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)

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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, Omniglot.

Sources