Kʼicheʼ language

Kʼicheʼ (, also known as among its speakers), or Quiché (), is a Mayan language of Guatemala, spoken by the Kʼicheʼ people of the central highlands. With over a million speakers (some 7% of Guatemala's population), Kʼicheʼ is the second most widely-spoken language in the country, after Spanish. It is also the most widely-spoken indigenous American language in Mesoamerica.

The Central dialect is the most commonly used in media and education. Despite a low literacy rate, Kʼicheʼ is increasingly taught in schools and used on the radio. The most famous work in the Classical Kʼicheʼ language is the ''Popol Vuh'' (''Popol Wuʼuj'' in modern spelling).

Dialects

Kaufman (1970) divides the Kʼicheʼ complex into the following five dialects, with the representative municipalities given as well (quoted in Par Sapón 2000:17):
;East
* Joyabaj
* Zacualpa
* Cubulco
* Rabinal
* San Miguel Chicaj

;West
* Nahualá
* Santa Clara La Laguna
* Santa Lucía Utatlán
* Aldea Argueta, Sololá
* Cantel
* Zunil
* San José Chiquilajá, Quetzaltenango
* Totonicapán
* Momostenango

;Central
* Santa María Chiquimula
*San Antonio Ilotenango
* Santa Cruz del Quiché
*Chichicastenango

;North
*Cunén

;South
* Samayac
* Mazatenango

The Nahualá dialect of Kʼicheʼ shows some differences from other Kʼicheʼ dialects. It preserves an ancient Proto-Mayan distinction between five long vowels (aa, ee, ii, oo, uu) and five short vowels (a, e, i, o, u). It is for that conservative linguistic feature that Guatemalan and foreign linguists have actively sought to have the language called Kʼichee, rather than Kʼicheʼ or Quiché.

Phonology

Kʼicheʼ has a rather conservative phonology. It has not developed many of the innovations found in neighboring languages, such as retroflex consonants or tone.

Stress

Stress is not phonemic. It occurs on the final syllable and on every other syllable before the final in an iambic pattern.

Unstressed vowels are frequently reduced (to or ) or elided altogether, which often produces consonant clusters even word-initially. For example, ''sibʼalaj'' "very" may be pronounced and ''je na laʼ ''"thus" .

Vowels

Kʼicheʼ dialects differ in their vowel systems. Historically, Kʼicheʼ had a ten-vowel system: five short and five long. Some dialects (such as Nahualá and Totonicapán) retain the ten-vowel system. Others (such as Cantel) have reduced it to a six-vowel system with no length distinctions: short /a/ has become /ə/ in these dialects, and the other short vowels have merged with their long counterparts. Different conventions for spelling the vowels have been proposed, including by the Proyecto Lingüístico Francisco Marroquín, the Summer Institute of Linguistics, and the Academia de Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala. This table shows the two vowel systems and several of the spelling systems that have been proposed:

Vowels typically undergo syncope in penultimate syllables, which allows for a wide array of complex onsets. Diphthongs are found in recent loanwords.

Consonants

Kʼicheʼ has pulmonic stops and affricates, /p/, /t/, /ts/, /tʃ/, /k/, and /q/, and glottalized counterparts /ɓ/, /tʼ/, /tsʼ/, /tʃʼ/, /kʼ/, and /qʼ/. The glottalized /ɓ/ is a weak implosive, and the other glottalized consonants are ejectives. The pulmonic stops and affricates are typically aspirated.

In West Quiche, the approximants /l/, /r/, /j/, and /w/ devoice and fricate to , , , and word-finally and often before voiceless consonants. In the dialect of Santa María Chiquimula, intervocalic alternates between and , a highly-unusual sound change. The fricative is most common in the vicinity of the vowels /a(:)/ and /o(:)/.

Syllabic structure

Complex onsets are very common in Kʼicheʼ, partially because of the active process of penultimate syncope. Complex codas are rare except when the first member of the complex coda is a phonemic glottal stop, which is written with an apostrophe. The sonorants /m, n, l, r/ may be syllabic.

Orthography

Historically, different orthographies have been used to transcribe the Kʼicheʼ languages. The classical orthography of Father Ximénez, who wrote down the Popol Vuh, is based on Spanish orthography and has been replaced by a new standardized orthography, defined by the ALMG (Academia de Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala). The ethnohistorian and Mayanist Dennis Tedlock uses his own transliteration system, which is completely different from any of the established orthographies.

Morphology

Like other Mayan languages, Kʼicheʼ uses two sets of agreement markers, known to Mayanists as "Set A" and "Set B" markers, which can appear on both nouns and verbs. "Set A" markers are used on nouns to mark possessor agreement and on verbs to agree with the transitive subject (ergative case). "Set B" markers are used on verbs to agree with the transitive object or the intransitive subject ( absolutive case).

Pronouns

Kʼicheʼ distinguishes six pronouns classified by person and number. Gender and case are not marked on pronouns, which are often omitted since subject and object agreement are obligatorily marked on the verb.

Verbs

Kʼicheʼ verbs are morphologically complex and can take numerous prefixes and suffixes, which serve both inflectional and derivational purposes. Agreement follows an ergative/absolutive pattern: subjects of transitive verbs are indexed with Set A markers, while intransitive subjects and transitive objects are indexed with Set B markers. Aspect and mood are also indicated via verbal morphology, as is movement: the prefix ul- in the movement slot indicates movement towards the speaker, and the prefix e- (or bʼe- in some varieties) indicates movement away from the speaker.

The table below shows the inflectional template of a Kʼicheʼ verb.

The last morpheme on a verb, the so-called "status suffix," is a portmanteau morpheme, the form of which is determined by a set of rules that includes factors such as:
* whether the verb is transitive or intransitive
* whether the verb's mood is indicative or imperative
* whether or not the verb contains a movement marker
* whether or not the verb falls at the end of an intonational phrase

Voice and derivation

The examples above involve verbs with simple stems. Verb stems may also be morphologically complex. Complex stems may involve voice suffixes:

* Causative: -isa (-kam- "die", -kam-isa- "kill (someone)")
*