but phonetically the two /h/’s do not contrast” (Orie and V. Bricker 2000:306). Similarly, Colonial Yucatec
46 PHONOLOGY
had a sixth vowel (schwa) that was in the process of being raised to [i] or lowered to [a] throughout the
Colonial period. It has no phonetic resolution in Modern Yucatec, having merged completely with either
[i] or [a].
NOTES
1. A more detailed inventory of co-occurrence restrictions can be found in Straight (1976:52–53, Table 13).
2. In his “modernized” edition of the Calepino de Motul, Arzápalo Marín (1995:Vol. I) doubles all accented
vowels, including the ones in participial suffixes.
CHAPTER 4
PRONOUNS
Colonial Yucatec had three kinds of pronouns: dependent pronouns (sometimes called person markers),
independent pronouns, and stative pronouns. Of these, only the first two kinds of pronouns have been
documented in Modern Yucatec.
1. DEPENDENT PRONOUNS
1.1. DEPENDENT PRONOUNS IN COLONIAL YUCATEC. Colonial Yucatec had two sets of dependent pro-
nouns: four clitic pronouns that are classified as belonging to set A and six pronominal suffixes that belong
to set B. Two of the plural suffixes in set B were combined with clitic pronouns to mark the second- and
third-person plurals of the pronouns of set A:
(1)
Set A
Set B
Singular
Plural
Singular
Plural
1st
in(u)
c(a) ~ k
-en
-(o)on
2nd
a(u)
a(u) ... -(e)ex
-ech
-(e)ex
3rd
u(y)
u(y) ... -(o)ob
-Ø -(o)ob
u (phonetic [w]) replaced the glottal stop or /h/ in laryngeal-initial stems with first-person singular and
second- person plural clitics; y had the same function with third-person clitics. (2a–b) shows that the first-
person dependent clitic pronoun was often reduced to u and that the third-person clitic pronoun was
often reduced to y before laryngeal-initial stems in Colonial Yucatec. The second-person clitic pronoun was
never abbreviated in this way because to do so would have confused it with the first-person singular clitic
pronoun. The paradigm in (2c) illustrates the use of pronominal clitics before nouns beginning with other
consonants.
(2a)
Glottal-stop initial noun: iɔin ‘younger sibling’
Singular
Plural
1st
(in)u iɔin ‘my younger sibling’
c iɔin ‘our younger sibling’
2nd
au iɔin ‘your younger sibling’
au iɔinex ‘y’all’s younger sibling’
3rd
(u)y iɔin ‘his, her younger sibling’
(u)y iɔinob ‘their younger sibling’
47
48 PRONOUNS
(2b)
/h/-initial noun: huun ‘book, letter’
Singular
Plural
1st
(in)u uun ‘my book, letter’
c uun ‘our book, letter’
2nd
au uun ‘your book, letter’
au uunex ‘y’all’s book, letter’
3rd
(u)y uun ‘his, her book, letter’
(u)y uunob ‘their book, letter’
(2c)
Non-laryngeal initial noun: çucun ‘older brother’
Singular
Plural
1st
in çucun ‘my older brother’
ca çucun ‘our older brother’
2nd
a çucun ‘your older brother’
a çucunex ‘y’all’s older brother’
3rd
u çucun ‘his, her older brother’
u çucunob ‘their older brother’
The clitic pronouns could also serve as the subjects of verbs:
(3a)
Glottal-stop initial verb: ilah ‘saw it’
Singular
Plural
1st
(in)u ilah ‘I saw it’
c ilah ‘we saw it’
2nd
au ilah ‘you saw it’
au ilaheex ‘you-all saw it’
3rd
(u)y ilah ‘he, she saw it’
(u)y ilahoob ‘they saw it’
(3b)
/h/-initial verb: halah ‘said it’
Singular
Plural
1st
(in)u alah ‘I said it’
c alah ‘we said it’
2nd
au alah ‘you said it’
au alaheex ‘you-all said it’
3rd
(u)y alah ‘he, she said it’
(u)y alahoob ‘they said it’
(3c)
Non-laryngeal initial verb: bonah ‘painted it’
Singular
Plural
1st
in bonah ‘I painted it’
ca bonah ‘we painted it’
2nd
a bonah ‘you painted it’
a bonaheex ‘you-all painted it’
3rd
u bonah ‘he, she painted it’
u bonahoob ‘they painted it’
Set B pronouns could be suffixed to nouns and adjectives to produce stative verbs:
(4a)
Noun: uinic ‘man’
Singular
Plural
1st
uinic-en ‘I am a man’
uinic-oon ‘we are men’
2nd
uinic-ech ‘you are a man’
uinic-eex ‘you-all are men’
3rd uinic-Ø ‘he is a man’
uinic-oob ‘they are men’
(4b)
Adjective: ceel ‘cold’
Singular
Plural
1st
ceel-en ‘I am cold’
ceel-oon ‘we are cold’
2nd
ceel-ech ‘you are cold’
ceel-eex ‘you-all are cold’
3rd ceel-Ø ‘he, she, it is cold’
ceel-oob ‘they are cold’
PRONOUNS
49
They could also serve as the subjects of intransitive verbs and as the direct objects of transitive verbs:
(5a)
Intransitive verb: lub ‘fall’
Singular
Plural
1st
lub-en ‘I fell’
lub-oon ‘we fell’
2nd
lub-ech ‘you fell’
lub-eex ‘you-all fell’
3rd lub- Ø ‘he, she it fell’
lub-oob ‘they fell’
(5b)
Transitive verb: ilah ‘saw it’
Singular
Plural
1st
(u)y ilah-en ‘he saw me’
(u)y ilah-oon ‘he saw us’
2nd
(u)y ilah-ech ‘he saw you’
(u)y ilah-eex ‘he saw you-all’
3rd
(u)y ilah- Ø ‘he saw him, her, it’
(u)y ilah-oob ‘he saw them’
It should be noted that the meaning of (u)y ilahob in (5b) is inherently ambiguous. Although it can
and does mean ‘he saw them’ in some contexts, it can also mean ‘they saw him’ and ‘they saw them’ in
others. This is because the -ob suffix could mark third-person plural subjects as well as objects in Colonial
Yucatec, and it could not be reduplicated in a transitive stem. A solution to this problem is described in
4. in Chapter 7.
Perhaps for these reasons, there was no rule of
plural agreement in Colonial Yucatec. If the nominal
subject took -ob as a plural suffix, the verb did not need it, and it was sometimes absent:
(6a)
lay testig-ob ti ohelte_ v hahil
‘these were the witnesses who knew the truth
v ɔabal kax v canante Juo Kumun lae
about the forest being given to Juan Kumun to care for’ (DZ569-073A-C)
(6b)
lay testigosob ohelmail_ u poc=che col Andres Batune
‘it was these witnesses who have known about the abandoned cornfield of Andres Batun’
(TK610-012A-B)
Furthermore, if the reflexive pronoun co-occurred with the -ob suffix, the verb lacked it, because it was
clear that the subject was also plural:
(7a) t
u hoksah_ u ba-ob Gaspar Keb y etel Geronimo Keb Francisco Keb Jose Keb
‘Gaspar Keb and Geronimo Keb, Francisco Keb, and Jose Keb presented themselves’
(SB596A-002A-C)
(7b)
ma tan uy oces_ u ba-ob yt. lay kax hele lae
‘they are not involving themselves with this forest today’ (PS740A-015A-B)
The order of multiple pronominal suffixes in verbal expressions is governed by a person hierarchy, with
the first person followed by the second person followed by third person at the end:
(8a)
bin ix a hant-ex-ob xan
‘and you-all are going to eat them also’ (Gordon 1913:89)
50 PRONOUNS
(8b)
hach tibil ix v tzectic-on-ob cuchi
‘and very virtuously they preached to us in the past’ (MID567:fol. 365, lines 18–19)
(8c)
lahitac u kinil ca t u kax-en-ob ca t u bis-en-ob ti u v Ranchoil X kanpokobche
‘that was the day when they tied me, and they carried me to his ranch of
X kanpokobche’ (V. Bricker 1981a:209, lines 46–50)
In (8a), the clitic pronoun, a ‘you,’ serves as the second-person subject of the verb, hant ‘to eat,’ -ex ‘you-all,’
marks the subject as second-person plural, and -ob ‘them,’refers to the object of the verb. In (8b), the sub-
ject of the verb is represented by the third-person clitic pronoun, v ‘he, she, it,’ and the plural suffix -ob, and
the direct object is represented by the first-person plural suffix, -on ‘us.’ In both examples, -ob appears at
the end of the verbal expression because, as the marker of a third-person plural subject or object, it ranks
lower in the person hierarchy than the first- and second-person plural suffixes, -ex and -on. The same is
true in (8c), where -en ‘me’ marks the first-person singular object, and -ob marks the third-person plural
subject. In other words, the order of suffixed pronouns on verbs cannot be used for distinguishing subjects
from objects.
The same principle applies to pronominal suffixes on nouns:
(9a)
y etel au al a mehen-ex-ob
‘and of your (pl.) children’ (SB596B-145B)
(9b)
talel tun u cahob a sucun-ex-ob
‘the older brothers of you-all come then’ (Gordon 1913:88)
1.2. DEPENDENT PRONOUNS IN MODERN YUCATEC. Like Colonial Yucatec, Modern Yucatec has two sets of
dependent pronouns: four clitic pronouns labelled as set A and six pronominal suffixes labelled as set B:
(10)
Set A
Set B
Singular
Plural
Singular
Plural
1st
iN(w)
kə
-en
-óʔon
2nd
a(w)
a(w) ... -éʔeš
-eč
-éʔeš
3rd
u(y)
u(y) ... -óʔob’
- Ø
-óʔob’
w and y replace the glottal stop in glottal-stop initial stems with first-person singular and second- and
third-person singular and plural clitics. N- represents a nasal which is realized as m- before bilabial stops
(b’, p, p’), as n- before dental stops (t, t’), affricates (ȼ, ȼ’, č, č’), fricatives (s, š), nasals (m, n), laterals (l), or palatal glides (y), and as ŋ- before velars (k, k’), glottals (ʔ, h), and labiovelar glides (w):
(11a) Glottal-stop initial noun: ʔíiȼ’in ‘younger brother’
Singular
Plural
1st
iŋw íiȼ’in ‘my younger sibling’
kə ʔíiȼ’in ‘our younger sibling’
2nd
aw íiȼ’in ‘your younger sibling’
aw íiȼ’neš ‘y’all’s younger sibling’
3rd
(u)y íiȼ’in ‘his, her younger sibling’
(u)y íiȼ’nob’ ‘their younger sibling’
PRONOUNS 51
(11b) Non-glottal stop initial noun: sukúʔun ‘older brother’
Singular
Plural
1st
in sukúʔun ‘my older brother’
kə sukúʔun ‘our older brother’
2nd
a sukúʔun ‘your older brother’
a sukúʔunéʔeš ‘y’all’s older brother’
3rd
u sukúʔun ‘his, her older brother’
u sukúʔunóʔob’ ‘their older brother’
As in Colonial Yucatec, the clitic pronouns can also serve as the subjects of verbs:
(12a) Glottal-stop initial verb: ʔilah ‘saw it’
Singular
Plural
1st
t iŋw ilah ‘I saw it’
tə ʔilah ‘we saw it’
2nd
t aw ilah ‘you saw it’
t aw ilahéʔeš ‘you-all saw it’
3rd
t uy ilah ‘he, she saw it’
t uy ilahóʔob’ ‘they saw it’
(12b) Non-glottal stop initial verb: b’onah ‘painted it’
Singular
Plural
1st
t in b’onah ‘I painted it’
tə b’onah ‘we painted it’
2nd
t a b’onah ‘you painted it’
t a b’onahéʔeš ‘you-all painted it’
3rd
t u b’onah ‘he, she painted it’
t u b’onahóʔob’ ‘they painted it’
The suffixation of set B pronouns to nouns and adjectives in stative verbs is exemplified in (13a–b)
below:
(13a) Noun: wíinik ‘man’
Singular
Plural
1st
wíinik-en ‘I am a man’
wíinik-óʔon ‘we are men’
2nd
wíinik-eč ‘you are a man’
wíinik-éʔeš ‘you-all are men’
3rd wíinik-Ø ‘he is a man’
wíinik-óʔob’ ‘they are men’
(13b) Adjective: kéʔel ‘cold’
Singular
Plural
1st
kéʔel-en ‘I am cold’
kéʔel-óʔon ‘we are cold’
2nd
kéʔel-eč ‘you are cold’
kéʔel-éʔeš ‘you-all are cold’
3rd
kéʔel-Ø ‘he, she, it is cold’
kéʔel-óʔob’ ‘they are cold’
And, as in Colonial Yucatec, they can also serve as the subjects of intransitive verbs and as the direct objects
of transitive verbs:
(14a) Intransitive verb: lúub’ ‘fall’
Singular
Plural
1st
lúub’-en ‘I fell’
lúub’-óʔon ‘we fell’
2nd
lúub’-ech ‘you fell’
lúub’-éʔeš ‘you-all fell’
> 3rd
lúub’- Ø ‘he, she, it fell’
lúub’-óʔob’ ‘they fell’
52 PRONOUNS
(14b) Transitive verb: ʔilah ‘saw it’
Singular
Plural
1st
uy ilah-en ‘he saw me’
uy ilah-óʔon ‘he saw us’
2nd
uy ilah-eč ‘he saw you’
uy ilah-éʔeš ‘he saw you-all’
3rd
uy ilah- Ø ‘he saw him, her, it’
uy ilah-óʔob’ ‘he saw them’
Modern Yucatec has the same problem with the ambiguity of -óʔob’ in transitive expressions with
third-person subjects as Colonial Yucatec and resolves it in the same way, namely by not having a rule of
plural agreement:
(15a) pwes káʔah t y áʔ(al)ah_ e máak-óʔob’oʔ
‘well, when those men said it’ (CHK979)
(15b) k
uy ilik_ u b’a-ob’
‘they see themselves’ (Blair and Vermont-Salas 1965:398)
As in Colonial Yucatec, the person hierarchy determines the order of suffixed pronouns in Modern
Yucatec:
(16a) túʔuš t aw il-éʔeš-óʔob’
‘where did you-all see them?’ (Blair and Vermont-Salas 1965:439)
(16b) héʔ u páahtal a b’isk-en-éʔeš šan t aw éetel-éʔeš-eʔ
‘could you-all take me with you-all, too?’ (Blair and Vermont-Salas 1965:440)
(16c) tóhkab’ileʔ u k’áatóʔob’ u b’is-óʔon-óʔob’ sakiʔ
‘as a matter of fact, they want to take us to Valladolid’ (Blair and Vermont-Salas 1965:440)
The subject of the verb, ʔil ‘to see,’ is represented by the clitic pronoun, a ‘you,’ and the pronominal suffix,
-éʔeš ‘you-all,’ in (16a), and -óʔob’ ‘them’ refers to the object of the verb. The same clitic pronoun and pro-
nominal suffix serve as the subject of the verb in (16b), but because the direct object, -en ‘me,’ ranks higher
in the person hierarchy than -éʔeš ‘you-all,’ it immediately follows the verb. Likewise in (16c), -óʔon ‘us’ pre-
cedes -óʔob’ ‘they’ after the verb (b’is) because the first person outranks the third person in the hierarchy.
In other words, the function of a pronominal suffix as a subject or an object does not govern its position
after the verb.
Pronominal suffixes on nouns are treated in the same way in Modern Yucatec:
(17)
kuš túun a sukúʔun-éʔeš-óʔob’
‘and how about your (pl.) older brothers’ (Blair and Vermont-Salas 1965:22)
So, also, is the inclusive exhortative stem of b’in ‘to go’ in Modern Yucatec:
A Historical Grammar of the Maya Language of Yucatan (1557-2000) Page 12
