Kʼicheʼ ( ; natively , also known as among its speakers), or Quiché, is a Mayan language spoken by the Kʼicheʼ people of the central highlands in Guatemala and Mexico. With over a million speakers (some 7% of Guatemala's population), Kʼicheʼ is the second most widely-spoken language in the country, after Spanish. It is one of the most widely-spoken indigenous American languages in Mesoamerica.
The Central dialect is the most commonly used in media and education. Despite a low literacy rate, Kʼicheʼ is increasingly taught in schools and used on the radio. The most famous work in the Classical Kʼicheʼ language is the Popol Vuh (Popol Wuʼuj in modern spelling). The second most important work is The Title of Totonicapán.Christenson, Allen J. (2022). "The Title of Totonicapán". Transcription, Translation, and Commentary. University of Colorado Press.
Dialects Kaufman (1970) divides the Kʼicheʼ complex into the following five dialects, with the representative municipalities given as well (quoted in Par Sapón 2000:17): East Guatemala: Joyabaj Zacualpa Cubulco Rabinal San Miguel Chicaj Mexico:
Las Margaritas La Trinitaria Marqués de Comillas West Guatemala: Nahualá Santa Clara La Laguna Santa Lucía Utatlán Aldea Argueta, Sololá Cantel Zunil San José Chiquilajá, Quetzaltenango Totonicapán Momostenango
Central Guatemala: Santa María Chiquimula San Antonio Ilotenango Santa Cruz del Quiché Chichicastenango Mexico:
Marqués de Comillas Campeche Champotón North Guatemala: Cunén
South Guatemala: Samayac Mazatenango
The Nahualá dialect of Kʼicheʼ shows some differences from other Kʼicheʼ dialects. It preserves an ancient Proto-Mayan distinction between five long vowels (aa, ee, ii, oo, uu) and five short vowels (a, e, i, o, u). It is for that conservative linguistic feature that Guatemalan and foreign linguists have actively sought to have the language called Kʼichee, rather than Kʼicheʼ or Quiché.
Phonology Kʼicheʼ has a rather conservative phonology. It has not developed many of the innovations found in neighboring languages, such as retroflex consonants or tone.
Stress Stress is not phonemic. It occurs on the final syllable and on every other syllable before the final in an iambic pattern.
Unstressed vowels are frequently reduced (to or ) or elided altogether, which often produces consonant clusters even word-initially. For example, sibʼalaj "very" may be pronounced and je na laʼ "thus" .
Vowels Kʼicheʼ dialects differ in their vowel systems. Historically, Kʼicheʼ had a ten-vowel system: five short and five long. Some dialects (such as Nahualá and Totonicapán) retain the ten-vowel system. Others (such as Cantel) have reduced it to a six-vowel system with no length distinctions: short /a/ has become /ə/ in these dialects, and the other short vowels have merged with their long counterparts. Different conventions for spelling the vowels have been proposed, including by the Proyecto Lingüístico Francisco Marroquín, the Summer Institute of Linguistics, and the Academia de Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala. This table shows the two vowel systems and several of the spelling systems that have been proposed:
Phonemes SpellingTen-vowel Six-vowel PLFM SIL ALMG a ä a aa a e ë e ee e i ï i ii i o ö o oo o u ü u uu u
Vowels typically undergo syncope in penultimate syllables, which allows for a wide array of complex onsets. Diphthongs are found in recent loanwords.
Consonants Kʼicheʼ has pulmonic stops and affricates, /p/, /t/, /ts/, /tʃ/, /k/, and /q/, and glottalized counterparts /ɓ/, /tʼ/, /tsʼ/, /tʃʼ/, /kʼ/, and /qʼ/. The glottalized /ɓ/ is a weak implosive, and the other glottalized consonants are ejectives. The pulmonic stops and affricates are typically aspirated.
Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal Nasals Plosive/Affricate Fricative Approximant Rhotic ~
In West Quiche, the approximants /l/, /r/, /j/, and /w/ devoice and fricate to , , , and word-finally and often before voiceless consonants. In the dialect of Santa María Chiquimula, intervocalic alternates between and , a highly unusual sound change. The fricative is most common in the vicinity of the vowels /a(:)/ and /o(:)/.
Syllabic structure Complex onsets are very common in Kʼicheʼ, partially because of the active process of penultimate syncope. Complex codas are rare except when the first member of the complex coda is a phonemic glottal stop, which is written with an apostrophe. The sonorants /m, n, l, r/ may be syllabic.
Orthography Historically, different orthographies have been used to transcribe the Kʼicheʼ languages. The classical orthography of Father Ximénez, who wrote down the Popol Vuh, is based on Spanish orthography and has been replaced by a new standardized orthography, defined by the ALMG (Academia de Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala). The ethnohistorian and Mayanist Dennis Tedlock uses his own transliteration system, which is completely different from any of the established orthographies.
+The first line of Popol Wuj in different orthographiesXiménez's classical orthographyAre v xe oher tzíh varal Quíche ubí. ALMG orthography Areʼ uxeʼ ojer tzij waral Kʼicheʼ ubʼiʼ.Ximénez's Spanish translationEste es el principio de las Antiguas historias aquí en el Quiché.Tedlock's English translation"This is the beginning of the ancient word, here in the place called Quiché."
Morphology Like other Mayan languages, Kʼicheʼ uses two sets of agreement markers, known to Mayanists as "Set A" and "Set B" markers, which can appear on both nouns and verbs. "Set A" markers are used on nouns to mark possessor agreement and on verbs to agree with the transitive subject (ergative case). "Set B" markers are used on verbs to agree with the transitive object or the intransitive subject (absolutive case).
+Set A markers Before a consonant Before a vowel 1st person singular nu- or in- w- or inw- plural qa- q- 2nd person singular a- aw- plural i- iw- 3rd person singular u- r- plural ki- k-
+Set B markers 1st person singular in- plural oj- (uj- in some varieties) 2nd person singular at- plural ix- 3rd person singular Ø- plural e- (ebʼ- in some varieties)
Kʼicheʼ also has two second person formal agreement markers: (singular) and (plural). Unlike the informal agreement markers, the formal agreement markers occur after the verb and verb particles. The formal agreement markers are used on nouns to mark possessor agreement and on both transitive and intransitive verbs for subject and object agreement.
Pronouns Kʼicheʼ distinguishes six pronouns classified by person and number. Gender and case are not marked on pronouns, which are often omitted since subject and object agreement are obligatorily marked on the verb.
+Subject and object pronouns orthography IPA 1st person singularin pluraluj 2nd person singularat pluralix 3rd person singularareʼ pluraliyareʼ
Kʼicheʼ has two formal second person pronouns: (singular) and (plural).
Verbs Kʼicheʼ verbs are morphologically complex and can take numerous prefixes and suffixes, which serve both inflectional and derivational purposes. Agreement follows an ergative/absolutive pattern: subjects of transitive verbs are indexed with Set A markers, while intransitive subjects and transitive objects are indexed with Set B markers. Aspect and mood are also indicated via verbal morphology, as is movement: the prefix ul- in the movement slot indicates movement towards the speaker, and the prefix e- (or bʼe- in some varieties) indicates movement away from the speaker.
The table below shows the inflectional template of a Kʼicheʼ verb.
+Example Kʼicheʼ verb inflection Aspect/mood Set B(absolutive) Movement Set A(ergative) Stem Status suffix k- at- bʼin -ik katbʼinik "You walk." x- at- inw- il -o xatinwilo "I saw you." ch- Ø- a- kʼam -aʼ chakʼamaʼ "Carry it!" k- Ø- ul- waʼ -oq kulwaʼoq "S/he comes and eats."
The last morpheme on a verb, the so-called "status suffix," is a portmanteau morpheme, the form of which is determined by a set of rules that includes factors such as: whether the verb is transitive or intransitive whether the verb's mood is indicative or imperative whether or not the verb contains a movement marker whether or not the verb falls at the end of an intonational phrase
Voice and derivation The examples above involve verbs with simple stems. Verb stems may also be morphologically complex. Complex stems may involve voice suffixes:
Causative (CA): -isa (-kam- "die", -kam-isa- "kill (someone)") Passive (PV): -x (-kuna- "cure (someone)", -kuna-x- "be cured") Completive passive (CP): -taj (-kuna- "cure (someone)", -kuna-taj- "be completely cured; recover") Absolutive Antipassive (AA): -n, -on or -un (-mes- "sweep (something) clean", -mes-on- "sweep up") Focus Antipassive (FA): -n, -ow or -uw (-mes- "sweep (something) clean", -mes-ow- "sweep up")
Also, derivational suffixes may be included, many of which form verb stems from other parts of speech. For instance, the versive suffix -ir or -ar forms verb stems from adjectives: utz "good", -utz-ir- "get good"; nim "big", -nim-ar- "get big." Multiple suffixes can appear within a single stem: -nim-ar- "get big", -nim-ar-isa- "enlarge (something)", -nim-ar-isa-x- "be enlarged."
Syntax As with all other Mayan languages, Kʼicheʼ has an ergative pattern of verb agreement and often uses verb-object-subject (VOS) word order. Most modern speakers use SOV, SVO, and VSO word orders interchangeably. Language purists have tried to preserve the traditional verb-initial word order, but influence from Spanish (an SVO language) promotes a subject-initial order.
Focus Antipassive The Focus Antipassive (FA) is used in Kʼicheʼ when the ergative subject of a transitive verb is in focus. This occurs in several contexts:
This constraint only applies to the subjects of transitive verbs. Subjects of intransitive verbs can be extracted without adding the Focus Antipassive:
Mondloch (1981) provides an extensive discussion of the exceptions to the constraint on the extraction of ergative subjects. Further discussions of the Focus Antipassive in Kʼicheʼ appear in Larsen (1987), Pye (1989) and Hale (1998).
Verb Complementation Kʼicheʼ has finite and non-finite types of verb complement clauses.
Finite complement clause
Non-finite complement clauses
Kʼicheʼ uses nominalized verbs in non-finite complement clauses. Nominalized verbs are nouns and are used as such, e.g. after a preposition. Mondloch claims that Kʼicheʼ does not have a way to nominalize transitive verbs directly. Transitive verbs must be converted to intransitive verbs by a passive or antipassive change in voice before they can be nominalized (1981:101).
AA:Absolutive Antipassive ABS:Absolutive Agreement ERG:Ergative Agreement PA:Passive CA:Causative CP:Completive Passive FA:Focus Antipassive INC:Incompletive Aspect COM:Completive Aspect NOM:Nominalization ST:Status:Kʼicheʼ language#Verb status
Baby talk Contrary to how many other languages use high pitch in child directed speech (baby talk), Kʼicheʼ babytalk has been shown not to use high pitch. Mayans, in fact, lower their pitch slightly when they speak to children since in Quiche Mayan culture, high pitch is very often used to address people of high status.
Child language There is extensive documentation of child language acquisition for Kʼicheʼ. Overviews of language development in Kʼicheʼ can be found in Pye (1992, 2017) and Pye and Rekart (1990). Child language data for Kʼicheʼ have overturned most theories of language development and demonstrate the need for more extensive documentation of indigenous languages.