Quiché language - Your Art History Reference Guide!

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Quiché language

The Quiché language is a part of the Maya language family. It is still spoken by many Quiché people in Guatemala, although most also have at least a working knowledge of the Spanish language except in some isolated rural villages. With something close to a million speakers (some 7% of Guatemala's population), it is the second most widely spoken language in the country after Spanish.

The most famous work in the Quiché language is the Popol Vuh.


Quiché Phonology

The spellings indicated below are as standardized by the Guatemalan government. Also mentioned in the notes field are areas where these differ from the spellings found in the Popol Vuh, as transliterated by Dennis Tedlock .

Plosives
Phoneme Sound Spelling Notes
/p/ voiceless bilabial plosive p
/p/ ejective bilabial plosive b' Spelt "b" in the Popol Vuh
/t/ voiceless dental plosive t
/tʼ/ ejective dental plosive t' Spelt "tt" in the Popol Vuh
/k/ voiceless velar plosive k Spelt "c" (or "qu" before "e", "i") in the Popol Vuh.
/kʼ/ ejective velar plosive k' Spelt "3" in the Popol Vuh.
/q/ voiceless uvular plosive q Spelt "k" in the Popol Vuh.
/qʼ/ ejective uvular plosive q' Spelt "4" in the Popol Vuh.
/ʔ/ voiceless glottal plosive ' Indicated by doubling a preceding vowel in the Popol Vuh.
Affricates
/ts/ voiceless alveolar affricate tz
/tsʼ/ ejective alveolar affricate tz' Spelt "4," in the Popol Vuh
/ʧ/ voiceless postalveolar affricate ch
/ʧʼ/ ejective postalveolar affricate ch' Spelt "4h" in the Popol Vuh
Fricatives
/s/ voiceless alveolar fricative s Spelt "z" in the Popol Vuh.
/ʃ/ voiceless postalveolar fricative x
/x/ voiceless velar fricative j Spelt "h" in the Popol Vuh.
Nasals
/m/ bilabial nasal m
/n/ alveolar nasal n
Laterals and Rhotics
/l/ alveolar lateral approximant l
/ɾ/ alveolar flap r
Semivowels and/or Semiconsonants
/j/ palatal approximant y
/w/ labio-velar approximant w Spelt "u" or "v" in the Popol Vuh.
Vowels
/a/ open front unrounded vowel a
/ə/ mid centre unrounded vowel ä Not distinguished from "a" in the Popol Vuh.
/e/ close-mid front unrounded vowel e
/i/ close front unrounded vowel i
/o/ close-mid back rounded vowel o
/u/ close back rounded vowel u

References

Last updated: 05-07-2005 04:41:25
Last updated: 01-04-2007 01:18:57
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