Xinkan Influence on Ch’orti’ Verbs

Abstract

This research theorizes that Xinkan, a non-Mayan language, exerted influence on the Ch’orti’ (Mayan) verbs, providing a viable alternative to the claim of direct Ch’olti’-to-Ch’orti’ descent and instead supporting the more traditional view that Ch’orti’ and Ch’olti’ have separate histories. Shared verbal features between Xinkan and Ch’orti’ that are not typically Mayan include (1) a third person prefix a‑ on intransitive verbs in the incompletive aspect, which contrasts with a zero morpheme for the third person in the completive, and (2) the unusual portmanteau marking of incompletive vs. completive through the contrast between prefixed and suffixed person markers respectively (with no tense/aspect markers). Xinkan-Mayan contact has been established by earlier research on lexical borrowings into Xinkan from Mayan and on Xinkan toponyms in the Ch’orti’-Ch’olti’ area.