let's learn K'iche'

learning the K'iche' Mayan language of Guatemala | textbook: "Basic K'iche' Grammar" Mondloch 1999 | Discord: | run by @matt_boot_

[let's learn K'iche' @kiche2023]

https://t.co/MMMTsYjvus

[let's learn K'iche' @kiche2023]

the K'iche' word for 🐱 is me's /meʔs/, though my teacher has also used the word sya /sja/.

not sure what the difference is yet .. might be a cat vs. kitty thing?

[Axel Folio, PhD, White Tears Distiller 🪁 @ISASaxonists]

An important map. Linguistics can be fun(ish).

What's the word for cat if you know a language outside this area?

[let's learn K'iche' @kiche2023]

this week we're doing lesson 12, imperatives!

we also meet the particle b'a' /ɓaʔ/ which adds some kind of emphasis to commands, like English "well" or "so".

it happens to resemble Egyptian Arabic بقى baʔa in both form and function!

katwara b'a' = naam baʔa "sleep, then!"

[let's learn K'iche' @kiche2023]

lesson 10, let's go!

this week we're looking at intransitive verbs in the *completed* aspect. looks like we are trading in the k- prefix for x- /ʃ/.

also looking at a couple conjugated prepositions!

[let's learn K'iche' @kiche2023]

time for Lesson 9!

at long last, we're starting INTRANSITIVE VERBS this week!!

[let's learn K'iche' @kiche2023]

i should have posted this last week too, but since we're still working on possessive prefixes this week, here is the corresponding lesson in the UT course:

https://t.co/grYZdEe6z9

[let's learn K'iche' @kiche2023]

today we start lesson 8, which covers the possessive prefixes on words starting with vowels

1sg w- 1pl q-
2sg aw- 2pl iw-
form. - la form. - alaq
3sg r- 3pl k-

e.g.
k'aak' taq le q-atz'iyaq
new PL DET 1PL-clothing
"our clothes are new"

[let's learn K'iche' @kiche2023]

beginning lesson 7 today:

possessive prefixes!!

[let's learn K'iche' @kiche2023]

this week we're on to week 6 of our adventure, which means lesson 6 of Mondloch!

we're going to learn how to convert affirmative sentences into y/n questions (it looks pretty easy).

let's also do Tijonik 8 from the UT course, which covers the same topic:
https://t.co/eiINE26Fqi

[let's learn K'iche' @kiche2023]

@matt_boot_ possessive prefixes in K'iche' change depending on whether the noun starts with a consonant or vowel.

some of them are quite different, e.g.

nu-rajil "my money"
w-achi'il "my friend"

u-rajil "his/her money"
r-achi'il "his/her friend"

https://t.co/grYZdEe6z9

[let's learn K'iche' @kiche2023]

i am hypothesizing that

are nim le laq chwach le xa'r

means "the bowl (laq) is bigger than the jar (xa'r)".

i looked up chwach and all i found is it's a preposition = "facing, before".

so maybe it's literally like "the bowl is big (nim) next to the jar". not sure though

[let's learn K'iche' @kiche2023]

i understood more of this video than i expected to, maybe you will too. adjectives before a noun have an -a ending, so:

jun kaqa xa'r
a/one red jar

kaq = red
rax = green

can you figure out the meaning of "q'an"?

https://t.co/GFofVSCTFl

[let's learn K'iche' @kiche2023]

in addition to adjectives proper (wh is apparently a small class in K'iche'; reminds me of Coptic) that are used attributively & predicatively, this also covers some verbal phrases that correspond to adjectives in English (e.g. kinkosik "i'm tired" from the verb kos "be tired")

[let's learn K'iche' @kiche2023]

new week, new lesson:

chapter 5, let's learn about ATTRIBUTIVE ADJECTIVES this week!

[let's learn K'iche' @kiche2023]

i haven't been updating the syllabus (i will get around to it) but in addition to Mondloch let's look at this lesson on adjectives from the UT course for this week. https://t.co/7CyRkNEZlg

[let's learn K'iche' @kiche2023]

today we're starting Lesson 4:
Personal Pronouns and the Nonverbal Sentence! 🎉🔥

[let's learn K'iche' @kiche2023]

week 3, here we go!

we are gonna be learning how to pluralize nouns and adjectives and use them in nonverbal sentences

(e.g. "the houses are big")

[let's learn K'iche' @kiche2023]

we're starting Lesson 2 today, "The Non-Verbal Sentence"!

looks like we will be learning how to make basic sentences with adjectival predicates, like
niim le ja
big the house
"the house is big"

[let's learn K'iche' @kiche2023]

there are some clear similarities between the Yucatec (L) and K'iche' (R) numbers (which we have not learned yet!)

the most salient difference seems to be that there's a -b' on the K'iche' forms. (i wonder if it's related to the -b' found in some pl. nouns? 🤔)