This unit is a continuation of unit 28. We will deal with several more constructions that have to do with adjectives.
Adjectives as nouns K’iche’ adjectives may act as nouns. When referencing humans, they take the regular plural suffix (-Vb’):
Alaj small, little alajib’ little ones
Ri’j old (person) ri’jab’ old people
Ch’u’j crazy ch’u’jab’ lunatics
Meb’a’ poor meb’a’ib’ poor (pl)
Q’inom rich q’inomab’ rich people
q’or lazy q’orib’ lazy ones
Abstract nouns from adjectives When adjectival roots add the suffix –Vl, they reference the quality expressed by the adjective or a relationship of inherent possession (the vowel of the suffix is not predictable and has to be learned).
Pim thick
E-pimal its thickness
Upimal le lej the thickness of the tortilla
Ki’ sweet
E- ki’il its sweetness
Uki’il le tara’s the sweetness of the peach
Intensification There are two ways of intensifying modifiers: the adverbial sib’alaj or the suffixal -alaj:
Sib’alaj Sib’alaj is an adverb that can modify the predicate or verb of a phrase:
Sib’alaj nich’ le nuch’ich’. My car is very small.
Sib’alaj kaq le apalaj Your face is really red.
-alaj The suffix –alaj intensifies adjectives and appears in attributive position only. There is no attributive –a linking attribute and noun.
Jun nimalaj tz’i’ a very big dog
Jun itzelalaj winaq a very bad person
Jun utzalaj winaq a very good person
Adjectival quality gradations Adjectives in K’iche’ can be graded according to degree of its property. The suffix -C1-oj indicates a somewhat lesser degree of the quality expressed in the adjective.
Saq white/clean saqsoj whitish/somewhat clean
Rax green/blue raxroj greenish
Kaq red kaqkoj reddish
Q’an yellow q’anq’oj yellowish
Q’eq black q’eqq’oj blackish
Tz’il dirty tz’iltz’oj a little dirty
Ki’ sweet ki’koj a little/ bland
B’aq thin/bony b’aqb’oj somewhat bony
Ch’aqal(ik) wet ch’aqch’oj (still) damp
Ch’am sour ch’amch’oj a little sour
K’a bitter k’ak’oj a little bitter
Tza salty tzatzoj too salty
Chom big/fat chomchoj a little chubby
K’ax hurting k’axk’oj hurting somewhat
K’axk’oj nujolom. I have a little headache.
Comparative phrases Comparative phrases require the pronoun are in phrase-initial position at the beginning and the relational noun ch(i)–E-wach. Examples below use the third person sg. (ch-u-wach) because objects or people other than speaker and addressee are being compared.
Are nim le atz’i’ chuwach le nutz’i’. Your dog the big in comparision with my dog Your dog is bigger than mine.
Are sib’alaj kaq le apo’t chuwach le nupo’t Your huipil is red in comparision with my huipil Your huipil is redder/has more red in it than mine
Sib’alaj aninaq kach’aw le are’ chinuwach in He speaks very fast in comparision with me He speaks a lot faster than I.
For negation: “he is not Xer than….” the adjective or verb is negated with the usual na…ta(j) negation frame.
Are na nim ta le atz’i’ chuwach le nutz’i’. Your dog is not bigger than mine.
Are na aninaq ta kach’aw chinuwach in. He doesn’t talk faster than me.
Superlatives To express the outstanding quality of an object, comparative phrases or the adverb sib’alaj with raised pitch and elongated pronunciation are used.
Versive derivation An intransitive verb is derived from adjectives/nouns meaning to turn/become X or to acquire the quality of X . This derived verb is called a “versive” and is formed using the suffix –Vrik to the adjectival stem. The exact form of the vowel of the suffix has to be memorized. The suffix –ik is a phrase final marker, which is dropped when the verb is not in phrase-final-position. Be aware that not every noun/adjective has a versive derivation. Versives derived from positional stems take the suffix –Vb’ik.
Versive from adjectival roots (-a/ir(ik))
Saq white saqirik to turn white; to dawn; to fade (color)
Kaq red kaqarik to turn red
Q’eq black q’eqarik to turn black
Rax green raxarik to turn green
Q’an yellow q’anarik to turn yellow
Kow hard kowirik to turn hard
K’ok’ tasty, fragrant k’ok’arik to turn tasty, fragrant
Q’aq’ hot q’aq’arik to get hot
Chom fat chomarik to get fat
B’aq skinny b’aqirik to get skinny
Miq’in hot miq’inarik to become hot/to warm up
chaqi’j dry chaqi’jarik to dry out
Nitz’ small nitz’arik to become small
Versives from positional roots (-ob’ik)
Q’e’l old (things) q’e’lob’ik to grow old (things)
Tz’il dirty tz’ilob’ik to turn dirty
“Joron” is an irregular versive:
Joron cold (not climate; but food and drink) jorob’ik to get cold (for example: coffee)
| Al | heavy |
| Alaj | little (young, used for animals, children) |
| B’aq | thin (bony) |
| Ch’am | sour |
| Tz’il | dirty |
| Ch’aqal(ik) | wet (this is a positional adjective that loses suffixal -ik when not in phrase final position) |
| Ch’u’j | crazy |
| Ch’uti’n/ch’utiq(pl) | small |
| Chaqi’j | dry |
| Chom | fat |
| Itzel | evil |
| Je’l | beautiful |
| Joron | cold (food, drink, water) |
| K’a | bitter |
| K’a’n | mean |
| K’ak’ | new |
| K’aslik | alive, awake |
| K’ax | difficult, pain |
| K’ok’ | delicious |
| Kamnaq | dead |
| Kaq | red |
| Ki’ | sweet |
| Ko | strong, hard |
| Miq’in | hot |
| Ne’ | baby |
| Nich’/nich’aq | tiny, small |
| Nitz’/Nitz’aq | small, tiny |
| Nim/Nimaq | big |
| Ojer | ancient, back in the day |
| Pim | thick |
| Q’an | yellow |
| Q’eq | black |
| Rax | green, blue |
| Rikil | food (in the sense of dish or particular kind of food) |
| Sak’aj | industrious, ambitious, smart |
| Sak’aj E-jolom | to be smart, intelligent, early riser |
| Saq | white |
| Tew | cold (climate) |
| Ti’oj | muscular |
| Tz’ikin | bird |
| Tza | salty |
| Utz | good |
Translate the following sentences into English:
- Tz’iltz’oj le upowi’ le numam.
- Nim le ukami’x le ak’al.
- Kab’in le q’eq’akej pa le b’e.
- K’a’n le uch’utinan le walib’.
- Sib’alaj je’l le k’aslemal we kaloq’oj awib’.
- Ketyo’n le nimaq taq tz’i’.
- Xukoj le nuk’ak’a po’t le al Talin.
- Sib’alaj k’ok’ le uwa’l ik.
- Ch’am le q’or.
Answers
- My grandfather’s hat is a little dirty.
- The boy’s shirt is big.
- The black horse walks on the street.
- My sister-in-law’s aunt is mean.
- Life is very beautiful if you love yourself.
- The big dogs bark.
- Talin wore my new huipil.
- The broth is very tasty.
- The atol went bad (it is sour).
- The very good teacher died.
- The poor (ones) have no food.
- The book is thick.
- The little cats are in the milpa.
- Wel ate a delicious peach.
- Tomás has a black cat.
- María’s clothes are dry.
- Diego’s car is very small.
Answers
- Xkam le utzalaj ajtij.
- Maj le kiwa le meb’a’ib’.
- Pim le wuj.
- Le nich’aq taq me’s e k’o pa le ab’ix.
- Xutij le k’ok’alaj tara’s le aWel.
- K’o jun uq’eqa me’s aMax.
- Chaqi’j le ratz’yaq le alMari’y.
- Nitz’ le uch’ich’ le aTe’k.