Introduction to Maya Hieroglyphs - Wayeb

Kettunen & Helmke 2011
Appendices
INTRANSITIVE VERBS
Intransitive verbs are verbs that do not have a direct object, i.e., verbs that do not need an object or verbs that
cannot have an object are intransitive verbs. In Classic Maya intransitive verbs are derived either from a verbal
root or from a noun.
ROOT INTRANSITIVES:
CVC-i-ABS
hu-li u-ti
huli
u[h]ti
hul-i-Ø
u[h]t-i-Ø
“he/she arrived”
“it happened”
DERIVED INTRANSITIVES: NOUN/ADJ-Vj (-aj/-iij)-ABS
AK’-ta-ja K’AL HUN-na-ja
a[h]k’taj
k’al hunaj / huunaj / hu’naj
a[h]k’t-aj-Ø
k’al hun/huun/hu’n-aj-Ø
“he/she danced”
< ahk’ot (“dance”) with /o/ syncopated
“he/she was crowned”
< k’al hun/huun/hu’n? (“crowning”)
pi-tzi-ja WITZ-ja/ wi-tzi-ja
pitziij / pitzaj
witziij /witzaj
pitz-iij-Ø / pitz-aj-Ø
witz-iij-Ø / witz-aj-Ø
“he/she played ball”
< pitz (“ballgame”)
“it got piled up ”
< witz (“mountain”)
POSITIONALS
CVC-l-aj-ABS (Eastern Ch’olan)
CVC-waan?-ABS (Western Ch’olan)
Positional verbs refer to physical states or positions, such as standing, sitting, kneeling, hanging, lying down,
leaning, bending, and bowing, that human beings, animals, and inanimate objects can assume (Bricker 1986: 29;
Lacadena and Wichmann 2002b).
CHUM[mu]-la-ja CHUM[mu]-wa-ni
chumlaj
chumwaan
chum-l-aj-Ø
chum-waan-Ø
“he/she sat”
“he/she sat”
Along with positionals, there is a class of verbs can be derived from positionals: the –bu causative. E.g. pat-laj “got
made” > u-pat-bu “he/she made it” > u-pat-bu-uj “he/she has made it”.
69/154