Qüanjobüal () (also Kanjobal) is a Mayan language from the Q'anjobalan branch spoken primarily in Guatemala and part of Mexico. According to 1998 estimates compiled by SIL International in Ethnologue, there were approximately 77,700 native speakers, primarily in the Huehuetenango Department of Guatemala. In Chiapas, Mexico, municipalities where the Qüanjobüal language is spoken include Catazajá, Amatenango de la Frontera, La Trinitaria, Bella Vista, Frontera Comalapa, Las Margaritas and Maravilla Tenejapa. In Huehuetenango, the municipalities where the language is spoken are San Juan Ixcoy (Yich Küox), San Pedro Soloma (Tzüulumaü ), Santa Eulalia (Jolom Konobü ), Santa Cruz Barillas (Yalmotx), San Rafael La Independencia, and San Miguel Acatán (Pedro Mateo Pedro 2010). Qüanjobüal is taught in public schools through Guatemala's intercultural bilingual education programs.
Qüanjobüal is a member of the Qüanjobüalan branch of the Mayan language family. The Mayan language family includes 31 languages, two of which are now extinct. The Qüanjobüalan branch includes not only Qüanjobüal itself but also Chuj, Akatek, and Jakaltek, also spoken in Mexico and Guatemala. The Qüanjobüalan languages are noted for being among the most conservative of the Mayan language family, although they do include some interesting innovations.
Qüanjobüal consists of 26 consonant sounds and 5 vowel sounds.
Primary stress in Qüanjobüal is fairly simple. Words in isolation and in final phrase boundaries bear stress on the last syllable. However, words within a phrasal unit (not in final phrase boundary) bear stress on their first syllable.
As in all Mayan languages, Qüanjobüal classifies all verbs as either inherently intransitive (calling up only one argument) or as inherently transitive (calling up two arguments). Qüanjobüal is an ergativeâÂÂabsolutive language, in which the subject of a transitive verb takes an ergative affix, while the subject of an intransitive verb, as well as the object of a transitive verb, takes an absolutive affix.
There are two sets of affixes for ergative: the first set is used for those verbal roots beginning with a consonant, and the second set is used for those beginning with a vowel.
Ergative affixes are also used for possession.
There is only one set of absolutive affixes with two variations: pronounced like free words or attached to something else. The third person absolutive affix is ÃÂ, i.e., unmarked or empty.
However, while verbs are classified as either ergative or absolutive and take their own respective sets of pronoun affixes, this rule is altered in certain cases, such as when a verb becomes progressive:
but,
In Qüanjobüal, aspect (whether an action has been completed or not) is more important than tense. Thus, in most utterances, one will indicate whether the action is incompletive, or whether it is completed, or may happen in the future, in which case it is considered 'unreal', or of irrealis mood, the event still only in the realm of thought or imagination.
is used to indicate that an event is incomplete or ongoing at some time:
or (both forms are used in free variation) are used to indicate that an event is complete:
The prefix with the suffix are used to indicate that the event spoken of has not yet happened, but remains only in the realm of the 'unreal' with only the potential for occurrence in the future:
Negative particles include küam and manaq:
Questions can be formed simply by using rising intonation with declarative syntax:
There is also a question particle, :
(Used as common form of greeting, like English 'How are you?')
Many different affixes are used in Qüanjobüal, both prefixes and suffixes. Among these are , used to denote the doer or leader of an action: , üwriterü (< 'write'), , 'spiritual guide' (< 'road'); , used to indicate the location where something happens: 'market' (< 'buy'); , , , used to derive abstract nouns from adjectives, adverbs, numerals, transitive verb roots, and nouns: 'his/her smallness' (< 'small'); 'husband' (< 'man'); , to derive nouns from intransitive verbs, adjectives, other nouns, etc.: 'friendliness'; , nominalizer, turning verbs into nouns: 'studying' (< 'study').
Qüanjobüal has a fixed word order. It follows a verbâÂÂsubjectâÂÂobject (VSO) word order. All changes to this word order are driven by pragmatic or syntactic factors like focus, negation, interrogation, relativization, etc. These are subject to an ergativeâÂÂabsolutive pattern where arguments cross-referenced by ergative affixes must become absolutives prior to their fronting (focus, negation, etc.). This results in some possible subjectâÂÂverb (SV), objectâÂÂverbâÂÂsubject (OVS) orders. However SVO, SOV and OSV are not possible (or, at least, not attested in any known corpus). The apparent exception is in reflexives and reflexive possessives, where the reflexive phrase ERG-büa (noun) or reflexive possessive ERG-noun appears directly following the verb.
Some Qüanjobüal nouns require that certain classifiers be used with them. Among these are (animals), (trees/wood), (female), (male), (stone/metal), (corn), and (plants).
Reduplication, or duplication of a root word, is a minor process in the formation of Qüanjobüal vocabulary, as in the following:
Qüanjobüal consists of groups of roots that can take affixes. Words are traditionally classified as nouns, adjectives, adverbs, intransitive and transitive verbs, particles, and positionals. Positionals are a group of roots which cannot function as words on their own; in combination with affixes they are used to describe relationships of position and location. Particles are words that do not take affixes; they mostly function in adverbial roles, and include such things as interrogative particles, affirmative/negative words, markers of time and location, conjunctions, prepositions and demonstratives.
Locatives are often formed by placing a noun after a possessed body-part term: , 'edge of the road' < 'its-mouth road' and , 'mountaintop' or 'summit' < 'its-head mountain'. Similarly, compound nouns may be formed by placing a noun after another possessed noun: , 'school' < 'its-house studying'.