No katii
Thence heem
Always xûma
Never kahundiin
More niik
Then hueniit
When ko
For, in, to, above, with kûxm
Of kûxmit, it
In, between hoitp
In huiñ
With môôt
Inside, within akuuk
Before huindui
Why, what for heekûxm
That huen
As much, so that ixtanôm
Not yet katiinam
How, since ixta
THE LORD'S PRAYER.
Nteitôôtz tzaphoitp mtzônaiphee konuikx itot mitzm
Father our in heaven who lives blessed be thy
xêuh momoikôôtz mitzm konkion itunot mitzm tzokn
name give us thy kingdom be done thy will
ya naxhuiñ ixta ituiñu tzaphoitp. Oôtzn kaik opomopomit
as in earth as is done in heaven. Our bread daily
momoikôôtz yoniit etz moyaknitokoikôôtzn
give us to-day and forgive us
pokpa ixta ôôtz niaknitokoi ôôtzn yachotmaatpa etz
sin as we forgive our offender and
katii ôôtz ixmomatztuit heekuxm katii ôôtz nkedai
not as lead that not as let us carry
huinonn kûxn. Etz mokohuankôôtz nañihum kaoiaphee
temptation in. And deliver all evil
kuxmit.[X'-22]
from.
The language of the Huaves spoken on the isthmus of Tehuantepec, is,
according to tradition, not indigenous to the country. It is related
that these people came by water from a place down the coast, although
the locality whence they came is not given.[X'-23] I have only the
following numerals as a specimen of the language.
One anoeth | Ten agax-poax
Two izquieó | Eleven agax-panocthx
Three areux | Twelve agax-pieuhx
Four apequiú | Thirteen agax-par
Five acoquiaú | Fourteen agax-papeux
Six anaiú | Fifteen agax-pacoigx
Seven ayéiú | Twenty nicumaio
Eight axpecaú | Thirty nieumiaomcaxpó
Nine axqueyeú | One hundred anoecacocmiau[X'-24]
FOOTNOTES:
[X'-1] 'Es mucha la dificultad del idioma, porque en treinta vecinos
suele haber cuatro y cinco lenguas distintas, y tanto, que aun despues
de mucho trato no se entienden sino las cosas muy ordinarias.'
_Alegre_, _Hist. Comp. de Jesus_, tom. i., p. 282.
[X'-2] _Pimentel_, _Cuadro_, tom. ii., p. 267; _Col. Polidiómica Mex._,
_Oracion Dominical_, pp. 31-3.
[X'-3] _Pimentel_, _Cuadro_, tom. ii., p. 267.
[X'-4] _Berlandier_, _Diario_, p. 144; _Orozco y Berra_, _Geografía_,
p. 296.
[X'-5] _Mendieta_, _Hist. Ecles._, p. 552. 'Tarascum, quod hujus
gentis proprium erat et vulgare, concisum atque elegans.' _Laet_,
_Novus Orbis_, p. 267. 'La Tarasca, que corre generalmente en las
Prouincias de Mechoacan, esta es muy facil por tener la mesma
pronunciacion que la nuestra: yassi se escriue con el mesmo
abecedario. Es muy copiosa, y elegante.' _Grijalua_, _Crón. Augustin_,
fol. 75; _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iii., lib. iii., cap. ix.;
_Alegre_, _Hist. Comp. de Jesus_, tom. i., pp. 90-1; _Acosta_, _Hist.
Nat. Ind._, p. 506. 'La loro lingua è abbondante, dolce, e sonora.
Adoperano spesso la R soave: le loro sillabe constano per lo più d'una
sola consonante e d'una vocale.' _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del
Messico_, tom. i., p. 149. 'Les Tarasques ... célèbres ... par
l'harmonie de leur langue riche en voyelles.' _Humboldt_, _Essai
Pol._, tom. i., p. 255; _Beaumont_, _Crón. de Mechoacan_, p. 43;
_Mühlenpfordt_, _Mejico_, tom. ii., pt ii., p. 364; _Romero_,
_Noticias Michoacan_, p. 5; _Heredia y Sarmiento_, _Sermon_, p. 83;
_Anales del Ministerio de Fomento_, 1854, p. 185, et seq.; _Wappäus_,
_Geog. u. Stat._, p. 35; _Hassel_, _Mex. Guat._, p. 152. 'Die Sprache
in dieser Provinz wird für die reineste und zierlichste von ganz
Neu-Spanien gehalten.' _Delaporte_, _Reisen_, pp. 313-4; _Vater_,
_Mithridates_, tom. iii., pt iii., p. 125. '_Tarasca_ een nette en
korte spraek, die eigentlijk alhier te huis hoort.' _Montanus_,
_Nieuwe Weereld_, p. 256. Ward, speaking of the Tarasco, has made the
serious mistake of confounding it with the Otomí, and seems to think
that they are both one and the same. Two languages could hardly be
farther apart than these two. _Mexico_, vol. ii., p. 681.
_Raffinesque_, the indefatigable searcher for foreign relationships
with Mexican languages, claims to have discovered an affinity between
the Tarasco, Italian, Atlantic, Coptic, Pelasgic, Greek, and Latin
languages. He writes that he was 'struck with its evident analogy'
with the above and with the 'languages of Africa and Europe both in
words and structure, in spite of a separation of some thousand years.'
In _Priest's Amer. Antiq._, p. 314.
[X'-6] _Pimentel_, _Cuadro_, tom. i., pp. 275-309; _Gallatin_, in
_Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact._, vol. i., pp. 245-52; _Moxo_, _Cartas
Mejicanas_, p. 68; _Vater_, _Mithridates_, tom. iii., pt iii., p. 126;
_Manuel de San Juan Crisostomo Nájera_, _Gram. Tarasca_, in _Soc. Mex.
Geog., Boletin_, 2da época, tom. iv., pp. 664-684.
[X'-7] _Pimentel_, _Cuadro_, tom. i., p. 304; _Vater_, _Mithridates_,
tom. iii., pt iii., pp. 126-7; _Araujo_, _Manual de las Santos
Sacramentos en el Idioma de Michuacan_.
[X'-8] 'Estos tolucas, y por otro nombre _Matlatzincas_, no hablaban
la lengua mexicana, sino otra diferente y obscura ... y su lengua
propia de ellos, no carece de la letra R.' _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._,
tom. iii., lib. x., p. 129; _Grijalua_, _Crón. Augustin_, fol. 75;
_Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Esquisses_, p. 33.
[X'-9] _Pimentel_, _Cuadro_, tom. i., pp. 499-539; _Guevara_, _Arte
Doctrinal_, in _Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin_, tom. ix., pp. 197-260;
_Vater_, _Mithridates_, tom. iii., pt iii., p. 126.
[X'-10] '_Ocuiltecas_, viven en el distrito de Toluca, en tierras y
terminos suyos, son de la misma vida, y costumbre de los de la Toluca,
aunque su lenguage es diferente.' _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. iii.,
lib. x., p. 130. 'Ocuilteca, que es lengua singular de aquel pueblo, y
de solo ocho visitas, que tenia sujetas àsi, y assi somos solos, los
que la sabemos.' _Grijalua_, _Crón. Augustin_, fol. 75.
[X'-11] 'Y aunque la lengua los haze generalmente à todos vnos en
muchos partes la han diferenciado en sylabas, y modo de pronunciarlas,
pero todos se comunican, y entienden.' _Burgoa_, _Geog. Descrip._,
tom. i., fol. 127, 130; _Grijalua_, _Crón. Augustin_, p. 75; _Brasseur
de Bourbourg_, _Esquisses_, pp. 34-6; _Laet_, _Novus Orbis_, p. 260;
_Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iii., lib. iii., cap. xii-xiii.; _Orozco
y Berra_, _Geografía_, pp. 189-96; _Villa-Señor y Sanchez_, _Theatro_,
tom. ii., p. 137; _Remesal_, _Hist. Chyapa_, p. 712.
[X'-12] _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. i., p. 32. 'Ein Volk, das zu
den Autochthonen von Mexico gehört.' _Buschmann_, _Ortsnamen_, p. 18.
[X'-13] 'Mistica, cuya entera pronunciacion se vale algunas vezes de
las narizes, y tiene muchos equiuocos que la hazen de mayor
dificultad.' _Dávila Padilla_, _Hist. Fvnd. Mex._, p. 64. 'La lengua
dificultosissima en la pronunciacion, con notable variedad de terminos
y vozes en vnos y otros Pueblos.' _Burgoa_, _Palestra, Hist._, pt i.,
fol. 211. 'Que como eran Demonios se valian de la maliciosa astucia de
variar las vozes y vocablos en esta lengua, asi para los Palacios de
los Caziques con terminos reuerenciales, como para los Idolos con
parabolos, y tropos, que solos los satrapas los aprendian, y como era
aqui lo mas corrupto.' _Id._, _Geog. Descrip._, tom. i., fol. 156. 'La
lengua de aquella nacion, que es dificultosa de saberse, por la gran
equiuocacion de los bocablos, para cuya distincion es necessario vsar
de ordinario del sonido de la nariz y aspiracion del aliento.'
_Remesal_, _Hist. Chyapa_, p. 321. 'Ser la Lengua dificultosa de
aprender, por las muchas equiuocaciones que tiene.' _Dávila_, _Teatro
Ecles._, tom. i., p. 156.
[X'-14] _Pimentel_, _Cuadro_, tom. i., pp. 41-79; _Vater_,
_Mithridates_, tom. iii., pt. iii., pp. 31-41; _Catecismo del P.
Ripaldo, traducida al Misteco; Catecismo en idioma Mixteco_.
[X'-15] _Remesal_, _Hist. Chyapa_, p. 712. Chinantec 'con la dificultad
de la pronunciacion, y vozes tan equiuocas que con vn mesmo termino
mas blando ò mas reciò dicho significa disonante sentido.' 'Por que la
locucion es entre dientes, violenta, y con los accentos de consonantes
asperas, confusas las vocales, sin distincion vnas de otras que
parecian bramidos, mas que terminos de locucion.' _Burgoa_, _Geog.
Descrip._, tom. i., fol. 183., tom. ii., fol. 284, 286; _Villa-Señor y
Sanchez_, _Theatro_, tom. ii., pp. 137, 141, 163, 187, 189, 197;
_Orozco y Berra_, _Geografía_, pp. 187-197; _Hakluyt's Voy._, vol.
iii., p. 497.
[X'-16] _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. iii., lib. x., p. 135;
_Pimentel_, _Cuadro_, tom. ii., p. 262.
[X'-17] _Pimentel_, _Cuadro_, tom. ii., pp. 259-62.
[X'-18] _Villa-Señor y Sanchez_, _Theatro_, tom. ii., pp. 190-9; _Museo
Mex._, tom. ii., p. 554; _Mühlenpfordt_, _Mejico_, tom. ii., p. 186;
_Wappäus_, _Geog. u. Stat._, p. 36; _Orozco y Berra_, _Geografía_, p.
177; _Burgoa_, _Geog. Descrip._, tom. ii., fol. 312.
[X'-19] 'Su lenguage era tan metaforico, como el de los Palestinos, lo
que querian persuadir, hablaban siempre con parabolas.' _Burgoa_,
_Geog. Descrip._, tom. i., fol. 196. 'La langue Zapotèque est d'une
douceur et d'une sonorité qui rappelle l'Italien.' _Brasseur de
Bourbourg_, _Esquisses_, p. 35.
[X'-20] _Pimentel_, _Cuadro_, tom. i., pp. 321-60; _Nouvelles Annales
des Voy._, 1841, tom. xcii., p. 260, et seq.
[X'-21] 'Expressa el Illm^o Señor Obispo de Oaxaca en su Pastoral, que
en su Diocesis hay una Lengua, que solo de dia se entienden bien, y
que de noche en apagándoles la luz, ya no se pueden explicar, porque
con los gestos significan.' _Lorenzana y Buitron_, _Cartas
Pastorales_, p. 96, note 1. 'Tambien su idioma tiene fuerça y
energia.' _Burgoa_, _Geog. Descrip._, tom. ii., fol. 271. 'Lingua
illorum, rudis et crassum quid sonans instar Allemanorum.' _Laet_,
_Novus Orbis_, p. 262; _Barnard's Tehuantepec_, pp. 224-5;
_Villa-Señor y Sanchez_, _Theatro_, tom. ii., pp. 155, 199-201;
_Mühlenpfordt_, _Mejico_, tom. ii., p. 143; _Museo Mex._, tom. ii., p.
555; _Orozco y Berra_, _Geografía_, p. 176.
[X'-22] _Pimentel_, _Cuadro_, tom. ii., pp. 173-88.
[X'-23] 'Y se dixo antes, que la nacion destos Indios huabes avian
venido de tierras muy lexanas, de allà de la Costa del Sur, mas cerca
de la Eclyptica vezindad del Perù, y segun las circunstancias de su
lengua, y trato de la Provincia ò Reyno de Nicarahua.' _Burgoa_,
_Geog. Descrip._, tom. ii., fol. 396; 'El huave, huavi, guave, llamado
tambien en un antiguo MS. guazonteca ó huazonteca, se habla en el
Estado de Oaxaca, Los huaves son originarios de Guatemala; unos les
hacen de la filiacion de los peruanos, fundándose en la semejanza de
algunas costumbres, mientras otros les suponen hermanos de los pueblos
de Nicaragua. La segunda opinion nos parece la mas acertada, y aun nos
atreveriamos á creer que el huave pertenece á la familia maya-quiché.'
_Orozco y Berra_, _Geografía_, pp. 44, 74. 'Il paraît démontré,
cependant, que la langue des Wabi a de grandes analogies avec
quelqu'une de celles qu'on parlait à Nicaragua.' _Brasseur de
Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. iii., p. 36.
[X'-24] _Sivers_, _Mittelamerika_, p. 290.
CHAPTER XI.
THE MAYA-QUICHÉ LANGUAGES.
THE MAYA-QUICHÉ, THE LANGUAGES OF THE CIVILIZED NATIONS OF
CENTRAL AMERICA -- ENUMERATION OF THE MEMBERS OF THIS FAMILY --
HYPOTHETICAL ANALOGIES WITH LANGUAGES OF THE OLD WORLD --
LORD'S PRAYERS IN THE CHAÑABAL, CHIAPANEC, CHOL, TZENDAL,
ZOQUE, AND ZOTZIL -- POKONCHI GRAMMAR -- THE MAME OR
ZAKLOPAHKAP -- QUICHÉ GRAMMAR -- CAKCHIQUEL LORD'S PRAYER --
MAYA GRAMMAR -- TOTONAC GRAMMAR -- TOTONAC DIALECTS -- HUASTEC
GRAMMAR.
The languages of the civilized nations of Central America, being all
more or less affiliated, may be not improperly classified as the
Maya-Quiché family, the Maya constituting the mother tongue.
Commencing in the neighborhood of the river Goazacoalco, thence
extending over Tabasco, Chiapas, Yucatan, Guatemala, and portions of
Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua, it occupies the same relatively
important position in the south as the Aztec farther north. Besides
spreading out over this immense area, there are two branches still
farther north, isolated from the mother tongue, yet conterminous to
each other, the Huastec and the Totonac of Tamaulipas and Vera Cruz.
Without including the last mentioned, probably the fullest enumeration
of all these languages, is given by the Licenciado Diego García de
Palacio, in a letter addressed to the King of Spain, in the year 1576.
Omitting the Aztec, which he includes in his catalogue, his summary is
substantially as follows. In Chiapas, the Chiapanec, Tloque, Zotzil,
and Zeldal-Quelen; in Soconusco, a tongue which he designates as the
mother language and another called the Vebetlateca; in Suchitepec and
Guatemala, the Mame, Achi, Guatemaltec, Chinantec, Hutatec, and
Chirichota; in Vera Paz, the Pokonchi, and Caechicolchi; in the
valleys of Acacebastla and Chiquimula, the Tlacacebastla, and Apay;
and in the valley of San Miguel, the Poton, Taulepa, and Ulua. Other
authors mention, in Guatemala the Quiché, the Cakchiquel, the Zutugil,
the Chorti, the Alaguilac, the Caichi, the Ixil, the Zoque, the Coxoh,
the Chañabal, the Chol, the Uzpanteca, the Aguacateca, the Quecchi;
and in Yucatan, the stock language, the Maya. Among all these
languages thus enumerated by different authors, it is not at all
unlikely that some have been mentioned twice under different
names.[XI'-1] Most, if not all of them, are related to, if indeed they
did not spring from one mother tongue, the Maya, of which a dialect,
called the Tzendal is said to be the oldest language spoken in any of
these countries. In fact, they all appear to be dialects and
variations of some few tongues of yet greater antiquity, which again
have sprung from the oldest of all, the Maya. This latter, I may say,
forms the linguistic centre, from which all the others radiate,
decreasing in consanguinity according to the distance from this
centre, losing, by intermixture, and the adoption of foreign words,
their aboriginal forms, until on reaching the outer edge of the
circle, it becomes difficult to trace their connection with the source
from which they sprang.[XI'-2]
[Sidenote: THE MAYA LANGUAGE IN YUCATAN.]
The Maya, with its many affiliations, may be well compared in its
grammatical construction and capacity to the Aztec. It has in this
respect been likened to the ancient Greek which it is said to resemble
in many points. Although monosyllabic words are of frequent
occurrence, it has not, as is common to monosyllabic languages, many
very harsh and guttural sounds, but is generally called soft and
well-sounding. The dialects spoken on the coast of Yucatan and near
Belize, are the purest and most elegant of the Maya family, and the
greater the distance from this region, the greater are the variations
from the pure Maya.[XI'-3] Some remarkable hypotheses, which, if
proven, would revolutionize many existing theories, ethnologic and
philologic, have latterly been brought forward by the Abbé Brasseur de
Bourbourg. This gentleman, who has devoted himself to the study of
ancient Central America and Mexico for many years, and who is fully
conversant with the languages of Yucatan and Guatemala, the Maya and
Quiché, claims to have discovered a close connection between the Maya,
Quiché, Cakchiquel, Zutugil, and others, with most of the chief
languages of Europe; prominent among which he places the Greek, but
mentions also Latin, French, English, German, Flemish, Danish, and
others. Although on examination many of the abbé's so-called roots
display similarities, both phonetic and in meaning, with some European
words, still a large majority are evidently twisted to conform to the
writer's ideas, and it will require not alone further investigations,
but unprejudiced studies, such as are not made for the purpose of
proving any particular hypothesis, to substantiate his theories. Until
such impartial comparisons are made, and a clearer light thrown upon
the subject, these Central American languages must remain content to
be treated as strangers to those of the old world.[XI'-4] Of the
languages previously enumerated I have the following specimens.
* * * * *
The Lord's Prayer in Chañabal, spoken in Comitan, in the state of
Chiapas:
Tattic hayá culchahan tanlinubal á vihil jacué eg bagtic á
guajan acotuc á guabal hichuc ili luhum jastal culchahan. Yipil
caltzil eg güiniquil tic aquitic sva yabanhi soc culanperdon eg
multic hichuc qucj ganticon guazt culanticon perdon machá hay
smul sigilticon soc mi ztagua concoctic mulil mas lec
coltayotic scab pucuj jachuc.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: CHIAPANEC, CHOL, AND TZENDAL.]
Lord's Prayer in Chiapanec:
Pua manguemé nilumá cané nacapajó totomomo copamimé chambriomo
chalaya guipumutamu; gadilojá istanacupu cajilucá nacopajó:
cajilo baña yacameomo nuori may tarilu mindamu oguajime lla
copomimemo taguajime nambucamuñeme cuqueme gadiluca si memu
casimemu tagnagime nambucamuñeme copá tipusitumu bica
tipucapuimu mujarimimuñame mangueme. Diusi mutarilú nitangame
chacuillame caji Jesus.
* * * * *
Lord's Prayer in Chol:
Tiat te lojon, aué tipuchan utzat alvilacaval trictic tolejón
han gracia chulee viliç á pucical vafchec ti paniumil chee
tipanchan. Laa cual ti juun pel quin, de vennomelojón gualee
sutven lasvet baschee mue sutvenlaa y vetob laspibulob. Llastel
ti lolontecl cotanon melojon y chachan jaipel y tiué
nialoloion. Amen Jesus.
* * * * *
Lord's Prayer in Tzendal, as spoken near the celebrated ruins of
Palenque:
Tatic, ta nacalat tachulchan: chulalviluc te ajalalvilé:
acatalúc te aguajualé: acapastayuc: te tuxacane tajich ta
chulchan jichucnix ta valumilal. Ecuctae jujhan acabeyaotic te
guag vixtum cuntic tajujun caal chaybeyaotic te multic achiotic
chaybetic ate hay smul cagtojoltique soyoc mameaguac yalucotic
ta mulil colta yaoticnax tastojol piscil te colae. Amen Jesus.
* * * * *
Lord's Prayer in Zoque, as spoken in Tabasco, Chiapas, and parts of
Oajaca:
Theshata tzapguesmue itupue yavecotzamué mis nei, yaminé mis
yumihacui, ya tuque mis sunoycui, yecnasquesi tzapquesmuese.
Tesané hoimuepe homepe tzihete yshoy, yatocoyates mis hescova
hes jaziquet mis atocoipasé thesquesipue jatzi huitemistetzaeu
hocysete cuijomue ticomaye ya cotzocamisthe mumuyatzipue quesi,
tese yatuque. Amen Jesus.
* * * * *
Lord's Prayer in Zotzil:
Totit ot-te nacal oi ta vinagel-utzilaluc á vi-acotal
aguajualel-acopas huc á chul cano-echuc nox ta vinagel-eclusé
ta valumil-acbeotic e cham-llocom llocomutic-ech
xachaibeutic-cuie tag tojolic-ma á guae llalucuntic-ta
altajoltic-ech xacolta utic nox ta stojol ti coloc. Amen
Jesus.[XI'-5]
* * * * *
[Sidenote: POKONCHI GRAMMAR.]
Of the Pokonchi Language I have a short grammar, by Thomas Gage, which
has also been used by Vater and Gallatin. Following are a few of its
prominent features:
Nouns are declined by the aid of particles, of which there are two
kinds, varying accordingly as the word to be declined commences with a
consonant or with a vowel. For words commencing with a consonant the
particles _nu_, _a_, _ru_, _ca_, _ata_, and _quitacque_ are used; and
for those commencing with a vowel, _v_, _av_, _r_, _c_, or _q_, _ta_,
_qu_, and _tacque_. These particles are partly prefixed and partly
affixed, as will appear in the following examples. So the word _pat_,
house, and _tat_, father, are by Gage declined in the following
manner.
My house nupat | Our house capat
Thy house apat | Your house apatta
His house rupat | Their house quipattacque
My father nutat | Our father catat
Thy father atat | Your father atatta
His father rutat | Their father quitattacque
The declension of the word _acun_, son, and _ixim_, corn, are given
by Gage, as follows:
My son vacun | Our son cacun
Thy son avacun | Your son avacunta
His son racun | Their son cacuntaque
My corn vixim | Our corn quixim
Thy corn avixim | Your corn avicimta
His corn rixim | Their corn quiximtacque
Verbs in like manner change the particles, by means of which they are
conjugated, accordingly as the word commences with a consonant or a
vowel. For those commencing with a consonant the particles are;--_nu_,
_na_, _inru_, _inca_, _nata_, _inquitacque_. Thus the word _locoh_, to
love, is conjugated as follows:
CONJUGATION OF THE VERB LOCOH, TO LOVE.
PRESENT INDICATIVE.
I love, nulocoh | We love, incalocoh
Thou lovest, nalocoh | You love, nalocohto
He loves, inrulucoh | They love, inquilocohtacque
PRESENT PASSIVE.
I am loved, quiloconhi | We are loved, coloconhi
Thou art loved, tiloconhi | You are loved, tiloconhita
He is loved, inroconhi | They are loved, quiloconhitacque
PERFECT PASSIVE.
I have been loved, xinloconhi
Thou hast been loved, ixtiloconhi
He has been loved, ixloconhi
We have been loved, xoloconhi
You have been loved, ixtiloconhita
They have been loved, xiloconhi tacque
IMPERATIVE.
Be thou loved, tiloconhi
Let him be loved, chiloconho
Let us be loved, chicaloconho
Be ye loved, tiloconhota
Let them be loved, chiquiloconho taque
I can love, inchoinulocoh
I will love, inranulocoh
I have been willing to love, ixnulocoh
I have been able to love, ixcholixnulocoh
I can love thee, tichol nulocoh
I will love thee, tira nulocoh
Sometimes the verb I will is added to express the future;--_inva_, I
will; _nava_, thou wilt; _inra_, he will.
Verbs beginning with a vowel have the following particles;--_ino_,
_nav_, _inr_, _inqu_, or _inc_, _nauta_, _inqu tacque_, or _inc
tacque_. Thus the verb _eça_, to deliver, is conjugated.
I deliver, inveça | We deliver, inqueça
Thou deliverest, naveça | You deliver, naveçata
He delivers, inreça | They deliver, inqueça tacque
Adjectives are indeclinable, and the plural of nouns cannot be
distinguished from the singular, as;--_kiro uinac_, good man; _kiro
uinac_, good men.
The following Lord's Prayer comes from the same source:
Catat taxah vilcat; nimta incaharçihi avi; inchalita
avihauripau cana. Invanivita nava yahvir vacacal, he invataxab.
Chaye runa cahuhunta quih viic; naçachtamac, he inçachve quimac
ximacquivi chiquih; macoacana chipam catacchyhi, coaveçata
china unche tsiri, mani quiro, he inqui. Amen.[XI'-6]
* * * * *
[Sidenote: MAME CONJUGATION.]
Of the Mame, or Zaklohpakap, the following extract is from a grammar
written by Diego de Reynoso. The letters used are: _a_, _b_, _ch_,
_e_, _h_, _i_, _k_, _l_, _m_, _n_, _o_, _p_, _t_, _u_, _v_, _x_, _y_,
_z_, _tz_. There are no special syllables or signs to express gender,
but distinct words are used, as;--_mama_, old man; _ahkimikeia_, old
woman; _mamail_, old age of a man; _keiail_, or _ahkimikil_, old age
of a woman. The plural of animate beings is expressed by the particle
_e_ prefixed to the word;--_vuinak_, person; _evuinak_, persons; but
it is considered as elegant also to affix the same _e_;--_kiahol_,
son; _ekiahole_, sons. For inanimate things, either numerals or
adjectives expressing the plural are used;--_abah_, stone; _ikoh
abah_, many stones. Personal pronouns are;--_ain_, I; _aia_, thou;
_ahu_ or _ahi_, he; _ao_ or _aoio_, we; _ae_ or _aeie_, you; _aehu_ or
_aehi_, they.
Me, to me, in me vuih
Thee, to thee, in thee tiha
Him, to him, in him tihu
Us, to us, in us kiho
You, to you, in you kihae
Them, to them, in them kihaehu
Of me, by me vuxm
By thee tuma
By him tumhi
By us kumo
By you kume
By them kumhu
By myself tipa
By himself tiphi
By ourselves kibo
By yourselves kibe
By themselves kibaehu or kibhu
CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO BE.
PRESENT INDICATIVE.
I am, ain in, or ain inen
Thou art, aia
He is, ahu
We are, ao, or aoia
You are, ae, or aeie
They are, aehu
IMPERFECT.
I was, ain took
PERFECT.
I have been, ain hi
PLUPERFECT.
I had been, ain tokem
FIRST FUTURE.
I shall be, in abenelem, or ain loiem
SECOND FUTURE.
I shall have been, ain lohi
IMPERATIVE.
Be, a u ia
CONJUGATION OF THE VERB XTALEM, TO LOVE.
PRESENT INDICATIVE.
I love, ain tzum chim xtalem
Thou lovest, tzum xtalem a
He loves, tzum xtalem hu
We love, tzum ko xtalem o
You love, tzum che xtalem e
They love, tzum che xtalem hu
IMPERFECT.
I loved, tzum tok chim xtalem
PERFECT.
I have loved, ini xtalim, uni xtale, ma chim xtalim,
ma ni xtale, or ma uni xtale
PLUPERFECT.
I had loved, ixtok chim xtalim
FIRST FUTURE.
I shall love, uni xtalibetz, or ain chim xtalem
SECOND FUTURE.
I shall have loved, ain lo in xtalem
IMPERATIVE.
Love thou, ixtalin o ia
Let him love, ixtalin o hu
Let us love, ko ixtalin o
Love you, ixtalin ke ie
Let them love, ixtalin ke hu[XI'-7]
Of the Quiché, there is an abundance of material. The letters used
are;--_a_, _b_, _c_, _e_, _g_, _h_, _i_, _k_, _l_, _m_, _n_, _o_, _p_,
_q_, _r_, _t_, _u_, _v_, _x_, _y_, _z_, _tz_, _tch_. Gender is
expressed by prefixing the noun _ixok_, woman, to the word,
as;--_coh_, lion; _ixok coh_, lioness; _mun_, slave; _ixok mun_,
female slave. The sound _ish_ expressed by the letter _x_ denotes
inferiority, and is therefore frequently used to express the feminine
of inferior beings. _U_ in the Quichè and _ru_ in the Cakchiquel are
either possessive pronouns or denote the possession of the word which
follows. The particles _re_ and _ri_ are at times used for the same
purpose;--_u chuch ahpop_, the mother of the prince; _qui quoxtum
tinanit_, the ramparts of the town. Before the vowels _a_, _o_, and
_u_, they are changed to _c_; and before _e_ and _i_, to _qu_.
Derivatives are formed with the preposition _ah_, either prefixed or
affixed to the primitive noun;--_car_, fish; _ahcar_, the fisherman;
_tzih_, word; _ahtzih_, the speaker; etc. No positive rule can be
given for the formation of the plural, as there are several different
methods in use. The most common appears to be by the affixes _ab_,
_eb_, _ib_, _ob_, _ub_;--_beom_, merchant; plural, _beomab_; _ixok_,
woman; plural, _ixokib_; _ahau_, lord; plural, _ahauab_. In the
Cakchiquel language the last letter _b_ is omitted, as;--_ixokib_,
women, in Quiché, is _ixoki_ in Cakchiquel. With adjectives the
syllables _ak_, _tak_, _ic_, _tic_, etc., are used instead;--_nim_,
great; _nimak ha_, great houses; _rihi_, old; _rihitak vinak_, old
people; _utz_, good; _utzic va_, good eatables. Adjectives are always
placed before the substantives;--_zak_, white; _zaki ha_, white house.
Substantives are formed from adjectives by adding one of the
particles, _al_, _el_, _il_, _ol_, _ul_;--_nim_, great; _nimal_, the
greatness; _zak_, white; _zakil_, the whiteness; _utz_, good; _utzil_,
the goodness. These same substantives can be turned into adjectives
again by adding the particle _ah_;--_nimalah mak_, great sin; _utzilah
achi_, good man. In the same manner all substantives may be turned
into adjectives by adding one of the particles _alah_, _elah_, _ilah_,
_olah_, _ulah_, etc.; _ahau_, king or lord; _ahaualah_, royal.
To express the comparative, the present participle of the verb _iqou_,
to surpass, which is _iqouinak_, is used, and sometimes also the word
_yalacuhinak_, from _yalacuh_, to exceed. For example;--_nim_, great,
comparative, _iqouinak chi nim_, he who surpasses in greatness;
_iqouinak chi nim u hebeliquiil ka xokahau Gapoh maria chiqui vi
conohel ixokib_, (literally) surpasses in great beauty our Lady the
Virgin Mary all other women. The superlative is expressed by the
syllable _maih_, very great or much; _nim_, great or greatly; _tih_,
_xoo_, _quï_, much; all of which are placed before the word and are
followed by the syllable _chi_;--_maih chi nim_, very great; _maih chi
hebel_, very fine; _maih chi tinamit_, very great city; _xoo qatan_,
very great heat; _tih nima ha_, very great house. The adverb _lavolo_
or _lolo_ is also used for the same purpose--_lavolo_ or _lolo cou ch'
a bana_, hold it strong.
The names of colors are duplicated to express the superlative,
as;--_rax rax_, very green; _zak zak_, very white.
The reverential syllables in use are _lal_ and _la_--_lal nu cahau_,
your excellency is my father; _in alcual la_, I am the son of your
excellency.
[Sidenote: QUICHÉ PRONOUNS.]
PRONOUNS.
I, or me in, nu, nuv
Thou at, a
He are, ri, r'
Myself xavi in
Thyself xavi at
Himself xavi are
We oh
You yx
They e, he
Ourselves xavi oh
Yourselves xavi yx
Themselves xavi e, he
When a noun commences with a consonant, _nu_, _a_, _u_, in the
singular, and _ka_, _y_, _qui_, in the plural are used as possessive
pronouns, but if it commences with a vowel, _v_, _av'_, _r_, are
employed in the singular, and _k'_, _yv'_, _c'_, or _qu'_, in the
plural.
My slave nu mun
Thy slave a mun
His slave u mun
Our slaves ka munib
Your slaves y munib
Their slaves oui munib
My wrath v' oyoual
Thy wrath av' oyoual
His wrath r' oyoual
Our wrath k' oyoual
Your wrath yv' oyoual
Their wrath c' oyoual
INTERROGATIVES.
Who naki, achinak, apachinak
Who am I apa-in-chinak
Who art thou apa-at-chinak
Who is this apachinak-ri
Who is it naki-la
Who would it be naki-lalo
Who are we apa-oh-chinak
Who are you apa-yx-chinak
Who are they apa-e-chinak
The verb, to be, is expressed by either _ux_, or _qo_, or _qohe_. As
an example of its conjugation I insert the indicative present.
I am, in ux or in qolic
Thou art, at ux " at qolic
He is, are ux " are qolic
We are, oh ux " oh qolic
You are, yx ux " yx qolic
They are, e, or he ux " e, or he qolic
Four different kinds of verbs are given in the grammar compiled by the
Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg, which he calls active, absolute, passive,
and neuter. The following sentences are given as specimens of each
kind. Active;--_can nu logoh v' ahtih_, I love my master.
Absolute;--_qu' i logon_, or _logonic_, I love; _qu' i tzibanic_, I
write. Passive;--_ta x-e tzonox rumal ahtzak_, then they were
interrogated by the creator. Neuter;--_qu' i cam_, or _qui cam_, I
die; _qu' in ul_, I come; _qu' i be_, I go; _qu' i var_, I sleep.
[Sidenote: QUICHÉ CONJUGATIONS.]
Following I insert the conjugation of the active verb to love, in
which the word _logoh_, love, commences with a consonant, and also the
conjugation of the active verb _oyohbeh_, to wait, which commences
with a vowel, thus showing the different particles used.
CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO LOVE.
PRESENT INDICATIVE.
I love, ca nu logoh
We love, ca ka logoh
Thou lovest, c' a logoh
You love, qu' y logoh
He loves, c' u logoh
They love, ca que logoh
PERFECT.
I have loved, x-in, xi-nu, or x-nu logoh, or nu logom
PLUPERFECT.
I had loved, nu, or x-nu logom-chic
FIRST FUTURE.
I shall love, ch' in, x-ch'in chi nu, or x-chi nu logoh
PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE.
If I love, ca nu logoh-tah
If I had loved, nu logom-chi-tah
PARTICIPLE.
Loving, logonel
CONJUGATION OF THE VERB OYOBEH, TO WAIT.
PRESENT INDICATIVE.
I wait, ca v'oyobeh
Thou waitest, c' av' oyobeh
He waits, ca r' oyobeh
We wait, ca k' oyobeh
You wait, qu' yv' oyobeh
They wait, ca c' oyobeh
PERFECT.
I have waited, xi-v' oyobeh, or av' oyobem
SECOND FUTURE.
I shall have waited, chi v', or xchi v oyobeh
PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE.
If I wait, ca v' oyobeh-tah
In the following three columns I give a specimen of the conjugation of
the absolute, passive, and neuter verb.
ABSOLUTE.
I love, qu'i logon
Thou lovest, c'at logon
He loves, ca logon
We love, koh logon
You love, qu'y logon
They love, que logon
PASSIVE.
I am loved, qu'i logox
Thou art loved, c'at logox
He is loved, ca legox
We are loved, koh logox
You are loved, qu'ix logox
They are loved, que logox
NEUTER.
I roll, qu'i bol
Thou rollest, c'at bol
He rolls, ca bol
We roll, koh bol
You roll, qu' yx bol
They roll, que bol
ABSOLUTE.
I have loved, x-i logon, or in logoninak
PASSIVE.
I was loved, x-i logox, or in logoxinak
NEUTER.
I have arrived, x-in ul, or in ulinak
FIRST FUTURE.
ABSOLUTE.
I shall love, x-qui logon
PASSIVE.
I shall be loved, x-qui logox
NEUTER.
I shall arrive, x-qu'in ul
There are further mentioned a reciprocal and a distributive verb.
Of the former the following is an example.
I love myself, ca nu logoh uib
Thou lovest thyself, c'a logoh rib
He loves himself, c'u logoh rib
We love ourselves, ca ka logoh kib
You love yourselves, qu'y logoh yvib
They love themselves, ca qui logoh quib
Of the second form this is an example.
Thee I love, cat nu logoh
He loves his father, cu ri, or are logoh a cahau
You love us, koh y logoh
Thee they love, cat que logoh
The prepositions--_ma_, _man_, or _mana_, and _mave_, are negatives.
When _man_, or _mana_, is used with a verb, the particle _tah_ must be
added;--_man ca v' il-tah_, I do not see. Father Ximenez calls the
following irregular verbs, _qo_, _qoh_, or _qolic_, _pa_, _ux_, or
_uxic_; _qaz_, to live, and _oh_, or _ho_, to go.
The conjugation of the last mentioned is as follows.
INDICATIVE PRESENT.
I go, h'in | We go, o'ho
Thou goest, h'at | You go, h'yx
He goes, oh, or ho | They go, h'e
The Zutugil and Cakchiquel appear to bear a closer relationship to
each other, than the Cakchiquel and Quiché. Some of the principal
differences between the three are the following. The plural of nouns
which in the Quiché is formed by the affixes _ab_, _eb_, _ob_, _ib_,
_ub_, is in the Cakchiquel designated by simply affixing the vowels of
the above syllables, and in the Zutugil by the affixes _ay_, or _i_.
The pronouns which in the Quiché and Cakchiquel are _in_, I, etc., are
in the Zutugil doubled, as;--_in-in_, I, etc. The possessive pronouns
differ in all three of the languages. The Quiché has _vech_, mine;
_avecha_, thine; _rech_, his; _kech_, ours; _yvech_, yours; _quech_,
theirs. In the Cakchiquel these are;--_vichin_, _avichin_, _richin_,
_kichin_, _yvichin_, _quichin_, and the Zutugil changes the _ch_ of
the Cakchiquel into _n_;--_vixin_, _avixin_, _rixin_, _kixin_,
_yvixin_, _quixin_. The dative in the Quiché is _chuvech_, to me, in
the Cakchiquel _chuvichin_, and in the Zutugil, _chuvixin_. Reciprocal
pronouns in the Quiché are _vib_, _avib_, _rib_, _kib_, _yvib_, and
_quib_, and in the Zutugil they are _vi_, _avi_, _ri_, _ki_, _yvi_,
_qui_. The verb _ganeh_, which also means to love, is in the
Cakchiquel and Zutugil conjugated as follows.
I love, tin ganeh | We love, ti ka ganeh
Thou lovest, tah ganeh | You love, ty ganeh
He loves, tu ganeh | They love, ti qui ganeh
There are also many other words which differ in one or more letters in
the three languages, but it appears that they are nevertheless so much
alike that the different people speaking them can understand one
another.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: QUICHÉ AND CAKCHIQUEL LORD'S PRAYERS.]
Lord's Prayer in the Quiché:
Ka cachau chi cab lal qo-vi, r'auazirizaxic-tah bi la. Chi
pe-tah ahauarem la. Chi ban-ta ahauam la, varal chuvi uleu
queheri ca ban chi cah. Yah la chikech ka hutagihil va. Zacha
la ka mak, queheri ca ka zacho qui mak rii x-e makun chike ruq
m'oh ocotah la pa takchiibal mak, xata noh col-ta la pa itzel.
Quehe ch'uxoc.
* * * * *
Lord's Prayer in Cakchiquel:
Ka tata r'at qoh chi cah, r'auazirizaxic-tah a bi. Ti pe-ta-ok
av' ahauarem. Ti ban-tah av'ahoom vave chuvi uleu, quereri
tan-ti ban chi cah. Ta yata-ok chike vacamic ka hutagihil vay.
Ta zach-ta-qa-ok ka mak, quereri tan-ti ka zach qui mak riy x-e
makun chike. Ruquin qa maqui-tah koh av'ocotah pa takchiibal
mak, xatah koh a colo pan itzel. Quere ok t'ux.[XI'-8]
* * * * *
Of the Maya Grammar, the following is a brief compendium:
The following alphabet is used to write the Maya language: _a_, _b_,
_c_, _ç_, _z_, _tz_, [_c_], _cti_, _ch_, _e_, _h_, _i_, _y_, _k_,
_l_, _m_, _n_, _o_, _p_, _pp_, _t_, _th_, _u_, _x_.
The letter _ç_ is pronounced like the English _z_, or as if for
example the word _cambeç_, were spelled _cambez_. The [_c_] is
pronounced as if spelled _dj_, [_c_]ib_ is pronounced as if written
_djib_, to write; _h_, not aspirated, and very frequently omitted;
_k_, rather guttural; _pp_ and _p_, sharp and with force; _th_, hard,
at the same time approximating slightly the English _tt_. The gender
of rational beings is denoted by the prefixes _ah_, for masculine, and
_ix_, for feminine;--_ah cambezah_, master; _ix cambezah_, mistress.
With animals the particles _xibil_, for males, and _chupul_, for
females, is prefixed. An exception to this rule is the word
_pal_;--_xibil pal_, the boy; and _chupal pal_, the girl. Nouns form
the plural by adding the particle _ob_;--_ich_, eye; _ich ob_, eyes.
Adjectives ending in _nac_, in the plural lose their two last
syllables and substitute for them the syllable _lac_;--_kakatnác_, an
idle thing; _kaklác_, idle things. When an adjective and substantive
are joined together, the adjective is always placed before the
substantive, but the plural is expressed only in the substantive;--man,
_uinic_; good, _utzul_; _utzúl uinicob_, good men. To form the
comparative, the last vowel of the adjective with the letter _l_ added
to it is affixed; frequently, the particle _il_ is simply
affixed;--further, the pronoun of the third person _u_ or _y_ is
always prefixed, in the comparative;--_tibil_, a good thing; _ú
tibilil_, a better thing; _utz_, good; _yutzil_, or _yutzul_, better;
_lob_, bad; _ulobol_, or _ulobil_, worse; _kaz_, ugly; _ukazal_, or
_ukazil_, uglier. The superlative is expressed by the particle _hach_,
which is prefixed;--_lob_, bad; _hachlob_, very bad. _Il_ added to
nouns and adjectives serves to make them abstracts, _uinic_, man;
_uinicil_, humanity.
There are four kinds of pronouns used in the Maya, all of which are
used in conjugating verbs. But the two last are also used, united with
nouns, or as possessive pronouns, and never alone, or as absolute
pronouns.
PRONOUNS.
I ten | We tóon
Thou tech | You téex
He lay | They lóob
I en | We on
Thou ech | You ex
He laylo | They ob
I, mine in | We, ours ca
Thou, thine a | You, yours a-ex
He, his ú | They, theirs ú-ob
Mine u | Ours ca
Thine au | Yours au-ex
His y | Theirs y-ob
RECIPROCAL PRONOUNS.
Myself in-ba | Ourselves ca-ba
Thyself a-ba | Yourselves a-ba-ex
Himself ú-ba | Themselves ú-ba-ob
[Sidenote: MAYA CONJUGATIONS.]
CONJUGATION OF THE AUXILLARY VERB TENI, TO BE.
INDICATIVE PRESENT.
I am, ten
We are, tóon
Thou art, tech
You are, téex
He is, lay
They are, lóob
IMPERFECT.
I was, ten cuchi
PERFECT.
I have been, ten hi
PLUPERFECT.
I had been, ten hi-ili cuchi
FIRST FUTURE.
I shall be, bin ten-ac
SECOND FUTURE.
I shall have been, ten hi-ili coshom
IMPERATIVE.
Be, ten-ac
PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE.
If I be, ten-ac en
IMPERFECT SUBJUNCTIVE.
If I were, hi ten-ac
FIRST CONJUGATION OF THE VERB NACAL, TO ASCEND.
PRESENT INDICATIVE.
I ascend, nacal in cah
Thou ascendest, nacal a cah
He ascends, nacal ú cah
We ascend, nacal ca cah
You ascend, nacal a-cau-ex
They ascend, nacal ú-cah-ob
IMPERFECT.
I ascended, nacal in cah-cuchi
PERFECT.
I have ascended, nac-en
PLUPERFECT.
I had ascended, nac-eu ili-cuehi
FIRST FUTURE.
I shall ascend, bin nacac-en
SECOND FUTURE.
I shall have ascended, nac-en ili-cuchom
IMPERATIVE.
Ascend, nacac-en
SECOND CONJUGATION CAMBEZAH, TO INSTRUCT.
PRESENT INDICATIVE.
I instruct, cambezah in cah, or ten cambezic
Thou instructest, cambezah á cah, " tech cambezic
He instructs, cambezah ú cah, " lay cambezic
We instruct, cambezah ca cah, " tóon cambezic
You instruct, cambezah á cah-ez, " téex cambezic
They instruct, cambezah ú cah-ob, " lóob cambezic
IMPERFECT.
I instructed, cambezah in cah cuchi
PERFECT.
I have instructed, in cambezah
PLUPERFECT.
I had instructed, in cambezah ili-cuchi
FIRST FUTURE.
I shall instruct, bin in cambez
SECOND FUTURE.
I shall have instructed, in cambezah ili-cochom
IMPERATIVE.
Let me instruct, in cambez
Instruct thou, cambez
Let him instruct, ú cambez
Let us instruct, ca cambez
Instruct you, á cambez ex
Let them instruct, ú cambez ob
PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE.
If I instruct, ten in cambez
The third and fourth conjugations not differing from the above, I do
not insert them.
THE LORD'S PRAYER.
Cayum ianeeh ti càannob cilichthantabac akaba:
Our father who art in heaven blessed be thy name;
tac a ahaulil c' okol. Mencahac a uolah uai
it may come thy kingdom us over. Be done thine will as
ti luun bai ti caanè. Zanzamal uah ca azotoon
on earth as in heaven. Daily bread us give
heleae caazaatez c' ziipil he bik c' zaatzic uziipil
to-day us forgive our sins as we forgive their sins
ahziipiloobtoone ma ix appatic c' lubul ti tuntah,
to sinners not also let us fall in temptation
caatocoon ti lob.[XI'-9]
us deliver from evil.
To the two languages the Huaztec and Totonac spoken respectively in
the states of Tamaulipas and Vera Cruz, great antiquity is ascribed. I
include them both in this chapter, and classify them with the Maya
family; the Huaztec because its relationship has already been
satisfactorily established by Vater and his successors, and the
Totonac on the statements of Sahagun and other good authorities.[XI'-10]
Of both of these languages I insert some grammatical notes. The
Totonac is divided into four principal dialects, named respectively
that of the Sierra Alta or Tetikilhati, that of Xalpan y Pontepec, or
Chakahuaxti, the Ipapana and the Naolingo or Tatimolo. The following
grammar refers specially to the last dialect.
[Sidenote: TOTONAC GRAMMAR.]
The letters used are _a_, _ch_, _e_, _g_, _h_, _i_, _k_, _l_, _m_,
_n_, _o_, _p_, _t_, _u_, _v_, _x_, _y_, _z_, _tz_, _lh_. Compounded or
agglutinated words are of frequent occurrence; they seem to be joined
without any particular system, although it appears that the last
letter is oftentimes omitted. The following shows the composition of a
word;--_lioxilhmagatlakachalikihuin_, to go prophesying; composed of
the particle _li_, the verb _oxilha_, the adverb _magat_, the
substantive _lakatin_, and the verbs _chaan_ and _likihuin_. There are
no particular signs or letters to express the gender, but in most
cases the words _huixkana_, male, and _pozkat_, female, are prefixed
to words.
The plural for animated beings is formed by one of the following
terminations;--_n_, _in_, _nin_, _itni_, _nitni_, _an_, _na_, _ne_,
_ni_, _no_, _nu_;--_oxga_, youth; _oxgan_, youths; _agapon_, heaven;
_agaponin_, heavens; _pulana_, captain; _pulananin_, captains;
_makan_, hand; _makanitni_, hands; _ztako_, star; _ztakonitni_, stars;
_xanat_, flower; _xanatna_, flowers; etc., etc.; _in_ and _itni_ are
used when the word ends with a consonant, and _nin_ and _nitni_ when
it ends with a vowel.
PERSONAL PRONOUNS.
I akit
Me kin
Thou huix
He amah, or huata
We akin
Us kila, or kinka
You huixin
They huatonin
CONJUGATION OF THE VERB IK-PAXKI-Y, I LOVE.
PRESENT INDICATIVE.
I love, ik-paxki-y | We love, ik-paxki-yauh
Thou lovest, paxki-a | You love, paxki-yatit
He loves, paxki-y | They love, paxki-goy
IMPERFECT.
I loved, xak-paxki-y
PERFECT.
I have loved, ik-paxki-lh, or ik-paxki-nit
PLUPERFECT.
I had loved, xah-paxki-nit
FIRST FUTURE.
I shall love, nak-paxki-y
SECOND FUTURE.
I shall have loved, ik-paxki lh nahuan, or ik-paxki-nit nahuan
IMPERATIVE.
Love, ka-paxki
PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE.
If I love, kak-paxki-lh
IMPERFECT.
If I loved, xax-paxki-lh
The difference between the three dialects may be seen:
Heart nako alkonoko lakatzin
World kiltamako katoxahuat tankilatzon
Moon malkoyo papa laxkipap
Maize koxi tapaxni kizpa
Good tzey tlaan kolhana
Truth ztonkua loloto tikxliana
To believe akaeniy kanalay katayahuay
The Lord's Prayer in the dialect of Naolingo:
Kintlatkane nak tiayan huil takollalihuakahuanli ó
Our father in heaven art sanctified be
mimaokxot nikiminanin ó mintakakchi tacholakahuanla
thy name come thy kingdom be done
ó minpahuat cholei kaknitiet chalchix nak tiayan. O
thy name as world as in heaven.
kinchouhkan lakalliya nikilaixkiuh yanohue kakilamatzankaniuh
Our bread daily give us to-day forgive us
kintakallitkan chonlei ó kitnan lamatzankaniyauh
our faults as we ourselves we forgive
ó kintalakallaniyan ka ala kilamaktaxtoyauh
our debtors and not us lead
nali yoyauh naka liyogni. Chon tacholakahuanla.
that we be in temptation. So be it done.
The descriptions or grammatical remarks of Vater and Pimentel, vary in
many points. For instance, Vater says that the letters _k_ and _v_ are
not used in this language, while Pimentel mentions them both as being
used. The expression of the plural is also given differently by both,
as are also several other points.[XI'-11]
* * * * *
[Sidenote: HUAZTEC GRAMMAR.]
From the grammar of Carlos de Tapia Zenteno, which was also used by
Gallatin and Pimentel, I offer the following remarks on the Huaztec:
The letters used in writing this language are: _a_, _b_, _ch_, _d_,
_e_, _g_, _h_, _i_, _j_, _k_, _l_, _m_, _n_, _o_, _p_, _t_, _u_, _v_,
_x_, _y_, _z_, _tz_. The pronunciation is soft. Gender is denoted by
the addition of the words _imik_, man, and _uxum_, woman;--_tzalle_,
king; _uxumtzalle_, queen; _tzejelinik_, young man; _tzejeluxum_,
young girl. The affix _chick_ is used to express the plural;--_atik_,
son; _atikchick_, sons; but there are a few exceptions to this rule.
Diminutives are expressed by the preposition _chichick_, as;--_te_,
tree; _chichikte_, small tree. In some cases the preposition _tzakam_,
or the affix _il_, is used for this purpose. In the superlative the
syllable _le_ is used before the word, as;--_pullik_, great;
_lepullik_, very great. Personal pronouns;--_nana_, I; _tata_, thou;
_jaja_, he; _huahua_, we; _xaxa_, you; _baba_, they.
CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TAHJAL, TO HAVE.
INDICATIVE PRESENT.
I have, nana utahjal or intahjal
Thou hast, tata atahjal or ittahjal
He has, taja, intahjal
We have, huahua yatahjal
You have, xaxa yatahjal
They have, baba tahjal
IMPERFECT.
I had, nana utahjalitz or intahjalitz
PERFECT.
I have had, nana utahjaitz or utahjamal, or utahjamalitz
PLUPERFECT.
I had had, nana utahjalak or utahjamalak, or utahjamalakitz
FIRST FUTURE.
I shall have, nana ku or kin, or kiatajah
IMPERATIVE.
Have, tata katahja
PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE.
If I have, nana kutahja or kiatahja
IMPERFECT.
If I had, nana kin or intahjalak
INFINITIVE.
To have, tahjal
Verbal nouns and participles are formed by adding _x_ or _chix_, to
the infinitive, as;--_tzobnal_, to know; and _tzobnax_, he who knows.
There are said to be several different dialects of this language in
use. Following is the Pater Noster as given by Zenteno in his
Doctrina, and as spoken in the mountains of the district of Tampico.
Pailomê anitquahat tiaeb, quaquauhlu anabi, cachich
Father art heaven holy said thy name come
anatzalletal. Katahan analenal têtitzabal, nuantiani huatahab
thy kingdom. Be done thy will on the earth as to have
tiaeb. Ani tacupiza xahue cailel yabacanil ani
heaven. And thou give to-day each day our bread and
tacupaculamchi antuhualabchic, antiani huahua tupaculamchial
thou forgive sins as we forgive
tutomnanchixlomchik, ani ib takuhila tincal
debtors and not lead that we
ib cucuallam tin exextalab. Timat taculouh timbâ ana ib
not fall us in temptation. But save us from no
cuacua. Anitz catahan.
holy (evil) so be it done.[XI'-12]
Lord's Prayer in the dialect spoken in the Department of San Luis
Potosí:
Tatu puilom huahuá, itcuajat, ti eb chie pelit santo jajatz abi
cachic atzale tal ti eb al huahua: catajatz taculbetal hantzaná
titzabal hantini tiaeb ani cap ud patalaguicha tacubinanchi,
xoque ani tacupaculanchi; cal igualab, ani ela tegui
tacupalanchi cal y at guitzab ani il tacujila cugualan cal
junhi fataxtalb, maxibtaculohu cal ban atax mal tajana
guatalel.
[Sidenote: HUAZTEC LORD'S PRAYER.]
Lord's Prayer in the dialect spoken in another part of the district of
Tampico:
Pailon qüa que cuajat tiá el: tu cab tajal hanchaná enta bi ca
chix hanti ca ilál cataja na aquiztal hanchana antich aval
quinitine tiá el. An pan abalgüa ti patás hüicha ha, tu piza
segue, tu placuanchi ni gualal anchaná jontinégüá y placuanchal
in at qualablom, il tú en gila cu cualan anti atás cha lablal,
tu en librari ti patas an ataz tabal, anchaná juntam. Anchanan
catajan.[XI'-13]
FOOTNOTES:
[XI'-1] _Palacio_, _Carta_, p. 20; _Juarros_, _Hist. Guat._, p. 198;
_Registro Yucateco_, tom. i., p. 166; _Galindo_, in _Lond. Geog. Soc.,
Jour._, vol. iii., pp. 95, 63; _Gallatin_, in _Amer. Ethno. Soc.,
Transact._, vol. i., pp. 4-7; _Mühlenpfordt_, _Mejico_, tom. ii., pp.
8, 17; _Wappäus_, _Geog. u. Stat._, p. 245; _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._,
dec. iv., lib. x., cap. ii-xiv.; _Laet_, _Novus Orbis_, pp. 277, 317,
325; _Humboldt_, _Essai Pol._, tom. i., p. 267; _Heller_, _Reisen_, p.
380; _Galindo_, in _Antiq. Mex._, p. 67; _Norman's Rambles_, p. 238;
_Haefkens_, _Cent. Amer._, p. 412; _Prichard's Nat. Hist. Man_, vol.
ii., p. 513; _Behrendt's Report_, in _Smithsonian Rept._, 1867, p.
425; _Squier's Monograph_, p. ix.; _Villagutierre_, _Hist. Conq.
Itza_, p. 84.
[XI'-2] The languages of the Maya family are spoken in the old
provinces of Soconusco, Chiapas, Suchitepec, Vera Paz, Honduras,
Izalcos, Salvador, San Miguel, Nicaragua, Xerez de Choluteca,
Tegucigalpa, and Costa Rica, says the Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg, _MS.
Troano_, tom. ii., p. vi. 'La plupart des langues de cette contrée,
si multiples au premier aspect, se réduisent en réalité à un petit
nombre. Ce sont des dialectes qui ne diffèrent les uns des autres que
par le mélange de quelques mots étrangers, une certaine variété dans
les finales ou dans la prononciation.' _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, in
_Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1855, tom. cxlvii., p. 155. 'Il me
paraît indubitable que la langue universelle des royaumes guatémaliens
devait être, avant l'invasion des tribus que les Espagnols trouvèrent
en possession de ces contrées, le maya d'Yucatan ou le tzendal qui lui
ressemble beaucoup.' _Ib._ 'Lacandons ... les _Mames_, _Pocomames_,
etc., qui parlent encore aujourd'hui une langue presqu'en tout
semblable à celle des Yucatèques.' _Id._, p. 156. 'Le _Tzendal_ ou
_Tzeldal_ et un dialecte de la langue _zotzile_ dont il diffère fort
peu.' _Id._, _Palenqué_, p. 34. 'Toutes sont issues d'une seule
souche, dont le _maya_ paraît avoir gardé le plus grand nombre
d'éléments. Le _quiché_, le _cakchiquel_, le _mame_, le _tzendal_,
sont marqués eux-mêmes au sceau d'une très-haute antiquité, amplement
partagée par le _mexicain_ ou _nahuatl_ malgré les différences que
comporte sa grammaire; car si ses formes et sa syntaxe sont
très-distinctes de celles du _maya_, on peut dire, néanmoins, que tous
ces vocables sont composés de racines communes à tout le groupe.
_Id._, _MS. Troano_, tom. ii., pp. vii., viii. 'La langue primitive
forme le centre; plus elle s'avance vers la circonférence, plus elle
perd de son originalité la tangente, c'est-à-dire le point où elle
rencontre un autre idiome, est l'endroit où elle s'altère pour former
une langue mixte.' _Waldeck_, _Voy. Pitt._, pp. 24, 42. 'Les Taitzaes,
les Cehatches, les Campims, les Chinamitas, les Locènes, les Ytzaes et
les Lacandons. Toutes ces nations parlent la langue maya, excepté les
Locènes, qui parlent la langue Chol.' _Ternaux-Compans_, in _Nouvelles
Annales des Voy._, 1843, tom. xcvii., p. 50; _Id._, 1840, tom.
lxxxviii., p. 6. 'La de Yucatan, y Tabasco, que es toda vna.' _Bernal
Diaz_, _Hist. Conq._, fol. 25; _Solis_, _Hist. Mex._, tom. i., p. 89.
'Zoques, Celtales y Quèlenes, todos de lenguas diferentes.' _Remesal_,
_Hist. Chyapa_, pp. 264, 299; also in _Montanus_, _Nieuwe Weereld_, p.
269; _Helps' Span. Conq._, tom. iii., p. 252; _Squier_, in _Nouvelles
Annales des Voy._, 1855, tom. cxlviii., p. 275; _Id._, 1857, tom.
cliii., pp. 175, 177-8. The natives of the island of Cozumel 'son de
la lengua y costumbres de los de Yucatan.' _Landa_, _Relacion_, p. 12;
_Orozco y Berra_, _Geografía_, pp. 18-25, 55-56.
[XI'-3] 'La simplicité originale de cette langue et la régularité
merveilleuse de ses formes grammaticales, c'est la facilité avec
laquelle elle se prête à l'analyse de chacun de ces vocables et à la
dissection des racines dont ils sont dérivés.' _Brasseur de
Bourbourg_, _MS. Troano_, tom. ii., pp. iii., vi., v. 'The _Maya_
tongue spoken in the northern parts of Yucatan, is remarkable for its
extremely guttural pronunciation.' _Gordon's Hist. and Geog. Mem._, p.
73. 'The whole of the native languages are exceedingly guttural in
their pronunciation.' _Dunn's Guatimala_, p. 265. 'Diese Sprache war
wohlklingend und weich.' _Müller_, _Amerikanische Urreligionen_, p.
453; _Ternaux-Compans_, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1843, tom.
xcvii., p. 32; _Squier_, in _Id._, tom. cliii., p. 178.
[XI'-4] 'Dans ces langues kakchiquèle, kichée et zutugile, les mots qui
n'appartiennent pas au Maya, m'ont tout l'air d'être d'origine
germanique, saxons, danois, flamands, anglais même.' _Brasseur de
Bourbourg_, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1855, tom. cxlvii., pp.
156-7. 'Je fus frappé, dès mon arrivée ... de la similitude qu'une
quantité de mots de leur langue offrait avec celles du nord de
l'Europe.' _Id._, _Lettre à M. Rafn_, in _Id._, tom. clx., 1858, pp.
263, 281-90. 'The fundamental forms and words of the languages of
these regions (except the Mexican) are intimately connected with the
Maya or Tzendal and that all the words, that are neither Mexican nor
Maya, belong to our languages of Northern Europe, viz., English,
Saxon, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Flemish and German, some even
appear to belong to the French and Persian, and altogether they are
really very numerous and astounding.' _Id._, _Letter in the New York
Tribune_, November 21, 1855.
[XI'-5] _Pimentel_, _Cuadro_, tom. ii., pp. 231-45.
[XI'-6] _Gage's New Survey_, pp. 465-477, et seq.
[XI'-7] _Pimentel_, _Cuadro_, tom. i., pp. 84-110.
[XI'-8] _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Grammaire de la Langue Quiché_;
_Pimentel_, _Cuadro_, tom. ii., pp. 126-47.
[XI'-9] _Beltran de Santa Rosa María_, _Arte_; _Ruz_, _Catecismo
Historico_; _Id._, _Cartilla_; _Id._, _Gram. Yucateca_; _Gallatin_, in
_Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact._, vol. i., pp. 252, et seq.; _Heller_,
_Reisen_, p. 381, et seq.; _Vater_, _Mithridates_, tom. iii., pt iii.,
pp. 4-24; _Pimentel_, _Cuadro_, tom. i., pp. 5, 223, tom. ii., pp.
119, 229; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Grammaire_, in _Landa_,
_Relacion_, pp. 459-479; _Id._, in _MS. Troano_, tom. ii.
[XI'-10] 'Estos Totonaques ... decian ser ellas de _Guastelas_.' 'Otros
hay, que entienden la lengua Guasteca.' _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom.
iii., lib. x., pp. 131-2. 'Im alten Centralamerika also waren die
Sprachen der Totonaken, Otimier, Huasteken, Macahuer unter sich sowohl
als auch mit der Sprache in Yucatan verwandt.' _Müller_,
_Amerikanische Urreligionen_, p. 453; _Mexikanische Zustände_; tom.
i., p. 143; _Montanus_, _Nieuwe Weereld_, p. 251; _Hassel_, _Mex.
Guat._, p. 245; _Almaraz_, _Memorio_, pp. 18, 20; _Villa-Señor y
Sanchez_, _Theatro_, tom. i., pp. 287-91; _Gallatin_, in _Amer. Ethno.
Soc., Transact._, vol. i., p. 4; _Ternaux-Compans_, in _Nouvelles
Annales des Voy._, 1840, tom. lxxxviii., p. 7; _Vater_, _Mithridates_,
tom. iii., pt iii., p. 106; _Orozco y Berra_, _Geografía_, pp. 18-20,
204.
[XI'-11] _Pimentel_, _Cuadro_, tom. ii., pp. 223-68; _Vater_,
_Mithridates_, tom. iii., pt iii., pp. 44-60.
[XI'-12] _Zenteno_, _Lengua Huasteca_; _Gallatin_, in _Amer. Ethno.
Soc., Transact._, vol. i., pp. 276-85; _Pimentel_, _Cuadro_, tom. i.,
pp. 5-34.
[XI'-13] _Col. Polidiómica Mex._, _Oracion Dominical_, p. 8-10.
CHAPTER XII.
LANGUAGES OF HONDURAS, NICARAGUA, COSTA RICA, AND THE ISTHMUS OF
DARIEN.
THE CARIB AN IMPORTED LANGUAGE -- THE MOSQUITO LANGUAGE -- THE
POYA, TOWKA, SECO, VALIENTE, RAMA, COOKRA, WOOLWA, AND OTHER
LANGUAGES IN HONDURAS -- THE CHONTAL -- MOSQUITO GRAMMAR --
LOVE SONG IN THE MOSQUITO LANGUAGE -- COMPARATIVE VOCABULARY OF
HONDURAS TONGUES -- THE CORIBICI, CHOROTEGA, CHONTAL AND
OROTIÑA IN NICARAGUA -- GRAMMAR OF THE OROTIÑA OR NAGRADAN --
COMPARISON BETWEEN THE OROTIÑA AND CHOROTEGA -- THE CHIRIQUÍ,
GUATUSO, TIRIBI, AND OTHERS IN COSTA RICA -- TALAMANCA
VOCABULARY -- DIVERSITY OF SPEECH ON THE ISTHMUS OF DARIEN --
ENUMERATION OF LANGUAGES -- COMPARATIVE VOCABULARY.
In Honduras there is a long list of tribal names, to each of which is
attributed a distinct tongue. Vocabularies have been taken of three or
four only, and one, spoken on the Mosquito coast, has had its
grammatical structure reduced to writing. It is therefore impossible
to make comparisons and therefrom to determine how far their number
might be reduced by classification. The first which I introduce is
generally conceded to have been imported. It is the Carib, spoken on
the shores of the bay of Honduras and on the adjacent islands, and has
been proven to be almost identically the same as the one spoken on the
West India Islands. From Cape Honduras to the Rio San Juan, and
extending inland as far as Black River, the Mosquito language is in
general use. Of it I shall insert a few grammatical remarks. In the
Poya Mountains a like-named tongue is spoken; on the headwaters of the
Patook River is the Towka, and on the Rio Secos, the Seco. Further in
the mountains, near the boundary of Nicaragua, and extending into that
state are the Valiente and Rama, said to be both separate tongues; and
in the interior of the state there are the Cookra and Woolwa, the
latter spoken in the province of Chontales. Others mentioned are the
Tonglas, the Lenca, the Smoo, the Teguaca, the Albatuina, the Jara,
the Taa, the Gaula, the Motuca, the Fantasma, and the Sambo. Of these
nothing but the names can be given. The oldest authorities mention, as
a principal language the Chontal, the name of a people and language
met in many variations in almost every state from Mexico to Nicaragua.
As there are no specimens of this language existing, it is impossible
to say whether one people and language extended through all this
territory or whether certain wild tribes were designated by this
general name, as, according to Molina's Mexican dictionary,
_chontalli_ means stranger or foreigner; and _popoluca_, which seems
to be also used like chontalli, is defined as barbarian, or man of
another nation and language. I am therefore of the opinion that no
such nations as Chontals or Popolucas exist, but that these names were
employed by the more civilized nations to designate people speaking
other and barbarous tongues.[XII'-1]
[Sidenote: MOSQUITO ADJECTIVES AND DECLENSIONS.]
Of the Mosquito language, which is understood throughout the whole
Mosquito Coast, and of which I here give a few grammatical remarks, Mr
Squier remarks that "it is not deficient in euphony, although
defective in grammatical power."[XII'-2] There is but one article, the
numeral adjective _kumi_, one, used also for a and an. The adjectives
are few in number, having no uniform termination, and are discovered
only by their signification, except when participles, when they always
terminate in _ra_ or _n_. Adjectives form the comparative by adding
_kara_ to the positive and the superlative by adding _poli_ except in
two words, _uia_ and _silpe_, which have distinct words for each
degree of comparison, thus;--_silpe_, small; _uria_, smaller;
_katara_, smallest; _uia_, much; _kara_, more; _poli_, most.
Comparison is usually formed in the manner following;--_yamne_, good;
_yamne kara_, better; _yamne poli_, best; _konra_, strong; _konra
kara_, stronger; _konra poli_, strongest.
In composition, to express excess or diminution, comparison is
sometimes formed in this manner;--_Jan almuk, Samuel almuk apia_: John
is old, Samuel is not old.
ADJECTIVES.
Old almuk Bad saura
Every bane Green sane
Tight, close bitne Black sixa
Spotted bulne Small silpe
Greedy slabla Transparent slilong
Dull dimdim Slippery swokswaka
Circular iwit Sour swane
Less kausa Damp tauske
More kara Great tara
Hot lapta Thin, flat tanta
Rich lela-kera Thick twotne
Round marbra Poor umpira
Sharp mata Much uia
White pine Smaller uria
Red paune Weary wet
Most, very poli Heavy wira
Grey, light popotne Chief wita
blue etc.
New raiaka Good yamne
THE PERFECT TENSE USED AS AN ADJECTIVE.
Dry lawan Angry palan, or luan
Lazy shringwan Fearful sibrin
Slack, loose langwan Sore latwan
Wet buswan Sick, troubled warban
Dirty klaklan Dead pruan
Generous kupia-pine
The gender is commonly marked by adding _waikna_ for the male and
_mairen_ for the female, or, for beasts, _wainatka_ for the male, and
_mairen_, as before, for the female. Thus;--_lupia waikna_, a son;
_lupia mairen_, a daughter; _bip wainatka_, a bull; _bip mairen_, a
cow. In nouns relating to the human species the plural is formed by
adding _nani_ to the singular; as;--_waikna_, a man; _waikna nani_,
men; _yapte_, mother; _yapte nani_, mothers. Other nouns have the
plural the same as the singular, although sometimes a plural is formed
by adding _ra_ to the singular;--_inska_, a fish; _inskara_, fishes.
There are four cases, distinguished by their terminations, the
nominative, dative, accusative, and ablative.
DECLENSION OF THE WORD AIZE, FATHER.
SINGULAR. PLURAL.
Nom. Father aize | Fathers aize-nani
Dat. To father aizera | To fathers aize-nanira
Acc. Father aize | Fathers aize-nani
Abl. With father aize-ne | With fathers aize-ne-nani
WITH AFFIX KE.
SINGULAR. PLURAL.
Nom. My father aize-ke | My fathers aizeke-nani
Dat. To my father aizekra | To my fathers aizeke-nanira
Acc. My father aizeke | My fathers aizeke-nani
Abl. With my father aize-ke-ne | With my fathers aizeke ne nani
WITH AFFIX KAM.
SINGULAR. PLURAL.
Nom. Thy father aizekam | Thy fathers aizekam-nani
Dat. To thy father aizekamra | To thy fathers aizekam-nanira
Acc. Thy father aizekam | Thy fathers aizekam-nani
Abl. With thy father aizekam-ne | With thy fathers aizekam ne nani
SINGULAR. PLURAL.
Nom. His people ai upla | Their people ai upla-nani
Dat. To his people ai uplara | To their people ai upla-nanira
Acc. His people ai upla | Their people ai upla-nani
Abl. With his people ai uplane | With their people ai uplane-nani
To form the possessive case of nouns, the word _dukia_, signifying
'belonging', is added. The word, being subject to a declension
peculiar to itself, is on that account not put as an affix in the
usual declension of nouns.
DECLENSION OF THE WORD DUKIA, BELONGING, POSSESSION.
Belonging, possession dukia
Belonging to him, to them ai dukiara
Belonging to thee, to you ai dukiamra
In my possession, belonging to me dukia-ne
SINGULAR. PLURAL.
Of me, mine yung dukia | Of us, ours yung-nani dukia
Of thee, thine man dukia | Of you, yours man-nani dukia
Of him, his, hers, its wetin dukia | Of them, theirs wetin nani dukia
There are twelve pronouns, mostly declinable. Six of them are
personal.
I yung | Self bui
Thou man | Our wan
He wetin | He, his, her, hers, I, me, etc. ai
Three are relative, and three adjective.
ADJECTIVE. RELATIVE.
This baha | What naki
That naha | Which ansa
Other wala | Who dia
The first three are declined alike; thus
DECLENSION OF THE WORD YUNG, I.
SINGULAR. PLURAL.
Nom. I yung | We yung-nani
Dat. To me yungra | To us yung-nanira,
Acc. Me yung | Us yung-nani
Abl. In me yung-ne | With us yung-nani kera
DECLENSION OF THE WORD MAN, THOU.
SINGULAR. PLURAL.
Nom. Thou man | You man nani
Dat. To thee manra | To you man-nanira
Acc. Thee man | You man-nani
Abl. In thee man-ne | With you man-nani-kera
DECLENSION OF THE WORD WETIN, HE.
SINGULAR. PLURAL.
Nom. He wetin | They wetin-nani
Dat. To him wetinra | To them wetin-nanira
Acc. Him wetin | Them wetin nani
Abl. In him wetin-ne | With them wetin-nani kera
Affixes are also joined to pronouns to increase, vary, or change their
signification, such as _sa_, _ne_, _ra_, _am_, and others, as well as
prepositions and adverbs.
There are but three interjections: _alai!_ alas! _kais!_ lo! and
_alakai!_ O dear!
[Sidenote: MOSQUITO ADVERBS AND PREPOSITIONS.]
Adverbs are numerous, and admit of certain variations in their
signification by the use of affixes, thus;--_nara_, here; _narasa_,
here it is; _lama_, near; _lamara_, nearer.
Quickly ane Never tara
When ankia Where ansera
Every bane Together aika-aika
Yesterday, the There bara
other day eua-wala There it is barasa
Presently kanara Yonder bukra
When kanka Near lama
Again kli Nearer, close lamara
Soon mit Further liwara
To-day naiua Here nara
Next, by and by naika Here it is narasa
Already put No more yulakane
Immediately tiske Yes au
To-morrow yunka Anything deradera
After to-morrow yawanka Sweetly dumdum
No, not apia Exactly kut
Only baman Strangely pale
For nothing barke Very, truly poli
Not, never para Enough sipse
Not sip Truly kosak
It is not sipsa
There are twenty-eight prepositions. Some of them are also used as
conjunctions; and some, like the adverb, admit of a variation.
At, near, about baila For mata
To, there bara Beneath maira
In bela Below monunta
Into, within belara Under monuntara
Against dara Behind ninara
Beyond kau After ninka
With kera Without, destitute para
Through krauan Over, upon pura
With, together kuki Upon, above purara
In front lalma Before, anterior pus
Opposite, before lalmara Without, exterior skera
Unto, close lama Among tilara
Without, outside latara With wal
Between, centre lilapos From, out of wina
CONJUNCTIONS.
Then baha Until kut
Since baha-wina Now mek
Like bako How naki
Because, for bamna Next naika
So thus bun But sekuna
So it is bunsa Lest sia
If kaka And, also sin
Yet kau And wal
Still kause
CONJUGATION OF THE VEEB KAIA, TO BE.
PRESENT INDICATIVE.
I am, yung ne | The same, only placing _nani_ after
Thou art, man kam | the pronouns.
He is, wetin |
PERFECT. FUTURE.
I have been, kare | I shall be, kamne
Thou hast been, karum | Thou wilt be, kama
He has been, | He will be, kabia
IMPERATIVE.
Be thou, kama | Let us be, kape
Let him be, kabia | Be ye, man-nani-kama
| Let them be, wetin nani kabia
OTHER FORMS.
I have not been, kerus
Thou hast not been, kerum
He has not been, keruiskan
I shall not be, kamue-apia
Thou wilt not be, kama-apia
He shall not be, kabia-apia
We shall not be, yung-nani kamne-apia
Ye shall not be, man-nani kama-apia
They shall not be, wetin-nani kabia-apia
Shall I not be? kamne-apiake
Wilt thou not be? kama-apiake
Shall he not be? kabia-apiake
CONJUGATION OF THE VERB DAUKAIA, TO MAKE.
PRESENT INDICATIVE.
SINGULAR. PLURAL.
I make, daukisne | We make, yung-nani daukisne
Thou makest, daukisma | You make, man-nani daukisma
He makes, daukisa, or danki | They make, wetin-nani dauki,
or dankisa
IMPERFECT.
I did make, daukatne
Thou didst make, daukatma
He did make, daukata
In the same way every tense forms the plural, having no difference in
the terminations.
PERFECT. FUTURE.
I have made, dankre | I shall make, daukamne
Thou hast made, daukrum | Thou wilt make, daukama
He has made, daukan | He will make, daukbia
IMPERATIVE.
Make, daux | Let us make, daukpe
Let him make, daukbia, or | Make ye, man nani daux
dautbiasika | Let them make, wetin nani daukbia
| or daukbiasika
OTHER FORMS.
I make not, daukrusne
I did not make, daukruskatne
I have not made, yung daukrus
I shall not make, daukamme-apia
Make not, daukparama, or man daukpara
Let him not make, daukiera, or wetin daukbiera
Let us not make, yung nani daukbiera
Make ye not, man nani daukpara, or daukparama
Let them not make, wetin nani daukbiera
I may or can make, yung shep daukisne
I should make, daukaiakatne
I may have made, yung shep daukre
I might have made, yung daukatnekrane
I shall have made, daukaiakamne
Do I make? daukisneke
Do I not make? daukrusneke
Dost thou not make, or
makest thou not? daukrusmake
Does he not make? daukruske
Shall I not make? daukamne apiake
If I make, yung daukikaka
If I had not made, yung daukruskaka[XII'-3]
[Sidenote: MOSQUITO LOVE SONG.]
As a specimen of this language I have the following love song:
Keker miren náne, warwar páser yamne krouekan. Coope nárer mi koolkun
I doukser. Dear máne kuker cle wol proue. I sabbeáne wal moonter
moppara. Keker misére yapte winegan. Koker sombolo barnar lippun,
lippun, lippunke. Koolunker punater bin biwegan. Coope nárer tánes I
doukser. Coope nárer mi koolkun I doukser.
* * * * *
Of this the translation is given as follows:
Dear girl, I am going far from thee. When shall we meet again to
wander together on the sea-side? I feel the sweet sea-breeze blow its
welcome on my cheek. I hear the distant rolling of the mournful
thunder. I see the lightning flashing on the mountain's top, and
illuminating all things below, but thou art not near me. My heart is
sad and sorrowful; farewell! dear girl, without thee I am
desolate.[XII'-4]
Following is a comparative vocabulary of some of the other
languages.[XII'-5]
LENCA.
+-------+--------+-------+-------+---------+---------+-----
|GUAJI- |OPATORO.|INTIBU-|SIMILA-| WOOLWA. | XICAQUE.| CARIB.
| QUERO.| | CAT. | TION. | | |
+-------+--------+-------+-------+---------+---------+-------
Man | |taho |amaske | |all |jomé |
Woman | |move |napu |mab |yall |pitmé |
Head |toro |tohoro |cagasí |toro |tunni |laipuco |waichie
Face |amptiga|amptiga |tije | | | |
Ear |yang |yan |yangaga|yoan |fora | |
Eye |saing |saringla|saring |saarim |miniktaka|non |
Nose |napse |napseh |nepton |nepse |nágnitak |meguin |
House |tahü |taoo |tahu | |u |chef |
Sun |gasi |gashi |gashi | |maa |behapoy |wello
Fire |uga |ua |yuga |yuca |cukh |iqueamoos|wat
Water |guass |uash |guash |güas |uass |sur |dunna
Stone |caa |coa |tupan | | |pai |
Dog |shui |shui |shushu |sui |sulo |soyo |
White |shogo |shogo |shogo | | |sae |
Black |sihiri |sihiri |seriga | | |tiltique |
To eat |coorta |gorkin |gormal |ulanta |tecuting | |
To drink|supatch|talgui |talmal | | | |
One |ita |ita |itaska |eta |alaslach |pani |abama
Two |naa | | |pé |muyebu |matis |biama
Three |lagua | | |lágua |muyebas |contis |irwa
Four |aria | | |eslea |muyarunca|urupau |biamburi
Five |saihe |saihe | |sai |muyesinca|casanpani|abanawajap
Ten |isis |siis | |isis |muyhasluy|camaspus |sunwajp
[Sidenote: OROTIÑA CONJUGATIONS.]
Besides the Aztec, which I have already spoken of in a previous
chapter, there were four distinct languages spoken in Nicaragua:--The
Coribici, Chorotega, Chontal, and Orotiña.[XII'-6] Of the Orotiña, which
Mr Squier calls the Nagrandan, I have the following grammatical notes.
Neither articles nor prepositions are expressed. The plural is formed
by the affix _nu_;--_ruscu_, bird; _ruscunu_, birds. Comparatives and
superlatives are expressed by _mah_, better or more, and _pooru_ or
_puru_, best or most;--_meheña_, good; _ma-meheña_, better;
_puru-meheña_, best. Diminutives, or deficiency, are expressed by _ai_
or _mai_;--_ai-meheña_ or _mai-meheña_, bad or lacking good.
PRONOUNS.
I icu
We, masc. hechelu
We, fem. hecheri
Thou ica
You, m. hechela
You, f. hechelai
He icau
She icagui
They, m. icanu
They, f. icagunu
That cagui
Those caguinu
This, m. cala
This, f. hala
These, m. cadchinulu
These, f. cadchici
Mine, m. cugani
Mine, f. icagani
Yours, m. cutani
Yours, f. icatani
His cagani
CONJUGATION OF THE VERB SA, TO BE.
PRESENT INDICATIVE.
SINGULAR. PLURAL.
I am, sá | We are, so
Thou art, sá | You are, soa
He is, sá | They are, sula
IMPERFECT.
I was, caná | We were, cananá
Thou wast, caná | You were, cananoá
He was, caná | They were, lacananá
PERFECT.
I have been, sá cá | We have been, sá cuá
Thou hast been, sachu | You have been, sá cnahi
He has been, sacá | They have been, sa gahu
PLUPERFECT.
I had been, mucasini | Plural the same
Thou hadst been, mucanasini |
He had been, mucanasadini |
FIRST FUTURE.
I shall be, lamanambi | We shall be, lamananna
SECOND FUTURE.
I shall have been, malamana | We shall have been, lamana
CONJUGATION OF THE VERB AIHA, TIHA, AHIHA, TO COME.
PRESENT INDICATIVE.
SINGULAR. PLURAL.
I come, icunaha | We come, hechelunagubi
IMPERFECT.
I came, incunahalu | We came, hechelunagubalú
PERFECT.
I have come, icusanaha | We have come, hechelusagualalu
PLUPERFECT.
I had come, icuschisalu | We had come, hechelunigualalu
FIRST FUTURE.
I shall come, icugaha | We shall come, hecheluguha
SECOND FUTURE.
I shall have come, icuvihiluniha | We shall have come,
hechehivihiluingualalu
IMPERATIVE.
Come, ahiyaica | Let us come, ahiyohecheu
I should come, icugahalu | We should come, hechelugualalu
If I had come, icumahaluvihilu | If we had come,
hechelumainueamaguíha[XII'-7]
[Sidenote: NICARAGUA AND COSTA RICA VOCABULARIES.]
Of the Orotiña and Chorotega I also insert a short vocabulary.
OROTIÑA. CHOROTEGA. OROTIÑA. CHOROTEGA.
Man rahpa nuho Water eeia nimbu
Woman rapaku nahseyomo Stone esee, or esenu nugo
Head a'cu, or edi goochemo Wood bara nanguima
Face enu grote To drink mahuia boprima
Ear nau nuhme To go aiyu, or icu paya
Eye setu nahte Dead ganganu gagame
Nose ta'co mungoo White mesha andirume
Arm pa'pu deno I icu saho
House gua nahngu Thou, he ica sumusheta
Sun ahca numbu We hechelu semehmu
Fire ahku nahu [XII'-8]
More scanty still is the information regarding the tongues of Costa
Rica. Only one vocabulary is at hand of the languages spoken by the
Blancos, Valientes, and Talamancas, who inhabit the east coast between
the Rio Zent and the Boca del Toro. Besides these there are mentioned,
as speaking separate tongues, the Chiripos, Guatusos, and Tiribis. Of
the language of the Talamancas I give a few words.
Man signa-kirinema Water dí-tzítá
Woman signa-arágre Stone ák
Head sa-za-kú Wood u-ruk
Face sa-kar-kú Dog tschi-tschi
Ear su-kú-ke Good buisi
Eye su-wu-ákétéi Bad be-so-i
Nose su-tshu-ko-tó I be-hé
Hand sa-fra-tzin-sek Thou tschi-si
House suhú He se-dé
Sun kan-hué We sa-ta-war-ke
Moon tu-lu You se-hetsch-te
Fire tschú-ko They be-zo[XII'-9]
[Sidenote: CHOLO, TULE, AND DARIEN LANGUAGES.]
On the isthmus of Darien there is nothing to be mentioned but the
names of tongues said to have been spoken there, and of specimens
nothing but a few scanty vocabularies exist. Oviedo, speaking of
Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and the ancient province of Tierra Firme,
thinks there were as many as seventy-two distinct tongues spoken in
that region. He specially mentions the Coiba, the Burica, and the
Paris.[XII'-10] Andagoya speaks of a distinct language in the province
of Acla; another called the Cueva as spoken in the provinces of
Comogre and Biruqueta, on Pearl Island, about the gulf of San Miguel,
and in the province of Coiba; at Nombre de Dios the Chuchura; to each
of the provinces of Tobreytrota, Nata, Chiru, Chame, Paris, Escoria,
Chicacotra, Sangana, and Guarara, a distinct language is
assigned.[XII'-11] Another tongue spoken of by an old writer is that of
the Simerones.[XII'-12] To the different surveying and exploring
expeditions of later years we are indebted for a few notes on the
languages spoken in Darien at this day. The Tules, Dariens, Cholos,
Dorachos, Savanerics, Cunas, and Bayamos, are new names not mentioned
by any of the older writers; of some of them vocabularies have been
taken, but otherwise we are left in darkness.[XII'-13]
CHOLO. TULE. WAFER'S DARIEN VOCAB.
Water payto tee doola
Fire tuboor cho
Sun pesea ipé
Moon hedecho nee nee
Tree pachru chowala (pl.)
House dhé neka
Man mochina mastola
Woman wuèna pundola poonah
Thunder pá marra
Dog achu
Ear uwa
Eye ibia
Nose an uchuu
Mouth kagya
Father tautah
Mother naunah
Brother roopah
Go chaunah
Sleep cotchah
Fine mamaubah
One quenchaqua hean
Two pocoa dìv
Three pagwa tree
Four pakegua caher
Five aptali cooig
Ten ambe deh[XII'-14]
Although from a perusal of what has here been gathered we might wish
to know more of the weird imaginings that floated through the minds of
these peoples, and to follow further the interminable intermixture of
tongues and dialects, spoken, grunted, and gestured between the Arctic
Ocean and the Atrato River, we must content ourselves with what we
have. I have gathered and given in this volume all that I have been
able to find; and from the readiness with which the Americans were
wont to adopt the dogmas and creeds of Europeans, supernatural
conceptions supposedly superior to their own, and insist upon their
being aboriginal, and from the rapid and bewildering changes that so
quickly mar and destroy the original purity of tongues, there is
little hope of our learning further from living lips, or of our ever
being able to study these things from the scattered and degraded
remnants of the people themselves.
[Sidenote: CONCLUSION.]
He who carefully examines the Myths and Languages of the aboriginal
nations inhabiting the Pacific States, cannot fail to be impressed
with the similarity between them and the beliefs and tongues of
mankind elsewhere. Here is the same insatiate thirst to know the
unknowable, here are the same audacious attempts to tear asunder the
veil, the same fashioning and peopling of worlds, laying out and
circumscribing of celestial regions, and manufacturing, and setting
up, spiritually and materially, of creators, man and animal makers and
rulers, everywhere manifest. Here is apparent what would seem to be
the same inherent necessity for worship, for propitiation, for
purification, or a cleansing from sin, for atonement and sacrifice,
with all the symbols and paraphernalia of natural and artificial
religion. In their speech the same grammatical constructions are seen
with the usual variations in form and scope, in poverty and richness,
which are found in nations, rude or cultivated, everywhere. Little as
we know of the beginning and end of things, we can but feel, as fresh
facts are brought to light and new comparisons made between the races
and ages of the earth, that humanity, of whatsoever origin it may be
or howsoever circumstanced, is formed on one model, and unfolds under
the influence of one inspiration.
FOOTNOTES:
[XII'-1] A classification has been made by Mr Squier, but in the absence
of reliable data on which to base it, it cannot be accepted without
reserve. He says: 'it appears that Honduras was anciently occupied by
at least four distinct families or groups.' These he names: the Chorti
or Sesenti, belonging to the Maya family, the Lenca, under the various
names of Chontals and perhaps Xicaques and Poyas;--in the third he
includes the various tribes intervening between the Lencas proper and
the inhabitants of Cariay, or what is now called the Mosquito shore,
such as the Toacas, Tonglas, Ramas, etc., and lastly in the fourth,
the savages who dwelt on the Mosquito shore from near Carataska Lagoon
southward to the Rio San Juan. _Cent. Amer._, pp. 252-3. See also
_Squier_, in _Palacio_, _Carta_, note iii., pp. 100-5; _Froebel_, _Aus
Amerika_, tom. i., pp. 399-403; _Id._, _Cent. Amer._, pp. 133-36;
_Boyle's Ride_, vol. i., p. 287; _Squier_, in _Nouvelles Annales des
Voy._, 1858, tom. clx., pp. 134-5; _Palacio_, _Carta_, p. 20. 'Variis
et diversis linguis utebantur, Chontalium tamen maxime erat inter eos
communis.' _Laet_, _Novus Orbis_, p. 337. 'Tenian diferencias de
lenguas, y la mas general es la de los Chontales.' _Herrera_, _Hist.
Gen._, dec. iv., lib. viii., cap. iii.; _Juarros_, _Hist. Guat._, p.
62; _Galindo_, _Notice of the Caribs_, in _Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour._,
vol. iii., p. 290-1; _Orozco y Berra_, _Geografía_, p. 20. 'Die
Karaiben bedienen sich noch gegenwärtig ihrer ganz eigenthümlichen
Sprache, welche bedeutend von allen übrigen abweicht, und von den
anderen Indianerstämmen nicht verstanden wird.' _Mosquitoland_,
_Bericht_, pp. 19-20, 140; _Bell's Remarks on Mosquito Ter._, in
_Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour._, vol. xxxii., pp. 258-9; _Wells' Explor.
Hond._, pp. 552-3.
[XII'-2] _Bard's Waikna_, p. 363. 'Die Sprache ... der Sambos oder
eigentlichen Mosquitos, am meisten ausgebildet, allgemein verbreitet
und wird im ganzen Lande von allen Stämmen verstanden und gesprochen.
Sie ist wohlklingend, ohne besondere Kehllaute aber ziemlich arm und
unbeholfen.' _Mosquitoland_, _Bericht_, p. 140.
[XII'-3] _Mosquitoland_, _Bericht_, pp. 241-68; _Alex. Henderson's
Grammar, Moskito Lang._, N. York, 1846.
[XII'-4] _Young's Narrative_, pp. 77-8.
[XII'-5] _Squier's Cent. Amer._, pp. 253-6; _Id._, in _Nouvelles Annales
des Voy._, 1858, clx., p. 135; _Froebel_, _Aus Amerika_, tom. i., pp.
400-1.
[XII'-6] 'Ay en Nicaragua cinco lenguajes muy diferentes: Coribici, que
loan mucho, Chorotega, que es la natural, y antigua: y assi estan en los
que lo hablan los heredamientos, y el Cacao, que es la moneda, y
riqueza dela tierra.... Chondal es grossero, y serrano. Orotiña, que
dize mama, por lo que no otros (nosotros). Mexicano, que es la
principal.' _Gomara_, _Hist. Ind._, fol. 264. 'A quatro ó çinco
lenguas distintas é diverssas las unas de las otras. La prinçipal es
la que llaman de _Nicaragua_, y es la mesma que hablan en México ó en
Nueva España. La otra es la lengua que llaman de _Chorotega_, é la
terçera es Chondal.... Otra hay ques del golpho de Orotiñaruba háçia
la parte del Nordeste, ó otras lenguas hay adelante la tierra
adentro.' _Oviedo_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. iv., pp. 35, 37. Herrera, who
has copied from Gomara almost literally, has made a very important
mistake; he speaks of five languages and only mentions four. As
Herrera mentions a place Chuloteca, some writers, and among them Mr
Squier, have applied this name to a language, but seemingly without
authority. Herrera's copy reads: 'Hablauan en Nicaragua, çinco lenguas
diferentes, Coribizi, que lo hablan mucho en Chuloteca, que es la
natural, y antigua, y ansi estauan en los que la hablauan.... Los de
Chondal son grosseros, y serranos, la quarta es Orotina, Mexicana es
la quinta.' _Hist. Gen._, dec. iii., lib. iv., cap. vii. Purchas has
copied Gomara more closely, and cites the five like him. _Pilgrimes_,
vol. v., p. 887. Mr Squier makes the following division: Dirian,
Nagrandan, Choluteca, Orotina, and Chondal. Those speaking the Aztec
dialect he names Niquirans and also counts the Choluteca as a dialect
of the same. _Nicaragua_, vol. ii., p. 310-12; _Buschmann_,
_Ortsnamen_, p. 132; _Froebel_, _Cent. Amer._, p. 59, et seq.;
_Boyle's Ride_, vol. i., p. 267, vol. ii., pp. 286-7; _Hassel_, _Mex.
Guat._, p. 397; _Palacio_, _Carta_, p. 20.
[XII'-7] _Squier's Nicaragua_, vol. ii., pp. 315-319.
[XII'-8] _Id._, pp. 320-23.
[XII'-9] _Wagner and Scherzer_, _Costa Rica_, p. 562; _Scherzer_,
_Vocab._, in _Sitzungsberichte der Akad. der Wissensch._, _Wien_, vol.
xv., no. i., 1855, pp. 28-35.
[XII'-10] 'Pienso yo que son apartados del número de las septenta y dos.'
_Oviedo_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. ii., cap. xliii. 'En tierra
firme ... ai mui diversas, i apartadas Lenguas.' _Oviedo_, _Proemio_,
in _Barcia_, _Historiadores_, tom. i., p. 12. 'Ai entre ellos lenguas
diferentes.' _Fernando Colon_, in _Barcia_, _Historiadores_, tom. i.,
fol. 106. 'Son trà lor diuerse lingue.' _Colombo_, _Hist. Ammeraglio_,
p. 405.
[XII'-11] _Andagoya_, _Relacion_, in _Navarrete_, _Col._, tom. iii., p.
393, et seq.; _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. iv., lib. i., cap. xi.
[XII'-12] _Baptista Antonio_, _Relation_, in _Hakluyt's Voy._, tom. iii.,
fol. 554.
[XII'-13] _Vater_, _Mithridates_, tom. iii., pt ii., p. 707; _Cullen's
Darien_, p. 65; _Fitzroy_, in _Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour._, vol. xx., p.
164; _Latham_, in _Id._, pp. 189-90; _Seemann's Voy. Herald_, vol. i.,
p. 312; _Bidwell's Isthmus_, pp. 33-38; _De Puydt_, _Explor._, in
_Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour._, vol. xxxviii., p. 91.
[XII'-14] _Cullen's Darien_, pp. 99-102; _Latham_, in _Lond. Geog. Soc.,
Jour._, vol. xx., p. 190; _Wafer's New Voy._, pp. 185-188.
END OF THE THIRD VOLUME.