Poqomchiʼ language

Poqomchiʼ (Pokomchi: Poqomchiiʼ) is a Mayan language spoken by the Poqomchiʼ Maya of Guatemala, and is very closely related to Poqomam. Its two main dialects, eastern and western, were spoken by 90,000 or so people in the year 2000, in Purulhá, Baja Verapaz, and in the following municipalities of Alta Verapaz: Santa Cruz Verapaz, San Cristóbal Verapaz, Tactic, Tamahú and Tucurú. It is also the predominant language in the municipality of Chicamán (El Quiché), which borders Alta Verapaz.[2]

Poqomchiʼ
Native toGuatemala
RegionBaja Verapaz
Ethnicity177,000 Poqomchiʼ (2019 census)
Native speakers
130,000 (2019 census)[1]
40,000 monolinguals (2017)[1]
Mayan
Language codes
ISO 639-3poh
Glottologpoqo1254
ELPPoqomchi'

Distribution

Poqomam is spoken in the following municipalities of Alta Verapaz, Baja Verapaz, and El Quiché departments (Variación Dialectal en Poqom, 2000).

  • Alta Verapaz
    • Panzós (in the community of San Vicente II)
    • La Tinta
    • Tucurú
    • Tamahú
    • Tactic
    • Santa Cruz Verapaz
    • San Cristóbal Verapaz
  • El Quiché
    • Chicamán (in the aldea of Belejú)
  • Baja Verapaz
    • Purulhá (in the community of Ribalcó)

Phonology

Consonants
Bilabial Dental Alveolar Post-
alveolar		 Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Plosive/
Affricate		 voiceless p t ts tʃ k q ʔ
ejective pʼ tʼ tsʼ tʃʼ kʼ qʼ
implosive ɓ
Fricative s ʃ χ h
Nasal m n
Trill r
Approximant central l j w
glottalized (wʼ)
  • In Western Poqomchi', /ɓ/ is non-existent and a glottalized /wʼ/ occurs in alteration. Sometimes an allophone of /wʼ/ can be heard as [mʼ].
  • /pʼ/ mainly exists among the western dialects.
  • /r/ can be heard as a flap sound [ɾ] when occurring word-medially.
  • If a glottal sound precedes /l/, it is then heard as a voiceless fricative [ɬ].

Vowels
Front Back
Close i iː u uː
Mid e eː o oː
Open a aː
  • Short allophones of vowels /i/, /a o/ can be heard as [ɪ], [ə].

Notes
  1. Poqomchiʼ at Ethnologue (24th ed., 2021) closed access
  2. "Demografía". Municipalidad de Chicamán. Retrieved 2008-05-14.

References
  • Spanne, Joan (2009-02-19). "ISO 639-3 Change Requests Series 2008: Summary of Outcomes" (PDF). SIL International. Retrieved 2009-03-09.
  • Mariscal, David (2015). "Mayan-poqomchi´ identity in its spiritual and religious manifestations". Revista De Estudios Sociales.
  • Mariscal, David (2014). "Ethnic Relations between the Q́eqchí and Poqomchí of Guatemala: Preservation, Transculturation and Mutual Influence". Procedia - Social And Behavioral Sciences.
  • Mó Isém, Romelia (2007). "Rutoxl qʼorik pan Poqomchiʼ Derivación de palabras Poqomchiʼ". Guatemala: Cholsamaj.
  • Mora‐Marín, D. F. (2003). "Historical Reconstruction of Mayan Applicative and Antidative Constructions". International Journal of American Linguistics. 69 (2): 186–228. doi:10.1086/379684. S2CID 144204931.
  • Wichmann, S.; Brown, C. H. (2003). "Contact among Some Mayan Languages: Inferences from Loanwords". Anthropological Linguistics. JSTOR 30028873.
  • Weichel, Lindsay A. (2006). "The grammatical structure of Western Pokomchi'". University of Regina.


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