1.3Syllable structure
1.4Stress and intonation
1.5Phonological processes
2Morphology
2.2Verbs
2.3Attributives
3Syntax
3.1Verb agreement
3.2Enumeration
4Sample lexicon
5Dictionaries and grammars
6Liturgical use
7Media
Tzotzil language
Mayan language spoken in Mexico
Bats'i k'op
Chiapas, Oaxaca, Veracruz
Cholan–Tzeltalan
Tzeltalan
tzo
tzot1259
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Tzotzil (/ˈ(t)soʊtsɪl/;[2] Bats'i k'op [ɓats'i k'opʰ]) is a Maya language spoken by the indigenous Tzotzil Maya people in the Mexican state of Chiapas. Most speakers are bilingual in Spanish as a second language. In Central Chiapas, some primary schools and a secondary school are taught in Tzotzil.[3] Tzeltal is the most closely related language to Tzotzil and together they form a Tzeltalan sub-branch of the Mayan language family. Tzeltal, Tzotzil and Ch'ol are the most widely spoken languages in Chiapas besides Spanish.
There are six dialects of Tzotzil with varying degrees of mutual intelligibility, named after the different regions of Chiapas where they are spoken: Chamula, Zinacantán, San Andrés Larráinzar, Huixtán, Chenalhó, and Venustiano Carranza.[4] Centro de Lengua, Arte y Literatura Indígena (CELALI) suggested in 2002 that the name of the language (and the ethnicity) should be spelled Tsotsil, rather than Tzotzil. Native speakers and writers of the language are picking up the habit of using s instead of z.[citation needed]
Tzotzil has five vowels.[5][6]
i ⟨i⟩ u ⟨u⟩
e ⟨e⟩ o ⟨o⟩
a ⟨a⟩
Before a glottalized consonant, a vowel appears to lengthen and tense, such as a in tak'in "money".
Palatal
m ⟨m⟩ n ⟨n⟩
Plosive
Affricate
pʰ ⟨p⟩ tʰ ⟨t⟩ tsʰ ⟨tz⟩ tʃʰ ⟨ch⟩ kʰ ⟨k⟩ ʔ ⟨'⟩
ejective
p' ⟨p'⟩ t' ⟨t'⟩ ts' ⟨tz'⟩ tʃ' ⟨ch'⟩ k' ⟨k'⟩
implosive
ɓ ⟨b'⟩
v ~ β ~ w ⟨v⟩ s ⟨s⟩ ʃ ⟨x⟩ h ⟨j⟩
l ⟨l⟩ j ⟨y⟩
ɾ ⟨r⟩
/b/ is frequently implosive [ɓ], especially in intervocalic or in initial position. It is also weakly glottalized in initial position.
/kʰ pʰ tʰ/ are more strongly aspirated in final position.
/w d f ɡ/ occur but only in loanwords.
Aspirated and ejective consonants form phonemic contrasts: kok, kok' and k'ok' all have different meanings: ('my leg', 'my tongue' and 'fire', respectively).
Syllable structure[edit]
All words in Tzotzil begin with a consonant, which may be a glottal stop. Consonant clusters are almost always at the beginning of a word, with a prefix and a root. Roots in Tzotzil occur in the forms CVC (t'ul "rabbit"), CV (to "still"), CVCVC (bik'it "small"), CV(C)VC (xu(v)it "worm", the second consonant disappears in some dialects), CVC-CVC ('ajnil "wife"), CVCV ('ama "flute") or CVC-CV (vo'ne "long ago"). The most common root is CVC.
Almost all Tzotzil words can be analyzed as a CVC root together with certain affixes.
Stress and intonation[edit]
In normal speech, stress falls on the first syllable of the root in each word, and the last word in a phrase is heavily stressed. For words in isolation, primary stress falls on the final syllable except in affective verbs with -luh, first person plural exclusive suffixes, and reduplicated stems of two syllables. Then, the stress is unpredictable and so is indicated with an acute accent. The Tzotzil variant of San Bartolomé de Los Llanos, in the Venustiano Carranza region, was analyzed as having two phonemic tones by Sarles 1966.[7] Research by Heriberto Avelino in 2009 was not able to confirm more than an unstable and incipient tone contrast.[8]
Phonological processes[edit]
When intervocalic, /b/ is pre-glottalized and when it is followed by a consonant, b becomes a voiced m preceded by a glottal stop. In final position, b becomes a voiceless m preceded by a glottal stop so tzeb "girl" is pronounced [tseʔm̥].
When adding an affix results in double fricative consonants, only one is pronounced so xx, ss, nn, or jj should be pronounced as x [ʃ], s.[s], n [n], or j [h]. For example, ta ssut "He is returning" is pronounced [ta sut] . Other double consonants are pronounced twice, like tztz or chch, in verbal construction or in words with the same two consonants appearing in conjoining syllables: chchan "He learns it" is pronounced [tʃ-tʃan].
s changes to x when prefixed to a stem beginning with ch, ch', or x.
x changes to s when prefixed to a stem with an initial or final tz or s.
Morphology[edit]
In Tzotzil, only nouns, verbs, and attributives can be inflected.
Nouns can take affixes of possession, reflexive relation, independent state (absolutive suffix), number, and exclusion, as well as agentives and nominalizing formatives. Compounds can be formed in three ways:
nominal root+nominal root jol-vitz "summit" (head-hill)
verbal root+nominal root k'at-in-bak "inferno" (to burn-bone)
attributive root/particle+nominal root unen-vinik "dwarf" (small-man)
An example of a prefix for nouns is x-, an indicator of a non-domesticated animal: x-t'el "large lizard"
The plural suffixes for a noun change based on whether or not the noun is possessed:
-t-ik, -ik. Plural suffix for possessed nouns, linked with possessive prefixes: s-chikin-ik "his/her/their ears", k-ich'ak-t-ik "our fingernails"
-et-ik. Plural suffix for non-possessed nouns: vitz-et-ik "hills", mut-et-ik "birds"
-t-ak. Plural suffix for objects that come in pairs, or when it is necessary to indicate the plural of both the noun and the possessor: j-chikin-t-ak "my (two) ears", s-bi-t-ak "their names"
Some nouns, such as words for body parts and kinship terms, must always be possessed. They cannot be used without a possessive prefix, or otherwise must be used with an absolute suffix to express an indefinite possessor. The possessive prefixes are:
k- / j- k- / j-...-t-ik
av- / a- av- / a-...-ik
y- / s- y- / s-...-ik
The prefix listed first is the one used before a root starting with a vowel, the prefix listed second is the one used before a root starting with a consonant. For example, k+ok kok "my foot", j+ba jba "my face"
The absolute suffix is usually il but can also have the form el, al, or ol: k'ob-ol "hand (of some unspecified person)"[9]
Verbs[edit]
Verbs receive affixes of aspect, tense, pronominal subject and object and formatives of state, voice, mood and number. They can also form compounds in three ways:
verb+noun tzob-tak'in "to raise money"
verb+verb mukul-milvan "to murder"
attributive+verb ch'ul-totin "to become a godfather"[9]
Attributives[edit]
Attributives are words that can function as predicates, but are neither verbs nor nouns. Often they can be translated into English as adjectives. Unlike verbs, they do not inflect for aspect, and unlike nouns, they cannot head a noun phrase or combine with possessive affixes. The composition of attributives occurs in three ways:
verbal root+noun ma'-sat "blind" (negative-eye)
For colors:
attributive of color+verbal root+formative -an "shadow, shade (of color)" k'an-set'-an "shade of yellow"
attributive of color reduplicated+t-ik "type of plural" tzoj-tzoj-t-ik < tzoj "red" This construction implies intensity in the color.[9]
Syntax[edit]
The basic word order of Tzotzil is VOS (verb-object-subject). Subjects and direct objects are not marked for case. The predicate agrees in person, and sometimes in number, with its subject and direct object. Non-emphatic personal pronouns are always left out.[10]
Verb agreement[edit]
Since the agreement system in Tzotzil is ergative-absolutive, the subject of an intransitive verb and the direct object of a transitive verb are marked by the same set of affixes, while the subject of a transitive is marked with a different set of affixes. For example, compare the affixes in the following sentences:
l- i- tal -otik "We (inclusive) came."
'i j- pet -tik lok'el ti vinik -e "We (inclusive) carried away the man."
In the first sentence, the intransitive verb tal ("come") is affixed by -i-...-otik to show that the subject is the 1st person plural inclusive "we," but in the second sentence, since the verb pet ("carry") is transitive, it is affixed by j-...-tik to mark the subject as the 1st person plural inclusive "we."
l- i- s- pet -otik "He carried us (inclusive)"
From this sentence we can see that the 1st person plural inclusive object "us" is being marked the same as the 1st person plural inclusive intransitive subject "we" using -i-...-otik. Thus, -i-...-otik is the absolutive marker for 1st person plural inclusive and j-...-tik is the ergative marker for 1st person plural inclusive.
Also from the sentence l- i- s- pet -otik "He carried us (inclusive)" it is possible to see the 3rd person ergative marking s-, which contrasts with the 3rd person absolutive marking Ø in the sentence 'i- tal "He/she/it/they came."[10]
Enumeration[edit]
With many nouns, numbers must be compounded to numeral classifiers that correspond to the physical nature of the object being counted. This precedes the noun being counted. For example, in vak-p'ej na "six houses" the classifier -p'ej "round things, houses, flowers, etc." is compounded to the number vak "six" and precedes the noun na "house(s)."[11]
Sample lexicon[edit]
'oxib
tak'in
satil
vo'
te'
'uk'um
There are also many Spanish loanwords in Tzotzil, such as:
rominko < domingo "Sunday"
pero < pero "but"
preserente < presidente "president"
bino < vino "wine"[11][12]
Dictionaries and grammars[edit]
In 1975, the Smithsonian Institution produced a dictionary of Tzotzil,[13] containing some 30,000 Tzotzil-English entries, and half that number of English-Tzotzil entries, the most comprehensive resource on Tzotzil vocabulary to that date. Tzotzil word-lists and grammars date back to the late 19th century, most notably in Otto Stoll's Zur Ethnographie der Republik Guatemala (1884).[14]
Liturgical use[edit]
In 2013, Pope Francis approved translations of the prayers for Mass and the celebration of sacraments into Tzotzil and Tzeltal. The translations include "the prayers used for Mass, marriage, baptisms, confirmations, confessions, ordinations and the anointing of the sick ... Bishop Arizmendi said Oct. 6 that the texts, which took approximately eight years to translate, would be used in his diocese and the neighboring Archdiocese of Tuxtla Gutiérrez. Mass has been celebrated in the diocese in recent years with the assistance of translators — except during homilies — Bishop Arizmendi said in an article in the newspaper La Jornada.[15]
Tzotzil-language programming is carried by the CDI's radio stations XEVFS, broadcasting from Las Margaritas, Chiapas, and XECOPA, based in Copainalá, Chiapas.
Document established a brotherhood in the language, dated sometime during the colonial period.
^ Lenguas indígenas y hablantes de 3 años y más, 2020 INEGI. Censo de Población y Vivienda 2020.
^ Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student's Handbook, Edinburgh
^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-02-05. Retrieved 2008-01-29. {{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Resumen Gramatical
^ Ethnologue report for Mexico
^ Hopkins (1962).
^ Haviland (1981).
^ Sarles, Harvey B. 1966. A descriptive grammar of the Tzotzil language as spoken in San Bartolomé de Los Llanos, Chiapas, México. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Chicago.
^ Avelino, Heriberto; Shin, Eurie; Tilsen, Sam (2011). "Chapter I The Phonetics of Laryngealization in Yucatec Maya". In Avelino, Heriberto; Coon, Jessica; Norcliffe, Elisabeth (eds.). New perspectives in Mayan linguistics. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
^ a b c García de León (1971). op. cit.
^ a b Aissen (1987). op. cit.
^ a b Haviland (1981). op. cit.
^ Laughlin (1975). op. cit.
^ The work in question is Laughlin (1975); a revised and enlarged edition is Laughlin (1988).
^ See Dienhart (1997), "Data Sources Listed by Author".
^ Catholic News Service. "In Chiapas, Mayans get Mass, sacraments in two of their languages". Catholic Sentinel. Portland, OR. Retrieved 2013-10-24.
Aissen, Judith (1987). Tzotzil Clause Structure. Berlin: Springer. ISBN 90-277-2365-6.
Dienhart, John M. (1997). "The Mayan Languages- A Comparative Vocabulary" (electronic version). Odense University. Retrieved 2007-08-20.
García de León, Antonio (1971). Los elementos del Tzotzil colonial y moderno (in Spanish). México: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
Haviland, John (1981). Sk'op Sotz'leb: El Tzotzil De San Lorenzo Zinacantan (in Spanish). México: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. ISBN 968-5800-56-1.
Hopkins, Nicholas A. (1962). A Phonology of Zinacantán Tzotzil. University of Texas (Austin).
Laughlin, Robert M. (1975). The Great Tzotzil Dictionary of San Lorenzo Zinacantán. Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology series, #19. Washington D.C: Smithsonian Institution Press; U.S. Government Printing Office. OCLC 1144739.
Laughlin, Robert M. (1988). The Great Tzotzil dictionary of Santo Domingo Zinacantán: with grammatical analysis and historical commentary. Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology series, #31. Washington D.C: Smithsonian Institution Press; U.S. Government Printing Office.
Stoll, Otto (1884). Zur ethnographie der republik Guatemala. Zürich: Orell Füssli. OCLC 785319.
Stoll, Otto (2001) [1886]. Guatemala. Reisen und Schilderungen aus den Jahren 1878–1883. Elibron Classics series (Replica of 1886 edition by F. A. Brockhaus, Leipzig (unabridged) ed.). Boston: Adamant Media Corporation. ISBN 1-4212-0766-4. OCLC 2369330.
Vázquez López, Mariano Reynaldo (2004). Chano Bats'i K'op: Aprenda Tsotsil (in Spanish) (["Learn Tzotzil"] ed.). Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas: Centro Estatal de Lenguas, Arte y Literatura Indígenas (CELALI); Gobierno del Estado de Chiapas. ISBN 970-697-097-5. OCLC 76286101.
Sk'op Sotz'leb, an online grammar, with glossary and pronunciation examples for Zinacantán
Comparative Tzotzil Swadesh vocabulary list (from Wiktionary)
Mayan Languages Collection of Victoria Bricker at the Archive of the Indigenous Languages of Latin America. Contains recordings of Tzotzil made between 1964 and 1972. The recordings include those made of "(1) elicited humorous narratives, songs, and prayers; (2) 'live' recordings of ritual humor at the fiestas of Saint Lawrence, Christmas, New Year's Day, Epiphany, and Saint Sebastian; and (3) didactic materials (lessons, texts, and exercises)."
SAN MATEO 1, Ach' Testamento: Ja' sc'oplal ti ja' Cajcoltavanejtic li Cajvaltic Jesucristoe (TZONT) The New Testament in Tzotzil
Díaz López, Óscar; et al. (2011). Smelolal sts'ibael bats'i k'op tsotsil / Norma de escritura de la lengua tsotsil (First ed.). México, D.F.: Instituto Nacional de Lenguas Indígenas (INALI). ISBN 978-607-7538-44-8.
Languages of Mexico
Official/
Yucatec Maya
Tzeltal Maya
Tzotzil Maya
Otomí
Totonac
Mazatec
Ch'ol
Chinantec
Mazahua
Purépecha
10,000-100,000
Tarahumara
Tojol-ab'al
Chontal de Tabasco
Amuzgo
Chatino
Sierra Popoluca
Tepehuán
Triqui
Popolocan
Huave
Cuicatec
Pame
Tepehua
Chontal of Oaxaca
Akatek
Chiricahua
Tacuate
Chichimeca Jonaz
Huarijío
Chocholtec
Pima Bajo
Q'eqchí
Lacandón
Jakaltek
Matlatzinca
Ixcatec
Paipai
Kikapú (whistled speech)
Cucapá
Qato'k
Kumiai
Pápago
Olutec
Cochimí
Kiliwa
Ayapanec
Awakatek
Non-official
Mexican Sign Language
Mayan Sign Language
Plains Indian Sign Language
Chatino Sign Language
Note: The list of official languages is ordered by decreasing size of population.
Mayan languages
Huastecan
Chicomuceltec
Huastec (Wastek)
Yucatecan
Mopan–Itza
Itza'
Mopan
Yucatec–Lacandon
Ch'ol
Chontal
Ch'olti'
Ch'orti'
Q'anjobalan–Chujean
Chujean
Tojolab'al
Q'anjob'alan–Jakaltek
Q'anjob'al
Mototzintleco
Mocho'
Mamean
Ixilean
Mamean proper
Tektitek
Greater Quichean
Quichean proper
Achi
K'iche'
Tz'utujil
Poqom
Poqomam
Poqomchi'
Q'eqchi
Sakapultek
Sipakapense
Uspantek
Mixed language
Cauque Mayan
Proto-Mayan
Classic Maya
Classical K'iche'
Italics indicate extinct languages
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tzotzil_language&oldid=1062368134"
Agglutinative languages
Mesoamerican languages
Indigenous languages of Mexico
Verb–object–subject languages
CS1 Spanish-language sources (es)
This page was last edited on 28 December 2021, at 01:48 (UTC).