A Historical Grammar of the Maya Language of Yucatan (1557-2000)
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clause; (2) the other is an indirect construction, in which yan is followed by a prepositional phrase. The dif-
ference between the two kinds of clauses can be illustrated by the following minimal pair of examples on
folio 293r of the Calepino de Motul (Ciudad Real 1600?):
(122a) yan v-ppuz Juo
exist 3sg-hump John
‘John has a hump’
(122b) yan ppuz ti Juan
exist hump prep John
‘John has a hump’
A comparable minimal pair of examples in Modern Yucatec (Blair and Vermont-Salas 1965:137) suggests
the continuity of this contrast into recent times:
(123a) yàan in-ȼíimin
exist 1sg-horse
‘I have a horse’
(123b) yan ten ȼíimin
exist to-me horse
‘I have a horse’
A third possibility in Modern Yucatec may have a somewhat different meaning (1965:137):
(123c) yàan ten in-ȼíimin
exist to-me 1sg-horse
‘I have my horse’
The following examples provide additional evidence of the first option in Colonial Yucatec:
(124a) yan va a-yum
exist interrog 2sg-father
‘do you have a father?’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 215v)
(124b) yan in-ppax ti hun-tul ɔul
exist 1sg-debt prep one-nc Spaniard
‘I have debts to a Spaniard’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 387v)
(124c) ti kaax yan v-cuch-il
prep forest exist 3sg-estate-nom
‘he has a residence in the woods’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 86v)
SYNTAX AND DISCOURSE
467
Additional Colonial examples of the second option appear below:
(125a) kux=hol yan ten
painful=head exist to-me
‘I have a headache’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 255v)
(125b) ma=bal yan ten
no=thing exist to-me
‘I have nothing [i.e., I am poor]’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 279r)
Some additional examples of the first option in Modern Yucatec include:
(126a) yàan u-kóʔolel
exist 3sg-woman
‘he has a woman’ (V. Bricker et al. 1998:133)
(126b) hač yáʔab’ im-pak’-al yàan
very much 1sg-plant-nom exist
‘I have many plantings’ (V. Bricker et al. 1998:206)
(126c) b’ukáʔah a-tàak’in yàan
how-much 2sg-money exist
‘how much money do you have?’ (V. Bricker et al. 1998:37)
The second option is also well represented in Modern Yucatec:
(127a) yàan kóʔoy tíʔ-Ø
exist rabies to-him
‘he has rabies’ (V. Bricker et al. 1998:135)
(127b) yàan ten tàak’in ȼ’ok=luk’-ul
exist to-me money finish=leave-aj
‘I have sufficient money’ (V. Bricker et al. 1998:53)
(127c) yàan un-túl ȼíimin tíʔ im-papah šan
exist one-nc horse to 1sg-father also
‘my father has a horse too’ (Blair and Vermont-Salas 1965:138)
(127d) b’áʔaš=ʔòorah yàan teč
what=hour exist to-you
‘what time do you have?’ (V. Bricker et al. 1998:27)
The negative of yan was manaan or manan, a conflation of ma=yan, in Colonial Yucatec, and it could
serve as a surrogate for the negative of “to have”:
(128a) manaan in-yum
not=exist 1sg-father
‘I have no father’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 295r)
468
SYNTAX AND DISCOURSE
(128b) manaan v-nooy
not=exist 3sg-pith
‘it has no flesh’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 331r)
(128c) manaan in-muk
not=exist 1sg-strength
‘I have no strength’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 311r)
(128d) manaan v-cux y-ol Juan
not=exist 3sg-life 3sg-heart John
‘John does not have judgment’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 91r)
The example in (128a) represents a negative response to the example in (124a).
As explained in 2.3.3. in Chapter 3, the schwa represented by “a” in the first syllable of manaan was
eventually raised to “i,” producing mináʔan as the cognate of this word in Modern Yucatec:
(129a) mináʔan im-p’àaš
not=exist 1sg-debt
‘I have no debts’ (V. Bricker et al. 1998:226)
(129b) mináʔan in-šòok b’e=h(e)l-áʔ-eʔ
not=exist 1sg-lecture thus=today-prox-encl
‘I have no lecture today’ (V. Bricker et al. 1998:261)
(129c) tak b’e=h(e)l-áʔ-eʔ mináʔan ten miš=b’áʔal
until thus=today-prox-encl not=exist to-me no=thing
‘until today, I have nothing’ (V. Bricker et al. 1998: 268)
(129d) mináʔan tóʔon tàak’in
not=exist to-us money
‘we don’t have money’ (Blair and Vermont-Salas 1965:38)
(129e) mináʔan in-mùuk’
not=exist 1sg-strength
‘I am weak [literally, I have no strength]’ (V. Bricker et al. 1998:189)
The example in (129d) has a positive Modern counterpart in (127b), and the examples in (129c) and (129e)
have comparable negative Colonial counterparts in (125b) and (128c), respectively.
4.2.2. YAN IN LOCATIONAL CLAUSES. The locational function of yan is evident in the following examples in
Colonial Yucatec:
(130a) tij yan ti y-otoch
there exist prep 3sg-home
‘there he is in his home’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 215v)
SYNTAX AND DISCOURSE
469
(130b) hun=haab yan-en vay-e
one=year exist-1sg here-encl
‘I have been here for one year’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 202v)
(130c) noh tepal yan ti caan
great glory exist prep heaven
‘great glory exists in heaven’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 417r)
(130d) tub-x yan v-nuc-il vinic-ob
where-interrog exist 3sg-principal-nom person-3pl
‘where are the principal men?’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 333v)
(130e) hay-te yan ti ho
how-many-nc exist prep Merida
‘how many leagues are there to Merida?’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 174v)
(130f) xic ti nohol ti yan mul=tun t-u-chun catzim
might-go prep south rel exist pile=stone prep-3sg-trunk acacia
‘it might go to the south where there is a stone boundary marker at the trunk of an Acacia gaumeri
tree’ (SB596C-249-250)
The locational function also characterized some negative statements based on man(a)an in Colonial
Yucatec:
(131a) ma=bal vch-uc-Ø av-utz-cin-ic-Ø-ex
no=thing happen-subj-3sg 2sg-good-caus-impf-3sg-2pl
‘you-all can improve nothing
ti manaan-en-i
there not=exist-1sg-partit
if I am not there’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 295r)
(131b) manan in-hul-an vay-e
not=exist 1sg-equivalent-partic here-encl
‘there is no fellow creature of mine here’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 194v)
(131c) manaan v-nuuc v-cux-tal vay-e
not=exist 3sg-manner 3sg-life-pos here-encl
‘there is no way to live here!’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 333r)
(131d) ma=tab manan pec=ol-tzil
no=where not=exist move=heart-aj
‘nowhere is without danger:
pec=ol-tzil ti kax pec=ol-tzil t-u-yam vinic-ob
move=heart-aj prep forest move=heart-aj prep-3sg-between person-3pl
danger in the forest, danger among people’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 371r)
&n
bsp; 470
SYNTAX AND DISCOURSE
The locational function of yàan is equally clear in Modern Yucatec:
(132a) yàan ʔóo(l)-tzil-il t-in-kàah-al
exist heart-aj-abstr prep-1sg-town-nom
‘there is poverty in my town’ (V. Bricker et al. 1998:14)
(132b) túʔuš yàan im-p’óok’
where-interrog exist 1sg-hat
‘where is my hat?’ (V. Bricker et al. 1998:232)
(132c) h-pèedró-eʔ tíʔ yàan t-u-čeʔ-eʔ
masc-Peter-top there exist prep-3sg-jail-encl
‘Peter, he’s in jail there’ (V. Bricker et al. 1998:64)
(132d) ȼ’áah-Ø ten in-toʔ yàan téʔe-loʔ
give-3sg to-me 1sg-bundle exist there-dist
‘give me my bundle that is over there!’ (V. Bricker et al. 1998:277)
Negative statements based on mináʔan can also have a locational function in Modern Yucatec:
(133a) kóoh-Ø-Ø ten mináʔan h-wàan t-u-tàanah
arrive-perf-3sg to-me not=exist masc-John prep-3sg-home
‘I thought that John was not at home’ (V. Bricker et al. 1998:131)
(133b) le káʔah tàal-Ø-Ø-eʔ mináʔan-en way-eʔ
det when come-perf-3sg-top not=exist-1sg here-encl
‘when he came, I was not here’ (V. Bricker et al. 1998:165)
5. DOUBLE VERB SEQUENCES
The Basic and Focused Word Orders considered in 1. and 2. above are concerned with the syntax of clauses
containing a single verb, although in a few examples, the aspectual head word represents a second verb.
There are also clauses in Colonial and Modern Yucatec with double verb sequences in which neither verb
has an aspectual function.
5.1. ASPECTUAL HEAD WORDS IN DOUBLE VERB SEQUENCES. Two aspectual head words in Colonial Yu-
catec were intransitive verbs in their own right, and for that reason were themselves fully inflected for
aspect and person, even when performing an aspectual function for the verbs that followed them. The
verbs in question were hopp ‘to begin’ and ɔoc ‘to end,’ which marked the inceptive and terminative as-
pects, respectively. The suffix, -i, in the following examples of these aspectual head words marks them as
perfective intransitive verbs:
(134a) ca-ix hopp-i-Ø v-xoc-ol v-con kax
then-and begin-perf-3sg 3sg-be counted-impf 3sg-sell forest
‘and then the price of the forest of Diego Uc and Gaspar Uc
SYNTAX AND DISCOURSE
471
Diego Vc y Gaspal Vc y Franco Vc
Diego Uc with Gaspar Uc with Francisco Uc
and Francisco Uc began to be calculated’ (MA733C-229A-C)
(134b) ca t-hopp-i-Ø u-ɔa-ic-Ø
then completive-begin-perf-3sg 3sg-give-impf-3sg
‘then he began to do
ton u-yab-al lob
to-us 3sg-much-nom harm
much harm to us’ (HB784C-207D-E)
(134c) ca ti ɔoc-i-Ø v-kam-ic-ob
then completive end-perf-3sg 3sg-receive-impf-3pl
‘then the magistrates and councilmen finished receiving
ho-tuc-kal peso alcaldes y regidores
five-nc-twenty peso magistrates and councilmen
twenty-five pesos’ (MA733E-540A-C)
(134d) ti ɔoc-i-Ø u bo(l)-t-ic-ob
completive end-perf-3sg 3sg-payment-trans-impf-3pl
‘they finished paying for
u-lik-ç-ah-Ø katun-ob ca-yum-oob
3sg-rise-caus-perf-3sg war-3pl 1pl-father-3pl
the wars that our fathers initiated’ (Gordon 1913:66)
There are also a few examples of the use of the imperfective stems of these intransitive verbs as aspec-
tual head words in Colonial Yucatec:
(135a) bai tun las tres akab u-ti-al y-ah-al cab-e
thus then the three night 3sg-prep-nom 3sg-awaken-impf earth-encl
‘thus, then, at three o’clock at night before dawn,
c-u-hopp-ol c-meyah-Ø minan ven-el ton
incompletive-3sg-begin-impf 1pl-work-impf not=exist sleep-nom to-us
we begin working without having slept’ (HB784C-216A-D)3
(135b) bai bic c-u-ɔoc-ol c-man-s-ic-Ø
thus how incompletive-3sg-end-impf 1pl-pass-caus-impf-3sg
‘thus how we finish experiencing
u-yab-al num=ya
3sg-much-nom suffering
much suffering’ (HB784C-204A-B)
472
SYNTAX AND DISCOURSE
As explained in 1.1.2. in Chapter 5, the aspectual suffix, -i, that once marked intransitives as perfective
eventually was replaced by -Ø, except when the verb occurred at the end of a clause, and this was equally
true of the verbs that functioned as aspectual head words:
(136a) ɔoc-Ø-Ø tun c-sut-ik-Ø u-hel u-takin
end-perf-3sg then 1pl-return-impf-3sg 3sg-leftover 3sg-money
‘then we finished returning the rest of his money’ (EBT795A)
(136b) ca t-hopp-Ø-Ø in-tħan-Ø
when completive-begin-perf-3sg 1sg-speak-impf
‘when I began speaking with my children
y in-sih-s-ah-bil-ob vay y ok-ol cab-e
with 1sg-be born-caus-perf-nom-3pl here 3sg-upon-nom earth-encl
here in the world’ (V. Bricker 1981a:188, lines 11–13)
Similar examples occur today in Modern Yucatec:
(137a) káʔah túun hóʔop’-Ø-Ø u-tàal-Ø-óʔob’ b’in-eʔ
and then begin-perf-3sg 3sg-come-impf-3pl say-encl
‘and then they began coming, it is said’ (CHK979)
(137b) ȼ’óʔok-Ø-Ø u-ȼ’á-ik-Ø ten u-ȼ’óok in-tàak’in
end-perf-3sg 3sg-give-impf-3sg to-me 3sg-leftover 1sg-money
‘he already gave the rest of my money to me’ (V. Bricker et al. 1998:53)
It is clear that hóʔop’ and ȼ’óʔok have become grammaticalized as aspectual head words in Modern Yucatec,
but this does not mean that they have ceased to be verbs in this context because “the affirmative response
to questions like ȼ’óʔok a hanal ‘have you finished eating?’ and hóʔop’ u meyah ‘did he finish working?’ is
ȼ’óʔokih and hóʔop’ih, respectively” (V. Bricker 1981b:85). The perfective suffix, -ih, appears because noth-
ing follows the verbs in the replies.
5.2. COMPLEMENT CONSTRUCTIONS. There are also double-verb sequences in Colonial and Modern
Yucatec in which the initial verb (the main verb) does not function as an aspectual head word. The main
verb could be either intransitive or transitive, and so could the verb that immediately followed it (the com-
plement). In the following examples from Colonial Yucatec, both verbs are intransitive:
(138a) licil v-bin-el v-ximbal-Ø kin
incompletive 3sg-go-impf 3sg-travel-impf Sun
‘while the Sun goes travelling’ (Gordon 1913:26)
(138b) ca tal-i-Ø v-luk-ul
then come-perf-3sg 3sg-leave-impf
‘then he came to depart’ (Gordon 1913:49)
SYNTAX AND DISCOURSE
473
Both verbs in (138a) appear with their imperfective stem suffixes and third person clitic pronouns repre-
senting their subjects, whereas the main verb in (138b) appears with the perfective suffix and the comple-
ment with the imperfective suffix, and their subjects are represented by the third-person suffix in the first
case and the third-person clitic particle in the second.
Intransitive main verbs were also followed by transitive complements in Colonial Yucatec:
(139a) ca-ix ti lik-i-Ø v-xi(m)bal-t-e-Ø
then-and completive arise-perf-3sg 3sg-travel-trans-subj-3sg
‘and then he arose that he might visit
v-pach kax-ob
ah-couoh-ob
3sg-tract forest-3pl ag-Couoh-3pl
the tract of the forest of the Couoh people’ (DZ651C-213D-E)
(139b) ti kuch-Ø-on c-il-ab-Ø v-ppic-tun
completive arrive-perf-1pl 1pl-see-subj-3sg 3sg-boundary-stone
‘we arrived that we might see the boundary stone
v-luum-ob y v-kax-ob Luis Can y Mateo Can
3sg-land-3pl with 3sg-forest-3pl Luis Can with Mateo Can
of the land and the forest of Luis Can and Mateo Can
Joseph Can v-ti-al v-yum-ob ti Bisente Can
Joseph Can 3sg-prep-nom 3sg-father-3pl rel Vicente Can
(and) Joseph Can on behalf of their father, who is Vicente Can’ (YT718A-002A-F)
(139c) lay tal-Ø-on ca-xot-e-Ø t-uy-almah=tħan
det come-perf-1pl 1pl-demarcate-subj-3sg prep-3sg-say-word
‘this we came to demarcate at the order of
ca-yum juees cappn Dn Juan de Castil(lo) y Toledo-la-e
1pl-father judge Captain Don Juan de Castillo y Toledo-prox-encl
our father judge Captain Don Juan de Castillo y Toledo’ (OX697-034A-E)
When the double-verb sequence contains a transitive main verb and an intransitive complement, and
the agent of the main verb and the subject of the complement are co-referential, the clitic pronoun of the
complement was deleted in Colonial Yucatec:
(140a) ma bin v-kati-Ø _ tal-el
not say 3sg-want-3sg _ come-impf
‘they say that he does not want to come’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 240r)
(140b) v-kati-Ø bin _ ben-el batab Cumkal bin-ma-bin
3sg-want-3sg say _ go-impf leader Conkal go-not-go
‘they say that the leader wants to go to Conkal, but he may not go’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 278r)
474
SYNTAX AND DISCOURSE
However, co-referential agents of transitive complements with transitive main verbs were never deleted in
Colonial Yucatec:
(141a) in-kati-Ø in-pul-Ø-Ø im-ba ti cħen
1sg-want-3sg 1sg-throw-subj-3sg 1sg-self prep well
‘I want to throw myself in the well’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 240r)
(141b) ma u-kati-Ø v-kam-Ø-Ø in-tħan
not 3sg-want-3sg 3sg-receive-subj-3sg 1sg-word
‘he does not want to believe my words’ (Ciudad Real 1600?: fol. 237v)
(141c) va v-kat-Ø v-con-Ø-ob hun-ac luum kax ti yum
if 3sg-want-3sg 3sg-sell-subj-3pl one-nc land forest prep father
‘if they want to sell one piece of forest land to father,
alferes Dn Aregandro Baesa tzuc cħicħ u-kaba