Tojolabʼal language

Tojol-ab'al is a Mayan language spoken in Chiapas, Mexico by the Tojolabal people. Tojol-ab'al is spoken, principally in the departments of the Chiapanecan Colonia of Las Margaritas, by about 70,000 people.[1] It is related to the Chuj language.

Tojol-ab'al
Native toMexico
RegionSoutheast Chiapas
EthnicityTojolabal
Native speakers
67,000 (2020 census)[1]
Mayan
Latin
Official status
Official language in
 Mexico
Regulated byInstituto Nacional de Lenguas Indígenas
Language codes
ISO 639-3toj
Glottologtojo1241
ELPTojolabal

The name Tojolabal derives from the phrase [tohol aˈbal], meaning "right language". Nineteenth-century documents sometimes refer to the language and its speakers as "Chaneabal" (meaning "four languages", possibly a reference to the four Mayan languages – Tzotzil, Tzeltal, Tojolabal, and Chuj—spoken in the Chiapas highlands and nearby lowlands along the Guatemala border).

Anthropologist Carlos Lenkersdorf has claimed several linguistic and cultural features of the Tojolabal, primarily the language's ergativity, show that they do not give cognitive weight to the distinctions subject/object, active/passive. This he interprets as being evidence in favor of the controversial Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.

The official Writing Standard of the Tojol-ab’al Language (In Tojol-ab’al: Skujlayub'il Sts'ijb'ajel K'umal Tojol-ab'al, Spanish: Norma de Escritura de la Lengua Tojol-ab’al) was published in 2011 by the Instituto Nacional de Lenguas Indígenas, used for indigenous education. It established an official alphabet, grammar rules and other linguistic aspects.[2]

Tojol-abʼal-language programming is carried by the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples radio station XEVFS, broadcasting from Las Margaritas.

Alphabet

According to the Writing Standard, the alphabet in Tojol-ab’al is officially known as Tsome sat ts'ijb'anel (sign set), it’s is integrated by 28 letters, 23 consonants and 5 vowels,[3] the order and their denomination in Tojol-ab’al are the following:

Tsome sat ts'ijb'anel
Niwak

(Majuscule)

 Ch'inik

(Minuscule)

 Sb'i'ile'

(Name)

A a Aj
B b Bej
B' b' B'ej
CH ch Chej
CH' ch' Ch'ej
D d Dej
E e Ej
G g Gej
I i il
J j Jej
K k Kej
K' k' K'ej
L l Lej
M m Mej
N n Nej
O o Oj
P p Pej
R r Rej
S s Sej
T t Tej
T' t' T'ej
TS ts TSej
TS' ts' TS'ej
U u Uj
W w Wej
X x Xej
Y y Yej
' ' Skajnub'il
- - Ch'in sjisanil

Phonology

Consonants
Labial Alveolar Post-alv./
Palatal		 Velar Glottal
Nasal m n
Plosive/
Affricate		 voiceless p t ts tʃ k ʔ
ejective tʼ tsʼ tʃʼ kʼ
implosive ɓ
Fricative s ʃ h
Tap ɾ
Approximant w l j
  • [ɾ] is mostly heard from Spanish loanwords.[4]
  • Voiced stop sounds [b, d, ɡ] are also heard from Spanish loanwords.[5]

Vowels
Front Central Back
Close i iː u uː
Mid e eː o oː
Open a aː

References
  1. Lenguas indígenas y hablantes de 3 años y más, 2020 INEGI. Censo de Población y Vivienda 2020.
  2. "Norma de Escritura de la Lengua Tojol-ab'al".
  3. "SKUJLAYUB'IL STS'IJB'AJEL K'UMAL TOJOL-AB'AL, NORMA DE ESCRITURA DE LA LENGUA TOJOL-AB'AL: Alfabeto" (PDF).
  4. del Prado, Alejandro Curiel Ramírez (2017). Tojolabal. Judith Aissen, Nora C. England, and Roberto Zavala Maldonado, The Mayan Languages: Routledge: London and New York. pp. 570–609.
  5. Douglass, Celia M.; Supple, Julia (1949). Tojolabal (Mayan): Phonemes and verb morphology. International Journal of American Linguistics 15: University of Chicago Press. pp. 168–74.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  • Lenkersdorf, Carlos (1996). Los hombres verdaderos. Voces y testimonios tojolabales. Lengua y sociedad, naturaleza cite y cultura, artes y comunidad cósmica. Mexico City: Siglo XXI. ISBN 968-23-1998-6.


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