This project focuses on linguistic field research, language documentation and analysis of complex predicates (i.e. I ate the meat raw, I ate up the apple, I came seated, I traveled sitting, etc.) on the dialect of Q'anjob'al (Mayan) spoken in Santa Eulalia, Huehuetenango, Guatemala. It will result in a description and analysis of the syntax, meaning and lexical constraints on the formation and interpretation of complex predicates, which is not yet available for Q'anjob'al or other Mayan languages. Five types of complex predicates will be analyzed: complement clauses, adverbial clauses (i.e. purpose, manner, etc.), secondary predicates (resultative and depictive), auxiliary constructions (i.e. inchoative, causative, etc.), as well as the so-called "directionals". Each complex predicate type will be explored in relation to lexical, syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic constraints and how these constraints work together to distinguish complex predicates from each other. The project will also produce 25 hours of collected and digitized texts, 6 hours of which will be glossed and translated into English and Spanish. The text collection will include recordings of the most endangered linguistic genres like ceremonial discourse, religious discourses, traditional medicine, corn planting, prayers, etc., which are only known by the oldest generation of speakers. The methodology involves the analysis of complex predicates from the collected texts and the manipulation of these to separate factors at play. Text analysis will be supplemented with elicitation focused on form and meaning. The text collection involves locating community specialists (such as midwives, traditional medicine practitioners, storytellers, among others), recording, digitization, metadata creation, transcription, and glossing. The text collection will be prepared in two formats; an original version and a glossed version for linguistic analysis. Text glossing will involve creating a database of lexical items from texts. The texts and audio recordings will be archived at the Archive of Indigenous Languages of Latin America at the University of Texas. Copies will also be given to the community to support language related work.
This project will contribute to the documentation of Q'anjob'al by making a text collection of the most endangered linguistic genres available to the Q'anjob'al community and to the public. It will also advance the analysis of the syntax and semantics of Mayan languages by analyzing Q'anjob'al. Although the syntax of Mayan languages has received a great deal of attention in previous studies, a unified analysis of complex predicates is not available. Third, it is of intellectual merit to general linguistics because it will provide a detailed description and analysis of complex predicates focusing on different levels of analysis. This case study of several complex predicates within one single language will contribute to our general understanding of complex predicates. Fourth, the text collection will contribute material to linguistic, computational and anthropological analysis, and related fields. It will also support language preservation in the Q'anjob'al community because the texts may be used for other projects (e.g. radio programs, materials for schools, etc). In general, its broader impact is to bring together theoretical, descriptive, and documentary linguistics. Furthermore, the project falls within a broader movement towards language documentation, language revitalization, and training of native speakers since it will train two native speakers of Q'anjob'al, in connection with community needs related to language.
