Relational nouns play the same syntactic role as English prepositions but are inflected as nouns. Unlike the locative prepositions chi and pa, relational nouns are always possessed. They mark a relationship of belonging, causality, reflexivity, temporality or spatiality between two phrases.
In Unit 10, we read a text written by Mauricio, a beginner K’iche’ student who told us about his daily routine. Mauricio later went to Nahualá to study K’iche’, and he wrote the following text. Read it, and then look at the explanation of relational nouns. We have already been using some of them in previous lessons. After reading through the kemchi’ section, come back to the text and identify them.
Chanim, pa Nahualja’ in k’o wi. Sib’alaj utz kinwil le tinamit. K’o le nima k’ayb’al pa jueves chil pa domingo. E k’i le winaq keb’e che loq’omanik pa k’ayb’al. K’i le jastaq kak’ayix rumal le ajk’ay: k’o le lej, le q’or, le kar, le atz’yaq. Ronojel le jastaq kawaj k’o pa k’ayb’al.
Kawaj kinweta’maj le ch’ab’al k’iche’, rumal la’ xinpe waral. Ronojel q’ij, in k’o le tijonik rech k’iche’ pa le tijob’al. Jub’eq’ kosnaq le b’e rumal kinb’in pa le tijob’al. Par utz kinwilo rumal na nutukel ta kinb’inik. Keb’in wuk’ le e wachi’il. Pa le tijob’al, kasik’ix le wuj y katz’ibax le tzij rumal le ajtij. Kaqasik’ij chil kaqatz’ib’aj choqe’ oj tijoxelab’. Nim le chak che reta’maxik rech k’iche, par k’i le jastaq kinweta’maj!
Right now, I am in Nahualá. I like this town a lot. There is a big market on Thursdays and Sundays. There are a lot of people who go shopping at the market. There are a lot of things that are sold by the merchants: there are tortillas, atol, fish, and clothes. All of the things that you could want are at the market.
I want to learn K’iche, for that reason I came here. Everyday, I have K’iche’ class at school. It is a little tiring because I walk to school. But I like it because I don’t walk alone. My classmates walk with me. At school, books are read and things are written by the teacher. We students also read and write there. Learning K’iche’ is a lot of work, but I am learning a lot of things!
A) -ECH
It indicates a relationship of possession, association or purpose. The possessor may be emphasized by being followed by a Set B pronoun (absolutive pronoun). It may also be contracted as can be seen in the examples below.
Possession
The pencil is mine.
All this land is yours (formal pl)
“Association”- The possessor is generally non-agentive and does not “own” the object but rather expresses a close association between them.
I really like the clothing of Nahuala.
Where is the paper with/about/concerning our lesson?
Purpose/beneficiary (dative)
S/he is making the food for my wedding.
Constructions in which (ch)–ech expresses the recipient/indirect object:
The land was bought for you all.
Thank you all.
What is s/he saying to me?
S/he is giving the book to us.
Other functions
(Ch)-ech also introduces oblique objects after antipassive verbs.
In combination with rumal after intransitive verbs and passive forms, it introduces indirect causes:
The book came to you because of me.
Following a nominal, -ech indicates a quality or state of the corresponding person:
Lucky you! You have it good!
Sidenote: The shortened form e is used as the word for girlfriend/boyfriend
Do you have a boyfriend/girlfriend?
B) –UK’
It is equivalent to English with, but can also be a locative as in the last two examples below.
I am speaking with my mom on the phone.
The boy went (together) with you.
I am going to the doctor.
He leaves from the doctor.
C)–UMAL
The noun –umal introduces agents in passive constructions: by, by agency of … , because of…
The cat was killed by the dog.
It also introduces indirect causes, beneficiaries, or instigators in intransitive clauses.
The book came to you because of me.
Because
I am not going to school because I am tired.
For that reason
Therefore
I am tired, for that reason I did not go to school.
D) –ONOJEL
This noun is a quantifier meaning all (pl) or every (sg).
Saqirik iwonojel!
Good morning you all!/Good morning everybody!
I brush my teeth everyday.
E) -TUKEL
-tukel means by oneself; alone. The referent appears as the possessive marker.
S/he stays behind in house all alone.
I am going alone.
F) -ij
The relational noun -ij introduces verbal goals. It is comparable to English “after” in “He threw himself after her.”
We will learn about a few other relational nouns in later units.
| k’olb’al wuj | library |
| rikil | dish (of prepared food) |
| nimaq’ij | party, holiday |
| kos(ik) (vit) | to become tired |
| kosnaq | tired |
| ki’kot(ik) (vit) | to be(come) happy |
| b’ison(ik) | to be(come) sad |
| sik’ij (vtr) | to read |
| tz’ib’aj (vtr) | to write |
| ch’aweb’al | telephone |
| E-achi’il | classmate; friend |
Translate the following phrases into K’iche’:
- Are you going to the library alone?
- The cat is ours.
- I go to work everyday.
- I am tired because I have a lot of work.
- Do you want to go to the park with us?
Translate the following phrases into English:
- Sib’alaj utz kinna’ le wa rech Iximulew.
- Na kojb’e ta pa k’ayb’al rumal maj le qarajil.
- Kaqab’an le rikil che le nimaq’ij.
- Chwe’q kimb’e pa le juyub’ kuk’ le e wachi’il.
- Kinb’ison rumal na karaj ta le nunan kab’e wuk’ pa le tinamit.