Mam language

Last updated
Mam
Qyool Mam, Ta yol Mam
Native to Guatemala, Mexico
Region Chiapas and Campeche, Mexico
Quetzaltenango, Huehuetenango, San Marcos, and Retalhuleu, Guatemala;
Ethnicity Mam
Native speakers
600,000 in Guatemala (2019 census) [1]
10,000 in Mexico (2020 census) [2]
Mayan
Dialects
  • Northern Mam
  • Central Mam
  • Soconusco Mam
  • Western Mam
  • Southern Mam
Latin
Official status
Recognised minority
language in
Regulated by Instituto Nacional de Lenguas Indígenas
Comunidad Lingüística Mam (COLIMAM)
Language codes
ISO 639-3 mam
Glottolog mamm1241
ELP Mam
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Mam is a Mayan language spoken by about half a million Mam people in the Guatemalan departments of Quetzaltenango, Huehuetenango, San Marcos, and Retalhuleu, and the Mexican states of Campeche and Chiapas. Thousands more make up a Mam diaspora throughout the United States and Mexico, with notable populations living in Oakland, California [3] [4] and Washington, D.C. The most extensive Mam grammar is Nora C. England's A grammar of Mam, a Mayan language (1983), which is based on the San Ildefonso Ixtahuacán dialect of Huehuetenango Department.

Contents

Classification

Mam is closely related to the Tektitek language, and the two languages together form the Mamean sub-branch of the Mayan language family. Along with the Ixilan languages, Awakatek and Ixil, these make up the Greater Mamean sub-branch, one of the two branches of the Eastern Mayan languages (the other being the Greater Quichean sub-branch, which consists of 10 Mayan languages, including Kʼicheʼ).

Dialects

Because contact between members of different Mam communities is somewhat limited, the language varies considerably even from village to village. Nevertheless, mutual intelligibility, though difficult, is possible through practice. [5]

Mam varieties within Mexico and Guatemala are divided into five dialect groups: [6]

In addition to these, the dialects of Chiapas, Mexico are characterized by significant grammatical as well as lexical differences from the Guatemalan varieties. [11]

Distribution

Mam is spoken in 64 communities in four Guatemalan departments [12] and numerous communities in Campeche and Chiapas, Mexico. [11] Neighboring languages include Jakaltek and Qʼanjobʼal to the north, Tektitek and Qato'k to the west, and Ixil, Awakatek, Sipacapense, and Kʼicheʼ to the east.

Phonology

Stress

Mam has weight sensitive stress assignment. [13] Primary stress falls on the long vowel in a word if there is one, e.g. aq'ú:ntl 'work'. Words without a long vowel assign primary stress to the vowel preceding the last glottal stop, e.g. puʔláʔ 'dipper'. Words without a long vowel or a glottal stop assign stress to the vowel preceding the last consonant in the root, e.g. xpicháqʼ 'raccoon'. Stress is not assigned to suffixes or enclitics that do not have long vowels or a glottal stop.

Vowels

Mam has 10 vowels, 5 short and 5 long: [14]

Front Central Back
Close Long iː ⟨ii⟩ uː ⟨uu⟩
Short ɪ ⟨i⟩ ʊ ⟨u⟩
Mid Long eː ⟨ee⟩ oː ⟨oo⟩
Short ɛ ⟨e⟩ ɔ ⟨o⟩
Open Long aː ⟨aa⟩
Short a ⟨a⟩

Consonants

Mam has 27 consonants, including the glottal stop: [5]

Bilabial Alveolar Postalveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Plain Palatalized
Nasal m ⟨m⟩ n ⟨n⟩( ŋ ⟨n⟩)
Plosive Plain p ⟨p⟩ t ⟨t⟩ k ⟨k⟩ kʲ ⟨ky⟩ q ⟨q⟩ ʔ ⟨ʼ⟩
Ejective tʼ ~ ɗ̥ ⟨tʼ⟩ kʼ ⟨kʼ⟩ kʲʼ ⟨kyʼ⟩
Implosive ɓ ~ ɓ̥ ⟨bʼ⟩ ʛ̥ ⟨qʼ⟩
Affricate Plain t͡s ⟨tz⟩ t͡ʃ ⟨ch⟩ ʈ͡ʂ ⟨tx⟩
Ejective t͡sʼ ⟨tzʼ⟩ t͡ʃʼ ⟨chʼ⟩ ʈ͡ʂʼ ⟨txʼ⟩
Fricative s ⟨s⟩ ʃ ⟨ẍ (xh)⟩ ʂ ⟨x⟩ χ ⟨j⟩
Flap ɾ ⟨r⟩
Approximant l ⟨l⟩ j ⟨y⟩ w ⟨w⟩

Syllable structure

Most roots take the morphological shape CVC. [16] The only possible root final consonant cluster is -nC. Syllables can have up to four consonants in a cluster in any position. Most consonant clusters are the result of vowel dropping and morpheme addition. [17]

Morphology

Mam has two sets of agreement markers, known to Mayanists as Set A and Set B markers, which can appear on both nouns and verbs. Mam uses Set A (ergative) markers on nouns to mark possessor agreement and on verbs to cross-reference the transitive subject. Mam uses Set B (absolutive) markers on transitive verbs to cross-reference the object and on intransitive verbs to cross-reference the subject. Below is a table of Set A (ergative) and Set B (absolutive) prefixes from England. [18]

Mam Set A and Set B Pronominal Markers
PersonSet ASet BEnclitics
1sn- ~ w-chin--a ~ -ya
2st-Ø ~ tz- ~ tzʼ- ~ k--a ~ -ya
3st-Ø ~ tz- ~ tzʼ- ~ k-–
1p (excl.)q-qo--a ~ -ya
1p (incl.)q-qo-–
2pky-chi--a ~ -ya
3pky-chi-–

Phonologically conditioned allomorphs are as follows.

Some paradigmatic examples from England (1983) are given below. Note that "Ø-" designates a null prefix. Additionally, ma is an aspectual word meaning 'recent past'.

Set A markers + NOUN
jaa'house'
n-jaa-ya'my house'
t-jaa-ya'your house'
t-jaa'his/her house'
q-jaa-ya'our (not your) house'
q-jaa'our (everyone's) house'
ky-jaa-ya'you (pl)'s house'
ky-jaa'their house'
Set B markers + VERB
bʼeet-to walk
ma chin bʼeet-a'I walked.'
ma Ø-bʼeet-a'You walked.'
ma Ø-bʼeet'He/she walked.'
ma qo bʼeet-a'We (not you) walked.'
ma qo bʼeet'We all walked'
ma chi bʼeet-a'You all walked.'
ma chi bʼeet'They walked.'

The Mam verb complex

Verbs in Mam can include inflection for person, aspect and mode, as well as auxiliaries in the form of directionals. [19] The verb complex has distinct forms for transitive and intransitive verb stems depending in part on whether the complex cross-references one or two arguments. The lexical status of the verb complex is ambiguous. [20] The inflections with vowels are phonologically independent (indicated by spaces). Transitive verb complexes with directionals have a dependent suffix. Two of England's examples of intransitive and transitive verb complexes are shown below.

Intransitive verb complex with directional [21]

ma

REC

chin

ABS. 1 . SG

jaw

DIR

tz'aq-a

slip-ENC

ma chin jaw tz'aq-a

REC ABS.1.SG DIR slip-ENC

"I slipped (just now)."

Transitive verb complex with directional [22]

(ok)

POT

k-kub'-l-tz

ABS. 3 . SG -DIR-POT-DIR

t-tzyu-ʔn-a

ERG. 2 . SG -grab-DEP-ENC

(ok) k-kub'-l-tz t-tzyu-ʔn-a

POT ABS.3.SG-DIR-POT-DIR ERG.2.SG-grab-DEP-ENC

"You will grab them."

Mam extends the Set A (ergative) person markers in the context of focused adverbials and certain subordinate clauses. [23] In these contexts, the Set A markers cross-reference the subject of intransitive verbs and both the subject and object of transitive verbs. The following examples show the extended ergative marker /t-/ in bold.

Intransitive verb complex with extended ergative marking [23]

n-chi

PROG -ABS. 3 . PL

ooq'

cry

t-poon

ERG. 3 . SG -arrive

ky-txuuʔ

ERG. 3 . PL -mother

n-chi ooq' t-poon ky-txuuʔ

PROG-ABS.3.PL cry ERG.3.SG-arrive ERG.3.PL-mother

"They were crying when their mother arrived."

Transitive verb complex with extended ergative marking [23]

ok

When

t-kuʔ-x

ERG. 3 . SG -dir-dir

ky-awa-ʔn

ERG. 3 . PL -plant-DEP

xjaal

person

kjoʔn

cornfield

b'iʔx

all_at_once

n-0-xiʔ

PROG -ABS. 3 . SG -go

cheenaq'

bean

t-iʔj

ERG. 3 . SG -REL.PAT

ok t-kuʔ-x ky-awa-ʔn xjaal kjoʔn b'iʔx n-0-xiʔ cheenaq' t-iʔj

When ERG.3.SG-dir-dir ERG.3.PL-plant-DEP person cornfield all_at_once PROG-ABS.3.SG-go bean ERG.3.SG-REL.PAT

"When the people plant (it) in the cornfield at the same time the beans go in."

Verb morphemes

Pronouns

Mam has no independent pronouns. [25] Rather, pronouns in Mam always exist as bound morphemes.

Nouns

The Mam language displays inalienable possession. Certain Mam nouns cannot be possessed, such as kya'j 'sky' and che'w 'star'. [26] On the other hand, some Mam nouns are always possessed, such as t-lokʼ 'its root' and t-bʼaqʼ 'its seed'.

Noun phrase structure can be summarized into the following template. [27]

DemonstrativeNumberMeasurePluralPossessive affixesNOUN
ROOT		PossessorAdjectiveRelative clause

The plural clitic is qa.[ citation needed ]

Numerals

San Ildefonso Ixtahuacán Mam numbers are as follows. [28] Numbers above twenty are rarely used in Ixtahuacán and are usually only known by elderly speakers. Although the number system would have originally been vigesimal (i.e., base 20), the present-day number system of Ixtahuacán is now decimal.

NumeralWord
1juun
2kabʼ
3oox
4kyaaj
5jweʼ
6qaq
7wuuq
8wajxaq
9bʼelaj
10laaj
20wiinqan
40kyaʼwnaq
60oxkʼaal
80junmutxʼ

Syntax

Mam has both verbal and non-verbal types of sentences. Verbal sentences have verbal predicates, whereas non-verbal sentences have a stative or a locative/existential predicate. [29] Verbal predicates have an aspect marker, while non-verbal predicates do not have aspect marking. Both verbal and non-verbal predicates occur in sentence-initial position unless a focused or topicalized phrase is present.

Verbal predicates

Verbal predicates are either transitive or intransitive according to the number of arguments cross-referenced in the verb complex. The number of arguments cross-referenced by the verb complex is not consistent with the transitivity of the verb root or the number of participants in an event. England notes examples of transitive verb roots that only appear in their antipassive or passive forms where they only cross-reference a single participant.

ma-yax

REC-INTENS

0-jejeeya-n

ABS. 3 . SG -laugh-AP

xuʔj

woman

t-uj

ERG. 3 . SG -REL/in

nim-b'ee

big-road

ma-yax 0-jejeeya-n xuʔj t-uj nim-b'ee

REC-INTENS ABS.3.SG-laugh-AP woman ERG.3.SG-REL/in big-road

"The woman laughed a lot in the road."

  • Transitive verb root with obligatory passive voice [31]

ma

REC

0-kan-eet

ABS. 3 . SG -find-PAS

jun

one

n-sentaabi-ya

ERG. 1 . SG -cent-ENC

t-uj

ERG. 3 . SG -REL/in

tz'iis

garbage

ma 0-kan-eet jun n-sentaabi-ya t-uj tz'iis

REC ABS.3.SG-find-PAS one ERG.1.SG-cent-ENC ERG.3.SG-REL/in garbage

"I found my penny in the garbage." (Lit. "My penny was found in the garbage")

Another possibility is the use of intransitive motion verbs to express transitive events. [32]

  • Intransitive motion verbs expressing transitive events [32]

k-tzaaj-al

ABS. 3 . SG -come-POT

aʔ

water

w-uʔn-a

ERG. 1 . SG -REL/agent-ENC

k-tzaaj-al aʔ w-uʔn-a

ABS.3.SG-come-POT water ERG.1.SG-REL/agent-ENC

"I will bring water." (Lit. "Water will come by me.")

t-wiixh

ERG. 3 . SG -cat

o

PAST

0-kub'

ABS. 3 . SG -go_down

t-ee

ERG. 3 . SG -REL/patient

ich'

mouse

t-wiixh o 0-kub' t-ee ich'

ERG.3.SG-cat PAST ABS.3.SG-go_down ERG.3.SG-REL/patient mouse

"His cat killed mice." (Lit. "His cat went down at mice.")

The basic word order in verbal sentences with two nominal arguments is VSO. [33] Other word orders are not acceptable.

ma

REC

0-kub'

ABS. 3 . SG -DIR

ky-tzyu-ʔn

ERG. 3 . PL -grab-DEP

xiinaq

man

cheej

horse

ma 0-kub' ky-tzyu-ʔn xiinaq cheej

REC ABS.3.SG-DIR ERG.3.PL-grab-DEP man horse

"The men grabbed the horse."

If only one argument appears in a transitive sentence and the argument is compatible with either person marker on the verb, it has a patient interpretation. [34]

ma

REC

0-kub'

ABS. 3 . SG -DIR

ky-tzyu-ʔn

ERG. 3 . PL -grab-DEP

xiinaq

man

ma 0-kub' ky-tzyu-ʔn xiinaq

REC ABS.3.SG-DIR ERG.3.PL-grab-DEP man

"They grabbed the man." (Not "The men grabbed it.")

Mam speakers use a higher proportion of intransitive sentences than speakers of other Mayan languages. England and Martin (2003) found a low frequency of transitive sentences in Mam texts.[ full citation needed ] Pye (2017) found a low use of overt subjects in transitive sentences in adults speaking to children. One adult produced overt subjects in 6% of transitive sentences. The same adult produced overt subjects in 41% of intransitive sentences and produced overt objects in 49% of transitive sentences. [35]

Non-verbal predicates

Mam adds Set B person markers to nouns and adjectives to form non-verbal predicates. The following Set B person markers are used for non-verbal predicates (i.e., nouns, adjectives). Also, in statives, aa can be omitted when the rest of the stative is a non-enclitic (in other words, a separate, independent word).

Mam Set B Pronominal Markers
(non-verbal predicates)
PersonStative [36] Locative / Existental [37]
1s(aa) qiin-a(a)t-iin-a
2saa-ya(a)t-(aʼ-y)a
3saa(a)t-(aʼ)
1p (excl.)(aa) qoʼ-ya(a)t-oʼ-ya
1p (incl.)(aa) qoʼ(a)t-oʼ
2paa-qa-ya(a)t-eʼ-ya
3paa-qa(a)t-eʼ

Paradigmatic examples of non-verbal predicates from England (1983) are given below. [38]

NOUN + Set B markers
xjaalperson
xjaal qiin-a'I am a person.'
xjaal-a'You are a person.'
xjaal'He/she is a person.'
xjaal qoʼ-ya'We (excl.) are persons.'
xjaal qo-'We (incl.) are persons.'
xjaal qa-ya'You all are persons.'
xjaal qa'They are persons.'
ADJECTIVE + Set B markers
sikynajtired
sikynaj qiin-a'I am tired.'
sikynaj-a'You are tired.'
sikynaj'He/she is tired.'
sikynaj qoʼ-ya'We (excl.) are tired.'
sikynaj qoʼ'We (incl.) are tired.'
sikynaj qa-ya'You all are tired.'
sikynaj qa'They are tired.'

Child Language

An overview of child language acquisition in Mam can be found in Pye (2017). Child language data for Mam challenge many theories of language acquisition and demonstrate the need for more extensive documentation of native American languages. [39]

Children acquiring Mam produce a higher proportion of verbs than children acquiring K’iche’, but a lower proportion of verbs compared to children acquiring Wastek and Chol. They produce a higher proportion of intransitive verbs relative to transitive verbs than children acquiring other Mayan languages (Pye, Pfeiler and Mateo Pedro 2017:22).[ clarification needed ] Their high proportion of relational noun production is tied to their frequent use of intransitive verbs. [40]

The following examples illustrate the children's use of intransitive verbs to express events with two participants. Ages are shown as (years;months.days). WEN (2;0.2) used the intransitive verb -kub’ ("go_down") in reference to an event of picking coffee. She used the relational noun phrase t-uʔn-a to express the agent in an oblique phrase. CRU (2;5.12) used the intransitive verb -el ("go_out") in reference to an event of taking out an object. She used the relational noun phrase w-uʔn-a to express the agent. JOS (2;6.17) used the intransitive verb -b’aj ("finish") in reference to finishing a drink. He used the possessive prefix on the noun k’aʔ ("drink")to express the agent. The examples overturn the hypothesis that children tie their use of transitive verbs to object manipulation events.

 

ma

REC

 

pa

already

kuʔ

0-kub’

ABS. 3 . SG -go_down

pe

kape

coffee

tuʔn?

t-uʔn-a?

ERG. 2 . SG -by-ENC

{} {} kuʔ pe tuʔn?

ma pa 0-kub’ kape t-uʔn-a?

REC already ABS.3.SG-go_down coffee ERG.2.SG-by-ENC

"Did you already pick the coffee?" (Lit. "Did the coffee already go down by you?")

 

ntiʔ

NEG

nech

n-0-el-tzaj

PROG -ABS. 3 . SG -go.out-come

woona.

w-uʔn-a.

ERG. 1 . SG -by-ENC

{} nech woona.

ntiʔ n-0-el-tzaj w-uʔn-a.

NEG PROG-ABS.3.SG-go.out-come ERG.1.SG-by-ENC

"I can’t get it to come out." (Lit. "It is not coming out by me.")

  • JOS (2;6.17)

kal

tqal

what

kama

t-k’aʔ ma

ERG. 3 . SG -drink COMP

paj?

n-0-b’aj?

PROG -ABS. 3 . SG -finish

kal kama paj?

tqal {t-k’aʔ ma} n-0-b’aj?

what {ERG.3.SG-drink COMP} PROG-ABS.3.SG-finish

"What is he drinking?" (Lit. "What is his drink that is finishing?")

Two-year-old Mam children produce the consonants /m,n,p,t,ch,k,ʔ,l,yandw/. They produce [ ʔ ] in place of glottalized stops, [ p ] in place of /ɓ/, [ k ] in place of /ky/[ clarification needed ] and /q/, /ch/[ clarification needed ] in place of /tz/[ clarification needed ] and /tx/[ clarification needed ], /xh/[ clarification needed ] in place of /x/[ clarification needed ], and [ l ] in place of /r/. Mam children begin producing ejective consonants after they are three and a half years old. [41] The early production of /ch/ and /l/ in Mam, as well as the late production of /s/, overturns predictions that all children have similar phonologies due to articulatory development.[ citation needed ]

The acquisition of morphology in Mam is heavily influenced by prosody. Two-year-old children favor the production of word syllables with primary stress, and most often produce syllables with the form CVC. Children do not consistently produce inflectional prefixes on nouns and verbs before they are four years old, although two-year-olds frequently produce verb suffixes, including the directional suffixes. Their production of the directional suffixes is evidence that two-year-old Mam children understand the complex grammatical constraints on the use of directionals. They distinguish between the use of the directional clitics and directional suffixes in indicative and imperative verbs. Two-year-old Mam speakers omit the person enclitic on nouns and verbs despite its high frequency of use in adult speech.[ citation needed ]

The following examples illustrate WEN’s verb complex production. [42] In (1), WEN produced the vowel /a/ from the verb root -q'a ("give"), the imperative suffix -n, and the directional suffix -tz as /xh/. (Many directionals have contracted forms as suffixes.). WEN omitted the person enclitic -a. In (2), WEN produced the progressive prefix n-, the vowel /e/ from the verb root -el ("go out"), a spurious /n/, and the directional suffix -tz as /ch/. The intransitive verb -el belongs to the class of motion verbs that take directional suffixes. Intransitive verbs outside of the class of motion verbs do not take directional suffixes except in imperative contexts. The verb -el contracts with the directional suffix -tz to produce the stem -etz ("go out to") in adult speech. WEN’s omission of the person enclitic and production of a spurious consonant overturn the hypothesis that children produce forms that are frequent in adult speech.

  • WEN (1;9.2)

aanxh!

0-q’a-n-tzaj-a

ERG. 2 . SG -give-IMP.TV-hither-ENC

aanxh!

0-q’a-n-tzaj-a

ERG.2.SG-give-IMP.TV-hither-ENC

"Give it!")

  • WEN (1;8.21)

nench.

n-0-el-tzaj

PROG -ABS. 3 . SG -go_out-hither

nench.

n-0-el-tzaj

PROG-ABS.3.SG-go_out-hither

"She is going out toward something")

The children’s production of the directional suffixes demonstrates their early recognition of the distinction between intransitive and transitive verbs in Mam. This distinction is a core feature of Mam grammar, and underpins the ergative morphology on the verbs and nouns. The semantic diversity of the verbs and positionals overturns the hypothesis that children use prototypical activity scenes as a basis for constructing grammatical categories. The children’s grammatical acumen is best seen in their use of the ergative and absolutive agreement markers on verbs. The children produced the prevocalic allomorphs of the ergative markers in nearly all of their obligatory contexts. They produced the preconsonantal allomorphs of the ergative markers in 20% of their obligatory contexts. [40]

Two-year-old Mam children display a remarkable awareness of the contexts for extending the use of ergative markers to cross-reference the subject of intransitive verbs. Outside of these contexts, they consistently produced absolutive person markers on intransitive verbs. Three Mam children produced ergative person markers on intransitive verbs in half of the obligatory contexts for extended ergativity. [43] The children’s awareness of the contexts for extended ergative use is all the more remarkable because the contexts are tied to clauses in dependent contexts in which aspect is not overtly marked. [44] The following example shows JOS’s use of extended ergative marking (in bold) on the intransitive verb -ok ("go_in") in a purpose clause headed by the adverb ii ("so that"). The children’s production of ergative markers on intransitive verbs in dependent contexts overturns the theory that children link ergative markers to the subjects of transitive verbs in all contexts.

  • JOS (2;6.14)

i

i

so_that

tok

t-ok

ERG. 3 . SG -go_in

mahʔ.

mal...

CL

i tok mahʔ.

i t-ok mal...

so_that ERG.3.SG-go_in CL

"So that it is put..."

Mam two-year-olds produce sentences with a predicate-initial word order. The children, like adults, rarely produce the subject argument in transitive sentences. The Mam children show an ergative pattern of argument production that similar to the adult pattern. [45] The children produced subject arguments in 7 percent or fewer of sentences with transitive verbs. The children produced subject arguments in 40 percent of sentences with intransitive verbs, and produced object arguments in 45 percent of sentences with transitive verbs.[ citation needed ]

The acquisition data for Mam and other Mayan languages have profound implications for language acquisition theory. Children demonstrate an early proficiency with verb inflection in languages with a rich morphology and where the language’s prosodic structure highlights the morphology. The Mam children’s use of directionals and extended ergative marking shows that two-year-olds are capable of using complex affixes appropriately in their obligatory contexts. This morphology accounts for the language-specific look of the children’s early utterances and guides its development in later stages.[ citation needed ]

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The Chʼortiʼ language is a Mayan language, spoken by the indigenous Maya people who are also known as the Chʼortiʼ or Chʼortiʼ Maya. Chʼortiʼ is a direct descendant of the Classic Maya language in which many of the pre-Columbian inscriptions using the Maya script were written. Chʼortiʼ is the modern version of the ancient Mayan language Chʼolan.

Georgian grammar has many distinctive and extremely complex features, such as split ergativity and a polypersonal verb agreement system.

The Kaqchikel language is an indigenous Mesoamerican language and a member of the Quichean–Mamean branch of the Mayan languages family. It is spoken by the indigenous Kaqchikel people in central Guatemala. It is closely related to the Kʼicheʼ (Quiché) and Tzʼutujil languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chuj language</span> Mayan language spoken in Guatemala and Mexico

Chuj is a Mayan language spoken by around 40,000 members of the Chuj people in Guatemala and around 3,000 members in Mexico. Chuj is a member of the Qʼanjobʼalan branch along with the languages of Tojolabʼal, Qʼanjobʼal, Akateko, Poptiʼ, and Mochoʼ which, together with the Chʼolan branch, Chuj forms the Western branch of the Mayan family. The Chujean branch emerged approximately 2,000 years ago. In Guatemala, Chuj speakers mainly reside in the municipalities of San Mateo Ixtatán, San Sebastián Coatán and Nentón in the Huehuetenango Department. Some communities in Barillas and Ixcán also speak Chuj. The two main dialects of Chuj are the San Mateo Ixtatán dialect and the San Sebastián Coatán dialect.

Hunzib is a Northeast Caucasian language spoken by the Hunzib people in southern Dagestan, near the Russian border with Georgia.

Qʼanjobʼal is a Mayan language from the Q'anjobalan branch spoken primarily in Guatemala and part of Mexico. According to 1998 estimates compiled by SIL International in Ethnologue, there were approximately 77,700 native speakers, primarily in the Huehuetenango Department of Guatemala. In Chiapas, Mexico, municipalities where the Qʼanjobʼal language is spoken include Catazajá, Amatenango de la Frontera, La Trinitaria, Bella Vista, Frontera Comalapa, Las Margaritas and Maravilla Tenejapa. In Huehuetenango, the municipalities where the language is spoken are San Juan Ixcoy, San Pedro Soloma, Santa Eulalia, Santa Cruz Barillas (Yalmotx), San Rafael La Independencia, and San Miguel Acatán. Qʼanjobʼal is taught in public schools through Guatemala's intercultural bilingual education programs.

Roviana is a member of the North West Solomonic branch of Oceanic languages. It is spoken around Roviana and Vonavona lagoons at the north central New Georgia in the Solomon Islands. It has 10,000 first-language speakers and an additional 16,000 people mostly over 30 years old speak it as a second language. In the past, Roviana was widely used as a trade language and further used as a lingua franca, especially for church purposes in the Western Province, but now it is being replaced by the Solomon Islands Pijin. Published studies on Roviana include: Ray (1926), Waterhouse (1949) and Todd (1978) contain the syntax of Roviana. Corston-Oliver discuss ergativity in Roviana. Todd (2000) and Ross (1988) discuss the clause structure in Roviana. Schuelke (2020) discusses grammatical relations and syntactic ergativity in Roviana.

Central Alaskan Yupʼik is one of the languages of the Yupik family, in turn a member of the Eskimo–Aleut language group, spoken in western and southwestern Alaska. Both in ethnic population and in number of speakers, the Central Alaskan Yupik people form the largest group among Alaska Natives. As of 2010 Yupʼik was, after Navajo, the second most spoken aboriginal language in the United States. Yupʼik should not be confused with the related language Central Siberian Yupik spoken in Chukotka and St. Lawrence Island, nor Naukan Yupik likewise spoken in Chukotka.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pashto grammar</span> Grammar of the Pashto language

Pashto is an S-O-V language with split ergativity. Adjectives come before nouns. Nouns and adjectives are inflected for gender (masc./fem.), number (sing./plur.), and case. The verb system is very intricate with the following tenses: Present; simple past; past progressive; present perfect; and past perfect. In any of the past tenses, Pashto is an ergative language; i.e., transitive verbs in any of the past tenses agree with the object of the sentence. The dialects show some non-standard grammatical features, some of which are archaisms or descendants of old forms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chirag language</span> Northeast Caucasian language or dialect in Dagestan, Russia

Chirag is a language in the Dargin dialect continuum spoken in Dagestan, Russia. It is spoken around the village of Chirag, but some speakers have moved to Kaspiysk. Chirag is often considered a divergent dialect of Dargwa, despite not being mutually intelligible with literary Dargwa. Ethnologue lists it under the dialects of Dargwa but recognizes that it may be a separate language.

Aramba (Arammba), also known as Serki or Serkisetavi, is a Papuan language of Papua New Guinea. It is spoken to the south of Western Province in the Trans Fly region. Aramba belongs to the Tonda Sub-Family, which is next to the Nambu Sub-Family region and the Suki language. Alternative names for the language include Upper Morehead, Rouku, Kamindjo and Tjokwasi.

Mẽbêngôkre, sometimes referred to as Kayapó is a Northern Jê language spoken by the Kayapó and the Xikrin people in the north of Mato Grosso and Pará in Brazil. There are around 8,600 native speakers since 2010 based on the 2015 Ethnologue 18th edition. Due to the number of speakers and the influence of Portuguese speakers, the language stands at a sixth level of endangerment; in which the materials for literacy and education in Mẽbêngôkre are very limited.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kʼicheʼ language</span> Mayan language spoken by the Kʼicheʼ people

Kʼicheʼ, or Quiché, is a Mayan language spoken by the Kʼicheʼ people of the central highlands in Guatemala and Mexico. With over a million speakers, Kʼicheʼ is the second most widely-spoken language in the country, after Spanish. It is one of the most widely-spoken indigenous American languages in Mesoamerica.

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Mam at Ethnologue (24th ed., 2021) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  2. ↑ Lenguas indígenas y hablantes de 3 años y más, 2020 INEGI. Censo de Población y Vivienda 2020.
  3. ↑ Carcamo, Cindy (9 August 2016). "Ancient Mayan languages are creating problems for today's immigration courts". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2018-11-24.
  4. ↑ Farida Jhabvala Romero (August 19, 2019). "Growth of Oakland's Guatemalan community sparks interest in Mam". PRI's The World. PRI. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  5. 1 2 3 England 1983.
  6. ↑ Pérez Vail, Eduardo Gustavo (2004). Gramática Pedagógica Mam. Guatemala: Instituto de Lingüística y Educación, Universidad Rafael Landívar.
  7. ↑ "Catálogo de las lenguas indígenas nacionales: Mam del norte".
  8. ↑ "Catálogo de las lenguas indígenas nacionales: Mam del sur".
  9. ↑ "Catálogo de las lenguas indígenas nacionales: Mam de la frontera".
  10. ↑ "Catálogo de las lenguas indígenas nacionales: Mam del Soconusco".
  11. 1 2 Ramos Ortíz, Nicacio; Morales de León, Juan Rolando; Rodriguez Pérez, Juan (2013). Gramática Didáctica Mam: Segundo Ciclo. Mexico: Instituto Nacional de Lenguas Indígenas.
  12. ↑ Academia de Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala (2003). Pujbʼil Yol Mam: Vocabulario Mam.
  13. ↑ England 1983, pp. 37–38.
  14. ↑ England 1983, p. 33.
  15. ↑ England, Nora C. (2017). Mam. The Mayan Languages: London & New York: Routledge. pp. 500–532.
  16. ↑ England 1983, p. 93.
  17. ↑ England 1983, p. 38.
  18. ↑ England 1983, p. 56.
  19. ↑ England 1983, p. 161.
  20. ↑ England 1983, p. 40.
  21. ↑ England 1983, p. 162.
  22. ↑ England 1983, p. 175.
  23. 1 2 3 England 1983, p. 259.
  24. ↑ England 1983, pp. 58, 161–162.
  25. ↑ England 1983, p. 155.
  26. ↑ England 1983, p. 69.
  27. ↑ England 1983, p. 140.
  28. ↑ England 1983, p. 84.
  29. ↑ England 1983, p. 177.
  30. ↑ England 1983, p. 178.
  31. ↑ England 1983, p. 180.
  32. 1 2 England 1983, p. 181.
  33. ↑ England 1983, p. 193.
  34. ↑ England 1983, p. 194.
  35. ↑ Pye 2017, pp. 114–115.
  36. ↑ Means 'This is X.'
  37. ↑ Means 'X is in a place.'
  38. ↑ England 1983, p. 76.
  39. ↑ Pye, Clifton (May 2021). "Documenting the acquisition of indigenous languages". Journal of Child Language. 48 (3): 454–479. doi:10.1017/S0305000920000318. ISSN   0305-0009. PMID   32500845.
  40. 1 2 Pye 2017.
  41. ↑ Pye, Clifton; Mateo, Pedro; Pfeiler, Barbara; Stengel, Donald (2017-10-01). "Analysis of variation in Mayan child phonologies". Lingua. 198: 38–52. doi:10.1016/j.lingua.2017.07.001. ISSN   0024-3841.
  42. ↑ Pye & Pfeiler 2019.
  43. ↑ Pye, Pfeiler & Mateo Pedro 2013, p. 323.
  44. ↑ England 1983, p. 264.
  45. ↑ Pye 2017, pp. 224–225.

Bibliography

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