In this lesson we will learn to speak about events and experiences in the past. In K’iche’ these are expressed using the completive aspect, which is comparable, though not the same as the past tense.
In K’iche’ the completive aspect indicates that the action has been completed relative to the time in which it is being spoken. Remember that aspect gives us a text internal perspective of time, how events relate to each other: the completive aspect marks events that have been completed relative to other events. We generally translate the completive with the past in English (I went, I ate, etc.).
The completive marker is the prefix x-, which replaces the incompletive k(a)-. In the completive, there is no filler vowel –a- in the third person singular linking the aspect marker with the verb stem, like in the incompletive aspect. See the following examples:| 1.Katb’ek. K-at-b’ek INC-2sing- go You go. | 1.Xatb’ek. x-at-b’ek COMP-2sing-go You went. |
| 2.Kab’ek. Ka-Ø-b’ek. INC-3sing- go He/she/it goes. | 2.Xb’ek x-Ø-b’ek COMP-3sing-go He/she/it went. |
| 3.Ximb’ek. x-im-b’ek. COMP-1sing-go I went. | 4.Ximb’e ruk’ le ajkun iwir. x-im-b’e r-uk’ le ajkun iwir COMP-1sing 3sing-with art. doctor yesterday. I went to the doctor’s yesterday. |
| 4.La xtzalij la iwir? La x-tzalij la iwir? INT COMP-return 2sing.form yesterday Did you return yesterday? | 5.Je’, xintzalijik. Je’, x-in-tzalij-ik. Yes, COMP-1sing-return-pfm. Yes, I returned. |
| Aspect | Person | Root | PFM | Complete | Gloss |
| x- | im/in | b’e | -k | ximb’ek | I went |
| x- | at | b’e | -k | xatb’ek | You went |
| x- | — | b’e | — | xb’e la | You went (formal) |
| x- | Ø | b’e | -k | xb’ek | He/she/it went |
| x- | oj | b’e | -k | xojb’ek | We went |
| x- | ix | b’e | -k | xixb’ek | You all went |
| x- | — | b’e | — | xb’e alaq | You all went (formal) |
| x- | e | b’e | -k | xeb’ek | They went |
| wa’kat(ik) | to stroll, to take a walk |
| q’ij | day |
| amaq’ | country |
| k’a te k’u ri’ | then, after |
| E-uk’ | with (E=ergative) |
| oq'(ik) | to cry |
| ul(ik) | to arrive (here) |
| kolotaj(ik)* | salvation |
| kos(ik) | to be tired, to tire |
| muq(ik)* | to bury |
| jiq'(ik) | to suffocate |
| qatat, qanan; qati’t, qamam | our ancestors (literally: our fathers, our mothers; our grandmothers, our grandfathers) |
| tukinel(ab’) | destroyer(s) |
| sokotajik* | to be wounded |
| ch’o’jin(ik) | to fight |
| uxlab’ | breath |
| tz’olq’omij | remorse, penance, regret |
| b’uk’uwem | the beating of the earth |
| matam | late |
| aretaq | when |
Translate the following sentences into English:
- Xinwa’kat pa le juyub’ iwir.
- Matam xatwa’lij kamik.
- Xki’kot le al Maria aretaq xulik.
- La xatb’e pa le tyox iwir?
- La xixkos pa le ichak?
- Xojb’e pa le amaq’ Estados Unidos.
- -La xixul pa le tijob’al? -Je’, xojulik.
- La xwar le tijoxel pa le tijonik?
- Xojch’awik.
- Xch’aw le ajtij ruk’ le al We’l.
Answers
- I walked through the mountain yesterday.
- You got up late today.
- Maria was happy when she arrived here.
- Did you go to church yesterday?
- Did you all get tired at work?
- We went to the country of the United States.
- Did you all arrive here at the school? Yes, we arrived here.
- Did the student fall asleep in class?
- We talked.
- The teacher spoke with Manauela.