The following words act as spatial markers. They place objects and people in relation to a set of spatial coordinates having the speaker at the origin. The first two (naqaj, naj) place distance from the speaker on a relative scale: near, far away. The following three (waral, chi’, chi’ la’) are deictic forms, that is, words that require ostensive gestures to reference their objects (here, there).

A) NAQAJ Naqaj is a relational noun that indicates a close distance between people/objects. It is complemented by a prepositional phrase with -E (chi+ -E + naqaj).

1. Le wo’ch k’o chunaqaj le nimatijob’al. My house is near the university.
2. Chinunaqaj xk’oji’ wi. He/she was/stayed near me.
3. Naqaj kint’uyi’ wi chawe. I am sitting close to you.
4. Naqaj k’o wi le nutinamit. My town is near.

B) NAJ Naj is an adverb that indicates a large distance between two people/objects. It is never possesed unlike naqaj.

5. Naj k’o wi le wo’ch. My house is far away.
6. Naj kint’uyi’ wi chawe. I am sitting far from you.
7. Naj k’o wi le wo’ch chuwach le tijob’al. My house is farther away than the church (as seen from a third location).
8. Naj k’o wi le wo’ch che le tijob’al. My house is far from the school.Naj is also used to quantify duration (a long time):
9. Naj xtz’e’n le ne’. The baby cried for a long time.
10. Naj xub’an le chomal. The meeting took a long time.
11. Naj xub’an le b’inem. The walk took a long time.

C) WARAL Waral is a deictic form, it can be translated as here. It references the speaker’s proximal space, which depending on the context may be the precise point where he/she is located, his/her abode, village, city etc.

12. Waral kint’uyi’ wi. I am sitting here.

D) CHI’ Another deictic form, chi‘ it can be translated as right here. It references the speaker’s precise location.

13. Chi’ kewar wi le ak’alab’. Here are the kids sleeping.

E) CHILA’ Chila’ is another deictic from, it can be translated as there. It references a more or less precise space located distally both from speaker and addressee.

14. Chila’ kewar wi le ak’alab’. The kids are sleeping over there.

nojim katb’ek	(lit: go slowly) an idiomatic expression that is used to tell someone to be careful/be safe/ take care when going somewhere
chomal	meeting
b’inem	(noun) walk; stroll
k’achelaj	forest
b’inel ja’	river
tzalij(ik)	to return
tz’e’n(ik)	to cry (also refers to certain animal cries)
t’uyi'(k) (vit)	to sit (positional: see unit 25)
tij(o) anim	to run

Translate the following sentences to K’iche’:

1. Where are we going?
2. The university is very far from my house.
3. My classmate lives near the river.
4. The forest is over there.
5. My town is far from your town.
6. I am from _______________.
7. Is there food here, at the meeting?
8. I run over there, on the road.

Answers

1. Jawi katb’e wi?
2. Le nimatijob’al naj k’o wi chech le wo’ch.
3. K’o le ro’ch le wachi’l chunaqaj le b’inel ja’.
4. Je la’ k’o wi le k’achelaj.
5. Le nutinamit naj k’o wi chech le atinamit.
6. Pa __ kimpe wi.
7. La k’o wa waral, pa le chomal?
8. Je la’ kintij anim, pa le b’e.