In this lesson, you will learn about nominal possession in K’iche’. It is a bit more intricate than English or Spanish as K’iche’ has a very rich word morphology. You will have plenty of examples and drills!

Possession

In K’iche’ nominal possession markers are prefixed on the possessed person/object. Different sets of prefixes are used with consonant-initial nouns and with vowel-initial nouns. The exception is formal address, in which the post-nominal particles la (sing.) or alaq (plural) are used instead of prefixes. See the examples in the table below:

Before a consonant	rajil “money”	Before a vowel	achi’l “friend”
nu-rajil	my money	w-achi’il	my friend
a-rajil	your money	aw-achi’il	your friend
rajil la	your money (formal)	achi’l la	your friend (formal)
u-rajil	his/her money	r-achi’il	his/her friend
qa-rajil	our money	q-achi’il	our friend
i-rajil	your money (pl. informal)	iw-achi’il	your friend (pl.  informal)
rajil alaq	your money (pl. formal)	achi’l alaq	your friend (pl. formal)
ki-rajil	their money	k-achi’il	their friend

Inherent possession (-Vl) A certain class of K’iche’ nouns may take an additional /-Vl/ suffix. This is known as inherent possession and marks a part-whole relationship between possessor and possessed object/person. For example, there is a semantic difference between nub’aq and nub’aqil. The former references bones that are not part of the possessor’s body, chicken bones used to make soup, for example. The latter, in contrast, means “my body” which references the possessor’s own body. Some nouns take only inherent possession markers (wife, husband), others may take both (bone, house). The large majority of nouns do not take inherent possession markers, however. A few nouns take irregular possessed forms such as house (ja when not possessed, -ochoch when possessed).

Preconsonantal	b’aq ‘bone’	Prevocalic	ixoq ‘woman’	–o’ch	‘house’
nu-b’aq-il	my body	w-ixoq-il	my wife	w-o’ch	my house
a-b’aq-il	your body	aw-ixoq-il	your wife	aw-o’ch	your house
b’aq-il la	your body (formal)	ixoq-il la	your wife (formal)	o’ch la	your house (formal)
u-b’aq-il	his/her/its body	r-ixoq-il	his/her wife	r-o’ch	his/her house
qa-b’aqi-il	our body	q-ixoq-il	our wife	q-o’ch	our house
i-b’aq-il	your body (pl.)	iw-ixoq-il	your wife (pl.)	iw-o’ch	your house (pl.)
b’aq-il alaq	your body (pl. formal)	ixoq-il alaq	your wife (pl. formal)	o’ch alaq	your house (pl. formal)
ki-b’aq-il	their body	k-ixoq-il	their wife	ko’ch	their house

Other examples:

kik’ ‘blood’ – nukik’el ‘my blood’

kaq ‘red’ – nukaqal ‘my redness’

q’aq’ ‘fire’ – nuq’aq’al ‘my fever’

suk’ ‘pure’ – nusuk’mal ‘my absence of sin; purity’

 

wuj	book
che’	tree
ja	house (unpossessed)
-o’ch	house (possessed)
-ij	back of… (possessed)
achi’il	friend
-wach	face (possessed
-al	child (of woman)
kaq	red
ch’ich’	metal; car
kik’	blood
xa’r	cup
wakax	cow
q’oq’	chilacayote
oj	avocado
ulew	tierra
b’aq	bone
rajil	money
tijonik	lesson
tz’ib’ab’al	pencil, pen

 

Mark all of the following nouns using the possessive markers for all persons:

1. ch’ich’
2. kik’
3. xa’r
4. wakax
5. q’oq’
6. oj
7. ulew
8. b’aq
9. wuj
10. tijonik
11. tz’ib’ab’al

Answers

1. Nuch’ich’; Ach’ich’; Ch’ich’ la; Uch’ich’; Qach’ich’; Ich’ich’; Ch’ich’ alaq; Kich’ich’
2. Nukik’el; Akik’el; Kik’el la; Ukik’el; Qakik’el; Ikik’el; Kik’el alaq; Kikik’el
3. Nuxa’r; Axa’r; xa’r la; Uxa’r; Qaxa’r; Ixa’r; xa’r alaq; Kixa’r
4. Nuwakax; Awakax; wakax la; Uwakax; Qawakax; Iwakax; wakax alaq; Kiwakax
5. Nuq’oq’; Aq’oq’; q’oq’ la; Uq’oq’; Qaq’oq’; Iq’oq’; q’oq’ alaq; Kiq’oq’
6. Woj; Awoj; oj la; Roj; Qoj; Iwoj; oj alaq; Koj
7. Wulew; Awulew; ulew la; Rulew; Qulew; Iwulew; ulew alaq; Kulew
8. Nub’aqil; Ab’aqil; b’aqil la; Ub’aqil; Qab’aqil; Ib’aqil; b’aqil alaq; Kib’aqil
9. Nuwuj; Awuj; wuj la; Uwuj; Qawuj; Iwuj; wuj alaq; Kiwuj
10. Nutijonik; Atijonik; tijonik la; Utijonik; Qatijonik; Itijonik; tijonik alaq; Kitijonik
11. Nutz’ib’ab’al; Atz’ib’ab’al; tz’ib’ab’al la; Utz’ib’ab’al; Qatz’ib’ab’al; Itz’ib’ab’al; tz’ib’ab’al alaq; Kitz’ib’ab’al