cognate of Colonial kati:
(71a) b’áʔaš a káatih
‘what do you want?’
(71b) le in k’aatih
‘that’s what I want’
For the most part, however, k’áat (without the -ih suffix) has the same function as Colonial kati in Modern
Yucatec:
(72a) letíʔ le in káataʔ
‘this is the one I want’ (V. Bricker et al. 1998:149)
(72b) in
k’áat in maneh
‘I want to buy it’ (Blair and Vermont-Salas 1965:249)
(72c) a
ká(a)t ʔuk’ul
‘do you want to drink?’ (Blair and Vermont-Salas 1965:250)
The normal version of kat was kat-t (phonetic [k’áat-t]) ‘to ask, request, inquire, investigate, interrogate’
in Colonial Yucatec. The suffixation of -t to kat resulted in an impermissible consonant cluster and the dele-
tion of the root-final “t.” The following examples illustrate the aspectual inflection of this version of kat with
the imperfective (-ic) and perfective (-ah) aspectual suffixes and the aspectual particle, lic:
(73a) v katah v bocħ ten vahi ten cħaic
‘she asked me for her toque as if it was I who had taken it’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 438v)
(73b) lic
in katic justicia y okol Juan
‘I request justice against John’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 347v)
TRANSITIVE VERBS 175
The normal version of k’áat in Modern Yucatec is identical to the defective version after the deletion of
the final consonant in the root before the suffix -t. It is glossed as ‘to request, ask, beg, implore, interrogate,’
contrasting with the meaning of the defective version, ‘to want.’ The following examples illustrate the use
of this version with the imperfective suffix -ik and the aspectual particles, k and táan:
(74a) k in k’áatik kíimil
‘I beg for death’ (V. Bricker et al. 1998:149)
(74b) táan in k’áatik b’iš u b’èel u kìik
‘I am asking him how his older sister is’ (V. Bricker et al. 1998:149)
3.2. DEFECTIVE AND NORMAL VERSIONS OF OHEL. Transitive verbs are not normally marked by a -Vl suffix,
and in this respect, ohel (phonetic [ʔòohel]) ‘to know /something/,’ is a significant exception. The following
contextual examples of ohel in the Calepino de Motul show that it is both transitive and defective in the
sense that it is neither inflected with transitive aspectual suffixes, nor is it accompanied by aspectual head
words:
(75a) ma vohel v ɔacal
‘I don’t know what his remedy is’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 124r)
(75b) v ppatahen ti bay hi=maac y ohelen
‘he abandoned me as though he knows me as just anyone’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 419r)
(75c) ma vohel va=bal v kati
‘I don’t know what he wants’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 437r)
(75d) vohel a beel y etel a tucul
‘I know your deeds and thoughts well’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 345v)
(75e) meteli tun bin a beeltic y oklal nonohech
‘it is better that you do it because you are skillful
au ohel-ix t u lacal
and know all about it’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 305v)
The same is true of ʔòohel, the cognate of ohel in Modern Yucatec:
(76a) teneʔ máʔ inw òohel miš b’áʔal
‘as for me, I know nothing’ (V. Bricker et al. 1998:15)
(76b) aw òoh(e)léʔeš wá mayaʔ t’àan
‘do you-all know the Maya language?’ (Blair and Vermont-Salas 1965:34)
(76c) hay p’é t’àan aw ohel
‘how many languages do you know?’ (Blair and Vermont-Salas 1965:66)
176
TRANSITIVE VERBS
The normal version of ohel was ohel-t (phonetic [ʔohéel-t]) ‘to know /something/, recognize, under-
stand, notice’ in Colonial Yucatec. Below are contextual examples of the inflection of this verb with the
imperfective (-ic), perfective (-ah), and subjunctive (-e) suffixes:
(77a) ti ɔoci ynv oheltic v hahil t u beltah jusas y etel gou,r
I finished knowing the truth of what the justices did with the governor
t u pach v kaxob Dio Couoh Aparisio Vc y v haanob
behind the forests of Diego Couoh, Aparicio Uc, and their sons-in-law’ (DZ651D-503A-E)
(77b) he-x ca t inv oheltah cen gouor y aldes v kuchul termino can=ppel oras
‘and here when I, who am the governor, with the justices, noticed that the end of four hours was
approaching’ (MA733C-221A-D)
(77c) t u kaba-ix bolon pixan ca cilich colel ti hun=kul suhuy santa Maria
‘and in the name of our blessed Lady, who is forever the Virgin Saint Mary,
y ohelteob t u lacal vinicob
whom all men might know’ (MA629-004A-005C)
The normal version of ʔòohel in Modern Yucatec is also derived by suffixing -t to the defective stem,
yielding ʔohéel-t ‘to know /something/, understand, notice.’ The only contextual example of this verb in my
database for Modern Yucatec is inflected for perfective aspect:
(78)
t inw ohéeltah este u hóokol
‘I noticed that this one was emerging’ (CHC971B:4)
3.3. DEFECTIVE AND NORMAL VERSIONS OF KAH=OL. The defective version of the compound stem, kah=ol,
is not mentioned in the Calepino de Motul.12 Only the intransitive phrase, kahal ol ‘to recognize,’ is listed
there (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 233r), along with the contextual examples already illustrated in (41a–b) in
Chapter 6.
On the other hand, kah=ol-t ‘to recognize, note, identify,’ the normal version of kah=ol, is mentioned in
the Calepino de Motul, and it is illustrated there with several contextual examples, including:
(79a) in kah=oltah in çuyem
‘I recognized my cape’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 234v)
(79b) kah=olte v uich a mektan paalilob
‘identify the faces of the boys under your jurisdiction!’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 234v)
Another, much later, example of the use of the normal version of the compound appears in the Book of
Chilam Balam of Kaua:
(79c) ca kah=oltic tech ah ɔacyah
‘we identify it for you doctors
ti lic tun a tuntic bal halab ɔac u kati kohane
when you attempt to purge the patient’ (Kaua n.d.:II, 4L)
TRANSITIVE VERBS 177
Modern Yucatec has both the defective and the normal versions of kah=ol. The defective version is
k’ah=óol ‘to know, be acquainted with.’ Some examples of its use in context appear below:
(80a) tóʔoneʔ k k’ah=óol letiʔ
‘as for us, we know him’ (Blair and Vermont-Salas 1965:66)
(80b) a k’ah=óolen aw ohel máašen
‘do you recognize me? do you know who I am?’ (Blair and Vermont-Salas 1965:553)
(80c) máaš le máakoʔ a k’ah=ol wáah
‘who is that man? do you know him?’ (Blair and Vermont-Salas 1965:65)
The normal version of the compound bears the transitivizing suffix -t in Modern Yucatec: k’ah=óol-t ‘to
recognize, become acquainted with,’ as in:
(81a) in k’áat ká talaké(ʔ)eš a k’ah=óolt le in tàanahoʔ
‘I want you-all to come to meet my household’ (Blair and Vermont-Salas 1965:323)
(81b) hun túul nohoč máak t in k’ah=óoltah téʔe
‘one older man whom I recognized there,
k u méentik kòol téʔe túʔuš k kòoloʔ
he cultivates a cornfield there, where our cornfield is’ (SOT971B:15)
4. PLURALIZATI
ON13
The distinction between singular and plural can be applied to three aspects of a transitive verb: (1) the sub-
ject, (2) the object, and (3) the action itself. Because Maya does not permit the same plural suffix to appear
more than once in a verb stem, it is often difficult to determine whether it is the subject or the object (or
both) that is being pluralized (see 1. in Chapter 4). In addition, it is necessary to determine whether a
repeated action is applied to the same or several objects.
We can illustrate this problem with the verb p’eh ‘to chip.’ The third person durative form of this verb,
táan u p’ehikóʔob’, is inherently ambiguous. It can mean either ‘he is chipping it,’ ‘he is chipping them,’
‘they are chipping it,’ or ‘they are chipping them.’ In order to specify that both the subject and the object
are plural, the distributive suffix -láʔant may be added to the verb: táan u p’ehláʔantikóʔob’ ‘they are chip-
ping them one after another.’ If, on the other hand, the subject is singular and the object is plural, táan
u p’ehláʔantik ‘he is chipping them one after another’ would be appropriate. This verb can be passivized
by suffixing -láʔah to the passive stem of the verb: táan u p’éʔehláʔahal ‘they are being chipped one after
another.’ A related adjectival form of these verbs has the shape CV́VC-eN/-uN-CV́VC: p’éehump’éeh ‘chipped
here and there’ refers to several chipped cups, not a single cup chipped in several places.
A repeated action on a single object is indicated by reduplicating part or all of the verb stem: p’eh
‘to chip’: p’éʔep’eh ‘to chip in several places.’ The related adjectival stem is p’éʔep’éʔeh ‘chipped in several
places,’ referring to a single cup or plate from which multiple chips have been removed (see Chapter 13 for
a detailed discussion of such verbs and their related adjectives).
178
TRANSITIVE VERBS
The relationships among the three sets of verbal and adjectival stems based on p’eh can be summa-
rized as follows:
Action
Adjective
Singular
p’eh
p’èeh-el
‘chip’
‘chipped’
Plural
p’éʔep’eh
p’éʔep’éʔeh
(Single Object)
‘chip several times’
‘chipped in several places’
Plural
p’eh-láʔant
p’éeh-um-p’éeh
(Multiple Objects)
‘chip one after another’
‘chipped here and there’
We can infer from this table that an expression like táan u p’ehikóʔob’ is more likely to refer to a plural sub-
ject than to a plural object because the latter can be specified by suffixing -láʔant to the verb stem.
5. TRANSITIVE COMPOUNDS
Compounding involves incorporating a noun, an adjective, or another verb into the transitive verb stem
and normally suffixing -t to the compounded roots. Antipassive compounds lack -t; passive compounds
retain it.
5.1. NOUN INCORPORATION. A noun that serves as the direct object of a transitive stem may become part
of the active verb stem, as in the following examples listed in the Calepino de Motul:
(82) Transitive
Root
Noun
Compound
chaa
oc cha=oc-t
‘to loosen, untie; alleviate, assist’
‘foot, leg’
‘to obstruct way; slacken, discourage’
hel
pach hel=pach-t
‘to avoid, be free from, get rid of’ ‘back, rear side’
‘to escape, avoid, get rid of; leave
behind /companion/’
hoy
haa hoy=a-t
‘to pour out on ground /liquid/’
‘water, rain’
‘to irrigate; urinate’
lapp
kab lapp=kab-t
‘to grasp, seize, grapple, clutch’
‘hand, arm’
‘to enclose within fist’
mac
booy mac=boy-t
‘to cover, enclose’
‘shadow, shade’
‘to shade, cast shadow’
mac
pach mac=pach-t
‘to cover, enclose’
‘back, rear, side’
‘to defend, excuse from punishment;
catch or punish for another’s crime’
TRANSITIVE VERBS
179
muc
chek mac=chek-t
‘to bury, hide, conceal’
‘footstep, footprint, ‘to deny, disclaim; hide; despise, scorn,
track (animal)’
look down on’
nac
ol nac=ol-t
‘to bore, bother’
‘heart
‘to bore’
(non- corporeal),
mind, will, desire,
energy, spirit,
condition, quality’
peɔ
tun
peɔ=tun-t
‘to pat, crush, smash, press’
‘stone’
‘to place stone on object’
poc
chuc poc=chuc-t
‘to toast /bread/, reheat
‘live coal, charcoal, ‘to roast over hot coals’
over coals’
carbon’
Five of them are represented in context below:
(83a) hach cħul luum ma a hoy=a-tic
‘the earth is very wet; don’t irrigate it!’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 160r)
(83b) v mac=pach-tahen ah ocolob
‘the thieves punished me [for their crimes]’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 283v)
(83c) baci a cha=oc-te a ximbal
‘don’t block the way! [don’t let slacken! don’t discourage]’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 138r)
(83d) t in hel=pach-tah haa ti be
‘I avoided the water on the road’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 183r)
(83e) lic in nac=ol-tic Juan y etel v pectzile
‘I am bored with John and his fame’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 316v)
The same pattern of moving the direct object of a verb into the transitive stem can be documented in
Modern Yucatec:
(84)
Transitive
Root
Noun
Compound
č’ak
čeʔ
č’ak=čéʔe-t
‘to cut [with a blow]’
‘wood, tree, stick’
‘to chop trees down’
hoy
haʔ
hóoy=aʔ-t
‘to dilute, dissolve’
‘water’
‘to irrigate’
180
TRANSITIVE VERBS
met’
čiʔ
méeʔ=čiʔ-t
‘to purse /lips/’
‘mouth’
‘to grimace’
muȼ’
ʔič
múuȼ’=ʔič-t
‘to close /eyes/’
‘face, eye’
‘to scowl’
tuč’
kàal
túuč’=kàal-t
‘to raise over one’s head’
‘neck, throat’
‘to crane neck’
wek
haʔ
wéek=haʔa-t
‘to spill, shed’
‘water’
‘to throw water’
Contextual examples of five of them appear below:
(85a) kóʔoš
hóoy=aʔ-tik le pak’loʔ
‘let’s go sprinkle that garden!’ (V. Bricker et al. 1998:112)
(85b) t u méeʔ=čiʔ-t(i)ken
‘he is grimacing at me’ (V. Bricker et al. 1998:184)
(85c) k u túuč’=kal-tiken
‘he cranes his neck at me’ (elicitation notes July 1979)
(85d) u kìik h pèedróeʔ t u múuȼ’=ʔič-ten
‘Peter’s older sister, she scowled at me’ (V. Bricker et al. 1998:187)
(85e) táan in č’ak=čeʔe-tik in kòol
‘I am clearing my field [of trees]’ (V. Bricker et al. 1998:79)
The example of hóoy=aʔ-tik in (85a) closely parallels the example of hoy=a-tic in (83a) in the sense that
haa (phonetic [haʔ]) ‘water’ is reduced to a (phonetic [aʔ]) after hoy (phonetic [hóoy]) in both Colonial and
Modern Yucatec. The laryngeal “h” does not disappear after the velar stop in wek=háʔa-t in Modern Yucatec
(this compound does not appear in the Calepino de Motul).
Although not usually regarded as examples of “noun incorporation,” in which the direct object is
placed directly after the verbal root in the transitive stem, nouns may also appear before the verb in com-
pounds. This can be documented with the relational noun, et ‘equal, same; with’ in the following transitive
compounds:
(86)
Transitive
Root
Gloss
Compound
Gloss
kax
to tie up, bind, bandage [wound]
et=kax-t
to tie, bind, stick
kex
to change, exchange, trade
et=kex-t
to barter, exchange one object
for an object of the same
kind and in the same amount
moc
to knot, tie in knot
et=moc-t
to knot together
mol
to gather, collect
et=mol-t
to join or gather together
TRANSITIVE VERBS 181
pat
to form with hands, shape, mold
et=pat-t
to compare, equalize, match,
assimilate
ppiz
to measure, weigh
et=ppiz-t
to compare, measure together
The Calepino de Motul contains contextual examples of three of these transitive compounds with -et:
A Historical Grammar of the Maya Language of Yucatan (1557-2000) Page 31