payment-ap-perf-1sg prep food-nom
‘I satisfied my hunger [literally, I paid for food]’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 54v)
(21c) boot-Ø in-cah t-in-pal-il
pay-ap 1sg-go prep-1sg-servant-nom
‘I am paying my servant’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 56r)
The antipassive examples in (21a–b) can be compared with their active transitive counterparts in (22a–b),
where the patients, takin ‘money’ and hanal ‘food,’ appear directly after the verb:
(22a) bax v-chun a-hak-ic-Ø takin
what 3sg-reason 2sg-value-impf-3sg money
‘why do you value money?’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 174v)
(22b) in bool-t-ah-Ø han-al
1sg-payment-trans-perf-3sg food-nom
‘I satisfied my hunger [literally, I paid for food]’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 54v)
SYNTAX AND DISCOURSE
429
The oblique phrases in such clauses may be introduced by either tíʔ or ʔič in Modern Yucatec:
(23a) pak’al-n-ah-en ʔič kòol
plant-ap-perf-1sg prep cornfield
‘I planted in the cornfield’ (elicitation notes 2002)
(23b) k-in-meyah-Ø
tíʔ h-wàan
incompletive-1sg-work-ap prep masc-John
‘I work for John’ (V. Bricker et al. 1998:183)
(23c) k-in-kèen-Ø
tíʔ-Ø
incompletive-1sg-tell-ap prep-3sg
‘I told __ him’ (V. Bricker et al. 1998:126)
They can be compared with active transitive clauses based on the same roots:
(24a) táan im-pak’-ik-Ø in-kòol
durative 1sg-plant-impf-3sg 1sg-cornfield
‘I am planting my field’ (V. Bricker et al. 1998:206)
(24b) táan in-meyah-t-ik-Ø in-yùum
durative 1sg-work-trans-impf-3sg 1sg-father
‘I am serving my father’ (V. Bricker et al. 1998:183)
(24c) t-u-ken-ah-Ø ten
completive-say-perf-3sg to-me
‘he said it to me’ (V. Bricker et al. 1998:126)
The examples in (25a–b) compare an active transitive clause with an antipassive clause based on the
same verbal stem from which the patient has been deleted:
(25a) k’ab’éet im-buk’-(u)l-ik-Ø le lúʔum-aʔ
obligative 1sg-move-nom-impf-3sg det earth-prox
‘I must move this earth’ (V. Bricker et al. 1998:38)
(25b) táan u-b’ùuk’-ul-Ø (l)e k’éʔek’enoʔ
durative 3sg-root around-nom-ap det pig-dist
‘that pig is rooting around’ (V. Bricker et al. 1998:38)
1.3. INDIRECT OBJECT ADVANCEMENT. The process of noun-incorporation described in 5.1. in Chapter 7
facilitates the movement of indirect objects out of prepositional phrases and into the position directly after
the transitive stem. The Calepino de Motul contains several minimal pairs that illustrate this possibility,
including the following pair of examples (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 282v):
(26a) ma a-mac-ic-Ø a-ich t-a-yum
not 2sg-close-impf-3sg 2sg-eye prep-2sg-father
‘don’t scorn your father!’
430
SYNTAX AND DISCOURSE
(26b) ma a-mac=ich-t-ic-Ø _ a-yum
not 2sg-close=eye-trans-impf-3sg _ 2sg-father
‘don’t scorn your father!’
The direct object in (26a) is a-ich ‘your eye,’ and the indirect object is a-yum ‘your father.’ In (26b), the direct
object (ich) has been incorporated into the verb stem, which is then retransitivized with -t, and the former
indirect object (a-yum) is no longer preceded by the preposition t-, but immediately follows the retransitiv-
ized stem. Other minimal pairs that illustrate this process are based on the transitive phrases, lup haa ‘to
offer water’ and nuc ol ‘to satisfy’ (1600?: fols. 277r, 333v):
(27a) lup-Ø-ex
haa ti num-ul be-ob
offer-imper-2pl water prep pass-aj road-3pl
‘offer water to travellers!’
(27b) lup=haa-t-Ø-ex _ num-ul be-ob
offer=water-trans-imper-2pl _ pass-aj road-3pl
‘offer water to travellers!’
(28a) a-nuc-ah-Ø va au-ol ti hanal
2sg-respond-perf-3sg interrog 2sg-heart prep eating
‘are you satisfied with eating?’
(28b) a-nuc=ol-t-ah-Ø va _ hanal
2sg-respond=heart-trans-perf-3sg interrog _ eating
‘are you satisfied with eating?’
(29a) a-nuc-ah-Ø va au-ol ti baxal
2sg-respond-perf-3sg interrog 2sg-heart prep playing
‘are you satisfied with playing?’
(29b) a-nuc=ol-t-ah-Ø va _ baxal
2sg-respond=heart-trans-perf-3sg interrog _ playing
‘are you satisfied with playing?’
The same process of indirect-object advancement through noun-incorporation occurs in Modern
Yucatec (V. Bricker et al. 1998:354):
(30a) t-in-č’ak-ah-Ø čeʔ ʔičil in-kòol
completive-1sg-chop-perf-3sg tree prep 1sg-cornfield
‘I chopped a tree in my cornfield’
(30b) t-in-č’ak=čeʔ-t-ah-Ø _ in-kòol
completive-1sg-chop=tree-trans-perf-3sg _ 1sg-cornfield
‘I chopped trees in my cornfield [literally, I tree-chopped my cornfield]’
SYNTAX AND DISCOURSE
431
(31a) t-in-wek-ah-Ø
haʔ tí h-pìil
completive-1sg-spill-perf-3sg water prep masc-Philip
‘I spilled the water on Philip’
(31b) t-in-wek=háʔa-t-ah-Ø _ h-pìil
completive-1sg-spill=water-trans-perf-3sg _ masc-Philip
‘I threw water at Philip’
The indirect objects in the above examples, in both Colonial and Modern Yucatec, are nouns. If they are
independent pronouns, the former indirect object is suffixed directly to the transitive stem:
(32a) k-u-čin-ik-Ø u-hóʔol tíʔ tèen
incompletive-3sg-bend-impf-3sg 3sg-head prep me
‘he bows his head to me (elicitation notes 1979)’
(32b) k-u-čin=hóʔol-t-ik-en
incompletive-3sg-bow=head-trans-impf-me
‘he head-bows me’ (elicitation notes 1979)
(33a) k-u-muȼ’-ik-Ø uy-ič ten
incompletive-3sg-close-impf-3sg 3sg-eye to-me
‘he scowls at me [literally, he closes his eyes at me]’ (elicitation notes 1979)
(33b) k-u-múuȼ’=ʔič-t-ik-en
incompletive-3sg-close=eye-trans-impf-me
‘he eye-closes me’ (elicitation notes 1979)
2. FOCUSED WORD ORDERS
Departures from the Basic Word Order in Colonial and Modern Yucatec emphasize the agent or patient
of a transitive verb, the subject of an intransitive verb, the manner in which an action is carried out, or its
temporal or locational attributes. The movement of a transitive agent or a functional adverb into initial
position in a clause or a sentence triggers changes in verbal inflection; the fronting of a transitive patient
or an intransitive subject does not.
2.1. AGENT FOCUS. The clitic pronoun that marks the agent of a transitive verb disappeared when the noun
or the independent pronoun that represented the agent preceded the verb, as can be seen in these exam-
ples based on imperfective transitive stems from Colonial Yucatec:
(34a) yan-tac vinic-ob _ con-ic-Ø v-baal v-ba-ob
exist-pl person-3pl _ sell-impf-3sg 3sg-thing 3sg-self-3pl
‘there are men who sell their possessions’ (MID1567:fol. 366, lines 44–45)
(34b) Dios _ ɔa-ic-Ø v-macul a-kab-ex
God _ give-impf-3sg 3sg-reward 2sg-hand-2pl
‘it
is God who rewards you-all’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 284v)
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SYNTAX AND DISCOURSE
(34c) toon _ bot-ic-Ø hele-la-e
we _ pay-impf-3sg today-prox-encl
‘it is we who pay for it today’ (Gordon 1913:21)
Also missing in these examples is evidence of an aspectual particle, such as licil, tan, or hop, between
the focussed noun and the verb. However, such a particle does appear in transitive phrases with focused
agents that refer to the remote future:
(35a) Dios
bin _ ɔa-ic-Ø v-manul a-kab-ex
God future _ give-impf-3sg 3sg-reward 2sg-hand-2pl
‘it is God who will reward you-all’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 298v)
(35b) ma-ix mac bin _ luk-s-ic-Ø ten
not-and person future _ leave-caus-impf-3sg prep-1sg
‘and no one will remove it from me
t-u-men-el in-matan ti mam Diego Us
prep-3sg-deed-nom 1sg-gift prep grandfather Diego Us
because it is my gift from grandfather, Diego Us’ (OX683-013A-C)
Furthermore, the transitive aspectual suffix that co-occurred with bin in the Basic Word Order was -e or
-Ø, not -ic, in Colonial Yucatec (cf. [4] above). In other words, the distinction between the imperfective and
subjunctive transitive stems was neutralized in agent-focus constructions in Colonial Yucatec.
So also was the distinction between perfective and subjunctive stems in agent-focus constructions in
Colonial Yucatec, where the perfective stem suffix was -e or -Ø, instead of -ah:
(36a) ton=con _ ɔa-Ø-Ø hah-al tħan
we=who=are _ give-subj-3sg truth-aj word
‘it is we who gave the true word [i.e., certified it]’ (PS740A-030A)
(36b) mac ti laach-Ø-ech
who completive _scratch-subj-2sg
‘who scratched you?’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 258v)
(36c) Ah Kin Caamal likul Cam=pech oc-es-Ø-Ø ɔul-ob
Ah Kin Caamal from Campeche enter-caus-subj-3sg foreigner-3pl
‘it was Ah Kin Caamal from Campeche who admitted the foreigners
vay ti peten-la-e
here prep peninsula-prox-encl
here into the peninsula’ (Gordon 1913:17)
(36d) ma toon t _ men-t-e-Ø-i
not we completive _ deed-trans-subj-3sg-partit
‘it was not we who did it’ (Gordon 1913:21)
SYNTAX AND DISCOURSE
433
Table 16-2. A comparison of the aspectual suffixes
associated with the Basic and Focused Word Orders
for the agents of transitive verbs.
Basic
Focused
Imperfective
-ic
-ic
Perfective
-ah
-e/-Ø
Remote Future
-e/-Ø
-ic
This can be seen by comparing the agent-focus examples in (36a–c) with the ones in (6) and (7) above. The
example in (36d) represents the first line of a couplet that continues with the imperfective example in (34c)
above.
Table 16-2 summarizes the differences in aspectual suffixes associated with transitive agents in the
Basic and Focused Word Orders. It shows that what serves as the imperfective suffix in the Basic Word
Order (-ic) marks the remote future in the Focused Word Order and that the subjunctive suffix (-e/-Ø) marks
both the remote future in the Basic Word Order and the perfective in the Focused Word Order, leaving only
the perfective suffix (-ah) with a single function in the Basic Word Order.
The same paradigm characterizes the two word orders for transitive agents in Modern Yucatec. As in
Colonial Yucatec, agent-focus nouns or independent pronouns co-occur with the -ic (phonetic [-ik]) suffix
on transitive verbs with imperfective inflection:
(37a) dyòos _ b’óʔo(l)-t-ik-Ø
God _ payment-trans-impf-3sg
‘thank you! [literally, it is God who pays it]’ (V. Bricker et al. 1998:35)
(37b) tèeč _ paš-ik-Ø tèeč _ ʔóok’os-t-ik-Ø
you _ play-impf-3sg you _ dance-trans-impf-3sg
‘it is you who play it; it is you who dance it [said to someone who contradicts himself]’ (V. Bricker
et al. 1998:209)
(37c) miš=máak p’ek-t-ik-Ø máak y-éet-el u-meyah way-eʔ
no=person _ hate-trans-impf-3sg person 3sg-with-nom 3sg-work here-encl
‘no one interferes with a person’s work here’ (CHK1979)
The same is true of transitive verbs that refer to the remote future:
(38a) tèen b’íin _ ȼ’íib’-t-ik-Ø
I future _ writing-trans-impf-3sg
‘it is I who will write it’ (Blair 1964:113)
(38b) letíʔ b’íin _ haȼ’-(i)k-en
he future _ hit-impf-1sg
‘it is he who will hit me’ (elicitation notes 1979)
434
SYNTAX AND DISCOURSE
However, there is also an alternative example of the agent-focus transitive stem in (38c):
(38c) letíʔ b’íin u-haȼ’-Ø-en
he future 3sg-hit-subj-1sg
it is he who will hit me’ (elicitation notes 1979)
This is the normal inflection of transitive verbs with b’íin in the Basic Word Order, but here the agent pre-
cedes the verb instead of following it. A possible Colonial example of this alternative pattern in my data-
base is shown below:
(39)
ma-ix inu-ix-mehen-ob bin u-bo(l)-t-e-Ø patan
not-and 1sg-fem-offspring-3pl future 3sg-payment-trans-subj-3sg tribute
‘nor will my daughters pay tribute’ (CHX-222A-B)
As in Colonial Yucatec, perfective transitive stems associated with focused agents are marked by -e
(phonetic [-eh]) or -Ø:
(40a) le heneràal Kórtes _ tàa(l)-s-Ø-Ø (l)e b’áʔal-aʔ
det General Cortés _ come-caus-subj-3sg det thing-prox
‘it was General Cortés who brought this thing’ (V. Bricker 1981a:219, lines 1–2)
(40b) h-wàan _ hàan-t-eh-Ø
masc-John _ food-trans-subj-3sg
‘it is John who ate it’ (Blair 1964:107)
(40c) le b’áʔaš _ šot-Ø-Ø h-pìil-aʔ máaskab’
det thing _ cut-perf-3sg masc-Philip-prox machete
‘the thing that cut Philip was a machete’ (V. Bricker et al. 1998:27)
(40d) máaš _ ʔil-Ø-eč
who _ see-subj-2sg
‘who saw you?’ (Blair 1964:107)
(40e) tèen _ ʔil-eh-Ø
I _ see-subj-3sg
‘it is I who saw it’ (V. Bricker et al. 1998:273)
But there is also an alternative example of the agent-focus transitive stem in (40f) that preserves the inflec-
tional pattern found in the Basic Word Order:
(40f) tèen t-inw-il-ah-Ø
I completive-1sg-see-perf-3sg
‘it is I who saw it’ (V. Bricker et al. 1998:273)
SYNTAX AND DISCOURSE
435
A comparable example of this alternative in my Colonial database appears below:
(41)
y-ok(l)al t-in-hun-al-i in-bo(l)-t-ah-Ø
3sg-because prep-1sg-one-nom-partit 1sg-payment-trans-perf-3sg
‘because it is I alone who paid
v-ppax in-yum-e
3sg-debt 1sg-father-encl
the debt of my father’ (DZ587A-039A-B)
2.2. PATIENT FOCUS. Patient-focus transitive stems can be distinguished from agent-focus transitive stems
in two ways: they retain both the clitic pronouns and the aspectual suffixes of the Basic Word Order. The
following examples illustrate this pattern for patient-focus transitives with imperfective
inflection in Colo-
nial Yucatec:
(42a) uaxac=tul u-tzimin c-tzen-t-ic-Ø
eight=nc 3sg-horse 1pl-adoptee-trans-impf-3sg
‘eight are his horses that we feed
ti te tux yan u pach ù-caña-e
prep there where exist 3sg-plantation 3sg-sugarcane-encl
there where his sugarcane plantation exists’ (HB784C-211B-D)
(42b) chen lo-lob tħan c-uy-ic-Ø t-u-chi
only unkind word 1pl-hear-impf-3sg prep-3sg-mouth
‘only unkind words do we hear from his mouth
y lox c-u-men-t-ic-Ø ton man=taɔ
and blow incompletive-3sg-deed-trans-impf-3sg to-us constantly
and blows that he inflicts on us constantly’ (HB784C-227A-228B)
Other examples document this pattern for patient-focus transitives that refer to the remote future with bin
and the subjunctive suffix, -e:
(43a) ɔa=yatz-il-ix bin ca-kam-e-Ø t-a-kab
give=alm-nom-and future 1pl-receive-subj-3sg prep-2sg-hand
‘and alms we will receive from your hand,
yn-noh tzi(c)-ben-il yum-e
1sg-great respect-pot-nom father-encl
my great revered father’ (DZ651E-617B-D)
(43b) va-ix çac cib bin u-kex-in-t-e-Ø xan-e
or-and white wax future 3sg-exchange-usat-trans-subj-3sg also-encl
‘except white wax that he will substitute also’ (Gordon 1913:64–65)
436
SYNTAX AND DISCOURSE
Patient-focus examples of transitive verbs with the perfective suffix, -ah, appear below:
(44a) lay v-hah-il t-in-men-t-ah-Ø yt. ca-firma
det 3sg-true-nom completive-1sg-deed-trans-perf-3sg with 1pl-signature
‘this is the truth I made with our signatures’ (PS740B-151A-B)
(44b) yan-ix v-ppax in-yum in-bo(l)-t-ah-Ø t-in-hun-al xan
exist-and 3sg-debt 1sg-father 1sg-payment-trans-perf-3sg prep-1sg-one-nom also
‘and there is the debt of my father that I alone paid also’ (DZ587A-020A-B)
The last example is the patient-focus counterpart of the agent-focus example in (41); they appear within a
few lines of each other in a document from the Puuc region dated to 1587. Both examples employ the -ah
perfective suffix and clitic pronouns that are hallmarks of the Basic Word Order. It seems that the variation
in the morpho-syntax of agent-focus transitives is not of recent origin, but already existed in early Colonial
times.
Information questions introduced with the interrogative pronouns, b’áʔaš ‘what?’ and máaš ‘who?,’ and
the relative pronouns based on them are the most common sources of patient-focus expressions in Mod-
A Historical Grammar of the Maya Language of Yucatan (1557-2000) Page 69