Kaqchikel language
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Kaqchikel (Cakchiquel) Kaqchikel Ch'ab'äl |
||
|---|---|---|
| Spoken in: | Guatemala | |
| Region: | Central Highlands | |
| Total speakers: | approx. 500,000 | |
| Language family: | Mayan Quichean-Mamean Greater Quichean Quichean Kaqchikel (Cakchiquel) |
|
| Language codes | ||
| ISO 639-1: | none | |
| ISO 639-2: | myn | |
| ISO 639-3: | variously: cak — Central cke — Eastern ckw — Western ckd — South Central ckf — Southern ckc — Northern cki — Santa María de Jesús ckj — Santo Domingo Xenacoj cbm — Yepocapa Southwestern ckk — Akatenango Southwestern |
|
| Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. See IPA chart for English for an English-based pronunciation key. | ||
The Kaqchikel language (in modern orthography; formerly also spelled Cakchiquel or Cakchiquiel) is an indigenous Mesoamerican language and a member of the Quichean-Mamean branch of the Mayan languages family. It is spoken by the indigenous Kaqchikel people in central Guatemala. It is closely related to the K'iche' (Quiché) and Tz'utujil languages.
Contents |
[edit] Phonology
In the charts below, each of the Kaqchikel phonemes is represented by the character or set of characters that denote it in the standard orthography developed by the Guatemalan Academy of Mayan Languages (ALMG) and sanctioned by the Guatemalan government. Where different, the corresponding symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet appears in brackets.
[edit] Vowels
Kaqchikel dialects differ somewhat in their vowels. Each dialect has a set of five tense vowels and either one, two, four, or five lax vowels.[1] The chart below shows the maximal, ten-vowel system, as in the dialect of Sololá.
| Tense | Lax | |
|---|---|---|
| i | ï [ɪ] | close front unrounded vowels |
| e | ë [ɛ] | mid front unrounded vowels |
| a | ä [ɨ] | central unrounded vowels |
| u | ü [ʊ] | close back rounded vowels |
| o | ö [ɔ] | mid back rounded vowels |
[edit] Consonants
Like other Mayan languages, Kaqchikel does not distinguish voiced and voiceless stops and affricates but instead distinguishes plain and glottalized stops and affricates. The plain stops and affricates (technically "pulmonic egressive") are usually voiceless and are aspirated at the ends of words and unaspirated elsewhere. The glottalized stops and affricates are usually ejective in the case of t' , k' , ch' , and tz' and implosive in the case of b' and q' .[2]
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | glottalized | plain | glottalized | plain | glottalized | plain | glottalized | plain | glottalized | plain | ||
| Stops | p | b' [ɓ] | t | t' [t'] | k | k' | q | q' [ʠ] | ' [ʔ] | |||
| Affricates | tz [ʦ] | tz' [ʦ’] | ch [ʧ] | ch' [ʧ’] | ||||||||
| Fricatives | s | x [ʃ] | j [X] | |||||||||
| Nasals | m | n | ||||||||||
| Liquids | l r | |||||||||||
| Glides | y [j] | w | ||||||||||
[edit] Notes
[edit] References
Cojti Macario, Narciso; Martin Chachach Cutzal, Marcos Armando Cali (1998). Diccionario Kaqchikel. Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala: Proyecto Lingüístico Francisco Marroquín.
Herbruger, Jr., Alfredo; Eduardo Diaz Barrios (1956). Método para Aprender a Hablar, Leer y Escribir la Lengua Cakchiquel.
Patal Majzul, Filiberto; Pedro Oscar García Matzar, Carmelina Espantay Serech (2000). Rujunamaxik ri Kaqchikel Chi'. Guatemala City, Guatemala: Cholsamaj. ISBN 99922-53-13-4.
 |
This Guatemala-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 |
This Indigenous languages of the Americas-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
