Jas kab’an che ub’ixik le K’iche’ ch’ab’al (The sounds of K’iche)
Most of the sounds of K’iche’ will not be challenging for a speaker of English or Spanish, as the reader will soon discover. The series of ejective consonants (b’, t’, k’, q’) will be a bit harder to articulate, but with patience and practice they can be mastered too. It should be noted that vowel length is important as several words are distinguished only by the length of their vocalic articulation. For example, the ä in chäj “pine tree” is short, while the a in chaj “ashes” is long. Short vowels will be spelt with a dieresis diacritic (¨) as in the previous example chäj. We encourage the reader not to feel discouraged if her or his pronunciation is not exactly like a native speaker’s. In this course, we strive to develop communicational competence, not “perfect articulation”! Your pronunciation will improve as you continue to practice and engage with native speakers. Begin by reading the words below and then click on the examples and listen carefully. Repeat the words aloud until you feel comfortable with your pronunciation.
The sounds of K’iche’
Some features of K’iche’ consonants and vowels are quite different from those of most Indo-European languages. The most striking are a glottalized series of consonants (ejectives) as well as the presence of both short and long vowels. Vowels are sometimes followed by a closure of the glottis (glottal stop) in which case they are followed by an apostrophe (‘).
| p |
t |
ch |
tz |
k |
q |
‘ |
| b’ |
t’ |
ch’ |
tz’ |
k’ |
q’ |
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s |
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j |
x |
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| m |
n |
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ll (final word position) |
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r |
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| w |
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y |
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Figure 1. K’iche’ Consonants
Figure 2. K’iche’ Vowels
Next we will see the letters and their pronunciation. Listen to the examples carefully and repeat them out loud. The previous tables will be useful for your reference in the future.
Consonants
/p/
/t/
patan cargo (religious office); (religious) obligation; role, function
/k/
ka’ grinding stone; metate
kok’ finely ground (adj.)
/q/
uq corte (traditional skirt)
/b’/
ab’äj rock, stone, testicle
kab’ raw sugar, honey, bee
/t’/
/k’/
ixk’äq (finger) nail; talon (bird)
/q’/
q’oq’ chilacayote (a kind of big, oblong squash/pumpkin)
/tz/
/ch/
/tz’/
tz’äläm wooden plank, cutting board
kotz’i’j flower, candle, Maya ceremony, placenta
/ch’/
/s/
/x/
Küx Mark, aguardiente (liquor)
/j/
/m/
pamaj stomach, belly, excrement
möx fool, stupid, crazy, left
/n/
na’oj thought, idea, wisdom
/l/
/r/
rajil money
poro’n fire
/w/
/y/
yab’il sickness, state of pregnancy
Consonants borrowed from Spanish
In addition to the phonemes shown above, K’iche’ has borrowed some Spanish phonemes (b, f, d, g), which are restricted to Spanish loanwords such as the following:
dyos God (the Christian deity)
parmas pharmacy, drug store
Vowels
K’iche’ has a ten-vowel vocalic inventory, as seen in Figure 2. Vowel length is phonemic, in other words, it indicates different words. As we have seen, short vowels are distinguished from long vowels by a two dot diacritic. Note that vowel length is only important on stressed syllables (in other words, the accented syllable of each word). Most K’iche’ dialects stress word-final syllables only, including the Nahuala dialect.
/ï/
/i/
/ü/
/u/
/ë/
/e/
ek’ decorative plant, “pie de gallo”
/ö/
/o/
xot shingle, griddle, comal
/ä/
/a/
