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Mam Grammar in Outline

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MAM GRAWIAR IN OUTLINE By NORA CLEARMAN ENGLAND A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE COUNCIL OF THE UNI^/ERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 1975 Copyright ?y Nora Clearman England 1975 To Prederica de Laguna for introducing me to anthropology ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge the great assistance given me in the preparation of this dissertation by- Juan Maldonado Andres and Juan Ordonez Domingo , native Mam speakers from San Ildefonso Ixtahuacan. They worked with me for over two years in the analysis of Mam, and much of the data collection and some of the analysis is specifically their work. Above all they had great patience in guiding me through the intricacies of their language. Dr. M. J. Hardman-de-Bautista vjas my advisor at the University of Florida, and I would like to thank her very warmly for her supervision of my graduate education. She has at all times been exciting to work under, and her understanding of the complexities of language has inspired all her students to look deeper and do more in their own work. It has indeed been a privilege to work with her. Dr. Terrence Kaufman directed my fieldwork and helped me to understand much about Mam and Mayan languages. Many of the terms used here and some of the format are his. It was a pleasure to work under someone who is as meticulous and as knowledgeable about Mayan languages as he. iv I would also like to thank my examining committee, whose members ai^e Dr. Hardman , Dr. William E. Carter, Dr. Charles Wagley, Dr. Norman Markel, and Dr. Alexander Moore, for their time and guidance. Finally, I would like to acknowledge the Proyecto ' Linguistico Francisco Marroquin, in Antigua Guatemala, for institutional support during the period in which I did my fieldv/ork, and the United States Peace Corps for support in the field from August, 1971 to December, 1973- The linguistic students and staff at the Proyecto Linguistico Francisco Marroquin v;ere a pleasure to work with and provided both professional and informal assistance. 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements • Iv Conventions and Abbreviations x Abstract jci 0. Introduction .1 . 1 The Language and the People 1 0. 2 Research 9 . 3 Personnel 10 0.4 Previous Studies 12 o .5 Scope 14 1 Phonology 17 1 . Phonemic Inventory 17 1.2 Phonem.ic Description l8 1.2.1 Consonants l8 1.2.2 Vowels 26 1.2.3 Glottal Stop 31 1.2.4 Juncture 33 1. 3 Stress 35 1.4 The Syllable 36 1 . 5 Morphophonemics 36 1.5.1 Vowel Dropping 37 1.5.2 Vowel Neutralization 37 1.5.3 Vowel Synthesis 38 1.5.4 /y/ Insertion 38 1.5.5 Glottal Stop and Glottalized Consonant Alternation 39 1.5.6 Movement of Glottal Stop Toward Long Vowels 40 1.5-7 Nasal Alternation 4l 2 . Grammatical Process 42 2 . 1 Morpheme Classes 42 2.2 Word Classes 43 2.2.1 Verbs 43 2.2.1.1 Transitive Verbs 48 2.2.1.2 Intransitive Verbs 52 2.2.2 Nouns 53 2.2.2.1 Relational Nouns 53 2.2.2.2 Measure Words 57 vi s 2.2.2.3 Name 58 2.2.2.4 Toponyms 59 2.2.2.5 Pronouns 59 2.2.3 Adjectives 62 2.2.3.1 Demonstratives 63 2.2.3.2 Numbers '.'.'.63 2.2.4 Affect V/ords 64 2.2.5 Particles 65 2.2.5.1 Interrogative s 66 2.2.5.2 Negatives 67 2.2.5.3 Affirmatives 68 2.2.5.4 Conjunctions 68 2.2.5.5 Locatives 68 2.2.5.6 Temporals 69 2.2.5.7 Manner Particles 69 2.2.5.8 Exclamations 70 2.2.5.9 Vocatives 71 2.2.5.10 Other Adverbials 71 2.2.5.11 Other Particles 72 2.2.6 Adverbs 73 2.2.7 Review of Inflection 73 2.2.7.1 Verb Inflection 74 2.2.7.2 Noun Inflection 75 2 . 3 Root Classes 75 2.3.1 Verb Roots 75 2.3.1.1 Transitive Roots 75 2.3.1.2 Intransitive Roots 76 2.3.2 Positional Roots 76 2.3.3 Noun Roots 77 2.3.3.1 SI 77 2.3.3.2 Sla 77 2.3.3.3 Sib 78 2.3.3.4 S2 78 2.3.3.5 S3 79 2.3.3.6 Never Possessed Noun Roots 80 2.3.3.7 Always Possessed Noun Roots 80 2.3.4 Adjective Roots 8I 2.3.5 Affect Roots 81 2.3.6 Particle Roots 8I 2.3.7 Canonical Shape of Roots 81 2.3.7.1 Transitive Root Shapes 82 2.3.7.2 Intransitive Root Shapes 82 2.3.7.3 Positional Root Shapes 82 -2.3.7.4 Noun Root Shapes 82 2.3.7.5 Adjective Root Shapes 83 2.3.7.6 Affect Root Shapes 83 2.3.7.7 Particle Root Shapes 84 2.4 Stem Formation 84 2.4.1 Verb Formation 86 2.4.1.1 Transitive Stem Formation 88 2.4.1.2 Intransitive Stem Formation 99 vll 2.4.2 Noun Stem Formation 106 2.']. 3 Adjective Stem Formation 115 2. i| .4 Affect Stem Formation 121 2.4.5 Derived Adverbial Formation 122 2.4.6 Hov; Roots And Stems are Derived (in Review) 124 2.5 Phrase Formation 130 2.5.1 Verb Phrases 130 2.5.1.1 The Transitive "Verb Phrase 132 2.5.1.2 The Intransitive Verb Phrase .... 135 2.5.2 Noun Phrases 137 2.5.2.1 Third Person Noun Phrases 137 2.5.2.2 Pronoun Phrases l47 2.5.3 Adverb Phrases lj^9 2.5-3.1 Adverbials l49 2.5.3.2 Adverbial Noun Phrases 150 2.6 Sentence Formation 151 2.6.1 Simple Sentences 151 2.6.1.1 Linking Sentences 152 2.6.1.2 Intransitive Sentences 154 2.6.1.3 Transitive Sentences 156 2.6.2 Variations of Simple Sentences 158 2.6.2.1 Negatives 158 2.6.2.2 Interrogatives 160 2.6.2.3 Passives I6I 2.6.2.4 Imperatives Ia3 2.6.3 Sentence Level Clitics l64 2.6.4 Compound Sentences 178 2.6.5 Conolex Sentences I80 2.6.5.1 Verbal Nouns I8O 2.6.5.2 Subordination with Set A Person Markers I8I 2.6.5.3 Subordination with Subordinate Aspects 187 Verb Semantics 1°1 3.1 Semantic Extensions of Directionals 193 3.2 Citation Form Directionals 196 3.3 Directional Distribution 202 Grammatical Categories 203 4.1 Verbal Categories 204 4.1.1 Tim.e .' 204 4.1.2 Direction • 209 4.1.3 Transitivity 210 4.2 Person Relationships 214 4.2.1 Person Marking 214 4.2.2 Case and Location 217 4.2.3 Body and Human Metaphor 220 Vlll 4. 3 Description 223 4 . 4 Emphasis 227 4.5 General Considerations 229 Appendix : Text 236 Bibliography 253 Biographical Sketch .' 256 XX CONVENTIONS AiND ABBREVIATIONS [ ] phonetic representation / / phonemic representation (practical orthography) { } morpheme divides morphemes in examples and texts T transitive root I intransitive root N noun root A adjective root AP affect root P positional root t transitive stem 1 intransitive stem n noun stem a adjective stem af affect stem underlining with numbers refers to phrases 1 ^—^_J braces under words indicate clauses (Sp) Spanish loan Dashes before or after a morpheme indicate that it is bound. Words or morphemes underlined in discursive passages are always in the phonemic orthography. Abstract of Dissertation Presented to the Graduate Council of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy MAM GRAMMAR IN OUTLINE By Nora Clearman England June, 1975 Chairman: M. J. Hardman-de-Bautista Major Department: Anthropology Mam is a Mayan language spoken by several hundred thousand indigenous people in highland Guatemala and Chiapas. It has the third largest number of speakers in the Mayan family, but has been relatively little described, even compared to other Mayan languages. This grammar is a description of the phonology, grammatical processes, verb semantics, and grammatical categories in Mam. It is based on data collected during more than two years of fleldwork in Guatemala. The phonology chapter contains a phonemic analysis of the language and a description oT the major morphophDnemic processes. The grammatical processes chapter describes morpheme, work, and root classes; and stem, phrase, and sentence formation. XI Root classes are verbs, posltlonals, nouns, adjectives, affect vrords, and particles. Of these all but posltlonals are matched by stem and word classes. V/ord classes are verbs, nouns, adjectives, affect v;ords, derived adverbials, and particles. Phrases types are noun, verb and adverb. Simple sentences are linking, intransitive, or transitive; in addition there are compound and complex sentences. Inflection of nouns and verbs is described under word classes, while deri- vational affixes are described under stem formation. In addition there are a number of clitics, which are described under word classes, phrase formation, and sentence formation. After the description of the grammatical processes, a chapter is devoted to verbal semantic categories as revealed through the use and distribution of dlrectionals in the verb phrase. A final chapter Is devoted to a discussion of the grammatical categories which are defined by the organizational principles of the language. This includes discussion of verbal categories, person relationships, description, and emphasis. An appendix gives a text in Mam, broken dovm Into morpheme segments and with both a literal interlinear and a free translation.
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