Poqomchiʼ (Pokomchi: ''Poqomchiiʼ'') is a
Mayan language
Mayan most commonly refers to:
* Maya peoples, various indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica and northern Central America
* Maya civilization, pre-Columbian culture of Mesoamerica and northern Central America
* Mayan languages, language family spoken ...
spoken by the
Poqomchiʼ Maya
Maya may refer to:
Civilizations
* Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America
** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples
** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples
* Maya (Ethiopia), a popul ...
of
Guatemala
Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...
, and is very closely related to
Poqomam. Its two main dialects, eastern and western, were spoken by 90,000 or so people in the year 2000, in
Purulhá,
Baja Verapaz
Baja Verapaz () is a department in Guatemala. The capital is Salamá.
Baja Verapaz contains the Mario Dary Biotope Preserve, preserving the native flora and fauna of the region, especially the endangered national bird of Guatemala, the Resplen ...
, and in the following municipalities of
Alta Verapaz
Alta Verapaz () is a department in the north central part of Guatemala. The capital and chief city of the department is Cobán. Verapaz is bordered to the north by El Petén, to the east by Izabal, to the south by Zacapa, El Progreso, and ...
:
Santa Cruz Verapaz,
San Cristóbal Verapaz
San Cristóbal Verapaz () is a town, with a population of 20,961 (2018 census), and a municipality in the Guatemalan department of Alta Verapaz. It is located approximately 29 km from Cobán, the capital of Alta Verapaz and about 210 km ...
,
Tactic
Tactic(s) or Tactical may refer to:
* Tactic (method), a conceptual action implemented as one or more specific tasks
** Military tactics, the disposition and maneuver of units on a particular sea or battlefield
** Chess tactics
** Political tact ...
,
Tamahú and
Tucurú
Tucurú is a small town and municipality in the Guatemalan department of Alta Verapaz.
History
Verapaz Railroad
The Verapaz Railroad began on 15 January 1894 with a contract for 99 years between Guatemala, then ruled by president José Ma ...
. It is also the predominant language in the municipality of
Chicamán
Chicamán is a municipality in the Guatemalan department of El Quiché
EL, El or el may refer to:
Religion
* El (deity), a Semitic word for "God"
People
* EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound eng ...
(
El Quiché
EL, El or el may refer to:
Religion
* El (deity), a Semitic word for "God"
People
* EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer
* El DeBarge, music artist
* El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American po ...
), which borders Alta Verapaz.
Distribution
Poqomam is spoken in the following municipalities of
Alta Verapaz
Alta Verapaz () is a department in the north central part of Guatemala. The capital and chief city of the department is Cobán. Verapaz is bordered to the north by El Petén, to the east by Izabal, to the south by Zacapa, El Progreso, and ...
,
Baja Verapaz
Baja Verapaz () is a department in Guatemala. The capital is Salamá.
Baja Verapaz contains the Mario Dary Biotope Preserve, preserving the native flora and fauna of the region, especially the endangered national bird of Guatemala, the Resplen ...
, and
El Quiché
EL, El or el may refer to:
Religion
* El (deity), a Semitic word for "God"
People
* EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer
* El DeBarge, music artist
* El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American po ...
departments (''Variación Dialectal en Poqom, 2000'').
*Alta Verapaz
**Panzós (in the community of San Vicente II)
**La Tinta
**Tucurú
**Tamahú
**Tactic
**Santa Cruz Verapaz
**San Cristóbal Verapaz
*El Quiché
**Chicamán (in the aldea of Belejú)
*Baja Verapaz
**Purulhá (in the community of Ribalcó)
Phonology
Consonants
* In Western Poqomchi', is non-existent and a glottalized occurs in alteration. Sometimes an allophone of can be heard as .
* mainly exists among the western dialects.
* can be heard as a flap sound when occurring word-medially.
* If a glottal sound precedes , it is then heard as a voiceless fricative .
Vowels
* Short allophones of vowels , can be heard as , .
Notes
References
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Diccionario Pocomchi-Castellano y Castellano-Pocomchi de S. Cristobal CahcohVocabulario de la lengua Pocomam de Mita
includes Pokonchi of San Cristobal Cajcaj
Doctrina christiana en Pocomchí (Escrita por Fr. Hippolito de Aguilera, Predicador, Cura de este Partido de el pocomchí)
(other texts available at this site)
OLAC resources in and about the Poqomchiʼ languageDocumental "Cultura Poqomchiʼ"
Agglutinative languages
Mayan languages
Mesoamerican languages
Languages of Guatemala
{{indigenousAmerican-lang-stub