A grammar of Chol, a Mayan language

Abstract

This dissertation consists of a description of the grammar of Tila Chol. Chol is one of the 30 Mayan languages spoken in Mexico, Guatemala and Belize. This language is used by nearly 200,000 speakers, distributed in two main dialects: Tila Chol and Tumbalá Chol. The data for this thesis are mostly from Tila Chol. This dissertation includes aspects of phonology, morphology, and syntax from a contrastive and typological perspective. The grammar begins with general information about the speakers and the language (chapter one). Chapter two is a description of phonology, which includes the inventory of sounds, stress, syllabic patterns and phonological processes. Chapter three presents the properties of root/word classes, as well as affixes and particles. Chapter four is about the person and number markers. Chapter five provides the main features of word classes, such as verbs, nouns, adjectives, positionals, affect words, adverbs, minor classes and clitics. The next chapter (chapter six) deals with the elements that verbs can take, including incorporation of modifiers and noun incorporation. Chapter seven provides the main features of non-verbal predicates. In chapter eight, the structures of noun phrases, such as possessors, determiners and modifiers are presented. Chapter nine describes the structure of simple sentences in both verbal and non-verbal predicates. Chapter ten is devoted to the operations that changevalence, including passive, antipassive, reflexive/reciprocal, causative and applicative. Chapter eleven deals with information structure in the discourse, specifically topicalization and focus. Chapter twelve is a brief description of passive constructions as operations triggered by paradigmatic gaps related to obviation as documented in Algonquian languages. Chapter thirteen deals with complex predicate structures. Finally, in Chapter fourteen, the complex sentences are described, including complement clauses, relative clauses, adverbial clauses, conditional clauses and coordination. This grammar will provide useful information for current Chol projects related to strengthening and revitalization efforts, such as in the construction of pedagogical materials and will also be useful for the field of linguistics or other related areas.