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'{{Multiple issues| {{more footnotes|date=February 2011}} {{cleanup|date=April 2017|reason=article is generally disorganised and lacking focus}} }} {{Infobox language |name=Chʼortiʼ |nativename=Chʼortiʼ |states=[[Guatemala]], [[Honduras]], [[El Salvador]] |region=[[Copán]] |ethnicity=[[Chʼortiʼ people|Chʼortiʼ]] |speakers=30,000 |date=2000 |ref=e18 |familycolor=American |fam1=[[Mayan languages|Mayan]] |fam2=[[Chʼolan languages|Cholan–Tzeltalan]] |fam3=Cholan |fam4=Chorti |ancestor=[[Classic Maya language|Classic Maya]] |iso3=caa |glotto=chor1273 |glottorefname=Chorti |notice=IPA }} The '''Chʼortiʼ language''' (sometimes also ''Chorti'') is a [[Mayan language]], spoken by the [[Maya peoples|indigenous Maya]] people who are also known as the [[Chʼortiʼ people|Chʼortiʼ]] or Chʼortiʼ Maya. Chʼortiʼ is a direct descendant of the [[Classic Maya language]] in which many of the [[pre-Columbian]] inscriptions using the [[Maya script]] were written. This Classic Maya language is also attested in a number of inscriptions made in regions whose inhabitants most likely spoke a different Mayan language variant, including the ancestor of [[Yukatek Maya language|Yukatek Maya]]. Chʼortiʼ is the modern version of the ancient Mayan language Chʼolan (which was actively used and most popular between the years of A.D 250 and 850).<ref name="Houston, S 2000">Houston, S, J Robertson, and D Stuart. "The language of Classic Maya inscriptions." Current Anthropology 41.3 (2000): 321-356. Print.</ref> ==Relationship to other Mayan languages== Chʼortiʼ can be called a living "Rosetta Stone" of Mayan Languages. Chʼortiʼ language is an important factor to comprehend the contents of Maya hieroglyphic writings, some of which are not yet fully understood. Over several years, many linguists and anthropologists expected to realize the Chʼortiʼ culture and language by studying its words and expressions.<ref>Keys, David. "'Lost' Sacred Language of the Maya Is Rediscovered." Mayanmajix.com. N.p., 07 Dec. 2003. Web page: http://www.mayanmajix.com/art439a.html{{dead link|date=August 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Chʼortiʼ is spoken mainly in and around [[Jocotán]] and [[Camotán]], [[Chiquimula]] department, Guatemala, as well as adjacent areas of parts of western [[Honduras]] near the Copán Ruins.<ref name="hdl.handle.net">Hull, Kerry M. (2003). Verbal art and performance in Chʼortiʼ and Maya hieroglyphic writing [electronic resource]. Doctoral dissertation, The University of Texas at Austin. Available electronically from http://hdl.handle.net/2152/1240</ref> Because the classic Mayan language was ancestral to the modern Chʼorti, Chʼorti can be used to decipher the ancient language. For example, it was discovered that the Mayan language had distinct grammatical patterns, such as a consonant/vowel syllable aspect. Researchers realized that the ancient language was based more on phonetics than previously thought.<ref name="Houston, S 2000"/> [[File:Mayan Language Map.png|thumb|A map showing the present-day locations of the Mayan Languages. The colours of the language names shows closely related groups. The size of the name shows the relative number of speakers.]] The name Chortiʼ (with unglottalized <ch>) means 'language of the corn farmers' which references to the traditional agricultural activity of the Chʼortiʼ families. The politicized spelling Chʼortiʼ was introduced later in an attempt to lessen associations between Chʼortiʼ speakers and stereotypical professions. Chʼortiʼ language is one of the three modern descendants of Chʼolan language which is a sub-group of [[Mayan languages]]. Other two modern descendants are [[Chontal Maya language|Chontal]] and [[Chʼol language|Chʼol]].<ref>Mathews,Peter and Bíró,Péter Maya Hieroglyphs and Mayan Languages.[electronic resource] Available electronically from [http://research.famsi.org/mdp/mdp_mayahiero.html]</ref> These three descendants are still spoken by people. Chʼortiʼ language and Chʼolti language are two sub-branches belong to the Eastern Chʼolan. And Chʼolti language is already extinct today. [[File:The Ch'olan sub-group of Mayan languages.jpg|The Chʼolan sub-group of Mayan languages]] Actually there are some debates among the scholars how the Chʼolan language should be classified. John Robertson considered the direct ancestor of colonial Chʼoltiʼ is the language of the [[hieroglyphs]]. The language of the hieroglyphs is realized as 'Classic Chʼoltiʼan' by John Robertson, David Stuart, and Stephen Houston. And then the language of the [[hieroglyphs]] in turn becomes the ancestor of Chʼortiʼ.The relationship shows as the chart below.<ref name="hdl.handle.net"/> == Phonology and orthography == The Chʼortiʼ have their own standard way of writing their language. However, the inaccurate ways to represent phoneme lead to some variations among all of the publications recently.<ref>Hull, Kerry. (2005) "A Dictionary of Chʼortiʼ Maya, Guatemala." FAMSI.org Web. Available online:http://www.famsi.org/reports/03031/03031Hull01.pdf.</ref><ref name=":0" /> === Consonants === {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! colspan="2" | ![[Bilabial consonant|Bilabial]] ![[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]] ![[Postalveolar consonant|Post-<br>alveolar]] ![[Velar consonant|Velar]] ![[Glottalic consonant|Glottal]] |- align="center" ! rowspan="4" |[[Stop consonant|Plosive]] ![[voicelessness|<small>voiceless</small>]] |'''p''' {{IPA|[p]}} |'''t''' {{IPA|[t]}} | |'''k''' {{IPA|[k]}} |'''ʼ''' {{IPA|[ʔ]}} |- align="center" !<small>[[Ejective consonant|ejective]]</small> | |'''tʼ''' {{IPA|[tʼ]}} | |'''kʼ''' {{IPA|[kʼ]}} | |- !<small>[[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]]</small> |'''b''' {{IPA|[b]}} |'''d''' {{IPA|[d]}} | |'''g''' {{IPA|[ɡ]}} | |- !<small>[[Implosive consonant|implosive]]</small> |'''bʼ''' {{IPA|[ɓ]}} | | | | |- align="center" ! colspan="2" |[[Fricative consonant|Fricative]] | |'''s''' {{IPA|[s]}} |'''x''' {{IPA|[ʃ]}} |'''j''' {{IPA|[x]}} | |- align="center" ! rowspan="2" |[[Affricate consonant|Affricate]] ![[voicelessness|<small>voiceless</small>]] | |'''tz''' {{IPA|[ts]}} |'''ch''' {{IPA|[tʃ]}} | | |- align="center" !<small>[[Ejective consonant|ejective]]</small> | |'''tzʼ''' {{IPA|[tsʼ]}} |'''chʼ''' {{IPA|[tʃʼ]}} | | |- ! colspan="2" |[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]] |'''m''' {{IPA|[m]}} |'''n''' {{IPA|[n]}} | | | |- ! colspan="2" |[[Trill consonant|Trill]] | |'''r''' {{IPA|[r]}} | | | |- align="center" ! colspan="2" |[[Approximant consonant|Approximant]] | |'''l''' {{IPA|[l]}} |'''y''' {{IPA|[j]}} |'''w''' {{IPA|[w]}} | |} The consonants of Chʼortiʼ include glottal stop ʼ, b, bʼ, ch, chʼ, d, g, j, k, kʼ, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, tʼ, tz, tzʼ, w, x, y. Both /b/ and /d/ rarely occur in native vocabulary. Instead, they usually appear in [[Spanish language|Spanish]] words. The <j> is a voiceless velar fricative. The <x> is a voiceless palatal fricative. The <w> and <y> are semivowels. The ordering of terms would be that the consonants follows after the non glottal versions. Besides, words with rearticulated root vowels follow after their corresponding short vowels. Therefore, the order of presentation will be as follows: a, aʼ, b, bʼ, ch, chʼ, d, e, eʼ, g, i, iʼ, j, k, kʼ, l, m, n, o, oʼ, p, r, s, t, tʼ, tz, tzʼ, u, uʼ, w, x, y. === Vowels === {| class="wikitable" ! ! [[Front vowel|Front]] ! [[Back vowel|Back]] |- align="center" ! [[Close vowel|Close]] | {{IPA|i}} | {{IPA|u}} |- align="center" ! [[Mid vowel|Mid]] | {{IPA|e}} | {{IPA|o}} |- align="center" ! [[Open vowel|Open]] | colspan="2" | {{IPA|a}} |} The vowels consist of a, e, i, o, and u.<ref name=":0">Pérez Martínez, Vitalino(1994) Gramática del idioma chʼortíʼ. Antigua, Guatemala: Proyecto Lingüístico Francisco Marroquín.</ref> === Word order === The aspectual system of Chʼortiʼ language changed to a tripartite pronominal system which comes with different morphemes used for the subject of transitive verbs, the object of transitive verbs and the subject of intransitive completive verbs, and a third set of pronouns only used for the subject of incompletive intransitive verbs.<ref>Law, Danny, John Robertson, and Stephen Houston. "Split Ergativity In The History Of The Chʼolan Branch Of The Mayan Language Family." International Journal of American Linguistics 72.4 (2006): 415-450..</ref> Chʼortiʼ tripartite pronominal system (data from Hull 2005) '''Transitive''' {| class="wikitable" |- | e || sitzʼ|| u-buyi-Ø || e || siʼ |- | def || boy || A3-chop-B3 || def || wood |} 'The boy chops the wood (into tiny pieces)' '''Intransitive completive''' {| class="wikitable" |- | intzaj || lokʼoy-Ø || e || peʼych |- | sweet || go.out-B3 || def || tomato |} 'The tomato turned out delicious' '''Intransitive incompletive''' {| class="wikitable" |- | e || kʼin || a-lokʼoy || ta || ixner || kʼin |- | def || sun || C1-go.out || prep || going || sun |} 'The sun sets in the west' ==Common words== The following list contains examples of common words in the Chʼortiʼ language: {| class="wikitable" |- | all: tuno\r || ashes: tan |- | bark: pat || big: nohta |- | bite: ac\uhxop || bird: mut |- | black: negru u\t || blood: ch\ich\ |- | blow: uyuhta|| bone: b\ac |- | breast: uchu\ || burn: pur |- | child: sitz/ihch\oc || cloud: tocar |- | cold: insis || come: yo\p |- | cut: xur || day: ahq\uin |- | die: cham || dig: impahni |- | dog: tz\i\ || drink: ch\I |- | dry: taquin || dust: pococ |- | ear: chiquin || earth: rum |- | eat: we\|| egg: cu\m |- | eye: naq\uiu\t || fall: c\ax |- | far: naht || fat (n.): ch\ichmar |- | fear: ap\a\cta || feather: tzutz |- | fingernail: or uyoc || fire: c\ahc |- | fish: chay || five: inmohy |- | fly (v.): top || fog: mayuhy |- | foot: oc || four: chan |- | full: b\ut\ur|| give: ahc\ |- | good: imb\utzop|| green: yaxax |- | hair: tzutz || hand: c\ap \ |- | head: hor || hear: oyp\ica |- | heart: alma|| heavy: mb\ar |- | here: tara || hit: tz\ohy |- | horn: cachu || how?: tuc\a |- | husband: noxip || I: en |- | kill: chamse || knee: pix |- | know: na\t || lake: eha\ |- | laugh: tze\n || leaf: uyopor |- | left: utz\ehc\ap || lie: ch\a |- | liver: xemem || long: innaht |- | louse: u\ch || man: winic |- | meat: we\r || moon: uh |- | mountain: wίtzir || mouth: ti\ |- | name: uc\ab\a || near: nuťur |- | neck: nuc || new: tapop |- | night: acb\are || nose: ni\ |- | one: in || other: inmohr |- | person: winicop || pull: nquerehb\a |- | rain: haha\r || red: chacchacop |- | right: wach\ c\ab\ || river: xucur |- | road: b\i\r || root: wi\r |- | rope: ch\a\n || rope: succhih |- | rotten: oq\uem || round: gororoh |- | sand: hi\ || say: a\r |- | seed: hinah || see: wira |- | sing: c\aywi || sit: turu |- | skin: pat || sleep: way |- | smell: chuchu\ co\c || smoke: b\utz |- | stab: inxeq\ue || stand: wa\r |- | star: e\c || stone: cha\ |- | stone: tun || suck: catz\upi |- | sun: q\uin || swell: asampa |- | swim: nuhx || tail: neh |- | that: yaja\ || there: yaha\ |- | thick: pim || thin: jay |- | this: ira || thou: et |- | tongue: a\c|| tooth: cha\m |- | tooth: eh|| tree: te\ |- | two: cha\ || walk: axanop |- | warm: inq\uin || wash: poc |- | wash: pohch\ || water: ha\ |- | we: oŋ || wet: cuxur |- | what: tuc\a || when?: tuc\a dia |- | where?: tia\ || white: sacsac |- | who: chi || wife: wixca\r |- | woman: ihch\oc || woman: \ixic |- | year: hap || yellow: c\an |- |ye: no\x || |}<ref>http://www.language-archives.org/item/oai:rosettaproject.org:rosettaproject_caa_swadesh-1</ref> ==Extinction of the language and culture== The Chʼortiʼ people are descendants of the people who lived in and around [[Copán]], one of the cultural capitals of the ancient Maya area. This covers parts of modern-day Honduras and Guatemala. Chʼorti is considered an endangered language as well as an endangered culture. ===Geographic location of Chʼortiʼ speakers=== [[File:Distribution-myn2.png|thumbnail]] This region is the only region in the world that Chʼorti speakers can be found. Although the area is completely shaded in, the majority of speakers reside in Guatemala, while the rest are sparsely distributed throughout the rest of the area.<ref>• McAnany, Patricia, and Shoshaunna Parks. "Casualties of Heritage Distancing Children, Chʼortiʼ Indigeneity, and the Copan Archaeoscape." Current Anthropology 53.1 (2012): 80-107. Print.</ref> ===Honduras=== The government of Honduras has been trying to promote a uniform national language of Spanish, and therefore discourages the use and teaching of native languages such as Chʼorti. The Chʼortiʼ people in Honduras face homogenization and have to assimilate to their surroundings. The government has been clashing with the Chʼorti people over land disputes from the 1800s, which puts the people (and thus the language) at risk. In 1997, 2 prominent Chʼorti leaders were assassinated. This assassination is just one example of many cases where Chʼorti advocates have been harmed or killed. Every one of these killings reduces the number of Chʼorti speakers. As of right now, there are only 10 remaining native speakers in Honduras.<ref name="minorityrights.org">• "World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples." Minority Rights Group International : Honduras : Lenca, Miskitu, Tawahka, Pech, Maya, Chortis and Xicaque. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2013. <{{cite web |url=http://www.minorityrights.org/2572/honduras/lenca-miskitu-tawahka-pech-maya-chortis-and-xicaque.html |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2013-10-25 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029193324/http://www.minorityrights.org/2572/honduras/lenca-miskitu-tawahka-pech-maya-chortis-and-xicaque.html |archivedate=2013-10-29 |df= }}>.</ref> ===Guatemala=== The government of Guatemala has been more supportive of Chʼorti speakers and has promoted programs that encourage the learning and teaching of Chʼorti. The Chʼorti's in Guatemala wear traditional clothing, unlike their counterparts in Honduras, who wear modern-day clothing.<ref name="minorityrights.org"/> Currently there are about 55,250 Chʼorti speakers in Guatemala. Even though Guatemala has established Spanish as its official language, it supports the teaching of these native languages.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www10.gencat.cat/pres_casa_llengues/AppJava/frontend/llengues_detall.jsp?id=1000&idioma=5 |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2013-10-25 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120708050908/http://www10.gencat.cat/pres_casa_llengues/AppJava/frontend/llengues_detall.jsp?id=1000&idioma=5 |archivedate=2012-07-08 |df= }}</ref> ===El Salvador=== [[File:NATIVE AMERICAN INDIGENOUS PEOPLE OF EL SALVADOR IN CENTRAL AMERICA ISTHMUS.png|thumb|right|Map of El Salvador's Native American civilizations and their kingdoms: {{legend|#FFBF00|Kingdom of the [[Lenca people]]}} {{legend|#FF7E00|Kingdom of the [[Cacaopera people]]}} {{legend|#3D0C02|Kingdom of the [[Xinca people]]}} {{legend|#4A5D23|Kingdom [[Maya peoples|Maya]] [[Poqomam people]]}} {{legend|#568203|Kingdom of [[Maya peoples|Maya]] [[Chʼortiʼ people]]}} {{legend|#964B00|Kingdom of the [[Alaguilac people]]}} {{legend|#2F4F4F|Kingdom of the [[Mixe people]]}} {{legend|#191970|Kingdom of the [[Mangue language]]}} {{legend|#0047AB|Kingdom of the [[Pipil people]]}} ]] ===Chorti Maya color words=== ikʼikʼ-black kʼankʼan-yellow saksak-white yaxyax-green/blue chäkchäk-red <ref>"Chorti Maya Color Words." Native Languages. Native Languages of the Americas, n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2013. <http://www.native-languages.org/chorti_colors.htm>.http://www.native-languages.org/chorti_colors.htm{{Dead link|date=August 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> ===Ethnonyms: Cholotí, Chorté, Chortí=== The majority of Chʼortiʼ live in the Chiquimula Department of Guatemala, approximately 52,000. The remaining 4,000 live in Copán, Honduras. Traditionally, the highland Maya Indian people were dependent on maize and beans. The Kʼicheʼ Maya however, dominated the Chʼortiʼ dating back to the early fifteenth century. Warfare as well as disease devastated much of the Chʼortiʼ during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Much of their land was lost to the Guatemalan government in the nineteenth century as well. More recently, 25 percent of the Guatemalan Chʼortiʼ went to the United States during the 1980s to escape political persecution.<ref>Chenier, Jacqueline, and Steve Sherwood. "Copan: Collaboration for Identity, Equity and Sustainability (Honduras)." Ciesin.Columbia. Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM), n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2013. <http://srdis.ciesin.columbia.edu/cases/Honduras-Paper.html>."http://www.everyculture.com/Middle-America-Caribbean/Ch-orti.html{{Dead link|date=September 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> ===Chʼortiʼ rosary prayers=== Catata Dios / Our Father 9b Catata Dios xeʼ turet tichan, catattzʼi acʼabʼa xeʼ erach. Lar tuaʼ icʼotori tara tor e rum wacchetaca. Y chen lo que acʼani tara tor e rum bʼan cocha war ache tichan tut e qʼuin. Ajcʼunon lo que ucʼani tuaʼ cacʼuxi tama inteʼ inteʼ día. Cʼumpen tacaron tamar camabʼambʼanir lo que cay cache toit net, bʼan cocha war cacʼumpa taca tin e cay uchiobʼ e mabʼambʼanir capater ubʼan. Ira awacton tuaʼ capijchna sino que corpeson tama tunor ucʼotorer e diablo. Porque net jax Careyet, y net ayan meyra acʼotorer, y net ayan meyra atawarer xeʼ machi tuaʼ acʼapa. Amén.<ref>"Chʼorti Rosary Prayer." Mary's Rosaries. Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License., n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2013. <http://www.marysrosaries.com/Chorti_prayers.html>.http://www.marysrosaries.com/Chorti_prayers.html{{Dead link|date=August 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> == Copan == The communities of Copan are populated by "farmers with indigenous tradition", essentially, agricultural laborers known as the Chʼortiʼ. Illiteracy rates in these communities fall between 92 and 100 percent, infant mortality rates of 60 percent, and life expectancy being 49 years for men and 55 years for women. A conflict that has effected the Copan area immensely is land tenure. Originally, Chʼortiʼs used communal land and owned individual plots. Shortly after the Spanish conquest, the land and people became Spanish property. The land was then used in the aparceria system (farmers rent land in return for payment of a proportion of the harvest obtained). This system was stable for hundreds of years, until the Honduran government signed Convention 169 of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in 1991. This organization was established to protect and benefit indigenous communities such as the Chʼortiʼ by improving access to land, health, and housing as well as other basic necessities. The murder of Chʼortiʼ leader Candido Amador in April 1997 sparked another conflict, resulting in the government signing an agreement with the Chʼortiʼ organization (CONICHH) offering 2,000 ha of land in Copan.<ref>[http://srdis.ciesin.columbia.edu/cases/Honduras-Paper.html Copan: Collaboration for Identity, Equity and Sustainability (Honduras)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029201833/http://srdis.ciesin.columbia.edu/cases/Honduras-Paper.html |date=2013-10-29 }}</ref> ==References== {{Reflist}} == External links == *[https://web.archive.org/web/20050308055657/http://www.utexas.edu/courses/stross/chorti/ Online version of Wisdom's Chorti Dictionary (1950)] *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I-bv4xlCao Oral Histories of the Chʼortiʼ Maya (2011)] *[https://ailla.utexas.org/islandora/object/ailla:124489 Mayan Languages Collection of John Fought] at the [[Archive of the Indigenous Languages of Latin America]], containing several hundred recordings of Chʼortiʼ made between 1964 and 1967 in Guatemala, field notes and photographs. {{Mayan languages}} {{Languages of Honduras}} {{Languages of Guatemala}} * https://web.archive.org/web/20120708050908/http://www10.gencat.cat/pres_casa_llengues/AppJava/frontend/llengues_detall.jsp?id=1000&idioma=5 {{DEFAULTSORT:ChʼortiʼLanguage}} [[Category:Mayan languages]] [[Category:Agglutinative languages]] [[Category:Verb–object–subject languages]] [[Category:Indigenous languages of Central America]] [[Category:Languages of Guatemala]] [[Category:Chiquimula Department]] [[Category:Languages of Honduras]] [[Category:Mesoamerican languages]]'