Atz’am k’ik’ atz’am: The Story of Xuwan and a Grammatical Sketch of Chuj

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Publicado: oct 26, 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.19130/iifl.tlalocan.2022.1.8725x15
Palabras clave:
Chuj Mayan languages black salt San Mateo Ixtatán grammar

Contenido principal del artículo

Justin Royer
McGill University
Pedro Mateo Pedro
University of Toronto
Elizabeth Carolan
McGill University
Jessica Coon
McGill University
Matal Torres
McGill University

Resumen

This article and text provide a new take on the San Mateo Ixtatán saltwater sources from the perspective of Xuwan, a San Mateo resident who for her entire life has been working in the extraction, production, and merchandising of atz’am k’ik’ atz’am ‘the black salt’, a culturally-valued good which forms a quintessential aspect of Chuj life and culture. In addition to recounting her experiences with black salt, Xuwan comments on several other aspects of Chuj life, both in the past and in the present. The article is introduced with a short grammar sketch of Chuj, which highlights the prominent grammatical features found in the text.

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Royer, J. ., Mateo Pedro, P. ., Carolan, E. ., Coon, J. ., & Torres, M. . (2022). Atz’am k’ik’ atz’am: The Story of Xuwan and a Grammatical Sketch of Chuj. Tlalocan, 27(1), 215-286. https://doi.org/10.19130/iifl.tlalocan.2022.1.8725x15
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Vol. 27 Núm. 1 (2022): Tlalocan: XXVII-1
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Artículos
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Esta obra está bajo una licencia internacional Creative Commons Atribución-NoComercial 4.0.

Citas

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1. Introduction

San Mateo Ixtatán, a Chuj community located in the highlands of the Cuchumatanes mountain range in Guatemala, boasts several saltwater sources that have long been utilized by its inhabitants and neighboring Mayan communities (Andrews, 1983; Navarrete Cáceres, 2008; Piedrasanta Herrera, 2009; Hopkins, 2021). The saltwater sources are sacred to the Chuj people, who use a series of traditional methods to extract and process the salt. The result is what is known as atz’am k’ik’ atz’am ‘the black salt’ and remains to this day a quintessential aspect of Chuj life and culture. 2

This work provides a new perspective on the San Mateo Ixtatán saltwater sources through the lens of San Mateo resident Xuwan, who for her entire life has been involved -directly or indirectly- in the different steps involved in the production of black salt. In addition to recounting her experiences with black salt, Xuwan comments on several other aspects of Chuj life, both in the past and in the present.

The story was recorded, transcribed, and translated in 2015 by Avilio Diego and forms part of a larger research effort led by Pedro Mateo Pedro and Jessica Coon to record narratives with speakers across the different dialects of Chuj spoken in the municipalities of San Mateo Ixtatán, San Sebastián Coatán, and San Benito Nentón. Native Chuj-speaking research assistants were trained to record, transcribe, and translate (Chuj to Spanish) stories using ELAN, an annotation tool for audio and video recordings (ELAN, 2020). The results of this project, a collection of over forty narratives documenting various aspects of Chuj life, culture and history, were deposited in the Archive of the Indigenous Languages of Latin America (AILLA) in 2017 (Pedro Mateo & Coon, 2017).

The current work provides a narrower transcription of a ten-minute segment of one of the narratives found in AILLA. 3 The original recording lasted 49 minutes and 11 seconds, and the shorter segment presented here was selected to highlight the process of black salt extraction, production, and merchandising. The shorter segment was morphologically segmented, glossed, and translated to English by Elizabeth Carolan and Justin Royer, in consultation with Matal Torres (who is a native speaker of Chuj of San Mateo Ixtatán). Matal Torres also provided detailed commentary pertaining to black salt making and to Chuj culture more generally.

The rest of this work is divided as follows: Section 2 provides basic information on the Chuj language, including information about the orthographic convention used in this work, as well as a brief introduction to the grammatical properties of Chuj; Section 3 presents the text.

2. Chuj

Chuj belongs to the Western branch of Mayan languages and is generally subgrouped as a member of the Q’anjob’alan subfamily (Kaufman, 1974; Robertson, 1977, Law 2014). According to Piedrasanta Herrera (2009), as of 2009 Chuj was spoken by approximately 70,000 speakers in Guatemala. Chuj is spoken in three municipalities of the Department of Huehuetenango, where the vitality of the language remains relatively strong (Buenrostro, 2013a). The three municipalities are San Mateo Ixtatán (the variant under study in this work), San Benito Nentón, and San Sebastián Coatán. 4 Chuj is also spoken by a smaller population in a few dozen communities in Mexico. As mentioned in Buenrostro (2013a), according to the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (2011), as of 2010 Mexico had 2,632 registered speakers of Chuj. The variants of Chuj spoken in Mexico are mixed, since speakers from different municalities of Huehuetenango were forced to migrate to bordering Mexican communities during the Guatemala Civil War (Quezada & O’Dogherty, 1986; Buenrostro, 2013a; Córdova Hernández, 2014).

Previous work on the grammatical properties of Chuj include three doctoral theses (Hopkins, 1967; Maxwell, 1982; and Buenrostro, 2013a), as well as a number of articles and undergraduate theses (e.g., Alonso-Ovalle & Royer, 2020, 2021, 2022; Bielig, 2015; Buenrostro, 1992, 1994, 1995a, 1995b, 1996, 1998a,b, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010a,b, 2011, 2013b, 2014, 2015a, 2015b, 2017, 2018, to appear-b; Buenrostro et al., 1989; Carolan, 2015; Coon, 2016a, 2018, 2019; Coon & Carolan, 2017; Coon & Royer, 2020; Duncan, 2007; Elias, 2019; Hopkins, 1970, 1972, 1980a, 1980b, 2012b; Hou, 2011; Kotek & Erlewine, 2016, 2019; Maxwell, 1976, 1978, 1983, 1987, 1990, 1995; Medina & Buenrostro, 2003; Henderson et al., 2018; Royer, 2017, 2019, 2020a, 2020b, 2021, 2022, to appear; Royer & Alonso-Ovalle, 2019; Schumann, 1981; Williams & Willams, 1966, 1971). There are also two grammars produced by the Academia de Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala (ALMG) (Domingo Pascual, 2007; García Pablo & Domingo Pascual, 2007), three dictionaries (Diego & Gaspar Juan, 1998; Comunidad Lingüística Chuj, 2003; Hopkins, 2012a), recently published book of Chuj texts by Nicholas Hopkins (2021) - including a new presentation of the Chuj text on the black salt of San Mateo Ixtatán in Hopkins, 1980b - and a forthcoming collection of Chuj articles edited by Cristina Buenrostro (to appear-a). The Comunidad Lingüística Chuj, the governing organization of the Chuj language, has also done linguistic work on Chuj described in Zavala & Smith-Stark’s (2006) report on the linguistic work conducted by the Oxlajuuj Keej Maya’ Ajtz’iib’ Association (OKMA).

In the rest of the introduction we provide information about the orthographical conventions we adopt in this article, as well as some basic information about grammatical properties of Chuj, with a special focus on the grammatical properties that stand out in the text.

2.1. Orthography and basic phonological properties

The examples presented in this article and throughout the narrative are written using the Chuj practical orthography, which is based on the alphabet created by the ALMG in 1987 (Acuerdo Gobernativo 1046-87). Material taken from older works (e.g., Hopkins, 1967) has been updated to reflect this established orthography. Table 1 shows the Chuj consonant system in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), with practical orthography indicated with angled brackets “< >”.

Table 1:
Chuj consonant inventory in IPA and orthographic correspondence
Labial Alveolar Postalveolar Velar/uvular Glottal
Stops / affricates p <p> t <t> ts <tz> tʃ <ch> k <k> ʔ <’>
Glottalized or implosive stops and affricates ɓ <b’> t’ <t’> ts’ <tz’> tʃ’ <ch’> k’ <k’>
Fricatives v <w> s <s> ʃ <x> χ <j> h <h>
Nasal m <m> n <n> ŋ <nh>
Approximant w <w> l, r <l, r> j <y>

A few notes about the orthography are in order. First, it is important to mention that Chuj features a phonemic contrast between plain and ejective stops (Buenrostro, 2009) -ejective stops can be identified with the diacritic <’>. This is a common phonological property found across different Mayan languages (Bennett, 2016). Chuj also features an implosive bilabial stop, which is always represented with an apostrophe as <b’>.

Second, the phoneme represented as <w> varies in phonetic realization between the bilabial approximant [w], the labiodental fricative [v], and the voiced bilabial stop [b] (distinct from the implosive stop <b’>). Generally, the distribution of [w], [v], and [b] seems to largely overlap (even alternating in the same words and sentences by the same speakers). Since Chuj does not show a clear pattern with respect to the realization of the sound written as <w>, we assume for now that it exhibits free variation, and represent all instances of [v], [w] and [b] as <w>. 5

A third important note concerns the orthographic letter <h>. In addition to marking glottal fricatives, it can also be used to indicate the absence of word-initial glottalization (Lesure, 2016). This is the case below in (2) where, compared to (1), the presence of <h> on the word ich ‘chili’ in the orthography signals the absence of the word-initial glottal stop which is otherwise present in words written with an initial vowel (see e.g., Bennett, 2016).

1. anh ich → [ ʔaŋ ʔitʃ ] the chili
2. anh hich → [ ʔaŋ itʃ ] your chili

Finally, the glottal symbol <’> is used to indicate the presence of a glottal stop in non-word-initial environments. 6 For instance, consider the contrast between (3), without a word-final glottal stop, and (4), with a word-final glottal stop. An example in (5) is also provided illustrating a glottal stop between two vowels:

3. ixinb’ati → [ ʔiʃinɓati ] I went.
4. hati’ → [ atiʔ ] your mouth
5. lu’um → [ luʔum ] land

Table 2 shows the Chuj vowel system-the practical orthography in this case is identical to the corresponding IPA symbols.

Table 2:
Chuj vowel inventory
Front Central Back
High i u
Mid e o
Low a

Like in other Mayan languages, the plain vowels in Table 2 are contrastive with so-called “rearticulated vowels” (see Bennett, 2016, section 2.3, and references therein). The characteristic trait of rearticulated vowels in Chuj is the presence of a glottal stop between two vowels of the same quality. An example with the rearticulated vowel <u’u> was already shown in (5) for lu’um ‘land’, but compare (6) with (7) for a minimal pair:

6. chanh → [ tʃaŋ ] four
7. cha’anh → [ tʃaʔaŋ ] tall

2.2. Basic morphosyntactic properties

We now turn to the basic morphosyntactic properties of Chuj. A summary of important Chuj grammatical properties relevant to the narrative are provided in (8), and a more detailed description of some of the morphosyntactic properties of the language follows.

8. Summary of major grammatical properties of San Mateo Ixtatán Chuj
a. San Mateo Chuj is an ergative-absolutive, head-marking language with an aspectual split in the progressive aspect (Buenrostro, 2013; Coon & Carolan, 2017);
b. Basic word order is Verb Object Subject (VOS), but subjects and objects frequently appear preverbally for topic and focus (Bielig, 2015);
c. There are at least three environments in which the suffix -an appears in Chuj verbal predicates (Buenrostro, 2004): Agent Focus morphology (glossed “FA”); morphology indicating dependent transitive clauses (glossed “DEP”); and a discursive use that seems to pattern like a sentence connective (which we also gloss “DEP”) (see Francisco Pascual, 2007 for a similar pattern in Q’anjob’al);
d. A class of intransitive verb roots can be used as directionals to form complex serialized verb constructions (see Elias, 2019);
e. Oblique phrases are introduced with the preposition t’a or with one of the relational nouns (often derived from body part terms);
f. The suffix -Vl (with a partially harmonic vowel) has several functions in Chuj. It can suffix directly to nouns for at least two reasons: (i) to indicate inalienability or (ii) to mark a nominal expression as non-specific. In both of these cases, we have decided to use the general gloss “NML”. 7 The suffix -Vl can also be used to derive nominals from roots of other categories (glossed as “NMLZ” below).
g. As in other Q’anjob’alan languages (see e.g., Craig, 1977, 1986; Zavala, 2000), a set of noun classifiers are used before nominals to establish referential distinctions. Noun classifiers are used with definites, specific indefinites, and kind-denoting nominals (see e.g., Buenrostro et al., 1989; Royer, 2019, to appear). Noun classifiers can also be used without an overt noun, and in the latter case they function as third person pronouns (Buenrostro et al., 1989).

The description of grammatical properties discussed below has the following structure. We discuss verbal predicates in section 2.2.1; non-verbal predicates in section 2.2.2; word order, including topic and focus configurations in section 2.2.3; complex predicates with directional verbs in section 2.2.4; and noun classifiers in section 2.2.5.

2.2.1. Verbal predicates

Verbal predicates are those predicates which typically denote events and appear with tense, aspect, mood (TAM) marking. They are cross-referenced with preverbal “Set B” and “Set A” morphemes on the verb stem, and are suffixed with so-called “status suffixes”, which in Chuj provide information about transitivity and aspect. Underived templates for transitive and intransitive verbal predicates are provided in (9) and (10). Following the tradition in the Mayanist literature (see e.g., Coon, 2016b; Aissen et al., 2017 for overviews), we refer to the two series of person and number-marking morphemes as “Set A” and “Set B”.

9. Transitive verbal predicate template
TAM - Set B (ABS) - Set A (ERG) - Root - status suffix
10. Intransitive verbal predicate template
TAM - Set B (ABS) - Root - status suffix

Examples of transitive and intransitive verb stems are provided below for illustration.

11. Transitive verb 12. Intransitive verb
Ixachwila’. Ixachwayi.
ix-ach-w-il-a’ ix-ach-way-i
PFV-B2S-A1S-see-TV PFV-B2S-sleep-IV
I saw you. You slept.

We now discuss each part of the verb stem in order of appearance. There are four main distinctions in TAM marking, provided in Table 3. The perfective aspect has a phonetically null exponent, discussed in Carolan 2015 (see also Mateo Pedro, 2000; Mateo Toledo, 2013 for a similar proposal for closely related Q’anjob’al). 8 Carolan (2015) argues that the null form is used with distant past, whereas the overt form is either hodernial or at least marks recent past.

Table 3:
Chuj TAM marking
tz- imperfective
ix- / Ø perfective
ol- prospective
lan progressive

Set B (absolutive) morphemes cross-reference transitive objects and intransitive subjects, while Set A (ergative) marking cross-references transitive subjects. Set A marking is also used to cross-reference possessors on possessed nominals, and the Set B paradigm is also used to form freestanding first and second person pronouns. Set A and Set B paradigms are provided below-note that Set A forms exhibit allomorphic variation conditioned by whether the segment they precede is a vowel or consonant. Set B morphemes behave as phonological clitics. The initial <h> in the paradigms below appear when the morphemes are in word-initial position, and are absent otherwise.

Table 4:
Set A and Set B agreement marking in Chuj
Set B (absolutive) Set A (ergative/possessive)
_C _V
1S (h)in (h)in- w-
2S (h)ach (h)a- (h)-
3S Ø s- y-
1P (h)onh ko- k-
2P (h)ex (h)e- (h)ey-
3P Ø s- y-

As shown above, there is no overt reflex of third person Set B marking, and so third person absolutive arguments are never explicitly cross-referenced on the verb stem in this article. While some authors signal the absence of Set B arguments with a null morpheme (see e.g., Buenrostro, 2013), we do not represent null Set B marking in our examples. For instance, the focused object lum chen in (13) is not cross-referenced on the transitive verb stem (note that examples taken from the narrative below are marked with “txt” plus #, which indicates the line from which the example was extracted in the text):

13. Ha lum chen tzkok’ana’.
ha lum chen tz-ko-k’an-a’
ENF CLF pot IPFV-A1P-use-VT
It was pots of clay that we used. (txt, 11)

There are five distinguisheable classes of roots in Chuj: transitive, intransitive, positional, nominal, and a small class of adjectival roots. The roots may be classified based on the morphology they must take in order to form different types of surface stems (see e.g., Haviland, 1994 on Mayan languages more generally, and Hopkins, 1967 and Coon, 2019 on Chuj). Derivational suffixes can suffix to roots and stems to alter the valence of the predicate. For instance, the transitive root tz’ey ‘to scrape’ in (14) can be passivized with the addition of the suffix -chaj. Similarly, (15) shows that the nominal root k’u’ ‘blanket’ can appear in a transitive verb stem with the addition of derivational morphology (see Buenrostro, 2013 on voice and valence alternations).

14. Stz’eychaj lu’um.
tz-tz’ey-chaj lu’um
IPFV-scrape-PASS CLF.PRON
It is scraped. (txt, 78)

15. […] tzkok’u’ej.
tz-ko-k’u’-e-j
IPFV-A1P-blanket-DERIV-VTD
[…] we would use as a blanket. (txt, 31)

Finally, there are four kinds of status suffixes in Chuj, provided in Table 5. Intransitive status suffixes are divided into two classes depending on aspect: intransitive verb stems in the prospective aspect appear with -ok, whereas all other intransitive verbal predicate stems appear with -i. Transitive verb stems, on the other hand, vary according to the category of the root: while transitive stems built from transitive roots appear with a partially harmonic vowel (-a’, -o’, -u’ depending on the vowel of the root), all transitive stems derived from other roots (intransitive, positional, nominal, adjectival) appear with the so-called “derived transitive status suffix” -j (usually following a suffix glossed here as a derivational suffix -e, sometimes considered together a single suffix -ej).

Table 5:
Chuj status suffixes
Aspect Status suffix
Intransitive stems IPFV, PFV, PROG -i
PROSP -ok
Root transitive stems -V’
Derived transitive stems -j

Importantly, three of the status suffixes (-i, -ok, and -V’) are subject to prosodic conditions and get deleted when immediately followed by DP arguments or some modifiers (see Royer, 2020a, 2022) for a detailed account of prosodic conditions on status suffixes, and Henderson, 2012 for similar observations in K’iche’). For instance, in (14), the status suffix -i is absent because the verb is immediately followed by the pronoun lu’um.

2.2.2. Non-verbal predicates

Having discussed Chuj’s verbal predicates, we now describe Chuj’s non-verbal predicates. Non-verbal predicates typically denote states, appear without aspectual marking, and tend to lack the inflectional and derivational morphology normally associated with verbal predicates. Examples extracted from the narrative are provided in (16).

16. Non-verbal predicates in Chuj
a. […] meb’a’onh junelnhej.
meb’a’-onh jun-el-nhej
poor-B1P one-NML-only
[…] we were simply poor. (txt, 19)

b. T’inhan sb’a lu’um.
t’inh-an s-b’a lu’um
straight.up-STAT A3-REFL CLF.PRON
They are placed straight up. (txt, 108)

Other frequent non-verbal predicates, attested several times in the narrative, include the existential predicate ay, as well as the negative existential predicate malaj. As discussed in Elias 2019, both predicates are involved in the realization of existential, locative, and possessive constructions.

17. Existential predicates ay and malaj
a. […] ha heb’ winh ay och yol jusgado […]
ha heb’ winh ay och y-ol jusgado
ENF PL CLF.PRON EXT DIR.out A3-inside courthouse
[…] those who were in the courthouse […] (txt, 135)

b. Malaj kolu’um.
malaj ko-lu’um
NEG.EXT A1P-land
We didn’t have land. (txt, 21)

2.2.3. Word order

The San Mateo Ixtatán variant of Chuj exhibits basic verb-object-subject word order, as exemplified in the following example from Buenrostro (2013: 215):

18. VOS word order
Ixyil ix ix winh winak.
ix-y-il [OBJ ix ix ] [SUBJ winh winak ]
PFV-A3-see CLF woman CLF man
The man saw the woman.

However, as noted for other Mayan languages (England, 1991; Aissen, 1992) and specifically for Chuj (Bielig, 2015), subjects and objects frequently appear preverbal­ly for reasons of topic and focus, a fact that can be observed throughout the narrative. When DPs appear in a preverbal position, regardless of whether they are topics or foci, they appear with the marker ha, which we uniformly gloss as “ENF” in the narrative. Topicalized and focused constituents can nevertheless be distinguished. For one, topics are obligatorily co-referenced with a resumptive classifier pronoun, as shown in (19) below (Bielig, 2015).

19. Ha winh winak ixyil ix ix winh.
[TOP ha winh winak ]j ix-y-il ix ix winhj
ENF CLF man PFV-A3-see CLF woman CLF.PRON
As for the man, he saw the woman.

Foci, on the other hand, do not appear with resumptive classifier pronouns, as seen in (20). A second point of divergence is specific to transitive subjects. When focused, transitive subjects must appear in so-called “Agent Focus” constructions, which formally involve an intransitive verb stem and trigger the presence of the Agent Focus suffix -an (Hou 2011, see also Stiebels, 2006 and Coon, Mateo Pedro & Preminger, 2014 for more on the Agent Focus construction):

20. […] ha heb’ winh winak chi’ tzchonhanxi el […]
[FOC ha heb’ winh winak chi’ ] tz-chonh-an-x-i el
ENF PL CLF man DEM IPFV-sell-AF-ADV-IV DIR.out
[…] It’s these men who would go out to sell […] (txt, 140)

Finally, note that interrogative words (21), as well as relativized constituents (22), behave like focused items in appearing preverbally and in triggering the presence of Agent Focus morphology on the verb stem (when the interrogative word or relativized constituent corresponds to a transitive subject):

21. ¿Mach oltupan te’ t’ayonh?
mach ol-tup-an te’ t’ay-onh
who PROSP-pay-AF CLF.PRON PREP-B1P
Who is going to pay us for it (the firewood)? (txt, 127)

22. Tato chuklaj lu’um, yaxto lu’um yuj heb’ ix tzb’o’ani […]
tato chuklaj lu’um, yax-to lu’um y-uj heb’ ix
if bad CLF.PRON green-still CLF.PRON A3-RN.by PL CLF.PRON

tz-b’o’-an-i
IPFV-make-AF-IV
If it’s not well made, or if it’s still raw, by those who made it […] (txt, 111)

2.2.4. Directionals and serial verb constructions

As in other Mayan languages (Coon, 2016b), a class of intransitive roots can co-occur with verbs to form complex predicates (see Mateo Toledo, 2008 for similar observations in Q’anjob’al). Building on Henderson et al. (2018) and Elias (2019), we identify the following eleven directional forms, provided below. 9

Table 6:
Directionals in Chuj
Form Intransitive Directional In narrative:
b’at to go (away) ‘away’ (95)
em to descend ‘down’ (16)
ek’ to pass by ‘pass’ (154)
el to leave ‘out’ (43)
hul to come ‘toward’ -
och to enter ‘in’ (98)
kan to stay ‘stable’ (43)
kot to draw near ‘nearing’ (15)
k’e’ to ascend ‘up’ (87)
k’och to arrive ‘arriving’ (42)
pax to return ‘again’ (115)

As can be observed in Table 6, the narrative is rich in complex predicates derived from directional verbs, revealing the extent to which they are productive in Chuj. All but one directional is attested at least once in the ten-minute segment. We provide three relevant examples extracted from the narrative below. As shown in the examples, verbs can productively combine with more than one directional: (24) features two postverbal directionals and (25) features three.

23. […] b’at koman koti.
b’at ko-man kot-i
go A1P-buy DIR.draw.near-IV
[…] we [only] go to buy. (txt, 93)

24. B’ab’el tzinb’o’ kan b’at hinyokech.
b’ab’el tz-in-b’o’ kan b’at hin-yokech
first IPFV-A1S-make DIR.stay DIR.go A1S-tenamaste
First, I would put together my tenamastes. 10 (txt, 95)

25. […] tonhej b’at tzkilan pax kan eli mach ix tewach’ tz’aj lum […]
to-nhej b’at tz-k-il-an pax kan el-i mach
COMP-only go IPFV-A1P-see-DEP DIR.return DIR.stay DIR.leave-IV who

te-wach’ tz’-aj lum
CLF.PRON-good IPFV-do CLF.PRON
(txt, 115)

2.2.5. Noun classifiers and third person pronouns

Finally, we discuss one property of the Chuj nominal domain that is especially relevant to the narrative at hand: noun classifiers. Mayan languages of the Cuchumatanes mountain range have innovated a system of noun classifiers, not present in other Mayan languages, which function like determiners when appearing before nominals, and like third person pronouns when appearing alone (Craig, 1977, 1986; Zavala, 2000; Hopkins, 2012b; Royer, 2019, to appear, and others). Noun classifiers, grammaticalized from nominals (Hopkins, 2012b), continue to closely resemble some nouns in the language. For instance, the noun classifier for female individuals, ix, has grammaticalized from the noun ix ‘woman’. Chuj features between 15 and 17 noun classifiers (depending on the dialect), eight of which are attested in the narrative. A list of those found at least once in the narrative are provided below:

Table 7:
Chuj noun classifiers occurring in the narrative
Form Class In narrative:
ix Female individuals (52)
winh Male individuals (36)
nok’ Animals/animal products (31)
te’ Wood entities (35)
k’en Metal/stone entities (69)
lum Soil/earth entities (11)
ha’ Water (14)
atz’am Salt (products) (34)

Though the exact semantic contribution of noun classifiers is not easy to pin down, all work converges in proposing that noun classifiers play an important semantic role, related broadly to referentiality (Craig, 1977, 1986; Buenrostro et al., 1989; Zavala, 2000; Royer, 2019, to appear). For instance, noun classifiers are obligatory with definite DPs, like in (26), and can sometimes appear with indefinite DPs to force specific interpretations of indefinites (see Royer, 2019). They are also used with kind-denoting nominals, as in (27), and can, under this use, appear in existential constructions like (28).

26. Tz’elta wakch’ub’ winh alkal.
tz’-el-ta wak-ch’ub’ winh alkal
PFV-leave-PRX six-jar CLF mayor
Six saltwater jars were for the mayor. (txt, 137)

27. Ha heb’ ix Ch’ichjoj tzyak’ emi, ha lum mas.
ha heb’ ix Ch’ichjoj tz-y-ak’ em-i ha lum mas
ENF PL CLF Ch’ichjoj IPFV-A3-give DIR.down-IV ENF CLF mas
The women of Ch’ichjoj use ‘mas’ (type of sand). (txt, 55)

28. Malaj ha’ pila pekataxo.
malaj ha’ pila pekataxo
NEG.EXT CLF pila before
The pila (water well) didn’t exist before. (txt, 18)

Perhaps most relevant for the current work, however, is the use of noun classifiers as third person pronouns. In such cases, the classifier is used without an overt nominal, and tends to be anaphoric with a previously introduced referent in discourse. An example extracted from the narrative is provided below.

29. Narrative sequence
a. Ha ha’ Tinita’ tzkuk’ej.
ha ha’ Tinita’ tz-k-uk’-e-j
ENF water Tinita IPFV-A1P-drink-DERIV-VTD
It was water of the Tinita (a river) that we would drink. (txt, 14)

b. Ha ha’ ha’ Tinita’ chi’ tzkokuch koti.
ha ha’ ha’ Tinita’ chi’ tz-ko-kuch kot-i
ENF CLF water Tinita DEM IPFV-A1P-carry DIR.draw.near-IV
We would go find the water of the Tinita. (txt, 15)

c. Tzkak’an em kokuchan kot ha’.
tz-k-ak’-an em ko-kuch-an kot ha’
IPFV-A1P-give-DEP DIR.down A1P-carry-DEP DIR.arrive CLF.PRON
And then we would put it down and carry it. (txt, 16)

d. Tzkuk’an ha’.
tz-k-uk’-an ha’
IPFV-A1P-drink-DEP CLF.PRON
And then we would drink it. (txt, 17)

In the first example (29a), ‘water of the Tinita’ is introduced for the first time. In (29b), the speaker immediately refers back to the ‘water of the Tinita’ with the overt nominal, but this time the nominal co-occurs with the noun classifier for water products, ha’, and a demonstrative. 11 Finally, in examples (29c) and (29d), the speaker uses the bare classifier ha’ to refer back to the water. As seen in the examples, pronominal uses of noun classifiers are glossed as “CLF.PRON”, and determiner uses as “CLF”.

Having introduced the basic grammatical properties of Chuj, we now turn to the narrative.

3. Presentation of the text 12

The presentation of the text is divided as follows. We first provide Chuj, Spanish, and English versions of the text. Then, we provide a morphological segmentation of the text, translated to both Spanish and English. The glosses are in Spanish (see glossary of abbreviations for information on abbreviations).

ATZ’AM K’IK’ ATZ’AM: AB’IX YUJ IX XUWAN

(1) X: Te’ ya’ kaj yuj meb’a’il pekatax chi’. (2) Malaj nok’ koxanhab’. (3) Malaj kopichul. (4) T’a jun tyempo’al chi’ malaj kopichul. (5) Malaj te’ kopat. (6) Jun t’ub’an tzonhway ichok. (7) Malaj tasi. (8) Malaj tas - malaj te’ koch’at wenas wal. (9) Malaj nok’ kok’u’ wenas wal tzkok’u’ej. (10) Malaj junokxo tas mero importante t’ayonh.

(11) Ha lum chen tzkok’ana’. (12) Ha lum ch’ub’ tzkokuchu’. (13) Asta malaj ha’ pila tik pekatax chi’. (14) Ha ha’ Tinita’ skuk’ej. (15) Ha ha’ ha’ Tinita’ chi’ tzkokuch koti. (16) Tzkak’an em kokuchan kot ha’. (17) Tzkuk’an ha’. (18) Malaj ha’ pila pekataxo.

(19) Durante ixwilan elta toxonhtonhto meb’a’onh junelnhej. (20) Malaj tas ayonh, malaj. (21) Malaj kolu’um. (22) Malaj tasi. (23) Temeb’a’onh junelnhej. (24) Pero k’ojank’olal tzkona’ani tas jab’ kosay kok’ulok. (25) Ichachi ixek’ kowida jun tyempo’al chi’. (26) Mero malaj tas ayonh. (27) Malaj kowa’el kuk’el. (28) Malaj, descaso munlajel. (29) Malaj retaso k’apak tzchonhchaj icha tikne’ik. (30) Ha pekatax chi’ malaj retaso k’apak. (31) Ha nok’ lopil k’u’ tzkok’u’ej. (32) Ha jab’ok k’apak simpletak tzkomana’ komo malaj kotumin, jun. (33) I tzyak’anxi koti pwede ser ayam b’ajti’il - ayam ajti’il tik ha kowa’el tik pural tz’aji. (34) Hanhej wal tas mero seguro ixkok’ulej ha wal atz’am atz’am ixkopayej. (35) Ha wal jun seguro ixkok’ulej ha wal te’ k’atzitz tzkokuch koti. (36) Ha heb’ winh komam pekataxo xapan k’e’ta sjenjab’ heb’ winh. (37) Malaj tik tik manxalaj ixelamnaj nok’ slopil heb’ winh t’a jenjab’. (38) Ixelamnaj nok’ t’a sti’ syop heb’ winh. (39) Manxalaj nok’ slopil heb’ winh chi’.

(40) Tob’ payoj ch’ilon tz’ek’ heb’ ix konun chichim pekti’ xchi tzkab’i, ha payoj ch’ilon. (41) Ha’onhxo tik jun, manxo hoklaj ch’ilon chi’ ixkopayej. (42) Haxo atz’am atz’am chi’ atz’am ay t’a yemk’och tik ha atz’am ixkopayej, tzkokuch koti, tzkak’an k’e’ yib’an k’ak’. (43) Tzkoyam kan tzonhk’e’ wa’an a las tres de la manyana ma a la una de la manyana tato kogana spet’ el atz’am. (44) Bweno haxo tz’aji tzkak’ej atz’am a la una de la manyana. (45) A las dies de la nochxo tzkoluchan atz’am pero b’ut’ul ti’ tz’aji, jun pilon chi’.

(46) A: ¿Jantak tzkochi tzkochonh jun pilon t’a atz’am atz’am?

(47) X: Mero karo stojol. (48) Tzkochi tzoch stojol - tzkochinaji tzoch dyes ketzal. (49) Mato tzoch jun, mato dose ketzal tzkochonh jun pilon, pero malaj.

(50) A: ¿Tas jun pilon chi’, jun?

(51) X: Ha pilon chi’ haton lum mayb’etzal chi’. (52) Haxo lum mayoj chi’ ha heb’ ix Ch’ichjoj ha heb’ ix tzb’o’an lu’um. (53) Ha heb’ ix Ch’ichjoj ha heb’ ix tzb’o’an lu’um. (54) Haxo t’a b’at kokuch kot lum chi’, lum mayoj chi’, t’a heb’ ix Ch’ichjoj chi’. (55) Ha heb’ ix Ch’ichjoj chi’ tzyak’ emi, ha lum mas. (56) Tzb’at skal lu’um. (57) Ha lum mas chi’ b’ajtil sb’o’ heb’ ix t’a mayojal chi’. (58) Tzkomanxi jantak stojol lum mayoj chi’. (59) Ay lum stojol t’a sinko sentawo. (60) Ay lum stojol t’a dos-t’ay sinkwenta sentawo xchi. (61) Komo ha pekatax chi’ ay k’en sinkwenta sentawo, ay k’en chab’ sentawo. (62) Ha lum teniwak chi’ sinko len tzkotup lu’um. (63) Haxo lum yunetak chi’, jun, tzkotup lum t’a chab’ sentawo. (64) Tzkotup lum t’ay- ay lum tzkotup pax t’ay chanhe’ sentawo, chanhe’ ketzal icha tikne’ik.

(65) A: ¿Jantak tyempo tzyak’ lum tzek’anan lu’um?

(66) X: Junelnhej b’iyaje tzkok’an lu’um.

(67) A: ¿Tonhej tzek’an lum junelok?

(68) X: Tzkok’an lu’um. (69) Yo haxo tz’aji yo to ha k’en machit tzkoti. (70) Tzkotz’eyan eli spatik. (71) Tato tewach’ yol lum chi’, jun, nuk’uk’i yol lum, yuj heb’ ix b’o’an chi’ yo, tonhej tzkek’nhojlaj lum ixtik yo. (72) Tz’el kecheljok lu’um

(73) A: ¿Tzspoj b’at lum junelnhej?

(74) X: Tzspoj b’at lum junelnhej. (75) Manh tzyak’ kok’anlaj lu’um. (76) Icha tzsk’anan heb’ tikne’ik ha k’en palangana, xalchi’ ha lum lu’um. (77) Yujchi’ tato ha lum tzatz chuklaj yol chi’ jun yo to stz’eychaj lum t’a k’en machit. (78) Stz’eychaj lu’um.

(79) A: ¿Tzkan b’uk’an atz’am t’a lu’um?

(80) X: Tzkan b’uk’an atz’am t’a lu’um. (81) Haxo wal lum nek’ek’i yol chi’ toton tz’el weknaj lum tz’a’i. (82) Tzilumtzilum tz’aj lum stz’a’i. (83) Sakwekinak tz’aj lum stz’a’i.

(84) A: ¿Jaye’ lum sb’o’ t’a jun k’u, jun?

(85) X: Haxo bweno heb’ ix tz’ak’ani, pwede ser, sb’o’ lum t’ay - (86) Ha tzyik’ti’ej jun ix t’ayin tob’: (87) ¿Jantak lum mayoj tzwik’ k’e’ wa’an tz’ek’ k’u? - xchi ix. (88) Tzwik’ k’e’wa’an jun syete, jun ocho lum mayb’etzal chi’. (89) Mero b’ab’el wal tzintet’ek’ej k’ejmi lu’um. (90) Te’och yib’ lum yo. (91) Ixtotik tzinb’o’an lu’um. (92) B’i’an yujchi’ jun syete ma jun dyes tzinb’o’ tz’ek’ k’u - xchi ix tik yujchi’.

(93) Ha’onhxo tik max kil wallaj tas yutej heb’ ix komo to toxonhej b’at koman koti. (94) Ha’inxo tik, jun, ha ixwak’ prowal ixinb’o’an atz’am, to b’at wik’ kot jun syete lum ma jun seys lum yo. (95) B’ab’el tzinb’o’ kan b’at hinyokech. (96) Ixtotik tzwak’an kan b’at lu’um. (97) Pero to tzkak’ k’och tanh yich lu’um.

(98) A: ¿Ham k’en k’en tzyeak’ ochi?

(99) X: Ha k’en yokech chi’ ha k’en tzb’at t’ilanh. (100) Bweno tzb’at komayoj chi’, b’i’an.

(101) A: ¿Tom chab’ oxe’ mayoj chi’ tzk’e’ kan, junelnhej, jun?

(102) X: Es ke to tato jun pitan tonhej tzyak’ perder te’ k’ak’. (103) Haxo tato tzke’ junok sinko junok seys, entonse tzkot b’at te’ k’atzitz chi’ ixtik. (104) Tzkot te’ t’a junxo kaxep lugar.

(105) Haxo t’a skal chi’ lugar sk’ak’alej sb’a. (106) Yujchi’ munil tzb’at te’ k’atzitz t’a jun tik. (107) Entonse tzkot te’ t’a junxo yo. (108) T’inhan sb’a lum, b’i’an. (109) Munil tzyak’ k’ak’ chi’. (110) Pero tato ha portuna yaji, wach’ olchax och atz’am t’a lu’um. (111) Tato chuklaj lu’um, yaxto lu’um, yuj heb’ ix tzb’o’ani yo, olek’ husnaj lu’um. (112) I tzkik’an koti tzkok’ilan lu’um. (113) Tzkotzak eli, tzkok’ilani, tzkak’anxi b’at junelxo yib’an k’ak - ¡te pwersa! (114) Tzscha’ sb’a lum yet’ atz’am. (115) Haxo wal lum wach’ chi’ jun, tonhej b’at tzkilan pax kaneli mach ix tewach’ tz’aj lum yikchi’ tzb’o’an chi’ yo. (116) Haxo t’a heb’ ix chi’ tzkoman kot lu’um. (117) Haxo heb’ ix chi’ kak’ siguir komanani. (118) Haxo heb’ ix chuklaj yo, tzkoyum kan el heb’ ix. (119) Icha chi’ stzolalil tzkob’o’an atz’am atz’am tik.

(120) Haxo pax, chajtil tzkot och atz’am yol chi’, jun, nitzb’an chekel - (121) Tato wach’ tz’aji atz’am, wach’xej atz’am, toton icha nok’ stzukutz wakax tz’aj sat. (122) Toton poskiltak tz’aj k’e’ta, entonses to hal olajok. (123) To k’ojank’olal oloch k’enal. (124) Haxo pax tato chuk sna’an atz’am, jun, max sk’enejlaj sb’a atz’am, yo. (125) Tzb’at k’ak’ok chuklaj. (126) Waltik tz’ek’ husnajok entonses tonhej olkak’ perder te’ kok’atzitz. (127) ¿Mach oltupan te’ t’ayonh? (128) Malaj mach porke tonhej tzskixtej el te’.

(129) A: ‘¿Ha’ex b’at heyik’ te’?

(130) X: Ha’onh b’at kokuch te’ t’a kopatik.

(131) A: ¿Haxo pax atz’am jun tom ay mach tzmanan atz’am?

(132) X: Haxo atz’am jun, komo ha pekatax chi’, to ha jun wakwanh winakil tz’och junjun k’u t’ay atz’am - (133) Tonces: ¿jantak tzyik’ junjun wakwanh winakil chi’? (134) Waktak ch’ub’ tzyik’ junjun heb’ winh. (135) Komo ha heb’ winh ay och yol jusgado tz’ik’an atz’am pekataxo. (136) Ha heb’ winh tzyik’ atz’am winh junch’ub’ yuj, jun. (137) Tz’elta wakch’ub’ winh alkal. (138) Tz’elta wakch’ub’ winh rejidor. (139) Tz’elta wakch’ub’ machtak heb’ winh ay och t’a yol chi’. (140) Entonse ha heb’ winh chi’ tzchonhanxi el yikchi’ yo. (141) Ha’onhxo tik jun, komo malaj heb’ winh kik chi’ ay ochi, tonhej tzkoman t’a heb’ winh. (142) ¿Jaye’ tzkotupu’? (143) Wake’ sentawo tzkotup jun, wakch’ub’ chi’ to sentawo tak uktawo. (144) Haxo pax yo ixk’e’i. (145) K’e’ k’och t’a dose ketzal. (146) Komanan atz’am t’ay uktawo.

(147) A: ¿Tom jab’tzin sjaj atz’am yikchi’, yujchi’ ha heb’ winh tzchonhan-?

(148) X: Hi jun, ha pekatax chi’ komo to ha t’a winh ha winh kontrol de la minas chi’- (149) Hanhej ichok tikne’ik. (150) Komo ay och heb’ winh kontrol chi’. (151) Ha heb’ winh chi’ tz’ilani jantak tzyik’an suma heb’ winh. (152) ¡Jantak stuminal chi’ tzyik’ heb’ winh! (153) Pero yo korrido tzk’e’ latz’an t’a junjun k’u, junjun k’u. (154) Wakwanh winakil tz’ochi, jaye’ ik’ ek’ hekwentan ek’, jaye’ tzk’e’ k’och t’a jun wakwanh winakil chi’, t’a waktak uktawo t’a waktakch’ub’ chi’.

(155) A: ¿Tato wakwanh heb’ winh yo waktak pax atz’am - tik waktakch’ub’?

(156) X: Hi, wakwanh heb’ winh.

(157) A: ¿Treyntay seys?

(158) X: Treyntay seys uktawo tzk’e’ta. (159) I ay yuktawo winh rejidor tz’elta. (160) Ay yuktawo - ay atz’am yik’ pax winh kontrol chi’. (161) Bweno hato tzyal winh kontrol tato spayej atz’am winh yo, t’a spat winh olk’och atz’am. (162) Hato tzyal winh kontrol tato tzschonh el winh yo.

(163) Ha’onhxo tik tzkomay atz’am chi’ tzkomana’. (164) Hicha chi’ wistorya’il b’ajtil ixkomay atz’am atz’am chi’.

ATZ’AM K’IK’ ATZ’AM: EL RELATO DE XUWAN TRADUCIDO AL ESPAÑOL

(1) X: Sufrimos mucho por la pobreza en el pasado. (2) No teníamos zapatos. (3) No teníamos ropa. (4) En ese tiempo no teníamos ropa. (5) No teníamos casa. (6) Juntos dormíamos amontonados así. (7) No había nada. (8) No teníamos nada - no teníamos muy buenas camas. (9) No teníamos buenas cobijas para cubrirnos. (10) No había otra cosa más importante para nosotros.

(11) Ollas (de barro) usábamos. (12) Tinajas (de barro) cargábamos. (13) Hasta no había pila (= pozo público) en el pasado. (14) Y entonces... agua del Tinita bebíamos. 13 (15) El agua del Tinita íbamos a buscar. (16) Y luego la poníamos abajo y la cargábamos. (17) Y luego la bebíamos. (18) No existía la pila anteriormente.

(19) Durante este tiempo me di cuenta de que de por sí éramos pobres. (20) No teníamos nada. (21) No teníamos tierra. (22) No teníamos nada. (23) Éramos muy pobres y punto. (24) Pero poco a poco pensamos en lo que podíamos hacer. (25) Así pasaba nuestra vida en ese tiempo. (26) No teníamos nada. (27) No teníamos comida o bebida. (28) No había nada-estaba escaso el trabajo. (29) No vendían ropa de paca como hoy en día. 14 (30) En el pasado no había ropa de paca. (31) Era el capixay que usábamos como chamarra. 15 (32) Era un poco de ropa simple que comprábamos, como no teníamos dinero, pues. (33) Y a la vez puede ser a veces-hay veces que era difícil encontrar comida. (34) La única cosa segura que hacíamos era cocer la sal. (35) Lo más seguro que hacíamos era cargar mucha leña. (36) Nuestros padres tenían los hombros de la ropa desgarrados. (37) Ya no había nada, se deshacía el capixay en el hombro de ellos. (38) Se deshacía arriba en el borde de las nalgas de ellos. (39) Ya ellos no tenían el capixay.

(40) Dicen que quemaban ch’ilon nuestras abuelas en el pasado. (41) Y nosotras ya pues, ya no era el ch’ilon que quemábamos. 16 (42) La sal que estaba allá abajo es la que cocíamos, cargábamos y poníamos encima del fuego. (43) Empezábamos con levantarnos a las tres de la mañana o a la una de la mañana si queríamos que saliera temprano (la sal). (44) Bueno lo que pasa es que poníamos (el agua salina) a la una de la mañana. (45) A las diez de la noche la movemos (la sal) pero estaba lleno (sin agua) el pilón.

(46) A: ¿A cuánto vendían un pilón de sal?

(47) X: Era muy elevado el precio. (48) Salía el precio -digamos que salía a diez quetzales (49) O salía por, pues, o vendemos (ahora) el pilón a doce quetzales, pero no es nada.

(50) A: ¿Qué es un pilón, pues?

(51) X: El pilón es el recipiente para cocer la sal. (52) Las mujeres de Ch’ichjoj eran las que fabricaban el mayoj. 17 (53) Las mujeres de Ch’ichjoj eran las que lo hacían. (54) Y entonces los buscábamos allá, los mayojes, de las mujeres de Ch’ichjoj. (55) Las de Ch’ichjoj usaban “mas” (tipo de arena). (56) Se mezcla. (57) Esa arena (mas), la usaban las mujeres para hacer el mayoj. (58) Y comprábamos al precio que sea que cueste el mayoj. (59) Algunos costaban cinco centavos. (60) Algunos costaban dos -a cincuenta centavos, dicen. (61) Como anteriormente había monedas de cincuenta centavos y había monedas de dos centavos. (62) Las grandes las comprábamos a cinco lenes (centavos). (63) Y las pequeñas, pues, las comprábamos a dos centavos. (64) Lo comprábamos por -también pagábamos cuatro centavos, o cuatro quetzales, como ahora.

(65) A: ¿Cuánto tiempo se puede usar (el mayoj)?

(66) X: Lo usamos para un solo viaje (para un uso).

(67) A: ¿Solo lo usan una vez?

(68) X: Lo usamos. (69) Y luego lo que pasa es que tomamos el machete. (70) Y raspamos por detrás. (71) Si está bien hecho todo allá por dentro -está suave- por quienes lo hacen, solo le dan una vuelta así. (72) Sale por pedazos (el mayoj).

(73) A: ¿Se quiebra de una vez?

(74) X: Se quiebra de una vez. (75) Ya no los usamos. (76) Hoy en día se usan palanganas (de metal); antes eran de barro. (77) Por eso si estaba duro o mal hecho por dentro, pues, lo raspaban con el machete. (78) Lo raspan.

(79) A: ¿Se le quedaba pegada (la sal al mayoj)?

(80) X: Sí, se le quedaba pegada. (81) Ahora el que está bien liso por dentro es el que sale de un golpe quemadísimo. (82) Se pone muy rajado al quemarse. (83) Se pone muy blanco al quemarse.

(84) A: ¿Cuántos hacen al día, pues?

(85) X: Bueno las que lo fabrican, puede ser que, hacen - (86) Es lo que me cuenta una de ellas: (87) “¿Cuántos mayojes levanto al día?” - me dijo. (88) “Levanto unos siete u ocho mayb’etz.” 18 (89) “Primero lo pisoteo (el barro) mucho dándole vueltas.” (90) “Así agarra fuerza.” (91) “Después los hago.” (92) “Entonces por eso hago unos siete o diez al día” - me dijo ella.

(93) Ya nosotras no veíamos cómo lo hacían ellas porque solo íbamos a comprar. (94) Yo pues, cuando yo intenté hacerla (la sal), traía unos siete o seis (mayojes). (95) Primero, arreglaba mis tenamastes. (96) Después, comenzaba a ponerlos (los mayojes). (97) Pero le ponía cal en su base.

(98) A: ¿Es piedra lo que usaban ustedes?

(99) X: El tenamaste iba alineado. (100) Bueno iba nuestro mayoj, pues.

(101) A: ¿Ponían dos o tres de esos mayojes al mismo tiempo o solo uno, pues?

(102) X: Es que si solo se pone uno, se gasta el fuego. (103) Ahora, si se suben unos cinco o seis, entonces se vienen y se van las leñas así. (104) Se vienen por otro lado. (105) Y luego se calienta por en medio. (106) Por eso solo van las leñas aquí. (107) Entonces, se mueve ya para allá. (108) Se colocan parados (los mayojes), pues. (109) El fuego queda encendido solo. (110) Si está la suerte, se hace bien (la sal) en el mayoj. (111) Si está mal hecho (el mayoj), o si está crudo, por las que lo hacen, se revienta el líquıdo (del agua salada) del mayoj. (112) Y los traemos a sellar. (113) Lo quitamos rápido, lo sellamos, y lo ponemos de nuevo en el fuego - ¡muchísimo esfuerzo! (114) (El mayoj) agarra bien (la sal). (115) Y si es bueno, pues, simplemente reconocíamos a quienes les queda bien cuando lo hacen, pues. (116) Y a ellas les comprábamos. (117) Y con ellas seguíamos comprando. (118) Y las que lo hacían mal, las abandonábamos. (119) Esa era la manera de hacer la sal.

(120) Y después, cuando la sal empieza adentro, pues, cuando se vuelve clara- (121) Si está bien (la sal), si y se ve bien, entonces sale como la panza de una vaca encima (del mayoj). (122) Entonces salen burbujas por arriba y entonces se va a poner pesado. (123) Poco a poco se forma una piedra. (124) Ahora luego si (la sal) sale mal, no llega a ser piedra. (125) Se derrama del fuego mal (el agua salada). (126) Al instante se derrama entonces vamos a gastar nuestra leña. (127) ¿Quién nos la va a pagar a nosotras? (128) Nadie, porque solo se desperdicia.

(129) A: ¿Ustedes la iban a traer (la leña)?

(130) X: Nosotras la cargábamos en la espalda.

(131) A: ¿Y luego la sal, había quienes la compraban?

(132) X: Y la sal, pues, como anteriormente, eran seis hombres que la trabajaban. (133) Entonces ¿cuántas les tocaba a cada uno de los seis hombres? (134) Seis tinajas les tocaba cargar a cada uno de ellos. (135) Eran ellos que estaban en el juzgado que se la llevaban (la sal) antes. (136) A ellos les tocaba una tinaja. (137) Y seis tinajas iban para el alcalde. (138) Seis tinajas iban para el regidor. (139) Seis tinajas iban para los que estaban allá dentro (del juzgado). (140) Entonces son aquellos hombres que salían a vender. (141) Y nosotras como no teníamos representantes allí, solo les comprábamos a ellos. (142) ¿Cuánto pagábamos? (143) Pagábamos seis centavos, pues, seis tinajas valían un centavo por cada octavo de tinaja. (144) Y desde entonces, subió (el precio). (145) Llegó a subir a doce quetzales. (146) La comprábamos (la sal) por octavos.

(147) A: ¿Era poca la cantidad (de sal) antes, por eso ellos vendían-?

(148) X: Sí anteriormente, como él que estaba a cargo de las minas- (149) Es justo como hoy. (150) Hay los controladores. (151) Y ellos son los que vigilan cuánto se suma. (152) ¡Cuánto dinero se llevaban ellos! (153) Pero así de corrido, hacían montones cada día, cada día. (154) Seis hombres entraban a hacer su cuenta de cuánto recibían cada uno de estos seis hombres, por cada seis octavos, por cada seis tinajas.

(155) A: ¿Si ellos son seis, entonces vuelven con seis porciones de sal cada uno - este, seis tinajas cada uno?

(156) X: Sí, son seis.

(157) A: ¿Treinta y seis?

(158) X: Sacaban treinta y seis octavos. (159) Y tiene el regidor su octavo. (160) Y hay un octavo - uno (mayoj de sal) que se devuelve al controlador. (161) Bueno, el controlador decide si la va a quemar (la sal) para que lo llevan para su casa. (162) O él decide si se vende.

(163) Ya nosotras cocemos la sal que compramos. (164) Así es mi historia de cuándo cocíamos la sal.

ATZ’AM K’IK’ ATZ’AM: THE STORY OF XUWAN TRANSLATED TO ENGLISH

(1) X: We suffered a lot because of the poverty in the past. (2) We didn’t have shoes. (3) We didn’t have clothes. (4) During that time, we didn’t have clothes. (5) We didn’t have houses. (6) Together we slept on top of each other like this. (7) There was nothing. (8) We didn’t have anything - we didn’t have very good beds. (9) We didn’t have good blankets to cover ourselves. (10) There was nothing else more important to us.

(11) It was pots of clay that we used. (12) Saltwater jars we carried. 19 (13) And there was no pila (≈public well) before either. (14) And so, it was water of the Tinita that we would drink. 20 (15) We would go find the water of the Tinita. (16) And then we would put it down and carry it. (17) And then we would drink it. (18) The pila didn’t exist before.

(19) During this time, I realized that we were simply poor. (20) We didn’t have anything. (21) We didn’t have land. (22) We didn’t have anything. (23) We were very poor and that’s it. (24) But slowly we thought about what we needed to do. (25) That’s how our lives would be during that time. (26) We didn’t have anything. (27) We didn’t have anything to eat or drink. (28) There wasn’t anything-work was scarce. (29) They didn’t sell “bundles of used clothing” like they do today. (30) In the past there were no bundles of used clothing. (31) It was the capixay that we would use as a blanket. 21 (32) It would be just a few simple clothes that we would buy, because we didn’t have money, you know. (33) And at the same time, it can be that sometimes-there were times when it was hard to find food. (34) The only thing we would do for sure was to cook the salt. (35) The most common thing we would do was carry a lot of firewood. (36) Our fathers’ clothes were ripped at the shoulders. (37) There was nothing, the capixay got torn up on their shoulders. (38) It would tear up in the edge of their buttocks. (39) They no longer had the capixay.

(40) They say that our grandmothers would do some ch’ilon-burning in the past. (41) As for us, it wasn’t the ch’ilon that we would burn. (42) The salt down there was the one we cooked, carried, and put in the fire. (43) We would begin by waking up at three in the morning or one in the morning if we wanted it (the salt) to be ready early. (44) Well what we would do was put it (the saltwater) at one in the morning. (45) At ten at night we would take out the salt, but it would be full (without water), the pilón.

(46) A: How much would one pilón of salt sell for?

(47) X: The price was very high. (48) The price would go for-let’s say it would be ten quetzals. (49) Or it would go for, you know, or we (now) sell the pilón for twelve quetzales, but that’s nothing.

(50) A: What’s a pilón?

(51) X: The pilón is a pot used to cook salt. (52) The women of Ch’ichjoj were the ones who made the mayoj. 22 (53) The women of Ch’ichjoj were the ones who would do it. (54) And so then we would go get them over there, the mayojs, from the women of Ch’ichjoj. (55) The women of Ch’ichjoj use “mas” (type of sand). (56) It is mixed. (57) That sand (mas), they would use it to make the mayoj. (58) And we would buy it at whatever price it would cost. (59) Some would cost five cents. (60) Some would cost two-fifty cents, they say. (61) Since in the past there were fifty cent coins and there were two cent coins. (62) We bought the big ones for five lens (cents). (63) And the small ones, well, we would buy them for two cents. (64) We would buy it for-we would also pay four cents or four quetzales, like today.

(65) A: How much time can it be used (the mayoj)?

(66) X: For only one trip do we use it (for one use).

(67) A: You only use it once?

(68) X: We use it. (69) And then what happens is that we take the machete. (70) And we scrape it from behind. (71) If it’s well done there inside-it’s smooth- by the ones who make it, they just flip it around like this. (72) It comes out in pieces (the mayoj).

(73) A: Does it break right away?

(74) X: It breaks right away. (75) We don’t use them anymore. (76) Nowadays palanganas (bowls of metal) are used; before they were made of clay. (77) That’s why when it was not well made on the inside, well, they would scrape it with the machete. (78) It is scraped.

(79) A: Would it (the salt) stay stuck to it (the mayoj)?

(80) X: Yes, it would stay stuck to it. (81) Now the one that is perfect comes out all at once really burnt. (82) It becomes cracked into many pieces as it burns. (83) It becomes very white as it burns.

(84) A: How many are made per day?

(85) X: Well the ones that make it, it’s possible that, they make - (86) This is what one of them told me: (87) “How many mayojs do I bring up each day?” - she said. (88) “I bring up about seven or eight mayb’etz.” 23 (89) “First, I stomp it (the clay) a lot and twist it.” (90) “This way it becomes stronger.” (91) “After, I make them.” (92) “So this is why I make about about seven to ten per day” - she told me.

(93) Now we didn’t see how they would make them because we would only go to buy. (94) Me, when I tried to cook it (the salt), I would bring seven or six (mayojs). (95) First, I would put together my tenamastes. (96) Next, I would place them (the mayojs). (97) But I would put lime at their base.

(98) A: You used stone?

(99) X: The tenamaste would be lined up. (100) Well we would put the mayoj, you know.

(101) A: Would you put two or three mayojs at the same time or only one?

(102) X: The thing is that if you only put one, the fire is wasted. (103) Now, if you put five or six, then the logs come and go. (104) They come on the other side. (105) And then it heats up in the middle. (106) That’s why the firewood simply goes here. (107) And so, it moves over there. (108) They (the mayojs) are placed straight up. (109) And the fire burns by itself. (110) But if luck is on your side, you receive a lot of it (the salt) from it (the mayoj). (111) If it’s not well made (the mayoj), or if it’s raw, by the ones who make it, then the liquid (saltwater) leaks through it. (112) And we bring them to get sealed. (113) We take it out quickly, repair it, and then we put it back in the fire - so much effort! (114) It (the mayoj) receives it (the salt) well. (115) And if the mayoj is good, well we would simply recognize which of them makes it well when they do it. (116) And we would buy them (the mayojs) from them (the women). (117) And we would continue to buy from them. (118) And those who would make it badly, we would just let them go. (119) That’s the way we made the salt.

(120) And then, when the salt starts inside, you know when it’s becoming clear- (121) If it’s good (the salt), if it looks good, then it comes out like the belly of a cow on the surface (of the mayoj). (122) And so bubbles come out and so it will become heavy. (123) Little by little, a stone starts to take form. (124) Now if it (the salt) comes out badly, it does not form rocks. (125) It spills out of the fire badly (the saltwater). (126) It spills over immediately, and so we’ll waste our wood. (127) Who is going to pay us for it? (128) No one, because it is wasted.

(129) A: You would go get it (the firewood)?

(130) X: We would carry it on our backs.

(131) A: And then the salt, were there any people who would buy it?

(132) X: And the salt, well since before, there were six men working with it. (133) So how many would each of the six men have? (134) They would each have to carry six saltwater jars. (135) Those who were in the courthouse were the ones who would take it (the salt) before. (136) They would get one saltwater jar. (137) And six saltwater jars were for the mayor. (138) Six saltwater jars would go to the councilperson. (139) Six saltwater jars would go to those who are in there (the courthouse). (140) Therefore, it’s these men who would go out to sell. (141) And since we didn’t have any representatives there, we only bought from them. (142) How much would we pay? (143) We paid six cents, six saltwater jars were worth one cent for every eighth of a jar. (144) And from then on, it rose (the price). (145) It got to rise to twelve quetzals. (146) We would buy it (the salt) by eighths.

(147) A: Were there little amounts of it (the salt) before, this is why they would sell-? (148) X: Yes, before, like the one that was in charge of the mines- (149) It’s just like today. (150) There are controllers. (151) And they’re the ones that verify how much is added up. (152) How much money they would gather! (153) Non-stop, they made tons of money each day, each day. (154) Six men would enter to calculate how much they would each receive, for every six eighths, for every six saltwater jars.

(155) A: If they’re six, then they take six portions of salt each - uhm, six saltwater jars each?

(156) X: Yes, they’re six.

(157) A: Thirty-six?

(158) X: They would take out thirty-six eighths. (159) And the councilperson has his eighth. (160) And there’s one eighth - one (mayoj of salt) that goes to the controller. (161) Well, the controller decides if he’s going to cook it (the salt), so that they will bring it to his home. (162) Or he decides whether it is sold.

(163) And now us, we cook the salt that we buy. (164) That’s my story of how we would cook the salt.

TEXTO GLOSADO - GLOSSED TEXT

1. X: Te’ ya’ kaj yuj meb’a’il pekatax chi’.
te’ ya’ k-aj y-uj meb’a’-il pekatax chi’
INTS dolor A1P-estar A3-SR.por pobre-NML antes DEM
Sufrimos mucho por la pobreza en el pasado.
We suffered a lot because of the poverty in the past.

2. Malaj nok’ koxanhab’.
malaj nok’ ko-xanhab’
NEG.EXT CLF A1P-zapato
No teníamos zapatos.
We didn’t have shoes.

3. Malaj kopichul.
malaj ko-pichul
NEG.EXT A1P-ropa
No teníamos ropa.
We didn’t have clothes.

4. T’a jun tyempo’al chi’ malaj kopichul.
t’a jun tyempo-’al chi’ malaj ko-pichul
PREP uno tiempo-NML DEM NEG.EXT A1P-ropa
En ese tiempo no teníamos ropa.
During that time, we didn’t have clothes.

5. Malaj te’ kopat.
malaj te’ ko-pat
NEG.EXT CLF A1P-casa
No teníamos casa.
We didn’t have houses.

6. Jun t’ub’an tzonhway ichok.
jun t’ub’-an tz-onh-way ich-ok
uno amontonado-STAT IPFV-B1P-dormir así-IRR
Juntos dormíamos amontonados así.
Together we slept on top of each other like this.

7. Malaj tasi.
malaj tasi
NEG.EXT qué
No había nada.
There was nothing.

8. Malaj tas - malaj te’ koch’at wenas wal.
malaj tas malaj te’ ko-ch’at wenas wal
NEG.EXT qué NEG.EXT CLF A1P-cama buena INTS
No teníamos nada - no teníamos muy buenas camas.
We didn’t have anything - we didn’t have very good beds.

9. Malaj nok’ kok’u’ wenas wal tzkok’u’ej.
malaj nok’ ko-k’u’ wenas wal tz-ko-k’u’-e-j
NEG.EXT CLF A1P-cobija buena INTS IPFV-A1P-cobija-DERIV-VTD
No teníamos buenas cobijas para cubrirnos.
We didn’t have good blankets to cover ourselves.

10. Malaj junokxo tas mero importante t’ayonh.
malaj jun-ok-xo tas mero importante t’ay-onh
NEG.EXT uno-IRR-ya qué mero importante PREP-B1P
No había otra cosa más importante para nosotros. 24
There was nothing else more important to us.

11. Ha lum chen tzkok’ana’.
ha lum chen tz-ko-k’an-a’
ENF CLF olla IPFV-A1P-usar-VT
Ollas (de barro) usábamos.
It was pots of clay that we used.

12. Ha lum ch’ub’ tzkokuchu’.
ha lum ch’ub’ tz-ko-kuch-u’
ENF CLF tinaja IPVF-A1P-cargar-VT
Tinajas (de barro) cargábamos.
Saltwater jars 25 we carried.

13. Asta malaj ha’ pila tik pekatax chi’.
hasta malaj ha’ pila tik pekatax chi’
hasta NEG.EXT CLF pila DEM antes DEM
Hasta no había pila (≈ pozo público) en el pasado.
And there was no pila (≈ public well) before either.

14. Ha ha’ Tinita’ skuk’ej.
ha ha’ Tinita’ s-k-uk’-e-j
ENF agua Tinita IPFV-A1P-beber-DERIV-VTD
Y entonces, agua del Tinita bebíamos.
And so, it was water of the Tinita that we would drink. 26

15. Ha ha’ ha’ Tinita’ chi’ tzkokuch koti.
ha ha’ ha’ Tinita’ chi’ tz-ko-kuch kot-i
ENF CLF agua Tinita DEM IPFV-A1P-cargar DIR.venir-VI
El agua del Tinita íbamos a buscar.
We would go find the water of the Tinita.

16. Tzkak’an em kokuchan kot ha’.
tz-k-ak’-an em ko-kuch-an kot ha’
IPFV-A1P-dar-DEP DIR.bajar A1P-cargar-DEP DIR.venir CLF.PRON
Y luego la poníamos abajo y la cargábamos.
And then we would put it down and carry it.

17. Tzkuk’an ha’.
tz-k-uk’-an ha’
IPFV-A1P-beber-DEP CLF.PRON
Y luego la bebíamos.
And then we would drink it.

18. Malaj ha’ pila pekataxo.
malaj ha’ pila pekataxo
NEG.EXT CLF pila antes
No existía la pila antes.
The pila (water tank) didn’t exist before.

19. Durante ixwilan elta toxonhtonhto meb’a’onh junelnhej.
durante ix-w-il-an el-ta toxonhtonhto meb’a’-onh jun-el-nhej
durante PFV-A1S-ver-DEP DIR.salir-PRX COMP.de.por.sí pobre-B1P uno-NMLZ-solo
Durante este tiempo me di cuenta de que de por sí éramos pobres. 27 , 28
During this time, I realized that we were simply poor.

20. Malaj tas ayonh, malaj.
malaj tas ay-onh malaj
NEG.EXT qué EXT-B1P NEG.EXT
No teníamos nada.
We didn’t have anything.

21. Malaj kolu’um.
malaj ko-lu’um
NEG.EXT A1P-tierra
No teníamos tierra.
We didn’t have land.

22. Malaj tasi.
malaj tasi
NEG.EXT qué
No teníamos nada.
We didn’t have anything.

23. Temeb’a’onh junelnhej.
te-meb’a’-onh jun-el-nhej
INTS-pobre-B1P uno-NMLZ-solo
Éramos muy pobres y punto.
We were very poor and that’s it.

24. Pero k’ojank’olal tzkona’ani tas jab’ kosay kok’ulok.
pero k’ojank’olal tz-ko-na’-an-i tas jab’ ko-say ko-k’ul-ok
pero despacio IPFV-A1P-pensar-DEP-VI qué poco A1P-buscar A1P-hacer-IRR
Pero poco a poco pensamos qué es lo que podíamos hacer. 29
But slowly we thought about what we needed to do.

25. Ichachi’ ixek’ kowida jun tyempo’al chi’.
icha-chi’ ix-ek’ ko-wida jun tyempo-al chi’
así-DEM IPFV-pasar A1P-vida uno tiempo-NML DEM
Así pasaba nuestra vida en ese tiempo.
That’s how our lives would be during that time.

26. Mero malaj tas ayonh.
mero malaj tas ay-onh
DISC NEG.EXT qué EXT-B1P
No teníamos nada.
We didn’t have anything.

27. Malaj kowa’el kuk’el.
malaj ko-wa’-el k-uk’-el
NEG.EXT A1P-comer-NML A1P-beber-NML
No teníamos comida o bebida.
We didn’t have anything to eat or drink.

28. Malaj, descaso munlajel.
malaj descaso munlaj-el
NEG.EXT escaso trabajo-NML
No había nada -estaba escaso el trabajo.
There wasn’t anything-work was scarce.

29. Malaj retaso k’apak tzchonhchaj icha tikne’ik.
malaj retaso k’apak tz-chonh-chaj icha tikne’ik
NEG.EXT retazo ropa IPFV-vender-PAS como hoy
No vendían ropa de paca como hoy en día.
They didn’t sell “bundles of used clothing” like they do today. 30

30. Ha pekatax chi’ malaj retaso k’apak.
ha pekatax chi’ malaj restaso k’apak
ENF antes DEM NEG.EXT retazo ropa
En el pasado no había ropa de paca.
In the past there were no bundles of used clothing.

31. Ha nok’ lopil k’u’ tzkok’u’ej.
ha nok’ lopil k’u’ tz-ko-k’u’-e-j
ENF CLF capixay cobija IPFV-A1P-cobija-DERIV-VTD
Era el capixay que usábamos como chamarra. 31
It was the capixay that we would use as a blanket.

32. Ha jab’ok k’apak simpletak tzkomana’, komo malaj kotumin, jun.
ha jab’-ok k’apak simple-tak tz-ko-man-a’ komo malaj ko-tumin jun
ENF poco-IRR ropa simple-ATN IPFV-A1P-comprar-VT COMO NEG.EXT A1P-dinero DISC
Era un poco de ropa simple que comprábamos, como no teníamos dinero, pues.
It would be just a few simple clothes that we would buy, because we didn’t have money, you know. 32

33. I tzyak’anxi koti pwede ser ayam b’ajti’il - ayam b’ajti’il tik ha kowa’el tik
pural tz’aji.
i tz-y-ak’-an-x-i kot-i pwede ser ay-am b’ajtil’il ay-am
y IPFV-A3-dar-DEP-otra.vez-VI DIR.venir-VI puede ser EXT-DUB dónde EXT-DUB

b’ajtil’il tik ha ko-wa’-el tik pural tz-’aj-i
dónde DEM ENF A1P-comer-NML DEM con.dificultad IPFV-estar-VI
Y a la vez puede ser a veces -hay veces que era difícil encontrar comida.
And at the same time, it could be that some times-there were times when it was hard to find food.

34. Hanhej wal tas mero seguro ixkok’ulej ha wal atz’am atz’am ixkopayej.
ha-nhej wal tas mero seguro ix-ko-k’ul-e-j ha wal
ENF-solo INTS qué mero seguro PFV-A1P-hacer-DERIV-VTD ENF INTS

atz’am atz’am ix-ko-pay-e-j
CLF sal IPFV-A1P-quemar-DERIV-VTD
La única cosa segura que hacíamos era cocer la sal.
The only thing we would do for sure was to cook the salt.

35. Ha wal jun seguro ixkok’ulej ha wal te’ k’atzitz tzkokuch koti.
ha wal jun seguro ix-ko-k’ul-e-j ha wal te’ k’atzitz
ENF INTS uno seguro PFV-A1P-hacer-DERIV-VTD ENF INTS CLF leña

tz-ko-kuch kot-i
IPFV-A1P-cargar DIR.venir-VI
Lo más seguro que hacíamos era cargar mucha leña.
The most common thing we would do was carry a lot of firewood.

36. Ha heb’ winh komam pekataxo xapan k’e’ta sjenjab’ heb’ winh.
ha heb’ winh ko-mam pekataxo xap-an k’e’-ta
ENF PL CLF A1P-padre antes ropa.desgarrada-STAT DIR.subir-PRX

s-jenjab’ heb’ winh
A3-hombro PL CLF.PRON
Nuestros padres tenían los hombros de la ropa desgarrados.
Our fathers’ clothes were ripped at the shoulders.

37. Malaj tik tik manxalaj ixelamnaj nok’ slopil heb’ winh t’a jenjab’.
malaj tik tik man-xa-laj ix-el-am-n-aj nok’ s-lopil
NEG.EXT DEM DEM NEG-ya-NEG PFV-salir-DERIV-DERIV-VID CLF A3-capixay

heb’ winh t’a jenjab’
PL CLF.PRON PREP hombro
Ya no había nada, se deshacía el capixay en el hombro de ellos.
There was nothing, the capixay got torn up on their shoulders.

38. Ixelamnaj nok’ t’a sti’ syop heb’ winh.
ix-el-am-n-aj nok’ t’a s-ti’ s-yop heb’ winh
PFV-salir-DERIV-DERIV-VID CLF.PRON PREP A3-borde A3-nalga PL CLF.PRON
Se deshacía arriba en el borde de las nalgas de ellos.
It would tear up in the edge of their buttocks.

39. Manxalaj nok’ slopil heb’ winh chi’.
man-xa-laj nok’ s-lopil heb’ winh chi’
NEG-ya-NEG CLF A3-capixay PL CLF.PRON DEM
Ya ellos no tenían el capixay.
They no longer had the capixay.

40. Tob’ payoj ch’ilon tz’ek’ heb’ ix konun chichim pekti’ xchi tzkab’i, ha payoj
ch’ilon.
tob’ pay-oj ch’ilon tz-’ek’ heb’ ix ko-nun chichim pekti’
REP quemar-NMLZ ch’ilon IPFV-pasar PL CLF A1P-madre anciana anteriormente

xchi tz-k-ab’-i ha pay-oj ch’ilon
REP IPFV-A1P-escuchar-VI ENF quemar-NMLZ ch’ilon
Dicen que quemaban ch’ilon nuestras abuelas en el pasado. 33
They say that our grandmothers would do some ch’ilon-burning in the past.

41. Ha’onhxo tik jun, manxo hoklaj ch’ilon chi’ ixkopayej.
ha’-onh-xo tik jun man-xo hok-laj ch’ilon chi’ ix-ko-pay-e-j
ENF-B1P-ya DEM DISC NEG-ya IRR-NEG ch’ilon DEM IPFV-A1P-quemar-DERIV-VTD
Y nosotras ya pues, ya no era el ch’ilon que quemábamos.
And as for us, it wasn’t the ch’ilon that we would burn.

42. Haxo atz’am atz’am chi’ atz’am ay t’a yemk’och tik ha atz’am ixkopayej,
tzkokuch koti, tzkak’an k’e’ yib’an k’ak’.
ha-xo atz’am atz’am chi’ atz’am ay t’a y-em k’och
ENF-ya CLF sal DEM CLF.PRON EXT PREP A3-DIR.bajar DIR.llegar

tik ha atz’am ix-ko-pay-e-j tz-ko-kuch kot-i’
DEM ENF CLF.PRON IPFV-A1P-quemar-DERIV-VTD IPFV-A1P-cargar venir-VI

tz-k-ak’-an k’e’ y-ib’an k’ak’
IPFV-A1P-dar-DEP DIR. arriba A3-SR.encima fuego
La sal que estaba allá abajo es la que cocíamos, cargábamos y poníamos encima del fuego.
The salt down there was the one we cooked, carried, and put in the fire.

43. Tzkoyam kan tzonhk’e’ wa’an a las tres de la manyana ma a la una de la ma-
nyana tato kogana spet’ el atz’am.
tz-ko-yam kan tz-onh-k’e’ wa’-an a las tres de la
IPFV-A1P-empezar DIR.quedar IPFV-B1P-subir parado-STAT a las tres de la

manyana ma a la una de la manyana tato ko-gana
mañana o a la una de la mañana si A1P-ganas

s-pet’ el atz’am
A1S-dar.temprano DIR.salir CLF.PRON
Empezábamos con levantarnos a las tres de la mañana o a la una de la mañana si queríamos que saliera temprano (la sal).
We would begin by waking up at three in the morning or one in the morning if we wanted it (the salt) to be ready early.

44. Bweno haxo tz’aji tzkak’ej atz’am a la una de la manyana.
bweno ha-xo tz-’aj-i tz-k-ak’-e-j atz’am a la
bueno ENF-ya IPFV-estar-VI IPFV-A1P-poner-DERIV-VTD CLF.PRON a la

una de la manyana
una de la mañana
Bueno lo que pasa es que lo poníamos (el agua salina) a la una de la mañana.
Well what we would do was put it (the saltwater) at one in the morning.

45. A las dies de la nochxo tzkoluchan atz’am pero b’ut’ul ti’ tz’aji, jun pilon chi’.
a las dies de la noche-xo tz-ko-luch-an atz’am pero
a las diez de la noche-ya IPFV-A1P-mover-DEP CLF.PRON pero

b’ut’ul ti’ tz-’aj-i jun pilon chi’
lleno borde IPFV-estar-VI uno pilón DEM
A las diez de la noche la movemos (la sal) pero estaba lleno (sin agua), el pilón. 34
At ten at night we would take out the salt, but it would be full (without water), the pilón.

46. A: ¿Jantak tzkochi tzkochonh jun pilon t’a atz’am atz’am?
jantak tz-ko-chi tz-ko-chonh jun pilon t’a atz’am atz’am
cuánto IPFV-A1P-decir IPFV-A1P-vender uno pilón PREP CLF sal
¿A cuánto vendían un pilón de sal?
How much would one pilón of salt sell for?

47. X: Mero karo stojol.
mero karo s-tojol
mero caro A3-precio
Era muy elevado el precio.
The price was very high.

48. Tzkochi tzoch stojol - tzkochinaji tzoch dyes ketzal.
tz-ko-chi tz-och s-tojol tz-ko-chi-naj-i tz-och dyes ketzal
IPFV-A1P-decir IPFV-entrar A3-precio IPFV-A1P-decir-DERIV-VI IPFV-entrar diez quetzal
Salía el precio -digamos que salía a diez quetzales.
The price would go for-let’s say it would be ten quetzals.

49. Mato tzoch jun, mato dose ketzal tzkochonh jun pilon, pero malaj.
ma-to tz-och jun ma-to dose ketzal tz-ko-chonh
O-COMP IPFV-entrar DISC O-COMP doce quetzal IPFV-A1P-vender

jun pilon pero malaj
uno pilón pero NEG.EXT
O salía por, pues, o vendemos (ahora) el pilón a doce quetzales, pero no es nada.
Or it would go for, you know, or we (now) sell the pilón for twelve quetzales, but that’s nothing.

50. A: ¿Tas jun pilon chi’, jun?
tas jun pilon chi’ jun
qué uno pilón DEM DISC
¿Qué es un pilón, pues?
What is a pilón?

51. X: Ha pilon chi’ haton lum mayb’etzal chi’.
ha pilon chi’ ha-ton lum may-b’etz-al chi’
ENF pilón DEM ENF-COMP CLF cocer-CAUS-NMLZ DEM
El pilón es el recipiente para cocer la sal.
The pilón is a pot used to cook salt.

53. Haxo lum mayoj chi’ ha heb’ ix Ch’ichjoj ha heb’ ix tzb’o’an lu’um.
ha-xo lum mayoj chi’ ha heb’ ix Ch’ichjoj ha heb’ ix
ENF-ya CLF mayoj DEM ENF PL CLF Ch’ichjoj ENF PL CLF.PRON

tz-b’o’-an lu’um
IPFV-hacer-FA CLF.PRON
Las mujeres de Ch’ichjoj eran las que fabricaban el mayoj. 35
The women of Ch’ichjoj were the ones who made the mayoj.

53. Ha heb’ ix Ch’ichjoj ha heb’ ix tzb’o’an lu’um.
ha heb’ ix Ch’ichjoj ha heb’ ix tz-b’o’-an lu’um
ENF PL CLF Ch’ichjoj ENF PL CLF.PRON IPFV-hacer-FA CLF.PRON
Las mujeres de Ch’ichjoj son las que lo hacían.
The women of Ch’ichjoj were the ones who would do it.

54. Haxo t’a b’at kokuch kot lum chi’, lum mayoj chi’, t’a heb’ ix Ch’ichjoj chi’.
ha-xo t’a b’at ko-kuch kot lum chi’ lum mayoj chi’
ENF-ya PREP ir A1P-cargar DIR.venir CLF.PRON DEM CLF mayoj DEM

t’a heb’ ix Ch’ichjoj chi’
PREP PL CLF Ch’ichjoj DEM
Y entonces los buscábamos allá, los mayojes, de las mujeres de Ch’ichjoj.
And so then we would go get them over there, the mayojs, from the women of Ch’ichjoj.

55. Ha heb’ ix Ch’ichjoj chi’ tzyak’ emi, ha lum mas.
ha heb’ ix Ch’ichjoj chi’ tz-y-ak’ em-i ha lum mas
ENF PL CLF Ch’ichjoj DEM IPFV-A3-dar DIR.abajo-VI ENF CLF mas
Las de Ch’ichjoj usan “mas” (tipo de arena). 36
The women of Ch’ichjoj use “mas” (type of sand).

56. Tzb’at skal lu’um.
tz-b’at s-kal lu’um
IPFV-ir A3-mezclar CLF.PRON
Se mezcla.
It is mixed.

57. Ha lum mas chi’ b’ajtil sb’o’ heb’ ix t’a mayojal chi’.
ha lum mas chi’ b’ajtil tz-s-b’o’ heb’ ix t’a
ENF CLF mas DEM dónde IPFV-A3-hacer PL CLF.PRON PREP

mayoj-al chi’
mayoj-NML DEM
Esa arena (mas), la usaban las mujeres para hacer el mayoj.
That sand (mas), they would use it to make the mayoj.

58. Tzkomananxi jantak stojol lum mayoj chi’.
tz-ko-man-an-x-i jantak s-tojol lum mayoj chi’
IPFV-A1P-comprar-DEP-ya-VI cuánto A3-precio CLF mayoj DEM
Y comprábamos al precio que sea que cueste el mayoj.
And we would buy it at whatever price the mayoj would cost.

59. Ay lum stojol t’a sinko sentawo.
ay lum s-tojol t’a sinko sentawo
EXT CLF.PRON A3-precio PREP cinco centavo
Algunos costaban cinco centavos.
Some would cost five cents.

60. Ay lum stojol t’a dos-t’ay sinkwenta sentawo xchi.
ay lum s-tojol t’a dos t’ay sinkwenta sentawo xchi
EXT CLF.PRON A3-precio PREP dos PREP cincuenta centavo REP
Algunos costaban dos -cincuenta centavos, dicen.
Some would cost two-fifty cents, they say.

61. Komo ha pekatax chi’ ay k’en sinkwenta sentawo, ay k’en chab’ sentawo.
komo ha pekatax chi’ ay k’en sinkwenta sentawo ay k’en
como ENF antes DEM EXT CLF cincuenta centavo EXT CLF

chab’ sentawo
dos centavo
Como anteriormente había monedas de cincuenta centavos y había monedas de dos centavos.
Since in the past there were fifty cent coins and there were two cent coins.

62. Ha lum teniwak chi’ sinko len tzkotup lu’um.
ha lum te-niwak chi’ sinko len tz-ko-tup lu’um
ENF CLF.PRON INTS-grande DEM cinco centavo IPFV-A1P-pagar CLF.PRON
Las grandes las comprábamos a cinco lenes (centavos). 37
We bought the big ones for five lens (cents).

63. Haxo lum yunetak chi’, jun, tzkotup lum t’a chab’ sentawo.
ha-xo lum yunetak chi’ jun tz-ko-tup lum t’a chab’
ENF-ya CLF.PRON pequeño DEM DISC IPFV-A1P-pagar CLF.PRON PREP dos

sentawo
centavos
Y las pequeñas, pues, las comprábamos a dos centavos.
And the small ones, well, we would buy them for two cents.

64. Tzkotup lum t’ay - ay lum tzkotup pax t’ay chanhe’ sentawo, chanhe’
ketzal icha tikne’ik.
tz-ko-tup lum t’ay ay lum tz-ko-tup pax t’ay
IPFV-A1P-pagar CLF.PRON PREP EXT CLF.PRON IPFV-A1P-pagar DIR.volver PREP

chanh-e’ sentawo chanh-e’ ketzal icha tikne’ik
cuatro-CLF.NUM centavo cuatro-CLF.NUM quetzal como hoy
Lo comprábamos por -también pagábamos cuatro centavos, o cuatro quetzales, como ahora.
We would buy it for-we would also pay four cents or four quetzales, like today.

65. A: ¿Jantak tyempo tzyak’ lum tzek’anan lu’um?
jantak tyempo tz-y-ak’ lum tz-e-k’an-an lu’um
cuánto tiempo IPFV-A3-dar CLF.PRON IPFV-A2P-usar-DEP CLF.PRON
¿Cuánto tiempo se puede usar (el mayoj )?
How much time can it be used (the mayoj)?

66. X: Junelnhej b’iyaje tzkok’an lu’um.
jun-el-nhej b’iyaje tz-ko-k’an lu’um
uno-NMLZ-solo viaje IPFV-A1P-usar CLF.PRON
Lo usamos para un solo viaje (para un uso).
For only one trip do we use it (for one use).

67. A: ¿Tonhej tzek’an lum junelok?
to-nhej tz-e-k’an lum jun-el-ok?
COMP-solo IPFV-A2P-usar CLF.PRON uno-NMLZ-IRR
¿Solo lo usan una vez?
You only use it once?

68. X: Tzkok’an lu’um.
tz-ko-k’an lu’um
IPFV-A1P-usar CLF.PRON
Lo usamos.
We use it.

69. Yo haxo tz’aji yo to ha k’en machit tzkoti.
yo ha-xo tz-’aj-i yo to ha k’en machit tz-kot-i
DISC ENF-ya IPFV-estar-VI DISC COMP ENF CLF machete IPFV-venir-VI
Y luego lo que pasa es que tomamos el machete.
And then what happens is that we take the machete.

70. Tzkotz’eyan eli spatik.
tz-ko-tzey-an el-i s-patik
IPFV-A1P-raspar-DEP DIR.salir-VI A3-espalda
Y raspamos por detrás.
And we scrape it from behind.

71. Tato tewach’ yol lum chi’, jun, nuk’uk’i yol lum, yuj heb’ ix b’o’an chi’ yo,
tonhej tzkek’nhojlaj lum ixtik yo.
tato te-wach’ y-ol lum chi’ jun nuk’uk’i y-ol
si INTS-bien A3-SR.dentro CLF.PRON DEM DISC suave A3-SR.dentro

lum y-uj heb’ ix b’o’-an chi’ yo to-nhej
CLF.PRON A3-SR.por PL CLF.PRON hacer-FA DEM DISC COMP-solo

tz-kek’-nhoj-l-aj ich-tik yo
IPFV-empujar-agachar-DERIV-VID así-DEM DISC
Si está bien hecho todo allá por dentro -está suave- por quienes lo hacen, solo le dan una vuelta así.
If it’s well done there inside-it’s smooth- by the ones who make it, they just flip it around like this.

72. Tz’el kecheljok lu’um
tz-’el kecheljok lu’um
IPFV-salir pedazo.por.pedazo CLF.PRON
Sale por pedazos (el mayoj ).
It comes out in pieces (the mayoj ).

73. A: ¿Tzpoj b’at lum junelnhej?
tz-s-poj b’at lum jun-el-nhej
IPFV-A3-quebrar DIR.ir CLF.PRON uno-NMLZ-solo
¿Se quiebra de una vez?
Does it break right away?

74. X: Tzpoj b’at lum junelnhej.
tz-s-poj b’at lum jun-el-nhej
IPFV-A3-quebrar DIR.ir CLF.PRON uno-NMLZ-solo
Se quiebra de una vez.
It breaks right away.

75. Man tzak’ kok’anlaj lu’um.
man tz-yak’ ko-k’an-laj lu’um
NEG IPFV-a3-ar A1P-usar-NEG CLF.PRON
Ya no los usamos.
We don’t use them anymore.

76. Icha heb’ tikne’ik ha k’en palangana, xalchi’ ha lum lu’um.
icha tz-s-k’an-an heb’ tikne’ik ha k’en palangana xal-chi’
como IPFV-A3-usar-DEP PL hoy ENF CLF palangana antes-DEM

ha lum lu’um
ENF CLF barro
Hoy en día se usan palanganas (de metal); antes eran de barro.
Nowadays palanganas (metal bowls) are used; before they were made of clay.

77. Yujchi’ tato ha lum tzatz chuklaj yol chi’ jun yo to stz’eychaj lum t’a k’en
machit.
y-uj-chi’ tato ha lum tzatz chuklaj y-ol chi’ jun
A3-SR.por-DEM si ENF CLF.PRON duro malo A3-SR.dentro DEM DISC

yo to tz-tz’ey-chaj lum t’a k’en machit
DISC COMP IPFV-raspar-PAS CLF.PRON PREP CLF machete
Por eso si estaba duro o mal hecho por dentro, pues, lo raspaban con el machete.
That’s why when it was not well made on the inside, well, they would scrape it with the machete.

78. Stz’eychaj lu’um.
tz-tz’ey-chaj lu’um
IPFV-raspar-PAS CLF.PRON
Lo raspan.
It is scraped.

79. A: ¿Tzkan b’uk’an atz’am t’a lu’um?
tz-kan b’uk’-an atz’am t’a lu’um
IPFV-quedar pegado-STAT CLF.PRON PREP CLF.PRON
¿Se le quedaba pegada (la sal al mayoj )?
Would it (the salt) stay stuck to it (the mayoj )?

80. X: Tzkan b’uk’an atz’am t’a lu’um.
tz-kan b’uk’-an atz’am t’a lu’um
IPFV-quedar pegado-STAT CLF.PRON PREP CLF.PRON
Se le quedaba pegada.
It would stay stuck to it

81. Haxo wal lum nek’ek’i yol chi’ toton tz’el weknaj lum tz’a’i.
ha-xo wal lum nek’ek’i y-ol chi’ toton tz-’el
ENF-ya INTS CLF.PRON liso A3-SR.dentro DEM COMP IPFV-salir

weknaj lum tz’a’-i
de.un.golpe CLF.PRON quemar-VI
Ahora el que está bien liso por dentro es el que sale de un golpe quemadísimo.
Now the one that is perfect comes out all at once really burnt.

82. Tzilumtzilum tz’aj lum stz’a’i.
tzilum-tzilum tz-’aj lum tz-tz’a’-i
rajado-rajado IPFV-estar CLF.PRON IPFV-quemarse-VI
Se pone muy rajado al quemarse.
It becomes cracked into many pieces as it burns.

83. Sakwekinak tz’aj lum stz’a’i.
sak-wek-i-nak tz-’aj lum tz-tz’a’-i
blanco-SUF-VI-STAT IPFV-estar CLF.PRON IPFV-quemar-VI
Se pone muy blanco al quemarse.
It becomes very white as it burns. 38

84. A: ¿Jaye’ lum sb’o’ t’a jun k’u, jun?
jay-e’ lum s-b’o’ t’a jun k’u jun
cuánto-CLF.NUM CLF.PRON A3-hacer PREP uno día DISC
¿Cuántos hacen al día, pues?
How many are made per day?

85. X: Haxo bweno heb’ ix tz’ak’ani, pwede ser, sb’o’ lum t’ay -
ha-xo bweno heb’ ix tz-’ak’-an-i pwede ser s-b’o’ lum t’ay
ENF-ya bueno PL CLF.PRON IPFV-dar-FA-VI puede ser A3-hacer CLF.PRON PREP
Bueno las que lo fabrican, puede ser que, hacen -
Well the ones that make it, it’s possible that, they make -

86. Ha tzyik’ti’ej jun ix t’ayin tob’:
ha tz-y-ik’-ti’-e-j jun ix t’ay-in tob’
ENF IPFV-A3-cargar-boca-DERIV-VTD uno CLF.PRON PREP-B1S REP
Es lo que me cuenta una de ellas:
This is what one of them told me:

87. “¿Jantak lum mayoj tzwik’ k’e’ wa’an tz’ek’ k’u?” - xchi ix.
jantak lum mayoj tz-w-ik’ k’e’ wa’-an tz-’ek’ k’u
cuánto CLF mayoj IPFV-A1S-cargar DIR.arriba parado-STAT IPFV-pasar día

xchi ix
REP CLF.PRON
“¿Cuántos mayojes levanto al día?” -me dijo.
“How many mayojs do I bring up each day?” - she said.

88. “Tzwik’ k’e’wa’an jun syete, jun ocho lum mayb’etzal chi’.”
tz-w-ik’ k’e’ wa’-an jun syete jun ocho lum
IPFV-A1S-cargar DIR.arriba parado-STAT unos siete unos ocho CLF

may-b’etz-al chi’
cocer-CAUS-NMLZ DEM
“Levanto unos siete u ocho mayb’etz.”
“I bring up about seven or eight mayb’etz.”  39

89. “Mero b’ab’el wal tzintet’ek’ej k’ejmi lu’um.”
mero b’ab’el wal tz-in-te-t’ek’-e-j k’ejmi lu’um
mero primero INTS IPFV-A1S-INTS-pisotear-DERIV-VTD vuelta CLF.PRON
“Primero lo pisoteo (el barro) mucho dándole vueltas.”
“First, I stomp it (the clay) a lot and twist it.”

90. “Te’och yib’ lum yo.”
te-och y-ib’ lum yo
INTS-entrar A3-fuerza CLF.PRON DISC
“Así agarra fuerza.”
“This way it becomes stronger.”

91. “Ixtotik tzinb’o’an lu’um.”
ich-to-tik tz-in-b’o’-an lu’um
así-COMP-DEM IPFV-A1S-hacer-DEP CLF.PRON
“Después los hago.”
“After, I make them.”

92. “B’i’an yujchi’ jun syete ma jun dyes tzinb’o’ tz’ek’ k’u” - xchi ix tik yujchi’.
b’i’an y-uj-chi’ jun syete ma jun dyes tz-in-b’o’ tz-’ek
entonces A3-SR.por-DEM unos siete o unos diez IPFV-A1S-hacer IPFV-pasar

k’u xchi ix tik y-uj-chi’
día REP CLF.PRON DEM A3-SR.por-DEM
“Entonces por eso hago unos siete o diez al día” - me dijo ella.
“So this is why I make about seven to ten per day” - she told me.

93. Ha’onhxo tik max kil wallaj tas yutej heb’ ix komo to toxonhej b’at koman koti.
ha’-onh-xo tik max k-il wal-laj tas y-ut-e-j heb’
ENF-B1P-ya DEM NEG.IPFV A1P-ver INTS NEG qué A3-hacer-DERIV-VTD PL

ix komo to to-xo-nhej b’at ko-man kot-i
CLF.PRON como COMP COMP-ya-solo IR A1P-comprar DIR.venir-VI
Ya nosotras no veíamos cómo lo hacían ellas porque solo íbamos a comprar.
Now we didn’t see how they would make them because we would only go to buy.

94. Ha’inxo tik, jun, ha ixwak’ prowal ixinb’o’an atz’am, to b’at wik’ kot jun syete
lum ma jun seys lum yo.
ha’-in-xo jun ha ix-w-ak’ prowal ix-in-b’o’-an atz’am to
ENF-B1S-ya DISC cuando PFV-A1S-dar probar PFV-B1S-hacer-DEP CLF.PRON COMP

b’at w-ik’ kot jun syete lum ma jun seys lum yo
ir A1S-cargar DIR.venir unos siete CLF o unos seis CLF.PRON DISC
Yo pues, cuando yo intenté hacerla (la sal), traía unos siete o seis (mayoj).
Me, when I tried to cook it (the salt), I would bring seven or six (mayojs).

95. B’ab’el tzinb’o’ kan b’at hinyokech.
b’ab’el tz-in-b’o’ kan b’at hin-yokech
primero IPFV-A1S-hacer DIR.quedar DIR.ir A1S-tenamaste
Primero, arreglo mis tenamastes. 40
First I would put together my tenamastes.

96. Ixtotik tzwak’an kan b’at lu’um.
ich-to-tik tz-w-ak’-an kan b’at lu’um
así-COMP-DEM IPFV-A1S-dar-DEP DIR.quedar DIR.ir CLF.PRON
Después, comienzo a ponerlos (los mayojes).
Next, I would start placing them (the mayojs).

97. Pero to tzkak’ k’och tanh yich lu’um.
pero to tz-k-ak’ och tanh y-ich lu’um
pero COMP IPFV-A1P-dar DIR.llegar cal A3S-SR.fondo CLF.PRON
Pero le pongo cal en su base.
But I would put lime at their base.

98. A: ¿Ham k’en k’en tzeyak’ ochi?
ham k’en k’en tz-ey-ak’ och-i
DUB CLF piedra IPFV-A2P-dar DIR.entrar-VI
¿Es piedra lo que usaban ustedes?
You used stone?

99. X: Ha k’en yokech chi’ ha k’en tzb’at t’ilanh.
ha k’en yokech chi’ ha k’en tz-b’at t’ilanh
ENF CLF tenamaste DEM ENF CLF.PRON IPFV-go alineado
El tenamaste iba alineado.
The tenamaste would be lined up. 41

100. Bweno tzb’at komayoj chi’, b’i’an.
bweno tz-b’at ko-mayoj chi’ b’i’an
bueno IPFV-go A1P-mayoj DEM entonces
Bueno iba nuestro mayoj, pues.
Well we would put the mayoj, you know.

101. A: ¿Tom chab’ oxe’ mayoj chi’ tzk’e’ kan, junelnhej, jun?
to-m chab’ ox-e’ mayoj chi’ tz-k’e’ kan jun-el-nhej
COMP-DUB dos tres-CLF.NUM mayoj DEM IPFV-subir DIR.quedar uno-NMLZ-solo

jun
DISC
¿Ponían dos o tres de esos mayojes al mismo tiempo o solo uno, pues?
Would you put two or three mayojs at the same time or only one?

102. Es ke to tato jun pitan tonhej tzyak’ perder te’ k’ak’.
es ke to tato jun pit-an to-nhej tz-y-ak’ perder
es que COMP si uno acostado-STAT COMP-solo IPFV-A3-dar perder

te’ k’ak’
CLF fuego
Es que, si solo se pone uno, se gasta el fuego.
The thing is that if you only put one, the fire is wasted.

103. Haxo tato tzke’ junok sinko junok seys, entonse tzkot b’at te’ k’atzitz chi’ ixtik.
ha-xo tato tz-k’e’ jun-ok sinko jun-ok seys entonse
ENF-ya si IPFV-subir uno-IRR cinco uno-IRR seis entonces

tz-kot tz-b’at te’ k’atzitz chi’ ich-tik
IPFV-venir IPFV-ir CLF leña DEM así-DEM
Ahora, si se suben unos cinco o seis, entonces se vienen y se van las leñas así.
Now, if you put five or six, then the logs come and go.

104. Tzkot te’ t’a junxo kaxep lugar.
tz-kot te’ t’a jun-xo kaxep lugar
IPFV-venir CLF.PRON PREP uno-ya lado lugar
Se vienen por otro lado.
They come on the other side.

105. Haxo t’a skal chi’ lugar sk’ak’alej sb’a.
ha-xo t’a s-kal chi’ lugar tz-s-k’ak’-al-e-j s-b’a
ENF-ya PREP A3-medio DEM lugar IPFV-A3-fuego-NML-DERIV-VTD A3-SR.REFL
Y luego se calienta por en medio.
And then it heats up in the middle.

106. Yujchi’ munil tzb’at te’ k’atzitz t’a jun tik.
y-uj-chi’ munil tz-b’at te’ k’atzitz t’a jun tik
A3-SR.por-DEM solo IPFV-ir CLF leña PREP uno DEM
Por eso solo van las leñas aquí.
That’s why the firewood simply goes here.

107. Entonse tzkot te’ t’a junxo yo.
entonse tz-kot te’ t’a jun-xo yo
entonces IPFV-venir CLF.PRON PREP uno-ya DISC
Entonces, se mueve ya para allá.
And so, it moves over there.

108. T’inhan sb’a lum, b’i’an.
t’inh-an s-b’a lum b’i’an
recto-STAT A3-RN.REFL CLF.PRON entonces
Se colocan parados (los mayojes), pues.
They (the mayojs) are placed straight up.

109. Munil tzyak’ k’ak’ chi’.
munil tz-y-ak’ k’ak’ chi’
solo IPFV-A3-dar fuego DEM
El fuego queda encendido solo.
And the fire burns by itself.

110. Pero tato ha portuna yaji, wach’ olchax och atz’am t’a lu’um.
pero tato ha portuna y-aj-i wach’ ol-cha-x och
pero si ENF suerte A3-estar-VI bien PROSP-recibir-ya DIR.entrar

atz’am t’a lu’um
CLF.PRON PREP CLF.PRON
Si está la suerte, se hace bien (la sal) en el mayoj.
But if luck is on your side, you receive a lot of it (the salt) from it (the mayoj).

111. Tato chuklaj lu’um, yaxto lu’um, yuj heb’ ix tzb’o’ani yo, olek’ husnaj lu’um.
tato chuklaj lu’um yax-to lu’um y-uj heb’ ix
si mal CLF.PRON verde-todavía CLF.PRON A3-SR.por PL CLF.PRON

tz-b’o’-an-i yo ol-ek’ husnaj lu’um
IPFV-hacer-FA-VI DISC PROSP-pasar derramar CLF.PRON
Si está mal hecho (el mayoj ), o si está crudo, por las que lo hacen, se revienta el líquido (el agua salada) del mayoj.
If it’s not well made (the mayoj), or if it’s raw, by the ones who make it, then the liquid (the saltwater) leaks through it.

112. I tzkik’an koti tzkok’ilan lu’um.
i tz-k-ik’-an kot-i tz-ko-k’il-an lu’um
y IPFV-A1P-cargar-DEP DIR.venir-VI IPFV-A1P-sellar-DEP CLF.PRON
Y los traemos a sellar.
And we bring them to get sealed.

113. Tzkotzak eli, tzkok’ilani, tzkak’anxi b’at junelxo yib’an k’ak - ¡te pwersa!
tz-ko-tzak el-i tz-ko-k’il-an-i tz-k-ak’-an-x-i
IPFV-A1P-agarrar.rápido DIR.salir-VI IPFV-A1P-sellar-DEP-VI IPFV-A1P-dar-DEP-ya-VI

b’at jun-el-xo y-ib’an k’ak’ te pwersa
DIR.ir uno-NMLZ-ya A3-SR.sobre fuego INTS esfuerzo
Lo quitamos rápido, lo sellamos, y lo ponemos de nuevo en el fuego - ¡muchísimo esfuerzo!
We take it out quickly, repair it, and then we put it back in the fire - so much effort!

114. Tzscha’ sb’a lum yet’ atz’am.
tz-s-cha’ s-b’a lum y-et’ atz’am
PFV-A3-recibir A3-SR.REFL CLF.PRON A3-SR.con CLF.PRON
(El mayoj) agarra bien (la sal).
It (the mayoj ) receives it (the salt) well.

115. Haxo wal lum wach’ chi’ jun, tonhej b’at tzkilan pax kaneli mach ix tewach’
tz’aj lum yikchi’ tzb’o’an chi’ yo.
ha-xo wal lum wach’ chi’ jun to-nhej b’at tz-k-il-an
ENF-ya INTS CLF.PRON bien DEM DISC COMP-solo ir IPFV-A1P-ver-DEP

pax kan el-i mach ix te-wach’ tz-’aj lum
DIR.volver DIR.quedar DIR.salir-VI quién CLF.PRON INTS-bien IPFV-estar CLF.PRON

y-ik-chi’ tz-b’o’-an chi’ yo
A3-SR.por-DEM IPFV-hacer-FA DEM DISC
Y si es bueno, pues, simplemente reconocíamos a quienes les queda bien cuando lo hacen, pues.
And if it’s good, well we would simply recognize which of them makes it well when they do it.

116. Haxo t’a heb’ ix chi’ tzkoman kot lu’um.
ha-xo t’a heb’ ix chi’ tz-ko-man kot lu’um
ENF-ya PREP PL CLF.PRON DEM IPFV-A1P-comprar DIR.venir CLF.PRON
Y a ellas les comprábamos.
And we would buy them (the mayojs) from them (the women).

117. Haxo heb’ ix chi’ kak’ siguir komanani.
ha-xo heb’ ix chi’ k-ak’ sigir ko-man-an-i
ENF-ya PL CLF.PRON DEM A1P-dar seguir A1P-comprar-DEP-VI
Y con ellas seguíamos comprando.
And we would continue to buy from them.

118. Haxo heb’ ix chuklaj yo, tzkoyum kan el heb’ ix.
ha-xo heb’ ix chuklaj yo tz-ko-yum kan el
ENF-ya PL CLF.PRON mal DISC IPFV-A1P-tirar DIR.quedar DIR.salir

heb’ ix
PL CLF.PRON
Y las que lo hacían mal, las abandonábamos.
And those who would make it badly, we would just let them go.

119. Icha chi’ stzolalil tzkob’o’an atz’am atz’am tik.
icha chi’ s-tzolal-il tz-ko-b’o’-an atz’am atz’am tik
como DEM A3-forma-NML IPFV-A1P-hacer-DEP CLF sal DEM
Esa era la manera de hacer la sal.
That’s the way we made the salt.

120. Haxo pax, chajtil tzkot och atz’am yol chi’, jun, nitzb’an chekel -
ha-xo pax chajtil tz-kot och atz’am y-ol chi’
ENF-ya después cuando IPFV-venir DIR.entrar CLF.PRON A3-SR.dentro DEM

jun nitz-b’-an chekel
DISC mover-INCO-DEP claro
Y después, cuando la sal empieza adentro, pues, cuando se vuelve clara-
And then, when the salt starts inside, you know when it’s becoming clear-

121. Tato wach’ tz’aji atz’am, wach’xej atz’am, toton icha nok’ stzukutz swakax tz’aj
sat.
tato wach’ tz-’aj-i atz’am wach’-x-e-j atz’am toton icha
si bien IPFV-estar-VI CLF.PRON bien-ya-DERIV-VTD CLF.PRON COMP como

nok’ s-tzukutz wakax tz’-aj s-sat
CLF A3-panza vaca IPFV-estar A3-SR.encima
Si está bien (la sal), si y se ve bien, entonces sale como la panza de una vaca encima (del mayoj).
If it’s good (the salt), if it looks good, then it comes out like the belly of a cow on the surface (of the mayoj ).

122. Toton poskiltak tz’aj k’e’ta, entonses to hal olajok.
toton poskiltak tz-’aj k’e’-ta entonses to hal ol-aj-ok
COMP burbuja IPFV-estar DIR.subir-PRX entonces COMP pesado PROSP-estar-IRR
Entonces salen burbujas por arriba y entonces se va a poner pesado.
And so bubbles come out and so it will become heavy.

123. To k’ojank’olal oloch k’enal.
to k’ojank’olal ol-och k’en-al
COMP despacio PROSP-entrar piedra-NML
Poco a poco se forma una piedra.
Little by little, a stone starts to take form.

124. Haxo pax tato chuk sna’an atz’am, jun, max sk’enejlaj sb’a atz’am, yo.
ha-xo pax tato chuk s-na’-an atz’am jun max
ENF-ya también si mal A3-pensar-DEP CLF.PRON DISC NEG.IPFV

s-k’en-e-j-laj s-b’a atz’am yo
A3-piedra-DERIV-VTD-NEG A3-REFL CLF.PRON DISC
Ahora luego si (la sal) sale mal, no llega a ser piedra.
Now if it (the salt) comes out badly, it does not form rocks.

125. Tzb’at k’ak’ok chuklaj.
tz-b’at k’ak’-ok chuklaj
IPFV-ir fuego-IRR mal
Se derrama del fuego mal (el agua salada).
It spills out of the fire badly (the saltwater).

126. Waltik tz’ek’ husnajok entonses tonhej olkak’ perder te’ kok’atzitz.
wal-tik tz-’ek’ husnaj-ok entonses to-nhej ol-k-ak’ perder
INTS-DEM IPFV-pasar derramar-IRR entonces COMP-solo PROSP-A1P-dar perder

te’ ko-k’atzitz
CLF A1P-leña
Al instante se derrama entonces vamos a gastar nuestra leña.
It spills over immediately, and so we’ll waste our firewood.

127. ¿Mach oltupan te’ t’ayonh?
mach ol-tup-an te’ t’ay-onh
quién PROSP-pagar-FA CLF.PRON PREP-B1P
¿Quién nos la va a pagar a nosotras?
Who is going to pay us for it?

128. Malaj mach porke tonhej tzskixtej el te’.
malaj mach porke to-nhej tz-s-kix-t-e-j el te’
NEG.EXT quién porque COMP-solo IPFV-A3-desperdiciar-DERIV-DERIV-VTD DIR.salir CLF.PRON
Nadie, porque solo se desperdicia.
No one, because it is wasted.

129. A: ¿Ha’ex b’at heyik’ te’?
Ha’-ex b’at hey-ik’ te’
ENF-B2P ir A2P-cargar CLF.PRON
¿Ustedes la iban a traer (la leña)?
You (pl) would go get it (the firewood)?

130. X: Ha’onh b’at kokuch te’ t’a kopatik.
ha’-onh b’at ko-kuch te’ t’a ko-patik
ENF-A1P ir A1P-cargar CLF.PRON PREP A1P-back
Nosotras la cargábamos en la espalda.
We would carry it on our backs.

131. A: ¿Haxo pax atz’am jun tom ay mach tzmanan atz’am?
ha-xo pax atz’am jun to-m ay mach tz-man-an atz’am
ENF-ya también CLF.PRON DISC COMP-DUB EXT quién IPFV-comprar-FA CLF.PRON
¿Y luego la sal, había quienes la compraban?
And then the salt, were there any people who would buy it?

132. X: Haxo atz’am jun, komo ha pekatax chi’, to ha jun wakwanh winakil tz’och
junjun k’u t’ay atz’am -
ha-xo atz’am jun komo ha pekatax chi’ to ha jun wak-wanh
ENF-ya CLF.PRON DISC como ENF antes DEM COMP ENF uno seis-CLF.NUM

winak-il tz-’och junjun k’u t’ay atz’am
winak-NML IPFV-entrar cada día PREP CLF.PRON
Y la sal, pues, como anteriormente, eran seis hombres que la trabajaban.
And the salt, well since before, there were six men working with it.

133. Tonses: ¿jantak tzyik’ junjun wakwanh winakil chi’?
tonses jantak tz-y-ik’ junjun wak-wanh winak-il chi’
entonces cuánto IPFV-A3-cargar cada SEIS-CLF.NUM hombre-NML DEM
Entonces ¿cuántas les tocaba a cada uno de los seis hombres?
So how many would each of the six men have?

134. Waktak ch’ub’ tzyik’ junjun heb’ winh.
wak-tak ch’ub’ tz-y-ik’ junjun heb’ winh
seis-PL tinaja IPFV-A3-cargar cada PL CLF.PRON
Seis tinajas les tocaba cargar a cada uno de ellos.
They would each have to carry six saltwater jars.

135. Komo ha heb’ winh ay och yol jusgado tz’ik’an atz’am pekataxo.
komo ha heb’ winh ay och y-ol jusgado
como ENF PL CLF.PRON EXT DIR.salir A3-SR.dentro juzgado

tz-’ik’-an atz’am pekataxo
IPFV-cargar-FA CLF.PRON antes
Eran ellos que estaban en el juzgado que se la llevaban (la sal) antes.
Those who were in the courthouse were the ones who would take it (the salt) before.

136. Ha heb’ winh tzyik’ atz’am winh junch’ub’ yuj, jun.
ha heb’ winh tz-y-ik’ atz’am winh jun-ch’ub’ y-uj jun
ENF PL CLF.PRON IPFV-A3-cargar CLF.PRON CLF.PRON uno-tinaja A3-RN.por DISC
A ellos les tocaba una tinaja.
They would get one saltwater jar.

137. Tz’elta wakch’ub’ winh alkal.
tz-’el-ta wak-ch’ub’ winh alkal
IPFV-salir-PRX seis-tinaja CLF alcalde
Y seis tinajas iban para el alcalde.
And six saltwater jars were for the mayor.

138. Tz’elta wakch’ub’ winh rejidor.
tz-’el-ta wak-ch’ub’ winh rejidor
IPFV-salir-PRX seis-tinaja CLF regidor
Seis tinajas iban para el regidor.
Six saltwater jars would go to the councilperson.

139. Tz’elta wakch’ub’ machtak heb’ winh ay och t’a yol chi’.
tz-’el-ta wak-ch’ub’ mach-tak heb’ winh ay och t’a
IPFV-salir-PRX SEIS-tinaja quién-PL PL CLF.PRON EXT DIR.entrar PREP

y-ol chi’
A3-SR.dentro DEM
Seis tinajas iban para los que estaban allá dentro (del juzgado).
Six saltwater jars would go to those who are in there (the courthouse).

140. Entonse ha heb’ winh chi’ tzchonhanxi el yikchi’ yo.
entonse ha heb’ winh chi’ tz-chonh-an-x-i el y-ik-chi’ yo
entonces ENF PL CLF.PRON DEM IPFV-vender-FA-ya-VI DIR.salir A3-SR.por-DEM DISC
Entonces son aquellos hombres que salían a vender.
Therefore, it’s these men who would go out to sell.

141. Ha’onhxo tik jun, komo malaj heb’ winh kik chi’ ay ochi, tonhej tzkoman t’a
heb’ winh.
ha-’onh-xo tik jun komo malaj heb’ winh k-ik chi’
ENF-B1P-ya DEM DISC como NEG.EXT PL CLF A1P-SR.suyo DEM

ay och-i to-nhej tz-ko-man t’a heb’ winh
EXT DIR.entrar-VI COMP-solo IPFV-A1P-comprar PREP PL CLF.PRON
Y nosotras como no teníamos representantes allí, solo les comprábamos a ellos.
And since we didn’t have any representatives there, we only bought from them.

142. ¿Jaye’ tzkotupu’?
jay-e’ tz-ko-tup-u’
cuánto-CLF.NUM IPFV-A1P-pagar-VT
¿Cuánto pagábamos?
How much would we pay?

143. Wake’ sentawo tzkotup jun, wakch’ub’ chi’ to sentawo tak uktawo.
wak-e’ sentawo tz-ko-tup jun wak-ch’ub’ chi’ to
seis-CLF.NUM centavo IPFV-A1P-pagar DISC seis-tinaja DEM COMP

sentawo tak uktawo
centavo PL octavo
Pagábamos seis centavos, pues, seis tinajas valían un centavo por cada octavo de tinaja.
We paid six cents, six saltwater jars were worth one cent for every eighth of a jar.

144. Haxo pax yo ix-k’e’i.
haxo pax yo ix-k’e’-i
ENF-ya también DISC IPFV-subir-VI
Y desde entonces, subió (el precio).
And from then on, it rose (the price).

145. K’e’ k’och t’a dose ketzal.
k’e’ k’och t’a dose ketzal
subir DIR.llegar PREP doce quetzal
Llegó a subir a doce quetzales.
It got to rise to twelve quetzals.

146. Komanan atz’am t’ay uktawo.
ko-man-an atz’am t’ay uktawo
A1P-comprar-DEP CLF.PRON PREP octavo
La comprábamos (la sal) por octavos.
We would buy it (the salt) by eighths.

147. A: ¿Tom jab’tzin sjaj atz’am yikchi’, yujchi’ ha heb’ winh tzchonhan-?
to-m jab’tzin s-jaj atz’am y-ik-chi’ y-uj-chi’
COMP-DUB poco A3-nacimiento CLF.PRON A3-SR.por-DEM A3-SR.por-DEM

ha heb’ winh tz-chonh-an
ENF PL CLF.PRON IPFV-vender-FA
¿Era poca la cantidad (de sal) antes, por eso ellos vendían-?
Were there little amounts of it (the salt) before, this is why they would sell-?

148. X: Hi jun, ha pekatax chi’ komo to ha t’a winh ha winh kontrol de las minas
chi’-
hi jun ha pekatax chi’ komo to ha t’a winh
SÍ DISC ENF antes DEM como COMP ENF PREP CLF.PRON

ha winh kontrol de las minas chi’
ENF CLF control de las minas DEM
Sí anteriormente, como él que estaba a cargo de las minas-
Yes, before, like the one that was in charge of the mines-

149. Hanhej ichok tikne’ik.
ha-nhej ich-ok tikne’ik
ENF-solo como-IRR hoy
Es justo como hoy.
It’s just like today.

150. Komo ay och heb’ winh kontrol chi’.
komo ay och heb’ winh kontrol chi’
como EXT DIR.entrar PL CLF control DEM
Hay los controladores.
There’s the controllers.

151. Ha heb’ winh chi’ tz’ilani jantak tzyik’an suma heb’ winh.
ha heb’ winh chi’ tz-’il-an-i jantak tz-y-ik’-an suma
ENF PL CLF.PRON DEM IPFV-ver-FA-VI cuánto IPFV-A3-cargar-DEP sumar

heb’ winh
PL CLF.PRON
Y ellos son los que vigilan cuánto se suma.
And they’re the ones who verify how much is added up.

152. ¡Jantak stuminal chi’ tzyik’ heb’ winh!
jantak s-tumin-al chi’ tz-y-ik’ heb’ winh
cuánto A3-dinero-NML DEM IPFV-A3-cargar PL CLF.PRON
¡Cuánto dinero se llevaban ellos!
How much money they would gather!

153. Pero yo korrido tzk’e’ latz’an t’a junjun k’u, junjun k’u.
pero yo korrido tz-k’e’ latz’-an t’a junjun k’u junjun k’u
pero DISC corrido IPFV-subir amontonar-STAT PREP Cada día cada día
Pero así de corrido, hacían montones cada día, cada día.
Non-stop, they made tons of money each day, each day.

154. Wakwanh winakil tz’ochi, jaye’ ik’ ek’ hekwentan ek’, jaye’ tzk’e’ k’och t’a jun
wakwanh winakil chi’, t’a waktak uktawo t’a waktakch’ub’ chi’.
wak-wanh winak-il tz-’och-i jay-e’ ik’ ek’
seis-CLF.NUM hombre-NML IPFV-entrar-VI cuánto-CLF.NUM cargar DIR.pasar

he-kwentan ek’ jay-e’ tz-k’e’ k’och t’a jun
A2P-cuenta DIR.pasar cuánto-CLF.NUM IPFV-subir DIR.llegar PREP uno

wak-wanh winak-il chi’ t’a wak-tak uktawo t’a
seis-CLF.NUM hombre-NML DEM PREP seis-PL octavo PREP

wak-tak-ch’ub’ chi’
seis-PL-tinaja DEM
Seis hombres entran a hacer su cuenta de cuánto recibían cada uno de estos seis hombres, por cada seis octavos, por cada seis tinajas.
Six men would enter to calculate how much they would each receive, for every six eighths, for every six saltwater jars.

155. A: ¿Tato wakwanh heb’ winh yo waktak pax atz’am - tik waktakch’ub’?
tato wak-wanh heb’ winh yo wak-tak pax atz’am tik
si seis-CLF.NUM PL CLF.PRON DISC seis-PL volver CLF.PRON DEM

wak-tak ch’ub’
seis-PL tinaja
¿Si ellos son seis, entonces vuelven con seis porciones de sal cada uno - este, seis tinajas cada uno?
If they’re six, then they take six portions of salt each - uhm, six saltwater jars each?

156. X: Hi, wakwanh heb’ winh.
hi wak-wanh heb’ winh
sí seis-CLF.NUM PL CLF.PRON
Sí, son seis.
Yes, they’re six.

157. A: ¿Treyntay seys?
treynta-y seys
treinta-y seis
¿Treinta y seis?
Thirty-six?

158. X: Treyntay seys uktawo tzk’e’ta.
treynta-y seys uktawo tz-k’e’-ta
treinta-y seis octavo IPFV-subir-PRX
Sacaban treinta y seis octavos.
They would take out thirty-six eighths.

159. I ay yuktawo winh rejidor tz’elta.
i ay y-uktawo winh rejidor tz-’el-ta
y EXT A3-octavo CLF regidor IPFV-salir-PRX
Y tiene el regidor su octavo.
And the councilperson has his eighth.

160. Ay yuktawo - ay atz’am pax yik winh kontrol chi’.
ay y-uktawo ay atz’am pax y-ik winh kontrol chi’
EXT A3-octavo EXT CLF.PRON volver A3-SR.por CLF controlador DEM
Y hay un octavo - uno (mayoj de sal) que se devuelve al controlador.
And there’s one eighth - one (mayoj of salt) that goes to the controller.

161. Bweno hato tzyal winh kontrol tato spayej atz’am winh yo, t’a spat winh
olk’och atz’am.
bweno ha-to tz-y-al winh kontrol tato tz-s-pay-e-j
bueno ENF-COMP IPFV-A3-decir CLF controlador si IPFV-A3-quemar-DERIV-VTD

atz’am winh yo t’a s-pat winh ol-k’och atz’am
CLF.PRON CLF.PRON DISC PREP A3-casa CLF.PRON PROSP-llegar CLF.PRON
Bueno, el controlador decide si la va a quemar (la sal) para que lo llevan para su casa.
Well, the controller decides if he’s going to cook it (the salt), so that they will bring it to his home.

162. Hato tzyal winh kontrol tato tzschonh el winh yo.
ha-to tz-y-al winh kontrol tato tz-s-chonh el
ENF-COMP IPFV-A3-decir CLF controlador si IPFV-A3-vender DIR.salir

winh yo
CLF.PRON DISC
O él decide si se vende.
Or he decides whether it is sold.

163. Ha’onhxo tik tzkomay atz’am chi’ tzkomana’.
ha’-onh-xo tik tz-ko-may atz’am chi’ tz-ko-man-a’
ENF-B1P-ya DEM IPFV-A1P-tostar CLF.PRON DEM IPFV-A1P-comprar-VT
Ya nosotras cocemos la sal que compramos.
And now us, we cook the salt that we buy.

164. Icha chi’ wistorya’il b’ajtil ixkomay atz’am atz’am chi’.
icha chi’ w-istorya’-il b’ajtil ix-ko-may atz’am atz’am chi’
como DEM A1S-historia-NML dónde PFV-A1P-tostar CLF sal DEM
Así es mi historia de cuando cocíamos la sal.
That’s my story of how we would cook the salt.

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1 We want to express our gratitude to Avilio Diego, Paulina Elias, Nick Hopkins, Gemma Huang, Cora Lesure, Sarah Mihuc, and Matin Pablo for their help, feedback and support at different stages of this work, as well as two anonymous reviewers and the co-editors of Tlalocan XXVII, Carolyn O’Meara and Karen Dakin, for their valuable feedback. We also want to thank the personnel of the Comunidad Lingüística Chuj for their logistical support in the project Chuj Electronic Database Creation: Documentation and Revitalization of a Mayan Language, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada SSHRC. Our special thanks go to the people who were part of the data collection, such as Xuwan.
2 For more information regarding the cultural significance of atz’am k’ik’ atz’am for the Chuj people, including stories surrounding the origin of the salt, see Piedrasanta Herrera 2009, section 3.1.
3 The website of AILLA can be reached at the following link: https://ailla.utexas.org/. The original narrative is entitled “Juana’s personal life”.
4 Two dialects of Chuj are generally recognized (Hopkins 1967; Maxwell 1982; Buenrostro 2013): The San Mateo Ixtatán dialect and the San Sebastián Coatán dialect. Though the Chuj spoken in the municipality of San Benito Nentón features some differences, it is usually categorized as part of the San Mateo Ixtatán dialect (Buenrostro, 2013).
5 Hopkins (1967) states that [w] is only used in environments which appear in Spanish loanwords, and <w> is realized as [v] in all Chuj words. Maxwell (1982), on the other hand, states that [w] is used in all environments except before consonants, where it becomes [β] or [v]. It is possible therefore that the range of allophones for the sound written as <w> varies or has varied across different variants of Chuj.
6 Note, however, that in fast speech, word-medial glottal stops are not always perceived. For instance, the segment lu’um is sometimes realized as [lu:m], or b’o’an as [boan]. We will not represent these alternations in the orthography and will always include the glottal stop symbol between adjacent vowels.
7 Buenrostro (2013b) glosses the “inalienable” use of -Vl as genitive (GEN) and the “non-specific” use as “abstractive” (ABST).
8 The progressive aspect triggers a split in the otherwise ergative alignment pattern and is argued in Coon & Carolan 2017 and Coon & Royer 2020 to involve an embedded nominalized clause; see e.g. Zavala 2017 for similar patterns in other Mayan languages.
9 The translation for the directional in the third column of Table 6 is only provided for illustrative uses. It is often the case that the meaning of directionals gets bleached when combined with verbs. See, for instance, examples (24) and (25), where it is not clear that the directional conveys a meaning transparently related to its intransitive use.
10 Yokech or Spanish tenamaste refers to a three-stone hearth traditionally used across Mesoamerica onto which one puts a cooking pot in order to cook or boil food and liquids, for example (Nicholas Hopkins, p.c.).
11 See Royer 2019, to appear on the role of demonstratives with anaphoric definites in Chuj.
12 In the text, X identifies Xuwan’s dialogue and A identifies Avilio’s dialogue.
13 Tinita es el nombre de un pequeño río ubicado en San Mateo Ixtatán.
14 La ropa de paca se refiere a ropa usada que por lo regular proviene de los Estados Unidos de América.
15 El capixay es la chaqueta tradicional que usan los hombres chuj.
16 El ch’ilon es un tipo de sal que se quema para darle un color obscuro y un sabor ahumado a la sal misma (como un dictaminador nos indica, el nombre ch’ilon viene del nacimiento de la sal, el cual también se llama ch’ilon).
17 El mayoj es el reicipiente, hecho de barro, en el cual se coce el agua salada.
18 El mayb’etz es un recipiente de barro para cocer la sal (Comunidad Lingüística Chuj, 2003: 58).
19 The tinaja, ch’ub’ in Chuj, is a clay jar which is used “to take salt solution from the mines” (Hopkins, 2012a: 80). We will translate this as “saltwater jar” throughout the text.
20 Tinita is the name of a small river located in San Mateo Ixtatán.
21 The capixay is the traditional jacket worn by Chuj men.
22 The mayoj is the name of the pot, made of clay, in which the saltwater gets cooked.
23 The mayb’etz is a vessel made of clay used to cook the salt (Comunidad Lingüística Chuj, 2003: 58).
24 Mero is an expression borrowed from Spanish, which doesn’t receive a straightforward translation in English. It could mean “real”, “pure” or “proper”.
25 The tinaja, ch’ub’ in Chuj, is a clay jar which is used “to take salt solution from the mines” (Hopkins, 2012a: 80). We translate this as “saltwater jar” throughout the text.
26 Tinita is the name of a small river located in San Mateo Ixtatán.
27 The suffix -ta indicates “motion towards the speaker” (Hopkins, 1967, 2012a). Buenrostro (2013b) glosses the same suffix as a “proximal directional” (PRX) suffix. We adopt Buenrostro’s convention here.
28 The expression toxonhtonhto is clearly complex, but we were unable to segment it. As the gloss indicates, it can be translated along the lines of “no matter what” or de por sí in Spanish.
29 According to Hopkins (2012a: 168), k’ul refers to “the thing in one’s stomach that causes one to drink water or trago”. Hopkins (2012a) translates k’ulej (k’ul-VTD) as “to do something”. K’ul-ok in (24) seems to be used to convey the meaning of “to do something”.
30 Ropa de paca in Spanish refers to bundles of used clothing that normally come from the USA.
31 The capixay is the traditional jacket worn by Chuj men.
32 We follow Buenrostro (2020b) in glossing the suffix -tak as ‘attenuative’ in this case.
33 The ch’ilon is a type of salt that is burnt to make it dark and smokey. As a reviewer points out, the name ch’ilon comes from the salt mine where the salt originates, which is also called ch’ilon.
34 According to Hopkins (2012a: 213), “pilón” or pilonh is Spanish for nun atz’am, which is “the lump of salt that results from cooking down an entire pot of saltwater”.
35 The mayoj is the name of the pot, made of clay, in which the saltwater gets cooked.
36 According to Hopkins (2012a: 194), mas “is a black sand that is mixed with clay to make comals”.
37 The len is the coloquial term used in Guatemala for “cent” (Nicholas Hopkins, p.c.).
38 Sakwekinak is one of many derived color terms in Chuj (Nicholas Hopkins, p.c.), which we leave partly unglossed here. See Hopkins (1967: 91) for a list of derived color terms in Chuj. See also Andrés et al. (1996; 149) for probable cognate saj wejinaj ‘very white’ in Akatek.
39 The mayb’etz is a vessel made of clay used to cook salt (Comunidad Lingüística Chuj, 2003: 58).
40 The yokech is the Chuj word for tenamaste, which is a three-stone hearth found across Mesoamerica used to cook or boil food and liquids (Nicholas Hopkins, p.c.).
41 See Hopkins 2012c on the expression “t’ilanh” (ox t’ilanh) and its connection to the three stars of Orion’s Belt.

Abbreviations

A

-set A (ergative/possessive)

ADV

-adverbial particle

B

-set B (absolutive)

CLF

-noun classifier

CLF.NUM

-numeral classifier

COMP

-complementizer

CONJ

-conjunction

DEM

-demonstrative

DEP

-dependent clause

DERIV

-derivational morphology

DIR

-directional

DISC

-discursive particle

DUB

-dubitative

ENF

-emphatic marker

(used with topic and focus) EXT

-existential

FA

-agent focus morpheme

INCO

-inchoative suffix

INTS

-intensifier

IPFV

-imperfective aspect

IRR

-irrealis

NEG

-negation

NML

-nominal suffix

NMLZ

-nominalizer

P

-plural

PAS

-passive morphology

PFV

-perfective aspect

PL

-human plural marker

PREP

-preposition

PROG

-progressive aspect

PRON

-pronoun

PROSP

-prospective aspect

PRX

-proximal directional suffix

REFL

-reflexive

REP

-reportative

S

-singular

SR

-relational noun

STAT

-stative suffix

SUF

-unanalyzed suffix

VI

-intransitive status suffix

VID

-derived intransitive verb

VT

-transitive status suffix

VTD

-derived transitive status suffix

Abreviaturas

A

-juego A (ergativo/posesivo)

ADV

-partícula adverbial

B

-juego B (absolutivo)

CLF

-clasificador de sustantivo

CLF.NUM

-clasificador numeral

COMP

-subordinador

CONJ

-conjunción

DEM

-demostrativo

DEP

-cláusula dependiente

DERIV

-morfología derivacional

DIR

-direccional

DISC

-partícula discursiva

DUB

-dubitativo

ENF

-marcador enfático

(usado con tópicos y focos) EXT

-existencial

FA

-morfema de foco de agente

INCO

-sufijo incoativo

INTS

-intensificador

IPFV

-aspecto imperfectivo

IRR

-irrealis

NEG

-negación

NML

-sufijo nominal

NMLZ

-nominalizador

P

-plural

PAS

-morfología pasiva

PFV

-aspecto perfectivo

PL

-marcador plural de humanos

PREP

-preposición

PROG

-aspecto progresivo

PRON

-pronombre

PROSP

-aspecto prospectivo

PRX

-sufijo direccional proximal

REFL

-reflexivo

REP

-reportativo

S

-singular

SR

-sustantivo relacional

STAT

-sufijo estativo

SUF

-sufijo no analizado

VI

-sufijo de categoría verbo intransitivo

VID

-verbo intransitivo derivado

VT

-sufijo de categoría verbo transitivo

VTD

-sufijo de categoría verbo transitivo derivado