The Use and Development of the Xinkan Languages

by Chris Rogers (3)

Overview

Once spoken only in Santa Rosa Department, Guatemala, the Xinkan language family is unique within Mesoamerica, comprising four closely related languages that are unrelated to any of the other language groups used within the region. Descriptions of Xinkan date to 1770 but are typically only sketches or partial word lists. Not even the community of indigenous people who identify as Xinka today—the last speakers—have had access to a reliable descriptive source on their ancestral tongue. Preserving this endangered communication system in accurate, thorough detail, The Use and Development of the Xinkan Languages presents a historical framework, internal classifications, and both synchronic and diachronic descriptions, incorporating all elements of grammar based on extensive unpublished data collected in the 1970s by Lyle Campbell and Terrence Kaufman. This valuable contribution is enhanced by author Chris Rogers’s emphasis on contextualizing the findings. Introducing the languages, Rogers presents important information regarding the social and cultural milieu of the speakers. He also traces a phonological reconstruction of Proto-Xinkan and reconstructs historical morphology and syntax. These revelations are of particular interest because the development of Xinka and the many aspects of Xinka morphosyntax have not been well understood. A sample text, “Na Mulha Uy,” is included as well. Solving numerous complex, centuries-old linguistic puzzles, The Use and Development of the Xinkan Languages unlocks new potential for the rediscovery of a rich cultural history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781477308349
Publisher:	University of Texas Press
Publication date:	06/28/2016
Series:	Recovering Languages and Literacies of the Americas
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	262
File size:	12 MB
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About the Author

CHRIS ROGERSProvo, UtahRogers is a visiting professor of linguistics at Brigham Young University. He has served as Director of the Center for American Indian Languages at the University of Utah and has conducted extensive linguistic fieldwork in Mexico, Guatemala, Argentina, Peru, Brazil, and Venezuela.This book is a part of the Recovering Languages and Literacies of the Americas publication initiative, funded by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Table of Contents

LIST OF FIGURESLIST OF TABLESACKNOWLEDGMENTSLIST OF ABBREVIATIONSCHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION TO THE LANGUAGES AND THEIR SPEAKERS1.1 THE XINKAN LINGUISTIC CONTEXT1.2 PAST WORK WITH THE XINKAN LANGUAGES1.3 THE XINKAN SOCIAL AND CULTURAL CONTEXT1.4 ORGANIZATION OF THE GRAMMAR1.4.1 Description of data sourcesPART I THE USE OF THE XINKAN LANGUAGES: SYNCHRONIC GRAMMARCHAPTER 2. PHONOLOGY2.1 VOWELS2.1.1 Vowel length2.1.2 Vowel Harmony2.2 CONSONANTS2.2.1 Guazacapán2.2.2 Chiquimulilla2.2.3 Jumaytepeque2.2.4 Yupiltepeque2.2.5 Consonant distribution2.3 PHONOLOGICAL ALTERNATIONS2.3.1 Glottalization2.3.2 Voicing of stop following a nasal2.3.3 Nasal assimilation2.3.4 Lenition to [h]2.3.5 Vowel raising2.3.6 Glottal-stop epenthesis2.3.7 Consonant dissimilation2.3.8 Guazacapan Consonant deletion2.4 SYLLABLE STRUCTURE2.5 STRESS2.6 ORTHOGRAPHYCHAPTER 3. MORPHOLOGY3.1 NOUNS3.1.1. Possession3.1.2 Number3.1.3 Diminutive constructions3.2 ADJECTIVES3.2.1 Adjectives as modifiers of nouns3.2.2 Adjectives modified by ki ‘very’3.2.3 Comparative and Superlative Constructions3.3 DETERMINERS3.3.1 Articles3.3.2 Demonstratives3.3.3 Quantifiers3.4 NOUN PHRASES3.5 PRONOUNS3.5.1 Independent personal pronouns3.5.2 Dependent pronouns3.6 VERBS3.6.1 Verb classes and transitivity3.6.2 Subject agreement3.6.3 Grammatical aspect3.6.4 Imperative form3.6.5 Constrastive construction in Guazacpán3.6.6 Tense3.6.7 Grammatical Voice3.6.8 Mood and modality3.7 RELATIONAL NOUNS3.8 VERBAL PARTICLES3.8.1 p’e/p’eh directional3.8.2 wa optative3.8.3 Negative imperative particle in Guazacapán3.8.4 Verbs borrowed from Spanish3.9 NOMINAL PARTICLES3.9.1 kumu ‘as’3.9.2 ti’i- / t’i- direct object3.9.3 ‘i- reflexive in Guazacapán3.9.4 ki’3.9.5 kiki-/kih3.10 QUESTION WORDS3.11 CONJUNCTIONS3.12 DERIVATIONAL MORPHOLOGY3.12.1 Noun derivations3.12.2 Adjective derivations3.12.3 Verbal derivationCHAPTER 4. SYNTAX4.1 SYNTACTIC ALIGNMENT4.1.1 Grammatical relations4.1.2 Semantic relations4.1.3 Antipassive and verb agreement4.2 SIMPLE SENTENCE FORMATION4.2.1 Sentences with verbs4.2.2 Copular sentences4.3 QUESTION FORMATION4.3.1 Yes/no questions4.3.2 Content questions (wh-questions)4.4 PREPOSING4.5 NEGATION4.6 COMPLEX SENTENCE FORMATION4.6.1 Conjoined clauses4.6.2 Serial verb constructions4.6.3 Relative clauses4.6.4 Complement clauses4.6.5 Adverbial clauses4.6.6 Conditional clausesCHAPTER 5. TEXT5.1 NA MULHA UYPART II THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE XINKAN LANGUAGES: DIACHRONIC GRAMMARCHAPTER 6. HISTORICAL PHONOLOGY6.1 INTRODUCTION6.2 COMMENTARY ON THE RECONSTRUCTION OF PROTO-XINKAN6.3 PROTO-XINKAN PHONOLOGICAL RECONSTRUCTION6.3.1Consonants6.3.2 Vowel changes6.4 SUMMARY OF SOUND CHANGES6.5 SUBGROUPING6.6 CONCLUSIONCHAPTER 7. HISTORICAL MORPHOLOGY7.1 PRONOUNS AND PRONOMINAL AFFIXES7.1.1 Pronouns7.1.2 Pronominal affixes7.2 BOUND MORPHOLOGYCHAPTER 8. HISTORICAL SYNTAX8.1OVERVIEW OF SYNTACTIC RECONSTRUCTION8.2 XINKAN SYNTACTIC RECONSTRUCTION8.2.1 Syntactic alignment8.2.2 Verb classes8.2.3 Word order8.2.4 Nominal syntax reconstructionCHAPTER 9. LOOKING FORWARDAPPENDIXREGULAR VERB CONJUGATIONIRREGULAR VERB CONJUGATIONBIBLIOGRAPHYTYPOLOGICAL INDEXTOPICAL INDEXNOTES

What People are Saying About This

Nora C. England

"This grammar/history is a very important addition to the literature. There is nothing like it. Given the extremely endangered state of the Xinkan languages, and because the author had access to important unpublished field notes on the languages, this book is of great significance."