Concepedia

A Sketch of the History of the Verbal Complex in Yukatekan Mayan Languages

International Journal of American Linguistics · 2006 · 38 citations · 10 references

TL;DR

The Yukatekan branch of the Mayan language family, comprising Yukateko, Southern Lakantun, Northern Lakantun, Itzaj, and Mopan, is spoken in the Maya lowlands of Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize and began diversifying about 1,000 years ago. The Proto‑Yukatekan verbal complex is reconstructed, detailing person, status, voice marking, verb classes, transitivity, and aspectual system. Analysis of modern members and colonial Yukateko clarifies genetic relationships and indicates extensive contact after separation, while morphosyntactic changes in the verbal complex are noted for each daughter language.

Abstract

The Yukatekan branch of the Mayan language family includes Yukateko, Southern Lakantun, Northern Lakantun, Itzaj, and Mopan, language varieties spoken in the Maya lowlands of Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize. The branch began to diversify approximately 1,000 years ago. An examination of all modern members of the family, as well as colonial Yukateko, clarifies the members' genetic relationships to one another and suggests that extensive contacts occurred among members of the branch after separation. The Proto‐Yukatekan verbal complex is reconstructed, including person marking, status marking, voice marking, verb classes, transitivity, and the aspectual system. Morphosyntactic changes in the verbal complex are also noted for each of the daughter languages.