444
SYNTAX AND DISCOURSE
(65a) kokouac v-ben-el
unsteady 3sg-go-impf
‘unsteadily he goes about’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 250v)
(65b) cham-cham=bel ca-ben-el ma=bal ca-hom-lah-t-e
slow-slow=road 1pl-go-impf no=thing 1pl-haste-dstpl-trans-subj
‘slowly we go one after another; nothing rushes us’ ((Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 192v)
(65c) hun=taɔ a-ben-el
one=nc 2sg-go-impf
‘directly you go’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 201r)
(65d) hun=cet v-ben-el-ob
one=nc 3sg-go-impf-3pl
‘together they go’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 197v)
The imperfective suffix with mal ‘to pass’ and tal ‘to come’ is -Ø, and they, too, take clitic pronouns:
(65e) bay v-mal-Ø booy bay v-mal-Ø muyal cux-tal-e
thus 3sg-pass-impf shade thus 3sg-pass-impf cloud life-pos-encl
‘this is how life passes: like shade, like clouds’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 41v)
(65f) xan v-tal-Ø çac nal çeb v-tal-Ø mehen nal
slowly 3sg-come-impf white corn quickly 3sg-come-impf small corn
‘white corn comes slowly; small corn comes quickly’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 406r)
Note that the subjects of these intransitive verbs represent all three persons — first, second, and third —
and all of them belong to the clitic set of pronouns. As such, they agree with the nominative-accusative
pattern of pronominal inflection in Colonial Yucatec.
The subjunctive suffix that marked intransitive verbs in focused manner adverbial contexts was -ebal:
(66)
bay ben-ebal-Ø ti lakin
thus go-subj-3sg prep east
‘thus it may go to the east’ (OX595-023)
And it was the aspectual suffix that co-occurred with the use of the remote future (bin) after manner
adverbials:
(67a) napul bin tal-ebal-Ø vay-e
directly future come-subj-3sg here-encl
‘directly he will come here’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 324r)
(67b) va=bici v-beel vinic-e bay bin bo(l)-t-ab-ebal-Ø
however 3sg-road person-top thus future payment-trans-ps-subj-3sg
‘however man behaves, so will he be rewarded’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 437r)
SYNTAX AND DISCOURSE
445
(67c) in-nibi bin a-haɔ-ebal
1sg-order future 2sg-be hit-subj
‘by my order you will be whipped’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 326v)
(67d) bay tun bin ɔoc-ebal-Ø v-tħan-al v-batab-il cah-ob
thus then future end-subj-3sg 3sg-word-nom 3sg-leader-nom town-3pl
‘thus, then, will end the word of the leaders of the town’ (Gordon 1913:37)
The use of the suffixed pronoun, -Ø, in (67a–b) implies that the intransitive subjunctive was governed
by the ergative-absolutive pattern of pronominal inflection in adverbially focused contexts, because it
equated the subject with the patient of a transitive verb. However, the subject of haɔ ‘be whipped’ in (67c)
is the clitic pronoun, a-, not the suffixed pronoun, -ech, indicating that the ergative split was based on a
person hierarchy that marked the first- and second-person subjects with clitic pronouns and third-person
subjects with suffixed pronouns.
The same pattern of pronominal inflection characterized the immediate past of intransitive verbs in
focused manner adverbial contexts, whose perfective suffix was -ic:
(68a) mach-bil in-kab in-tal-ic uay-e
firmly grasped-partic 1sg-hand 1sg-come-perf here-encl
‘firmly grasped by my hand, I came here’ (Michelon 1976:228)
(68b) bay xul-ic-Ø ca-okot-ba tħan petesion-la-e
thus end-perf-3sg 1pl-cry-self word petition-prox-encl
‘thus ended this supplication and petition of ours’ (HB783A-050A-B)
However, there is also an example that does not fit the pattern of using clitic pronouns for the first- and
second-person subjects of intransitive verbs with focused manner adverbials:
(68c) hun=taɔ bin-ic-on ti kax
one=nc go-perf-1pl prep forest
‘directly we went into the forest’ (CHX n.d.-587)
Although the manuscript from which it comes (the Chronicle of Cħac Xulub Cħen) is putatively of mid-
sixteenth-century date, according to Tozzer (1921:202–203) the extant copy is “full of errors,” of which this
may be an example.
The historical past of intransitive verbs in focused manner adverbial contexts was marked by -ci (not -ic)
in Colonial Yucatec, and their pronominal inflection followed the ergative split based on a person hierarchy:
(69a) t-in-bai-(i)li-en-i a-luk-ci vay-e
‘prep-1sg-how-still-1sg-partit 2sg-leave-perf here-encl
‘I am just like I was when you left here’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 42v)
(69b) heuac hun=taɔ man-ci-Ø bay ɔib-ann-il-e
however one=nc pass-perf-3sg thus writing-partic-nom-encl
‘however, it passed directly as it was written’ (Gordon 1913:13)
446
SYNTAX AND DISCOURSE
Imperfective intransitives that follow focused manner adverbials are inflected in the same way in Mod-
ern Yucatec as they were in Colonial Yucatec:
(70a) b’ey a lúub’-ul-oʔ
thus 2sg-fall-impf-dist
‘thus you are falling’ (V. Bricker 1981b:119)
(70b) ȼah in-b’in-Ø
definitely 1sg-go-impf
‘I am definitely going’ (V. Bricker et al. 1998:40)
(70c) h-wàan-eʔ šàan u-meyah-Ø
masc-John-top slowly 3sg-work-impf
‘as for John, he works slowly’ (V. Bricker et al. 1998:254)
Intransitive verbs are no longer marked by -ebal with the remote future, b’íin, in focused manner
adverbial contexts in Modern Yucatec, but take -Vk as the subjunctive suffix in such contexts:
(71a) b’ey b’íin šíʔ-ik-en-oʔ
thus future go-subj-1sg-dist
‘thus I will go’ (elicitation notes 1979)
(71b) b’iš b’íin šíʔ-ik-en
how future go-subj-1sg
‘how will I go?’ (elicitation notes 1979)
The use of the pronominal suffix, -en, as the subject of the intransitive verb is consistent with the ergative-
absolutive pattern of pronominal inflection.
The only perfective suffix that is still in use with intransitive verbs in focused manner adverbial contexts
in Modern Yucatec is -ik, the one that marked the immediate past in Colonial Yucatec:
(72a) hun=tàaȼ’ tàal-ik-Ø t-inw-iknal
one=nc come-perf-3sg prep-1sg-presence
‘he came directly to me!’ (V. Bricker et al. 1998:267)
(72b) b’iš ȼ’óʔon-ik-Ø
how be shot-perf-3sg
‘how was he shot?’ (V. Bricker 1981b:89)
2.4.2. TEMPORAL ADVERBIAL FOCUS. Temporal adverbials refer to when an action takes place. They include
particles like çamal ‘tomorrow,’ helel ‘now, today,’ iual ‘today,’ and ma bikin ‘forever,’ phrases like ox-ppel
hab ‘for three years,’ dates like hun chuen ‘1 Chuen’ and oxlahun kan ‘10 Kan,’ and numeral classi fier
compounds like hun= lukul ‘forever.’ When they occurred in initial position in Colonial Yucatec, the verbs
that followed them were inflected with the same aspectual suffixes and were marked by the same sets of
dependent pronouns as the ones that followed manner adverbials.
SYNTAX AND DISCOURSE
447
2.4.2.1. FOCUSED TEMPORAL ADVERBIALS WITH TRANSITIVE STEMS. Imperfective transitives took -ic as
their aspectual suffix after temporal adverbial phrases in Colonial Yucatec:
(73a) ox-ppel hab c-in-meyah-t-ic-Ø
three-nc year incompletive-1sg-work-trans-impf-3sg
‘for three years I served him’ (HB784E-409B)
(73b) ma=bikin v-lik-s-ic-Ø baxal t-u-ca=ten
not=when 3sg-arise-caus-impf-3sg play prep-3sg-two=time
‘never will he kid around again’ (OX683-016A-B)
The same suffix had a subjunctive function in transitive verbs that referred to the remote future with bin
after a temporal adverbial phrase:
(74)
lauac ti kin-il bin a beel-t-ic-ex-lo
whatever prep day-nom future 2sg-road-trans-impf-2pl-dist
‘on whatever day you will do that’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 264r)
The immediate past of transitive verbs was marked with -ah after focused temporal adverbials, the
same suffix used with the Basic Word Order:
(75a) helel en 29 de mayo de 1685 años
today on 29 of May of 1685 years
‘today on the 29th of May of the year 1685,
t-in-hoch-ah-Ø vch-ben hun hek-la-e
completive-1sg-copy-perf-3sg old-pot book here-prox-encl
I copied this from an ancient book’ (XIU685-036A-C)
(75b) helel en 20 de abril man-ic-Ø- pasgua resuresion
today on 20 of April pass-perf-3sg Easter Sunday
‘today on the 20th of April when Easter Sunday passed,
t-in-hok-s-ah-Ø ho-ppel libra sac cib hool=hun-pis tumin
completive-1sg-emerge-caus-perf-3sg five-nc pound white candle fifteen-nc coin
I withdrew five pounds of white candles for fifteen coins’ (HB783B-220A-221B)
(75c) ti hun=lukul v-ppat-ah-ob
prep one=nc 3sg-leave-perf-3pl
‘he left it forever’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 422r)
The historical past of such verbs, which referred to an earlier time when the Precolumbian calendar was
still in use, was marked by -ici after traditional dates functioning as focused temporal adverbs:
(76a) hun chuen v-hok-ç-ici-Ø u-ba t-u-ku-il
one Chuen 3sg-emerge-caus-perf-3sg 3sg-self prep-3sg-God-abstr
‘on 1 Chuen was when he manifested himself in his divinity’ (Gordon 1913:60)
448
SYNTAX AND DISCOURSE
(76b) 1542 años oxlahun kan t-u-hun=te pop u-heɔ-(i)ci-Ø
1542 years thirteen Kan prep-3sg-one=nc Pop 3sg-establish-perf-3sg
‘1542 years: 13 Kan was on the first of Pop when the Spaniards established
cah espanores-ob
town Spaniards-3pl
a town’ (XIU685-025A-C)
The absence of an aspectual head-word or particle with the historical past in these examples, in contrast
with the presence of the completive aspect particle, t(i), in the examples of the immediate past in (75a–c),
is consistent with the absence of such head-words after dates in Precolumbian hieroglyphic inscriptions
(cf. V. Bricker 1986:167).
The transition from Colonial to Modern Yucatec had no effect on the inflection of imperfective transi-
tive verbs:
(77a) sáamal in-šíimb’al-t-ik-eč
tomorrow 1sg-walk-trans-impf-2sg
‘tomorrow I will visit you’ (V. Bricker 1981b:95)
(77b) làas séeys inw-il-ik-Ø
the six 1sg-see-impf-3sg
‘at six o’clock I will see him’ (V. Bricker 1979a:269)
(77c) dyèes déeh ʔáabril inw-il-ik-Ø
ten of April 1sg-see-impf-3sg
‘on the tenth of April I will see him’ (V. Bricker 1979a:269)
The imperfective stem suffix remained -ik, and the temporal adverbial continued to replace the incomple-
tive aspectual particle before the verb (compare [77a–c] with [73b]).
The aspectual suffix associated with the remote future changed from -ik to -eh/-Ø in transitive verbs
that followed temporal adverbials in Modern Yucatec:
(78a) miš=b’ik’in b’íin in-túʔub’-s-Ø-eč
not=when future 1sg-forget-caus-subj-2sg
‘I will never forget you’ (Poʔot Yah n.d.a)
(78b) b’áʔaš=k’ìin b’íin u-ȼ’á-Ø-Ø ten
what=day future 3sg-give-subj-3sg to-me
‘when will he give it to me?’ (Blair and Vermont-Salas 1967:679)
And perfective suffixes associated with the immediate and historical pasts in Colonial Yuctec were com-
bined in a single transitive stem that refers to completed action in Modern Yucatec:
(79a) làas sèeys t-inw-il-ah-il-Ø
the six completive-1sg-see-perf-nom-3sg
‘it was six o’clock when I saw him’ (V. Bricker 1979a:268)
SYNTAX AND DISCOURSE
449
(79b) dyèes déeh ʔáabril t-inw-il-ah-il-Ø
ten of April completive-lsg-see-perf-nom-3sg
‘it was on the tenth of April when I saw him’ (V. Bricker 1979a:268)
The changes in the suffixes associated with the remote future and perfective transitive stems that
follow temporal adverbials in Modern Yucatec parallel those that took place after manner adverbials
over time.
2.4.2.2. FOCUSED TEMPORAL ADVERBIALS WITH INTRANSITIVE STEMS. Imperfective intransitives took
-el/-Vl as their aspectual suffixes after temporal adverbial phrases in Colonial Yucatec:
(80a) ma
val ma-ix çamal ca-pax-al
not today not-and tomorrow 1pl-emigrate-impf
‘neither today nor tomorrow will we emigrate’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 440v)
(80b) ychil can-ppel hab tan u-man-el soldado-ob uai t-cah-al-e
within four-nc year durative 3sg-pass-impf soldier-3pl here prep-1pl-town-nom-encl
‘during four years, soldiers were passing here in our town’ (HB784C-205A-B)
The subjunctive suffix that marked intransitive verbs in focused temporal adverbial contexts was -ebal,
and the pronominal inflection of the verbs followed the ergative split based on a person hierarchy:
(81a) ma c-ohel iual va çamal v-kin ca-luk-ebal
not 1pl-know today or tomorrow 3sg-day 1pl-leave-subj
‘we do not know if today or tomorrow is the time for us to leave
vay y-ok-ol cab-e
here 3sg-upon-nom earth-encl
the world here’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 227r)
(81b) ix-ma
kin bin tal-ebal-Ø cim-il c-ok-ol
and-not time future come-subj-3sg death-nom 1pl-upon-nom
‘death will come upon us unannounced [literally, without day/time will come death upon us]’
( Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 229r)
(81c) hach yab v-ten-el bin lub-ebal-Ø ti num=ya
very much 3sg-time-nom future fall-subj-3sg prep suffering
‘very numerous are the times that they will fall into misery’ (Kaua n.d.:I, 40R)
The immediate past of intransitive verbs that followed temporal adverbial phrases was marked by -ic,
and the subject pronouns reflected the ergative split in terms of the pronominal hierarchy that contrasted
the first and second persons with the third:
(82a) ox-il cauac cul-h-ic-Ø can ahau katun
three-aj Cauac sit-pos-perf-3sg four Ahau 20-year period
‘on 3 Cauac, Katun 4 Ahau was seated’ (Tizimin n.d.: fol. 19r)
450
SYNTAX AND DISCOURSE
(82b) ox=haab in-cul-ic y-icnal
three=years 1sg-sit-perf 3sg-presence
‘for three years, I lived with him’ ((Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 202v)
The historical past of such verbs was marked by -(i)ci after dates and temporal phrases and observed
the same rule of split ergativity in the treatment of pronominal prefixes and suffixes:
<
br /> (83a) hoo ahau vl-ci-Ø ɔul ti chib-il uinic
five Ahau arrive-perf-3sg rel bite-aj person
‘during [Katun] 5 Ahau, the foreigners who were cannibals arrived’ (Gordon 1913:79)
(83b) 1543 años hun muluc t-u-hun=te pop cin-ci-ob ah-ɔiɔomtun-ob
1543 years one Muluc prep-3sg-one-nc Pop die-perf-3pl ag-Dzidzantun-3pl
‘1543 years: 1 Muluc was on the first of Pop when the people of Dzidzantun died
t-u-men v-katun espayores-ob
prep-3sg-deed 3sg-war Spaniards-3pl
because of the war of the Spaniards’ (XIU685-028A-D)
(83c) layli u-katun-il bin-ci-ob ah-ytza-ob
still 3sg-20-year period-nom go-perf-3pl ag-Itza-3pl
‘it was still the katun when the Itzas went
yalan che yalan haban yalan ak ti num=ya-ob-la-e
beneath tree beneath bush beneath vine prep suffering-3pl-prox-encl
beneath trees, beneath bushes, beneath vines in misery’ (Gordon 1913:75)
(83d) onteel haab in-men-yah-n-ici-Ø y-icnal in-haan
many year 1sg-deed-nom-ap-perf-3sg 3sg-presence 1sg-father-in-law
‘for many years, I worked in the house of my father-in-law’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 351r)
Intransitive stems underwent no changes after temporal adverbials in the transition to Modern
Yucatec:
(84a) sáamal u-k’uč-ul
tomorrow 3sg-arrive-impf
‘tomorrow he will arrive’ (V. Bricker 1981b:95)
(84b) dyèes déeh ʔáabril in kóoh-ol
ten of April 1sg-arrive-impf
‘on the tenth of April I will arrive’ (V. Bricker 1979a:268)
(84c) b’áʔaš-k’ìin a-b’in-Ø hoʔ
what=day 2sg-go-impf Merida
‘when will you go to Merida?’ (V. Bricker et al. 1998:27)
SYNTAX AND DISCOURSE
451
The effect of the transition on the inflection of intransitive stems for the remote future in temporal
adverbial contexts cannot be ascertained because of an accidental gap in my data for Modern Yucatec.
Only the -ik suffix is still in use with perfective intransitives after temporal adverbials, and it co-occurs only
with the suffixed pronouns:
(85a) làas sèeys kóoh-ik-en
the six arrive-perf-1sg
‘at six o’clock I arrived’ (V. Bricker 1979a:241, 268)
(85b) làas sèeys tal-ik-eč
the six come-perf-2sg
‘was it six o’clock when you came?’ (V. Bricker 1979a:241)
A Historical Grammar of the Maya Language of Yucatan (1557-2000) Page 71