Copala Triqui

Copala
xnaꞌánj nu̱ꞌ
Presentation in Copala Triqui at the fifth Fiesta de las Culturas Indígenas Pueblos y Barrios Originarios
Native to	Oaxaca, Mexico
Native speakers	30,000 (2007) [1]
Language family	Oto-Manguean Mixtecan Trique Copala
Writing system	Latin script
Language codes
ISO 639-3	trc
Glottolog	copa1237
Copala Triqui distribution

Copala Triqui (Spanish : Triqui de Copala) is a Trique language primarily spoken in the municipality of Santiago Juxtlahuaca, Oaxaca, Mexico. ^[2] A 2007 estimate by SIL International placed the number of Copala Triqui speakers at 25,000 in Mexico. ^{[1] [3]}

Geographic distribution

Greenfield, California

Immigrants from Oaxaca have formed a large Copala Triqui speaking community in the city of Greenfield, California. ^[4] A bi-monthly Triqui language class was piloted at the Greenfield Public Library in 2010. ^[5]

Welcome sign in Greenfield, California

Orthography

Triqui has been written in a number of different orthographies, depending on the intended audience. Linguists typically write the language with all tones fully marked and all phonemes represented. However, in works intended for native speakers of Triqui, a practical orthography is often used with a somewhat simpler representation.

The following Copala Triqui example is written in both the practical (first line) and the linguistic (second line) orthographies: ^[6]

Me

Me³

WH

síí

zii⁵

3

rihaan

riaan³²

to

aꞌmii

aꞌmii³²

speak

so̱ꞌ

zoꞌ¹

2

ga̱

ga²

INTERR

Me síí rihaan aꞌmii so̱ꞌ ga̱

Me³ zii⁵ riaan³² aꞌmii³² zoꞌ¹ ga²

WH 3 to speak 2 INTERR

'To whom are you speaking?' (¿Con quién estás hablando?)

Syntax

Copala Triqui has a verb–subject–object word order:

Aꞌnii⁵

put

Mariia⁴

Maria

chraa³

tortilla

raa⁴

in

yoo⁴

tenate

a³².

DECL

Aꞌnii⁵ Mariia⁴ chraa³ raa⁴ yoo⁴ a³².

put Maria tortilla in tenate DECL

'Maria put the tortilla in the tenate (basket).'

Copala Triqui has an accusative marker maa³ or man³, which is obligatory for animate pronominal objects but optional otherwise:

Queneꞌe³

saw

Mariia⁴

Maria

(maa³)

ACC

chraa⁴

tortilla

a³².

DECL

Queneꞌe³ Mariia⁴ (maa³) chraa⁴ a³².

saw Maria ACC tortilla DECL

'Maria saw the tortilla.'

Queneꞌe³

saw

Mariia⁴

Maria

*(maa³)

ACC

zoꞌ¹

you

a³².

DECL

Queneꞌe³ Mariia⁴ *(maa³) zoꞌ¹ a³².

saw Maria ACC you DECL

'Maria saw you.'

This use of the accusative before some objects and not others is what is called differential object marking.

The following example (repeated from above) shows a Copala Triqui question:

Me³

WH

zii⁵

3

riaan³²

to

aꞌmii³²

speak

zoꞌ¹

2

ga²

INTERR

Me³ zii⁵ riaan³² aꞌmii³² zoꞌ¹ ga²

WH 3 to speak 2 INTERR

'To whom are you speaking?' (¿Con quién estas hablando?)

As this example shows, Copala Trique has wh-movement and pied-piping with inversion.

Copala Triqui syntax is described in Hollenbach (1992).

Triqui is interesting for having toggle processes as well. For negation, a completive aspect prefix signifies the negative potential. A potential aspect prefix in the same context signifies the negative completive.

Sample text

The following is a sample of Copala Triqui taken from a legend about the Sun and the Moon. ^[7] The first column is Copala Triqui, the second is a Spanish translation, and the third is an English translation.

Copala Triqui:	Spanish:	English:
(1) Niánj me ꞌo̱ nana̱ maa ga̱a naá ca̱ta̱j riaan zoj riaan zo̱ꞌ riaan me maꞌa̱n ze co̱no̱ maa niánj ne̱ (2) ꞌO̱chrej me ze güii a̱ güii caꞌngaa, [neꞌé] zo̱ꞌ, chumii̱ taj nii me ze ñáán, [neꞌé] zo̱ꞌ, ꞌo̱ xcuaꞌánꞌꞌna̱j Caꞌaj ne̱ (3) Ñáán, [neꞌé] zo̱, xcuaꞌánꞌ Caꞌaj me ze me ndo rá yoꞌ ga̱ taꞌníí ne̱ (4) Me ndo rá ga̱ taꞌníí ne̱ za̱ a ne̱ tiempó yoꞌ ga̱a ne̱ tiempó xrmi̱ꞌ me ne̱ (5) Navij rá, [neꞌé] zo̱ꞌ, navij rá xcuaꞌánꞌ Caꞌaj. (6) Ga̱a ne̱ "Vaa nica̱j" taj ne̱	(1) Esta es una historia antigua que les voy a relatar a ustedes, para tí, para cualquier persona que pueda escuchar esto. (2) Erase una vez, cuando nació el universo, una abuela que se llamaba Ca'aj. (3) Vivía la abuela Ca’aj, quien deseaba mucho tener hijos. (4) Deseaba mucho tener hijos, pero aquel tiempo era tiempo de tinieblas. (5) Se preocupó, se preocupó la abuela Ca’aj. (6) Entonces ella dijo, “Tengo esposo!”	(1) Here is an ancient legend that I am going to tell you all, you, and anyone who can hear this. (2) Once upon a time, when the universe was born, they say that there lived a grandmother named Ca’aj. (3) There lived our Grandmother Ca’aj, who wanted to have children very much. (4) She wanted to have children very much, but that time was a time of darkness. (5) Our Grandmother Ca’aj worried, worried. (6) Then she said, “I have a husband!”

References

1. Copala at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
2. "Triqui of San Juan Copala | SIL Mexico". www.mexico.sil.org. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
3. "Catálogo de las Lenguas Indígenas Nacionales".
4. Broadwell, George Aaron (5 January 2017). "Inflectional Change in Copala Triqui*" (PDF). lingdomain. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 September 2019.
5. Rubin, Sara (7 June 2012). "Native speakers and local missionaries work to save an indigenous Mexican language". Monterey County Weekly. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
6. Hollenbach, Barbara. Vocabulario breve del triqui de San Juan Copala. 2005
7. Lopéz, Román Vidal; Broadwell, George Aaron (1 January 2009). The origin of the sun and moon: a Copala Triqui legend (in Spanish). Lincom Europa.

External links

• Gramática Popular del Triqui de Copala