Chqeta'maj le qach’ab’al K’iche’! - A Beginner to Advanced Level K'iche' Online Course

Introduction

In K’iche’ some nouns change their form when possessed. Here is an overview what can happen when nouns are possessed in K’iche’.

TZIJONIKText

Pascual goes over the parts of the body:

In the following short video, Nela goes over some of the parts of the body, possessed in the first person:

In the following video, Mareike asks some of the students if one of their body parts hurts:

KEMCHI’Grammar

Nouns with no change when possessed.

Most nouns, simple and derived, do not change form when possessed:

wuj	book	nuwuj	my book
pop	mat	apop	your mat
aj	elote, corn cob	waj	my elote (fresh ear of corn)

Nouns that show change in vowel length when possessed.
In dialects in K’iche’ that show phonemic vowel length, the short last vowel of the noun will change into a long vowel when possessed. This is not represented in written K’iche’ in our class (in the following table, long vowels are in bold).

kinaq’	beans	nukinaq’	my beans
pwaq	money	upwaq	her money
wakax	cow	iwakax	your cow (you all)
kar	fish	ukar	his/her fish
tz’i’	dog	atz’i’	your dog
ab’aj	rock	kabaj	their rock

Nouns that drop a suffix when possessed (-aj)
Most K’iche’ words for parts of the body drop the suffix –aj when possessed.

aqanajleg, foot	iwaqan	your (pl) leg
q’ab’aj arm, hand	nuq’ab’	my arm, my hand
uwi q’ab’aj fingers	uwi nuq’ab’	his/her fingers
qulaj neck	kiqul	their neck
jolomaj head	nujolom	my head
tza’maj nose	utza’m	his/her/its nose
xkinaj ear	qaxkin	our ear
chi’aj mouth	nuchi’	my mouth
xik’ wing	uxik’	his/her/its wing
wi’aj hair	awi’	your hair
wachaj face	nuwach	my face
b’aq’wachaj eye	kib’aq’wach	their eye
pamaj stomach	pam la	your stomach (formal)
k’u’xaj heart (uwa k’u’xaj: chest)	nuk’u’x	my heart
palajaj face	apalaj	your face
ch’ekaj knee	nuch’ek	my knee
ch’u’kaj elbow	nuch’u’k	my elbow
ware’aj teeth; edge (of knife)	nuware’	my teeth

Plural of complex body parts + possession

le uwi q’ab’aj	finger
le uwi taq q’ab’aj	fingers
le uwi le nuq’ab’	my finger
le uwi taq le nuq’ab’	my fingers
K’ax le uwi taq le nuq’ab’	My fingers hurt.

*Note, whenever -wi’ appears as part of a compound word (e.g. uwi q’ab’aj) the glottal stop is dropped. The same occurs with -chi’ > uchi ja.

Non-body parts that drop –aj suffix when possessed

q’u’aj	blanket	nuq’u’ (also: nuk’ul)	my blanket
b’i’aj	name	nub’i’	my name
makaj	sin; fault	amak	your sin; your fault
k’asaj	debt	nuk’as	my debt
sokaj	nest; bed	kisok	their bed
ch’akataj	cushion; pillow	nuch’akat	my pillow

Kinship terms that drop a suffix when possessed: The unpossessed form is used when talking about those kinds relationship as an absolute, without indicating a relationship in particular.

achajilom	husband (pl: e achajilom)	wachajil	my husband
ixoqilom	wife (pl: e ixoqilom)	wixoqil	my wife
alk’walaxel (-ab’)	child (within a family)	walk’ual	my child (pl: e walk’ual)
ji’axel (-ab’)	son-in-law	nuji’	my son-in-law
chaq’ixel (-ab’)	younger siblings (same sex)	nuchaq’	mi younger sibling
k’ajoloxel	child (of father)	nuk’ajol	my son (of father)
ula’xel	guest, visitor	wula’	my guest
alb’atz (-ib’)	daughter-in-law	walib’	my daughter –in-law
Qajawixel, k’ajoloxel, uxlab’ixel		Father, Son, and Holy Sprit

“Inalienable possession” (Add suffix –Vl)
Inalienable possession indicates an intrinsic relationship with the possessor; or it describes a quality of the possessor. The suffix indicates that the noun is now inalienable: these nouns indicate a close relationship with the possessor nouns. The same suffix also serves to derive abstract nouns.

ib’och’	veins	rib’och’il	his veins/ veins belonging to her
sib’	smoke	usib’el le q’aq’	the smoke of the fire
kik’	blood	nuk’ik’el	my blood/ the blood belonging to me
ajaw	lord	rajawal	the lord of/over
b’aq	bone	nub’aqil	my body
utz + wachaj	good + face	rutzil wachaj	a greeting
che’ + -ij	tree + back	uch’e’el wij	my spinal column

Nouns that are always possessed. These nouns usually appear only as a possessed noun:

-xaq	leaf/leaves	uxaq che’	tree leaves
-a’	calf (muscle)	wa’	my calf
-ij	back, shell, skin	rij	its shell, skin, back
-je’	tail	uje’ koj	lion’s tail
-al	child of mother	ral le al We’l	We’l’s child
-achalal	sibling (pl: e –achalal)	e wachalal	my sibligins
-achi’l	friend (pl.: e –achi’l)	e qachi’il	our friends

Suppletives:
A few K’iche’ nouns have a distinct (suppletive) form when they are possessed:

ja	a house (building)	r-o’ch	his/her/its house
q’u’aj	blanket	nuq’u’/nuk’ul	my blanket

Possessed compound nouns: u-NOUN+ NOUN
There are numerous compound words in K’iche’ made up of two nouns, a possessed noun followed by the possessor noun. When these compound nouns are possessed the possessive pronoun is added to the second element:

uchi ja	door (lit. the house’s mouth)	uchi wo’ch	my door
uwi ja	roof (lit. the house’s hair)	uwi awo’ch	your roof
uxaq wuj	page(s) (lit. the book’s leaves)	uxaq nuwuj	the page(s) of my book

Note: remember that -o’ch is used for possessed “house”, also in a compound noun

upa ja

family

upa wo’ch

my family

Possessed compound noun: attribute (+a) + noun:

Kem + tz’ib’	kematz’ib’	nukematz’ib’ (neologism)	my computer
Nim + q’ij	nimaq’ij	unimaq’ij	its party
Saq + po’t	saqapo’t	asaqapo’t	your white huipil

Possessed compound noun: noun + noun (couplet)
In couplets, one concept is expressed by two ideas, both of which contribute to the understanding of the whole. This rhetoric device is very common in Mayan languages, especially in ceremonial or more formal speech. When a couplet appears in a possessed context, both elements will be possessed:

Ati’t “grandmother” + mam “grandfather”	ancestors, forefathers	qati’t qamam	our ancestors, forefathers
Nan “mother” + tat “father”	parents	qanan qatat	our parents
Il “sin” + mak “fault”	trespasses	qil qamak	our trespasses

CHAK KECH TIJOXELAB’Exercises

With a partner, practice the parts of the body, both possessed and unpossessed, and ask each other if they hurt.

For extra practice on body parts, both possessed and unpossessed, you may watch the following video again: