ido."
1 These forms correspond to those given by Lopez (p. 51) for the subjunc- tive of active verbs.
? Compare Lopez (§ 120). ' .
Coronel and San Buenaventura (fol. 18 ob.) give the form utšak or utšuk with the meaning " to be able " ;
utšuk in beeltik, lo, I am able to do this.
utšuk a binel, you are able to go.
3 These forms correspond to those given by Lopez (p. 39, etc.) for the sub- junctive of neuter verbs.
4 The Spanish grammars have the imperative in -en for verbs of their 1st
82
GRAMMAR
Class I. nak-en, climb. lub-en, fall. ah-en, wake up. em-en, come down.
These forms for verbs of Class I are the same as the first person singular of the past tense of the intransitive. It has previously been pointed out (p. 71) that the latter may be preceded by a t or t' to distinguish it from the imperative. This similarity is not seen in the imperative in verbs of Class III which form their past. in n-ah:
Class III. J'on-en, shoot. sut-en, jump. qai-y-en, sing. mis-en, sweep, broom.
It should be noted that the causal sign or the sign of the agent is not found in the imperative of the intransitive in Class I b and III b respectively.
In verbs of Class II in -tal, the same rule holds, to add -en to the stem. The typical ending for verbs of this class, -tal, is con- tracted to 1:
Class II. tsi-tal-en becomes tši-1-en, lie down. kuš-tal-en becomes kuš-1-en, live.1
This contraction of the stem in -tal suggests the possibility that the imperative of verbs of Class I above was formerly made from the stem in -1:
nak-al-en becoming nak-en. ah-al-en becoming ah-en. lub-ul-en becoming lub-en. em-el-en becoming em-en.
conjugation. Beltran gives nothing but the present tense of the imperative. Coronel and San Buenaventura give a future imperative compounded with the root of the verb qat, to desire.
Seler (p. 111) in his interpretaion of the imperative in -en writes, "Ich bin also in der That geneigt, auch der zweiten Person des Imperativs der Verba neutro- passiva die ursprüngliche Bedeutung eines Participii Perfecti zuzuweisen, welche imperativische Bedeutung in derselben Weise bekommen hat, wie etwa unser Kavalleriekommando ' Aufgesessen!' - Eine Differenzirung des Imperativs und des Partizipium kommt in einfacher Weise durch den Accent zu Stande, indem der Imperativ in eindringlicher Weise die letzte Silbe betont, das Participium den Ton auf der Stammsilbe behält." In this he tries to trace a similarity between the -en of the imperative and the -an of the past participle.
1 Seler (p. 106) gives the imperative of this form as kuš-1-ah-en.
83
THE VERB
The imperative in the transitive, as already pointed out, is very similar to the future. It ends in -e when no pronominal object is expressed. The sign of the present -ik is never found as it is some- times in the future: 1
Class I a. putš-e, hit it.
Class I b. kim-s-e, kill it, cause something to die.
Class III a. s'on-e, shoot it.
Class III b. mis-t-e, sweep it. mis-t-e na, sweep the house .?
It should be noted that the -e is not attached to the object as in the case of the future tense expressed with the same suffix. This -e is lost by syncope when a pronominal object or the sign of the plural is used.3
1 This form is similar to those used with the 4th Conjugation of the Spanish grammars and of the 3d of Beltran as well. In the latter conjugation Coronel and San Buenaventura use a vowel corresponding to that of the root explain- ing this as formed from the future stem in -ab, -eb, -ib, -ob, -ub with the loss of the final b. Beltran (§ 112) does not accept this form and makes the im- perative of his 3d Conjugation as is done here.
Seler (p. 104) follows San Buenaventura and gives the imperative of monosyllabic roots ending in the vowel corresponding to that of the root. He recognizes (p. 104, 105) the imperatives of some verbs as ending in -e but incorrectly derives these from a future in eb.
In the 2d Conjugation of the early grammars the imperative ends in es (ez). This conjugation corresponds to Class 1 b, the s being causal. It is prob- able that the imperative of these verbs formerly followed the rule of the transi- tive and added an e. This e was then elided, as stated before, in connection with the future of these forms;
kambe-s-e becoming kambe-s.
Seler (p. 106) in his attempts to explain all transitive forms as passives gives the following translation;
u kambe-s Pedro Juan, John shall teach Peter or by him taught Peter (namely by) John.
: Palma y Palma (p. 179) drops the e when an object is used; kanan-t-e, cúidalo.
kanan-t le simno, cuida ese caballo.
He adds " Nunca se dice."
kanan-t-e le oimno.
3 Beltran (§§ 114, 144) also notes this and gives the form; oik-en for bike-en.
Seler (p. 87, 109) gives the imperative in i after San Buenaventura. He explains the preceding form as follows;
Jiki-en or oik-en, derived from oiki-b-en, obey me, or " that one to whom (by thee) obedience shall be, am I."
84
GRAMMAR
Optative. The idea expressed by the Spanish, Ojala, forming an optative, is shown in Maya by the root of the verb qat, to desire with the future stem.1 This form is considered under the irregular verbs (p. 60).
THE PASSIVE. It has already been pointed out (p. 63) that syntactically many of the forms expressing the passive relation- ship cannot be separated from those expressing the active voice .? It has seemed best to consider the passive voice here as as whole however.
Present Time. In the sense of action still going on, this is ex- pressed by the suffix in -al, -el, -il, -ol, -ul which gives the idea of the subject as being affected by the action of the verb. This suffix in -1 is found either alone, with the causal s, or with the in- strumental t.
Class I a and I b both use the causal s with the suffix -1 to ex- press a passive relationship:
Class I a. tun het-s-el, it is being opened, literally, its being affected by someone causing it to open.
tin nas'-s-al, I am being approached, literally, my being affected by someone causing a nearness to me.
tin ah-s-al, I am being awakened, literally, my being affected by someone causing me to wake.
I cannot agree with him in this as the passive relationship is in no way ex- pressed by the simple root of the verb nor can this form be derived from oiki-b-en.
Coronel and San Buenaventura give forms for a future imperative with the root of the verb kat, possibly from the root qat, " to ask ";
1st Conjugation, kat a nak-āk-etš.
2d Conjugation, kat a kambes.
3d Conjugation, kat a oik-ib.
4th Conjugation, kat a kanant-e.
These forms are similar to the future exchanging the bin for kat. Seler (p. 106) seems to recognize these forms in ak only in the 3d person.
1 Coronel in his paradigms makes an optative by prefixing kahi to the future stem. This is undoubtedly the root of the verb qat. In his text he states that the optative is made by prefixing kaina to the Futuro Imperfecto. San Buenaventura gives the form in kaina for the optative in addition to the form in kahi. Beltran does not show the optative in his paradigms.
' Seler endeavors to make out, as previously shown, that all transitive ex- pressions are passive in construction. I think he is incorrect in making this sweeping statement. He admits (p. 86, 90) there are various features which upset this theory.
85
THE VERB
Class I b, tun ban-s-al, it is being thrown down, literally, its being affected by someone causing it to tumble down.
tin kim-s-il, I am being killed, literally, my being affected by someone causing me to die.
It is interesting to note that, whereas in the passive both sub- divisions of Class I use the causal, in the active, transitive, of verbs of Class I b the causal is still retained but in Class I a it is not found :
Class I a. tun het-ik, he is opening something. tin nas'-ik, I am approaching something. tin ah-ik, I am awakening someone.
Class I b. tun ban-s-ik, he is destroying something. tin kim-s-ik, I am killing something.
There are some cases in the passive where the vowel of the root does not agree with the vowel of the suffix. There is a tendency to use -al as the suffix even where the vowel of the root is not a : 1
Class III. These verbs from neuter stems express the passive relationship by adding -1 either directly to the stem in Class III a or to the stem with the sign of the agent, t, in Class III b; 2
Class III a. tin los-ol, I am being hit, literally, my being affected by a fist. tin has'-al, I am being whipped. Class III b. tun mis-t-al,' it is being swept, literally, its being affected by means of a broom. tun han-t-al, it is being eaten.
When the stem ends in a vowel a b is prefixed to the suffix: 4 tun sa-b-al, it is being given. tan-k tši-b-il, we are being bitten. tin tš'a-b-al, I am being taken.
1 Beltran (§ 56) makes the passive of verbs of his 1st Conjugation by adding -sal or -tal to the root. He makes no mention in these verbs of an agreement between the vowel of the root with that of the suffix. The s of his suffix -sal is undoubtedly the causal and the t of the suffix -tal is the instrument. Palma y Palma (p. 180) has the same rule.
? Beltran (§ 57) gives these same forms for the passive and notes the agree- ment between the vowel of the stem and that of the suffix. All state that verbs in the passive go in their Ist Conjugation.
' The same tendency to use the suffix -al even when the vowel of the stem is not a is seen here as with verbs of Class I.
' Coronel and his followers have this same form. Beltran (§ 57) has the form in -bal for the passive for verbs of his 2d and 4th Conjugations; From kambesah he gets the passive, kambesabal. From kanantah he gets kanantabal. .
86
GRAMMAR
Future Time. In the passive this is expressed by the same stems as in the present with the time particle of the future used with the nominal pronoun and the sign of the future, -e:
Class I a. hu (he-u) het-s-el-e, it will be opened. Class I b. hen (he-in) kim-s-il-e, I shall be killed, literally, in future time, my being affected by someone causing me to die in future time. hen kam-be-s-al-e, I shall be shown.
Class III a. hen kat-al-e, I shall be asked. hen wal-al-e, I shall be mentioned. hen s'on-ol-e, I shall be shot, literally, I am affected by a gun Class III b. hu s'ib-t-il-e, it will be written. hu han-t-al-e, it will be eaten.
There is a second form for the future in the passive correspond- ing to the form in bin in the active:
Class 1 a. bin man-s-ai-ak-en, contracting to bin man-s-ak-en, I am going to be passed (on the road).
bin nak-s-al-ak-en, contracting to bin nak-s-ak-en, I am going to be climbed.
Class I b. bin kim-s-al-äk-en, contracting to bin kim-s-äk-en, I am go- ing to be killed, literally, I am going to be affected by someone causing me to die.
Class III a. bin kat-al-ak-en, I am going to be asked. bin al-al-ak-en, I am going to be awakened. bin s'on-ol-ak-en, I am going to be shot.
Class III b. bin mis-t-al-ak-i, contracted to bin mis-t-ak-i, it is going to be swept, it will be swept.
It should be noted that verbs in Class III a, if contracted in these forms, would have the same forms in the future of the pas- sive as in the intransitive active. There is no chance of confusion in the contracted forms of verbs in the other classes as the causal s is not found in the intransitive active in verbs of Classes I a and Ib, and the agent t is not found in the corresponding forms in verbs of Class III b.
I consider the passives of these verbs should be kambe-s-al and kanan-t-al. The form kambesabal is the passive participle.
Beltran (§ 116) objects to some of the forms of San Buenaventura in the passive of verbs of the 3d Conjugation where the latter states that a b is added together with a vowel similar to that of the root;
San Buenaventura gives yey-b-il, Beltran gives yey-al.
San Buenaventura gives nuk-b-ul, Beltran gives nuk-al. The forms of Beltran agree with those given here.
87
THE VERB
Past Time. This is expressed in the passive in all verbs which have a passive by adding a b to the sign of the past and the verbal pronoun directly to the stem in verbs of Class III a, to the stem with the sign of the agent in Class III b, and to the stem with the causal s in verbs of Class I:
Class I. ah-s-ah-b-en, I was awakened. nas'-s-ah-b-en, I was approached.
Class III a. nats-ah-b-en, I was bitten.
J'on-ah-b-en, I was shot.
Class III b. han-t-ah-b-i, it was eaten.
It is not clear how these forms have been derived. The usual sign of the past is ah. The b is seen in the present tense of the passive between two vowels, as already pointed out (p. 85).
The b is often exchanged for a n and we get other forms express- ing the same ideas as above:
natš-ah-n-en, I was bitten.1 J'on-ah-n-en, I was shot. ah-s-ah-n-en, I was awakened.
This form in n is seen in the past participle:
natš-an, a thing bitten. J'on-an, a thing shot. kim-s-an, a thing killed, literally, a thing caused to die.
There is another form expressing distant past in the passive made by duplicating the sign of the past, -ah:
J'on-ah-ah-n-en, I was shot a long time ago.
VERBAL NOUNS. There is a large class of verbal nouns made directly from the stem by the use of the verbal pronoun. This pro- noun always carries with it the verbal idea, "the one who does something" or "the one affected by the action of the verb." It is never found in the present tense with verbs. It is used with no sign of the past in verbs of Class I to express past time. These forms are really verbal nouns;
1 It is interesting to compare these forms with the intransitive, active, past tense;
nats-n-ah-en, I performed the action of biting. natš-ah-n-en, I was bitten.
'on-[n]-ah-en, I shot, literally, I was a gunner.
J'on ah-n-en, I was shot, literally, I was gunned.
88
GRAMMAR
Class I. lub-en, I fell, I am a faller, I am one who falls. man-en, I bought, I am a buyer, I am a merchant. han-en, I ate, I am an eater. nak-en, I climbed, I am a climber. kim-s-en, I am a matador, I am one who causes something to die.
With verbs of Class III verbal nouns are made in the same way;
J'on-en, I am a gunner. qal-y-etš, you are a singer. ooqot-en, I am a dancer.
It should be noted that, unlike verbs of Class I, these forms in Class III are not the same as those used for the past tense. The past of verbs in Class III is made by infixing n and the sign of the past, -ah, between the root and the verbal pronoun:
J'on-[n]-ah-en, I shot. qai-n-ah-etš, you sang. ooqot-n-ab-en, I danced.
The prefixes of gender, H for male, and š for female, are used with the verbal nouns:
H-man-en, I am a male merchant.
š-qai-etš, you are a female singer.
There is a chance for confusion in the 1st person of the verbal pronoun especially with verbs of Class I as the same form is used for the imperative of the intransitive as well as for the past tense. As already pointed out (p. 72), the form for the past usually has an initial t or t' and the verbal noun has the sign of the gender.
There is a class of nouns made from verbs by means of the suffix -b preceded by the vowel corresponding to that of the stem.1 This suffix denotes the instrument with which the action is performed. This b undoubtedly is the same as that found in the past tense of the passive.
bah-ab, a hammer, from bah, to nail.
he-eb, a key, from he, to open, the instrument by which something is opened.
Past Participle. Verbal nouns having the meaning usually as- signed to the past participle end in -an.2 This is added to the root;
1 Compare Seler, p. 107.
? Lopez (§ 101) states that this participle is formed in aan or ahan: mentaan or mentahan, hecho. p'oaan, lavado.
89
THE VERB
neither causal sign nor that of the agent appear in Classes I b and III b respectively. In verbs of Class II the t of the suffix -tal may be retained, giving -tan, or the form may be made in -lan.1
Class Ia. nak-an, a thing fallen.
Class I b. kim-an, a thing dead .?
Class II. kuš-t-an or kuš-l-an, a thing living.
Class III a. s'on-an, a thing shot.
Class III b. mis-an, a thing swept.3
The plural of the participle follows the same rule as that for the adjective, adding the suffix, -tak or -ak. This may be used with or without the regular plural ending -ob. The latter may also be used alone:
J'iban-ak, s'iban-ak-ob, J'iban-ob, things written.
Passive Participle. The passive idea in verbal nouns is brought out by means of the suffixes -bal or -bil added to the passive stem.‘ When the stem ends in a consonant an a is added for euphony between the consonant of the stem and that of the suffix: 5
Class I a. nak-s-a-bal, a thing to be climbed.
Class Ib. kim-s-a-bal, a thing to be killed.
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