Tïjonïk 1 (Unit 1) Jas kab’an che ub’ixik le K’iche’ ch’ab’al? (The sounds of K’iche’)

This unit introduces the sounds of K’iche’. The goal is to become familiar, first, with the pronunciation of consonants and vowels and, second, with the spelling conventions that are used to write K’iche’. Do not worry if your pronunciation is not perfect. You will improve with practice throughout the course.

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’
	s			j	x
m	n
	l l (final word position)
	r
w			y

Figure 1. K’iche’ Consonants

i/ï	u/ü
e/ë	o/ö
a/ä

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/

pïx tomato

pim thick

xpëq toad

pop mat

inup ceiba tree

/t/

tiko’n harvest

patän tumpline (mecapal)

patan cargo (religious office); (religious) obligation; role, function

/k/

ka’ grinding stone; metate

mukün baby squash, ayote

kok’ finely ground (adj.)

tuktuk woodpecker

tukur tecolote, owl

pëk cave

këj horse

kem weaving

keb’ two

/q/

qulaj throat, neck

eqä’n load

uq corte (traditional skirt)

aq pig

säqsöj whitish

/b’/

b’aq bone

ab’äj rock, stone, testicle

kab’ raw sugar, honey, bee

/t’/

t’ü’y pot

at’ïxnab’ to sneeze

t’ot’ snail

/k’/

k’ak’ new

ak’al child

k’äq flea

ixk’äq (finger) nail; talon (bird)

k’ïm grass, fodder

k’ël perikeet

/q’/

q’oq’ chilacayote (a kind of big, oblong squash/pumpkin)

q’e’l old (for things)

q’ëq black

q’aq’ fire

aq’ab’ night

/tz/

tza salty

pä’tz hairy, bushy

/ch/

chak work

k’üch vulture, zopilote

chom fat(adj)

chomal meeting

/tz’/

tz’i’ dog

tz’äläm wooden plank, cutting board

kotz’i’j flower, candle, Maya ceremony, placenta

sutz’ cloud

/ch’/

ch’at bed

ch’ab’äl language

ch’ö mouse

/s/

sutz’ cloud

t’isö’m sewn (fabric)

mes garbage

/x/

xik hawk (gavilán)

ixöq woman

ab’ix cornfield

Küx Mark, aguardiente (liquor)

/j/

jö’q corn husk

ajij sugar cane

ja’ water

/m/

më’s cat

mes trash

pamaj stomach, belly, excrement

mem mute

mam grandfather

meb’a’ poor, orphan

moy blind

möx fool, stupid, crazy, left

/n/

na’oj thought, idea, wisdom

wanke’t table

ne’ baby

nö’s turkey

nan mother, lady

/l/

lol cricket

tulül sapote

web’al plate

al heavy

ul landslide

/r/

räx green, blue

rajil money

poro’n fire

/w/

winäq person, people

iwir yesterday

waral here

utiw coyote

ulew land

ajaw lord, owner, God

wakax cow

/y/

yak mountain lion

yab’il sickness, state of pregnancy

k’ayb’al market

t’o’y hat

k’oy spider monkey

poy scarecrow

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:

bas drinking glass

bin wine

botax boots

doctor doctor

dyos God (the Christian deity)

parmas pharmacy, drug store

grad staircase, steps

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/