Mam language

Mam
Qyol Mam
Native to	Guatemala
Region	Quetzaltenango, Huehuetenango, San Marcos
Native speakers	477,717 (2002)
Language family	Mayan Quichean-Mamean Greater Mamean Mamean Mam
Language codes
ISO 639-2	myn
ISO 639-3	mam – Mam
ELP	Mam

Mam is a Mayan language with almost 480,000 speakers as of 2002, spoken in the Guatemalan departments of Quetzaltenango, Huehuetenango and San Marcos, mostly in the municipalities of San Miguel Sigüilá, Concepción Chiquirichapa, Génova, El Palmar, San Juan Ostuncalco, Cajolá, San Martín Sacatepéquez, Colomba, Flores Costa Cuca, Huitán, Palestina de Los Altos, Cabricán, San Ildefonso, Ixtahuacán, Cuilco, Tectitán, San Pedro Necta, San Sebastián Huehuetenango, Malacatancito, Todos Santos Cuchumatán, San Rafael Petzal, Colotenango, Santa Bárbara, San Juan Atitán, Aguacatán, San Gaspar Ixchil, La Libertad, La Democracia, Huehuetenango, Chiantla, Santiago Chimaltenango, San Juan Ixcoy, San Antonio Sacatepéquez, San Lorenzo, Tejutla, San Rafael Pie de La Cuesta, San Pedro Sacatepéquez, La Reforma, El Quetzal, Sibinal, San José Ojetenam, Pajapita, San Cristobal Cucho, Nuevo Progreso, San Marcos, Concepción Tutuapa, San Pablo, Ixchiguan, San Miguel Ixtahuacán, Tacaná, Tajumulco, Catarina, Esquipulas Palo Gordo, Malacatán, Río Blanco and Comitancillo.

Linguists distinguish between three major divisions of the language, based somewhat on the geographically area where they are spoken: Northern Mam in Huehuetenango, Southern Mam in Quetzaltenango and Central Mam in San Marcos. Because of a lack of literacy skills and interaction, the language can vary widely from village to village, even though the villages may be separated by just a few miles. Nonetheless, all native speakers of the Mam language are typically able to understand one another, though perhaps with some difficulty.

Mam is closely related to the Tektitek language, and the two languages together form the Mamean sub-branch, which together with the Ixilean languages, Awakatek and Ixil, form the Greater-Mamean sub-branch, which again, together with the Greater-Quichean languages, ten Mayan languages, including K'iche', form the branch Quichean-Mamean.

Phonology

Vowels

Mam has 5 vowels:

	Front	Back
	Unrounded	Rounded
Close	i	u
Close-mid	e	o
Open	a

Vowel length is distinctive, so one can say that the total number of vowels is 10.

Consonants

Mam has 27 consonants, including the glottal stop:

			Bilabial	Alveolar	Postalveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar		Uvular	Glottal
								Normal	Palatalized
Plosive	Normal		p /p/	t /t/				k /k/	ky /kʲ/	q /q/	' /ʔ/
	Ejective			t' /tʼ/				k' /kʼ/	ky'/kʲʼ/	q' /qʼ/
	Implosive		b' /ɓ/
Nasal			m /m/	n /n/
Fricative				s /s/	xh /ʃ/	x /ʂ/				j /χ/
Affricate	Normal			tz /t͡s/	ch /t͡ʃ/	tx /ʈ͡ʂ/
	Ejective			tz' /t͡sʼ/	ch' /t͡ʃʼ/	tx' /ʈ͡ʂʼ/
Trill				r /r/
Approximant				l /l/			y /j/	w /enwiki/w/

/p/ is realized as [pʰ] word-finally and before another consonant, [p] elsewhere.

Examples: piich [piːt͡ʃ] bird, txkup [ʈ͡ʂkupʰ] animal, ptz'an [pʰt͡sʼan] sugarcane

/t/ is realized as [tʰ] word-finally and before another consonant, [t] elsewhere.

Examples: ta'l [taʔl̥] juice, soup, ch'it [t͡ʃʼitʰ] bird, q'ootj [qʼoːtʰχ] dough

/k/ is realized as [kʰ] word-finally and before another consonant, [k] elsewhere.

Examples: paaki'l [paːkiʔl̥] butterfly, xtook [ʂtoːk] staff, kjo'n [kʰχoʔŋ] cornfield

/q/ is realized as [qʰ] word-finally and before another consonant, [q] elsewhere.

Examples: muuqin' [muːqiŋ] tortilla, aaq [aːqʰ] honeycomb, qloolj [qʰloːlχ] obscurity

/tʼ/ is realized interchangably as [tʼ] and [ɗ] word-initially and -finally, after a vowel or before [l].

Examples: t'rikpuul [tʼrikʰpuːl̥] ~ [ɗrikʰpuːl̥] to jump, ch'uut [t͡ʃʼuːtʼ] ~ [t͡ʃʼuːɗ] something sharp-pointed

Examples: t'ut'n [tʼutʼŋ] ~ [ɗuɗŋ] to make noise, wit'li [witʼli] ~ [wiɗli] seated squatting

/n/ is realized as [ŋ] before velar- and uvular consonants and word-finally,
as [ɲ] before [j] and as [m] before /ɓ/ and /p/, [n] elsewhere.

Examples: nim [nim] much, jun [χuŋ] one, q'ankyoq [qʼaŋkʲoqʰ] thunder

Examples: saajel [saːŋχel̥] sent, nyuxh [ɲuʃ] my godfather

Examples: qamb'ax [qamɓaχ] foot, npwaaqe [mpwaːqe] my money

/l/ is realized as [l̥] word-finally, [l] elsewhere.

Examples: luux [luːʂ] cricket, lo'l [loʔl̥] to eat fruits

External links

• A simple Mam - Spanish dictionary

References

General

Pérez, Eduardo and Jiménez, Odilio (1997). Ttxoolil Qyool Mam - Gramática Mam. Cholsamaj. {{cite book}}: templatestyles stripmarker in |author= at position 1 (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

England, Nora C. (1983). A grammar of Mam, a Mayan language. University of Texas Press. {{cite book}}: templatestyles stripmarker in |author= at position 1 (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)