A Historical Grammar of the Maya Language of Yucatan (1557-2000)
Page 54
5. SOME SEMANTIC FOCI OF AFFECTS
There is no question that the affects enhance Maya spoken and written language by making it more vivid
and expressive, and they do so by appealing to the five senses: sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell. The
basic color terms, by their very nature, refer to visual stimuli, and they augment their effect by combining
with other roots that add nuances that the color terms alone lack. Thus, in Modern Yucatec, the addition
of the transitive root haȼ’ ‘to hit, whip, beat’ to ʔéek’ ‘black,’ čak ‘red,’ k’áan ‘yellow,’ sak ‘white,’ and yáʔaš
‘green’ results in colors on large, flat surfaces that are glossy, gleaming, shiny, or brilliant (V. Bricker et al.
1998:92–93):
(26)
Color=haȼ’éʔen
Gloss
ʔéek’=haȼ’éʔen
glossy black (expanse, wall)
čak=haȼ’éʔen
gleaming red (expanse, wall)
k’áan=haȼ’éʔen
shiny yellow (expanse, wall)
sak=haȼ’éʔen
gleaming, brilliant white (house after snowstorm)
yáʔaš=haȼ’éʔen
brilliant green (expanse, wall)
At the other extreme are faded colors that are referred to by compounding the transitive root puk’ ‘to
dilute, dissolve, mix’ with each of the five color terms (V. Bricker et al. 1998:223–224):
(27)
Color=puk’éʔen
Gloss
ʔéek’=puk’éʔen
faded black
čak=puk’éʔen
rosy
k’áan=puk’éʔen
faded yellow
sak=puk’éʔen
faded
yáʔaš=puk’éʔen
faded green
Compounds like these have provided the mechanism for expressing brightness and saturation, as well as
relative size, discreteness, and opacity (V. Bricker 1999).
AFFECTS 323
Vision is not the only sense encoded by color compounds in Modern Yucatec. Touch is incorporated by
combining color terms with the affect roots, ʔol ‘soft, tender,’ p’oš ‘break out in rash,’ and yúʔul ‘blunt,’ as in
the following compounds (V. Bricker et al. 1998:17, 223, 318):
(28)
Color=ʔoléʔen
Gloss
ʔéek’=ʔoléʔen
black (tender tips of young leaves)
čak=ʔoléʔen
red (tender tips of young leaves; skin of young person affected by sun)
k’áan=ʔoléʔen
yellow (tender tips of young leaves)
sak=ʔoléʔen
white (tender tips of young leaves; fine white cloth)
(29)
Color=p’ošéʔen
Gloss
ʔéek’=p’ošéʔen
prickly black (black wasps under nest)
k’áan=p’ošéʔen
prickly yellow
sak=p’ošéʔen
prickly white
yáʔaš=p’ošéʔen
prickly green (fruit of false canna)
(30)
Color=yuléʔen
Gloss
ʔéek’=yuléʔen
abraded black (mole that has been rubbed and is oozing)
čak=yuléʔen
raw red (nose from cold, ischial callosities of monkeys)
k’áan=yuléʔen
abraded yellow
sak=yuléʔen
abraded white
These compounds refer to texture: the tender tips of young leaves of different colors, the spines on the
green fruit of a false canna (Canna indica L.), the abraded surface of a black mole that has been rubbed,
or the ischial callosity of a monkey. Their link with the affects is both formal and semantic, because of the
explicit affect component of the compound stem.
Texture is a more significant semantic focus of the affects themselves, as shown in Table 12-3, where
almost 60 percent of the verbal and adjectival affects in the Hocaba Dictionary refer to objects that are
or are becoming rough (ʔišb’al, ʔiʔiškil), scaly (hošb’al, hohoškil), lumpy (nulb’al, nunulkil), fuzzy (ȼapb’al,
ȼaȼapkil), pimply (košb’al, kokoškil), grainy or granular (kelb’al, kekelkil), gritty (hap’b’al, hahap’kil), smooth
(b’íʔib’al, b’íʔib’iʔkil), slippery (poȼ’b’al, popoȼ’kil), greasy (č’alb’al, č’ač’alkil), soft (ʔolb’al, ʔóʔolkil), squishy (yač’b’al, yayač’kil), creamy (ȼ’ukb’al, ȼ’uȼuhkil), gelatinous (t’ayb’al, t’at’aykil), gooey (t’oyb’al, t’ot’oykil), or
powdery (mayb’al, mamaykil). Similarly, almost 50 percent of the -mal verbal and -ci adjectival affects in
the Calepino de Motul refer to objects that are or are becoming hard (bahmal, babahci; cuymal, cucuyci;
nolmal, nonolci), rough (hoxmal, hoxhoxci), sticky (tzaymal, tzatzayci), smooth (cicipci, yulmal), slippery
(hacmal, hahacci; holmal, holholci), greasy (aymal, aayci; akmal, aakci), soft (luumal, luluci), dry (çalmal,
çalçalci; çijmal, çiçici), wet (makmal, mamakci; ppomal, ppooppoci), wrinkled (oɔmal, ooɔci), or pulverized
(mumuyci, muymuyci) (Table 12-1). Although not all the tactile properties mentioned in the two dictionaries
are the same, the affects concerned with this sense are much more numerous than the affects pertaining
to the other four senses.
The sense of hearing is implied by two -bal affects and one -áankil affect in the Hocaba Dictionary:
(31)
ʔáamb’al
‘roar (plane), rumble (earth)’
b’ohb’al
‘ring hollow’
b’ohláankil
‘creak, make noise’
324 AFFECTS
Such affects were better represented in the Calepino de Motul, with both verbal and adjectival stems:
(32)
heppmal
‘creak, squeak (wood)’
heheppancil
‘creak, squeak (wood)’
humancil
‘make many sounds and much noise’
nolchalancil
‘creak, screech, squeak’
oppchalancil
‘clatter, rustle, squeak’
(33)
bobohnac
‘ringing hollow’
culucnac
‘very loud (sound of thunder, drum)’
cululnac
‘very loud (sound of thunder, drum)’
hechecnac
‘that which squeaks, creaks, crackles, grates’
heheppci
‘creaking, squeaking’
humucnac
‘noisy, loud’
tilicnac
‘noisy (thunder, stomach, drums)’
titici
‘noisy’
titicnac
‘noisy’
Two -áankil verbal affects in the Hocaba dictionary invoke the sense of smell:
(34)
b’òokáankil
‘give off odor’
b’uȼ’iláankil
‘smoke’
Cognates of these affects are documented in the Calepino de Motul, along with one -mal affect that also
alludes to odors:
(35)
bocancil
‘give off odor’
buɔancil
‘smoke, emit smoke’
buɔmal
‘stink of smoke’
There are, in addition, seven -nac adjectival affects that have the same focus on smell in the Calepino de
Motul:
(36)
bococnac
‘odiferous’
bocolnac
‘smelly, odiferous’
buyucnac<
br />
‘odiferous, smelly’
çamacnac
‘sweet smelling’
tzihinac
‘reeking of urine’
tapacnac
‘fragrant, penetrating’
tuucnac
‘stinking, fetid, spoiled, tainted’
The Calepino de Motul has one affect that refers to taste (actually the lack of it):
(37)
pechmal
‘be tasteless because of lack of fire (boiled or roasted food)’
AFFECTS 325
The Hocaba Dictionary has none.
Thus, of the five senses, vision is most prominent in color compounds in both Colonial and Modern
Yucatec, texture is more common in the verbal and adjectival affects of both Colonial and Modern Yucatec,
and auditory and olfactory characteristics are more numerous in the affects of Colonial Yucatec than
in Modern Yucatec, but not to the same degree as texture in both Colonial and Modern Yucatec. Taste
received a little attention in Colonial Yucatec and is entirely lacking in the affects of Modern Yucatec.
6. SUMMARY OF CHANGES IN AFFECTS THROUGH TIME
The principal verbal affect suffix underwent significant changes, from -m to -b’al in the transition from
Colonial to Modern Yucatec. The adjectival affect marked by -ci (phonetic [kih]) in Colonial Yucatec changed
to a lesser degree to -kil in Modern Yucatec. The -nac affects in Colonial Yucatec have not survived in Mod-
ern Yucatec.
NOTE
1. In comparing the -nak with the -kih adjectival affects in Itsaj, Hofling (2000:172) says that they are sim-
ilar, but that -nak affects “have a more active verbal flavor,” and he says that the -nak affects in Mopan
“tend to have a more verbal flavor with semantics of activity” (2011:23). This was sometimes the case in
Colonial Yucatec, as in hahacci ‘slippery, slick’ versus hacacnac ‘slipping, sliding’ in (12), but not always
(compare the glosses for aayci/ayacnac, aakci/akacnac, cuculci/culucnac, and luluci/lulucnac in [12]).
CHAPTER 13
REDUPLICATION
The Calepino de Motul contains numerous examples of reduplication, of which there are three basic kinds:
(1) full or complete reduplication of the root or stem, (2) partial reduplication of the root, and (3) reduplica-
tion with infixes. Both Colonial and Modern Yucatec have a variety of reduplicated adjectival and particip-
ial stems, closely followed by transitive stems. The other form classes — nouns, particles, and intransitive
roots — also have examples of reduplication.
1. ADJECTIVAL REDUPLICATION
Adjectival roots and affect stems are the principal sources of reduplicated adjectives.
1.1. REDUPLICATED ADJECTIVES BASED ON ADJECTIVAL ROOTS. The Calepino de Motul contains evidence
of both partial and complete reduplication of adjectival roots. Some examples of partial reduplication ap-
pear in (1) below:
(1) Adjectival
Partial
Root
Gloss
Reduplication
Gloss
cet
equal, even; jointly,
ce-cet
jointly, together, equally
together
cooz
superficial, shallow
co-coz
slightly shallow, not very deep
[not deep]
çac white
ça-çac white
ça(a)l
light
ça-çal
rather light [not heavy]
çap
insipid
ça-çap
insipid, tasteless
çiz
cold, cool
çi-çiç
cold
çuuɔ
sour, acrid, acidic,
çu-zuɔ
slightly sour, acrid, acidic, astringent
astringent
chac red
cha-chac red
chan
small, little
cha-chan
~ chi-chan1
small, little
cħuy
slowly, little by little
cħu-cħuy
very slowly
kaz
somewhat, semi
ka-kaz
somewhat, semi
noh
right-handed;
no-noh
dextrous, skillful, industrious, clever,
principal, great
robust, vigorous
326
REDUPLICATION 327
toop
precipitously,
to-top
precipitously, recklessly, violently
recklessly,
violently
tzaa persistent tza-tza persistent
yax green
ya-yax green
In only five of these sets of examples are the partially reduplicated stems distinguished semantically from
their related adjectival roots. Thus, ça(a)l meant ‘light,’ but ça-çal meant ‘rather light (not heavy)’; çuuɔ
meant ‘sour, acrid, acidic, astringent,’ but çu-zuɔ meant ‘slightly sour, acrid, acidic, astringent’; and cħuy
meant ‘slowly, little by little,’ but cħu-cħuy meant very slowly’ in Colonial Yucatec. The qualifiers — rather,
slightly, and very — in the glosses of the partially reduplicated stems modify the intensity of the character-
istic signified by the related adjectival roots, either increasing it or decreasing it from its original meaning.
The Calepino de Motul treats the members of the other pairs as synonyms of each other. Thus chac and
cha-chac both mean ‘red,’ kaz and ka-kaz both mean ‘somewhat, semi,’ et cetera.
The contrast in meaning is greater between fully reduplicated stems and their adjectival roots:
(2) Adjectival
Full
Root
Gloss
Reduplication
Gloss
ci
sweet, tasty,
ci-ci
sweet (words)
delicious, pleasant
com
short, brief
con-con
briefly but rapidly
com
short, brief
coon-coon
few
tzeem
thin, feeble, frail
tzeem-tzeem
long, wasting (illness)
chac
red
chac-chac
very red
chan
small, little
chan-chan
very small
ek black
ek-ek black
kan
ripe, yellow
kan-kan
yellow
pem
thick
pem-pem
thick, coarse
ya
painful, sore
ya-ya
very painful, very regretful
Here, there is no doubt that full reduplication increases the intensity of the characteristic signified by the
related adjective, as the following sentences containing the reduplicated adjectives, coon-coon ‘few,’ chan-
chan ‘very small,’ and ya-ya ‘very painful, very regretful’ show:
(3a)
coon-coon vinic hele lae
‘there are few people now’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 81v)
(3b)
coon-coon ah men
‘he is an official who seldom appears’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 81v)
(3c)
chan-chan in vaan cuchi
‘I used to be very short’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 442r)
(3d)
ma
vchac v tzacic voc ti chan-chan hanal
‘I cannot be satisfied with so little food’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 114r)
(3e)
bin v ya-ya tzectob ti hun-cach lukul
‘he will punish them severely forever’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 196v)
328 REDUPLICATION
The semantic distinction between the full and partial reduplication of adjectives is much clearer in Itsaj,
where the contrast has been elicited systematically by Hofling (2000:28–30), who says that “complete redu-
plication occurs with adjectives to mark high intensity” and “partial reduplication indicates moderate inten-
sity.” He uses “rather” in his glosses of partially reduplicated stems and “very” in his glosses of completely
reduplicated stems: e.g., k’u-k’uy ‘rather mischievous’ versus k’uy-k’uy ‘very mischievous.’
The only fully reduplicated stems of words derived from adjectives in the Hocaba dictionary of Modern
Yucatec are based on roots that end in a nasal consonant:
(4)
Adjectival
Full
Root
Gloss
Reduplication
Gloss
kóom short
kóon-kon short
k’áʔam
strong, vigorous,
k’áʔan-k’áʔan
moderately strong
violent
k’an
yellow
k’àan-k’an
yellow, orange
pìim
thick
pìim-pim
thick
The Hocaba dictionary contains a single example of a partially reduplicated nasal-final root in a compound
stem: š mùu-mu-n=heʔ ‘unlaid egg [of chicken]’ (< mùun ‘green, tender’ and heʔ ‘egg’).
Several patterns of partial reduplication appear in the Hocaba dictionary. In reduplicated stems based
on adjectival roots with short vowels, the reduplicand is a prefix:
(5) Adjectival
Partial
Root
Gloss
Reduplication
Gloss
čak
red, pink, orange,
ča-čak
red
rust-colored
čan
little
či-čan2 little
sak white
sa-sak white
ʔuȼ
good, just
ʔú-ʔuȼ
nice
If the root has a long vowel and high tone, the reduplicand is an infix:
(6)
Adjectival
Partial
Root
Gloss
Reduplication
Gloss
kóoč
wide, broad,
kóo-ko-č
very wide