Paya language

Last updated
Pech
Paya
Native to Honduras
RegionNorth central coast (Olancho Department)
Ethnicity6,000 Pech (2013) [1]
Native speakers
300 (2007) [1]
Chibchan
  • Pech
Language codes
ISO 639-3 pay
Glottolog pech1241
ELP Pech
Pech (Paya) Language Distribution Pech (Paya) Language Distribution.png
Pech (Paya) Language Distribution
Pech is spoken in the Colón department and the Olancho department of Honduras.
Lang Status 40-SE.svg
Pech is classified as Severely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

Pech or Pesh is a Chibchan language spoken in Honduras. It was formerly known as Paya, and continues to be referred to in this manner by several sources, though there are negative connotations associated with this term. [2] It has also been referred to as Seco. There are 300 speakers according to Yasugi (2007). [1] It is spoken near the north-central coast of Honduras, in the Dulce Nombre de Culmí municipality of Olancho Department.

Contents

Classification

Pech is thought to have South American origin, as it shares similar roots with the Kuna language of Panama. [3] Pech is the only remaining Chibchan language in Honduras [4] and is currently classified as a severely endangered language.

On the basis of shared grammatical innovations, Pache (2023) argues that Pech is most closely related to the Arhuacic languages of northern Colombia, forming a Pech-Arhuacic subgroup. [5]

Distribution

According to Dennis Holt (1999), Pech is spoken by perhaps around 600 people in Olancho Department and Colón Department of Honduras. Pech used to be spoken in the town of Dulce Nombre de Culmí in the Río Guampú watershed, but Pech speakers moved out of the town due to the influx of Ladino migrants. The three primary Pech settlements are as follows.

Vallecito and Marañones are both located in the foothills of the Sierra de Agalta.

Other smaller Pech settlements which have at most several ethnic Pech families are scattered around northern Olancho Department, including the following (Holt 1999).

At the time of initial Spanish contact, Pech was most likely spoken from Trujillo in the west to Cabo Gracias a Dios in the east, and as far south as the upper Patuca River (Holt 1999). Tol (Jicaque) would have been spoken just to the west.

Phonology & Orthography

Pech is a tonal language with 16 consonants and 10 vowels (Holt 1999). There are two tones, namely a high tone and a low tone. Both consonants and vowels display length contrast and nasalization.

Consonants

Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
plain lab.
Plosive voiceless p t k ʔ
voiced b
Fricative s ʃ h
Nasal m n
Liquid flap ɾ
rhotic r
lateral l
Semivowel j w

Allophones of the sounds /b, ʃ, j, k, kʷ, w/ are realized as [β, tʃ, ᵈj~ɲ, ɡ, ɡʷ, ᵑw̃].

Notes:

Vowels/Nasals

Front Central Back
oralnasaloralnasaloralnasal
Close i ĩ u ũ
Mid e o õ
Open a ã

Notes

Alphabet and pronunciation

a

â

ã

b

ch

e

ê

/a/, /ə//aː//ã//b/, /β//t͡ʃ//e/, /ɛ//eː/

h

i

î

ĩ

k

kw

/ẽ//h//i//iː//ĩ//k/, /g//kʷ/, /gʷ/

l

m

n

ñ

o

ô

õ

/l//m//n//ɲ//o/, /ɔ//oː//õ/

p

r

rr

s

sh

t

u

/p//ɾ//r//s//ʃ/, /c̆//t//u/

û

ũ

v

w

y

/uː//ũ//b/, /β//w/, /ŋw̃//j/, /dj~ɲ/

In Pech, the high tone is shown with an accent over the vowel, and unmarked vowels are of the low tone. [6]

Tone

Stress

Pech has primary and secondary levels of stress, which are not distinctive. They rely on the underlying marked tone and stem syllables. Primary stress tends to occur in the last syllable of the stem. Primary and secondary stress are also related to inflectional suffixes.

Distribution of consonant phonemes

Syllable clusters

Phonological processes

Internal sandhi: this includes vocalic contraction and assimilation, vocalic and consonantal syncope, nasal assimilation, metathesis, and epenthesis

Morphology

Morphological processes present in this language include affixation, reduplication, vocalic ablaut, and heightening of phonemic tone.

The four word classes that Pech has are nouns, verbs, adjectives, and particles.

Nouns

Prefixes and suffixes inflect nouns for possession.

Possessive Pronominal Prefixes
SingularDualPlural
1st personta-pata-ùnta-
2nd personpí-pí- ... -wá
3rd persona-pèš-/pè:-

Inalienably Possessed Nouns: These generally occur with possessive pronominal prefixes. These prefixes are only dropped when these noun-stems are part of compound nouns.

Note: 'between' does not follow this pattern, as seen in asàʔ a-kèrahã̀ 'between the stones'

Case Suffixes
Nominative -yã̀ʔComitative/Instrumental -yó
Objective -raMediative/Instrumental -rí
Genitive -ʔeManner/Relational -kán
Locative/Allative -yã̀Absolutive -ká/-(h)á

Case Suffixes with complex noun-phrases:

Emphatic Suffixes These occur with subjects, direct objects, and some oblique objects that are already marked with case-suffixes. These suffixes are -ma (with subject, direct object noun, or noun-phrase) and -hã̀ʔ (with objective and locative nouns)

Personal Pronouns
SingularDualPlural
1st Persontàspatàsuntàs
2nd Personpà:pà:- -wa
3rd Personékaéka

Verbs

Verb inflection is made with prefixes and suffixes, though vocalic ablaut is present in certain verb-stems and future-tense suffixes. Positions for the finite verb include:

Adjectives

Adverbs

Syntax

Word Order

Pech is an SOV (subject–object–verb) language (Holt 1999). There are exceptions to this, as oblique noun-phrases, adverbials, direct object noun-phrases, and subject noun-phrases all are capable of occurring after verbs. Overall, Pech is a synthetic language which uses mostly suffixes, but also prefixes, vocalic ablaut, and reduplication as well.

Sentences

In Pech, both simple and complex sentences exist. The first consists of a single independent clause while the latter consists of independent and dependent clauses. Independent nouns or pronoun subjects are not necessary within a sentence, and sentence may contain no more than a single verb form, within which the pronominal subject is marked.

The focus of a sentence is marked by the emphatic suffix -ma, which may follow nouns, pronouns, verbal nominals, time adverbials, and other word types. Object nouns and noun-phrases can be emphasized with the suffix -hã́?, which follows the objective or locative case-suffix. The suffixes -ma and -hã́? cannot both be within the same simple sentence.

Other parts of a sentence are marked as follows:

Conjunction:

Conjunction TypeFormed by:
Noun + nounAdding suffix rih- to each noun in the conjoined set
Verb + verbSerial verb-stems that include the stem, subject suffix, and object-prefixes for each verb involved

Include the verb nã̀ ('go') and the verb tèʔ(k) in first and final position, with other verb-stems in between.

Verb-phrase & sentence conjunctionLinear sequencing; it does not require the use of a morpheme or conjunctive word

Subordination:

Suffixes InvolvedPurpose
The suffix -íná? is usually paired with the suffix -péšá?Expresses 'although' or 'even though'
Previative suffixes such as -tutàwá? and tu?[w]èrAssign temporal priority to the main clause and relative anteriority to the subordinate clause
The suffix -táni?Expresses indefinite future time, i.e. 'when, as soon as, etc.'
Simultaneitive suffix wã́Forms non-finite participial clauses meaning something like 'while, during, when, etc.'
Subordinating suffixes: -wà (present tense, and which changes depending on the subject and plurality) and -hã́? (future tense)Added to conjugated verbs to form finite subordinate clauses
The suffix -mā? (subjunctive meaning)Used to form if-clauses
The suffix -(à)sríServes the same purpose as -mā?, though it expresses more uncertainty
The suffix -rikehExpresses 'although, even though, etc.'; the difference between this and -íná? is not specified
The suffix -rásExpresses the concept of 'because, since, etc.

Interrogation:

Suffixes InvolvedPurpose
The interrogative suffix -érehAdded to the verbal construction of a sentence in either the past or present tense to turn it into a yes–no question
The interrogative suffix -ikáSame purpose as -éreh, but for sentences in the future tense
The suffix pīšUsed to express 'how many?' or 'how much?'
The suffix -sahExpresses question words (what, where, who, why)

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fur language</span> Nilo-Saharan language spoken in Sudan and Chad

The Fur language is a Nilo-Saharan language spoken by the Fur of Darfur in Western Sudan and Chad. It is part of a broader family of languages known as the Fur languages

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crow language</span> Missouri Valley Siouan language of Montana, US

Crow is a Missouri Valley Siouan language spoken primarily by the Crow Tribe in present-day southeastern Montana. The word Apsáalooke translates to "Children of the Large Beaked Bird", which was later incorrectly translated into English as 'Crow'. It is one of the larger populations of American Indian languages with 4,160 speakers according to the 2015 US Census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Koasati language</span> Muskogean language of Louisiana

Koasati is a Native American language of Muskogean origin. The language is spoken by the Coushatta people, most of whom live in Allen Parish north of the town of Elton, Louisiana, though a smaller number share a reservation near Livingston, Texas, with the Alabama people. In 1991, linguist Geoffrey Kimball estimated the number of speakers of the language at around 400 people, of whom approximately 350 live in Louisiana. The exact number of current speakers is unclear, but Coushatta Tribe officials claim that most tribe members over 20 speak Koasati. In 2007, the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana, in collaboration with McNeese State University and the College of William and Mary, began the Koasati (Coushatta) Language Project as a part of broader language revitalization efforts with National Science Foundation grant money under the Documenting Endangered Languages program.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tunica language</span> Extinct language isolate of the Mississippi Valley

The Tunica or Luhchi Yoroni language is a language isolate that was spoken in the Central and Lower Mississippi Valley in the United States by Native American Tunica peoples. There are no native speakers of the Tunica language, but there were 32 second-language speakers in 2017, and as of 2023, there are 60 second-language speakers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tonkawa language</span> Native American language

The Tonkawa language was spoken in Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico by the Tonkawa people. A language isolate, with no known related languages, Tonkawa has not had L1 speakers since the mid 20th centiury. Most Tonkawa people now only speak English, but revitalization is underway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warlpiri language</span> Aboriginal Australian language

The Warlpiri language is spoken by close to 3,000 of the Warlpiri people from the Tanami Desert, northwest of Alice Springs, Central Australia. It is one of the Ngarrkic languages of the large Pama–Nyungan family and is one of the largest Aboriginal languages in Australia in terms of number of speakers. One of the most well-known terms for The Dreaming, Jukurrpa, derives from Warlpiri.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seri language</span> Native American Language

Seri is an indigenous language spoken by between 716 and 900 Seri people in Punta Chueca and El Desemboque, two villages on the coast of Sonora, Mexico. The language is generally considered an isolate, but attempts have been made to include it in the theoretical Hokan language family. No concrete evidence has been found for connections to other languages.

Dulce Nombre de Culmí is a municipality in the northeastern region of the Honduran department of Olancho. It lies approximately 17 miles southeast of San Esteban and about 27 miles northeast of Catacamas. The Ríos Guampú and Culmí pass through this municipality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haida language</span> Endangered language spoken in Canada and Alaska

Haida is the language of the Haida people, spoken in the Haida Gwaii archipelago off the coast of Canada and on Prince of Wales Island in Alaska. An endangered language, Haida currently has 24 native speakers, though revitalization efforts are underway. At the time of the European arrival at Haida Gwaii in 1774, it is estimated that Haida speakers numbered about 15,000. Epidemics soon led to a drastic reduction in the Haida population, which became limited to three villages: Masset, Skidegate, and Hydaburg. Positive attitudes towards assimilation combined with the ban on speaking Haida in residential schools led to a sharp decline in the use of the Haida language among the Haida people, and today almost all ethnic Haida use English to communicate.

Wintu is a Wintu language which was spoken by the Wintu people of Northern California. It was the northernmost member of the Wintun family of languages. The Wintun family of languages was spoken in the Shasta County, Trinity County, Sacramento River Valley and in adjacent areas up to the Carquinez Strait of San Francisco Bay. Wintun is a branch of the hypothetical Penutian language phylum or stock of languages of western North America, more closely related to four other families of Penutian languages spoken in California: Maiduan, Miwokan, Yokuts, and Costanoan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern Pomo language</span> Pomoan language

Eastern Pomo, also known as Clear Lake Pomo, is a nearly extinct Pomoan language spoken around Clear Lake in Lake County, California by one of the Pomo peoples.

Tooro or Rutooro is a Bantu language spoken mainly by the Tooro people (Abatooro) from the Tooro Kingdom in western Uganda. There are three main areas where Tooro as a language is mainly used: Kabarole District, Kyenjojo District and Kyegegwa District. Tooro is unusual among Bantu languages as it lacks lexical tone. It is most closely related to Runyoro.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timucua language</span> Extinct language in U.S. states of Florida and Georgia

Timucua is a language isolate formerly spoken in northern and central Florida and southern Georgia by the Timucua peoples. Timucua was the primary language used in the area at the time of Spanish colonization in Florida. Differences among the nine or ten Timucua dialects were slight, and appeared to serve mostly to delineate band or tribal boundaries. Some linguists suggest that the Tawasa of what is now northern Alabama may have spoken Timucua, but this is disputed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tarahumara language</span> Uto-Aztecan language spoken in Mexico

The Tarahumara language is a Mexican Indigenous language of the Uto-Aztecan language family spoken by around 70,000 Tarahumara (Rarámuri/Ralámuli) people in the state of Chihuahua, according to a 2002 census conducted by the government of Mexico.

Pohnpeian is a Micronesian language spoken as the indigenous language of the island of Pohnpei in the Caroline Islands. Pohnpeian has approximately 30,000 (estimated) native speakers living in Pohnpei and its outlying atolls and islands with another 10,000-15,000 (estimated) living off island in parts of the US mainland, Hawaii and Guam. It is the second-most widely spoken native language of the Federated States of Micronesia the first being Chuukese.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tiipai language</span> Yuman language spoken in Mexico and US

Tiipai (Tipay) is a Native American language belonging to the Delta–California branch of the Yuman language family, which spans Arizona, California, and Baja California. As part of the Yuman family, Tiipai has also been consistently included in the controversial quasi-stock Hokan. Tiipai is spoken by a number of Kumeyaay tribes in northern Baja California and southern San Diego County, California. There were, conservatively, 200 Tiipai speakers in the early 1990s; the number of speakers has since declined steadily, numbering roughly 100 speakers in Baja California in a 2007 survey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nukak language</span> Endangered indigenous language of Colombia

The Nukak language is a language of uncertain classification, perhaps part of the macrofamily Puinave-Maku. It is very closely related to Kakwa.

Wandala, also known as Mandara or Mura', is a language in the Chadic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family, spoken in Cameroon and Nigeria.

Tamashek or Tamasheq is a variety of Tuareg, a Berber macro-language widely spoken by nomadic tribes across North Africa in Algeria, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso. Tamasheq is one of the three main varieties of Tuareg, the others being Tamajaq and Tamahaq.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matlatzinca language</span> Endangered Oto-Manguean language of Mexico

Matlatzinca, or more specifically San Francisco Matlatzinca, is an endangered Oto-Manguean language of Western Central Mexico.[3] The name of the language in the language itself is pjiekak'joo.[4] The term "Matlatzinca" comes from the town's name in Nahuatl, meaning "the lords of the network." At one point, the Matlatzinca groups were called "pirindas," meaning "those in the middle."[5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Pech at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  2. Santacruz, Pedro (September 1, 2021). "Honduras. The Pech people. "We belong to the earth and to the earth we shall return"". SouthWorld.
  3. Martin, Lucille. "Languages in Peril: The Chibchan Family". Parrot Time.
  4. "The ethnic group of the Pesh in Honduras". RedHonduras.com.
  5. Pache, Matthias (2023-01-01). "Pech and the Basic Internal Classification of Chibchan". International Journal of American Linguistics. 89 (1): 81–103. doi:10.1086/722240. ISSN   0020-7071.
  6. "Paya alphabet, pronunciation and language". www.omniglot.com. Retrieved 2024-09-20.

Sources