Yucatec Maya agreement

Yucatec person markers fall into two sets. Set A, the prefixes in(w)-, a(w)- and u(y)- with the plural k- and the suffixes -e'ex and -o'ob', marks transitive subjects, intransitive subjects in the incompletive status and possessors; Set B, the suffixes -en, -ech, zero, -o'on, -e'ex and -o'ob', marks transitive objects, intransitive subjects in the completive and dependent statuses and the subjects of stative predicates. The prevocalic Set A forms carry the glides w and y, and the second and third person plurals are discontinuous, the singular prefix with a plural suffix. The verbal complex runs aspect, Set A, root, status, Set B, táan u-muk-ik-en 's/he is burying me', so Set B follows the stem and Yucatec is a low-absolutive language. Hofling's comparative sketch of the Yucatecan languages and Bohnemeyer's tables of marker functions are the sources.

Main definitions

• Yukatek.setAExponent, Yukatek.setBExponent: the Set A and Set B paradigms.
• Yukatek.markerSet: the set of markers cross-referencing each argument under each status.
• Yukatek.template: the verbal complex.

Main statements

• Yukatek.isErgative_markerSet_iff: the marking is ergative exactly under the perfective statuses, Bohnemeyer's association of the split with the aspect of the status.

Implementation notes

The forms are Hofling's, with Set A as prefixes; Bohnemeyer writes Set A as proclitics and the first person plural as k=(...-o'n). The paradigms use the exclusive first person plural; the inclusive adds -e'ex. The statuses are Bohnemeyer's four; Hofling's fifth, the perfect, marks the intransitive subject with Set B too, jóok'-a'an-ech 'you have gone out'. The Agent Focus form of Yucatec, a verb stem without Set A after an optional j-, is not recorded.

References

• [Hof17]
• [Boh04]

The verbal complex

def Yukatek.template : Morphology.AffixTemplate Mayan.VerbSlot

The position classes of the Yucatec verbal complex, the aspect marker and Set A before the stem and the status suffix and then Set B after it.

Equations

• Yukatek.template = { prefixSlots := [Mayan.VerbSlot.aspect, Mayan.VerbSlot.setA], suffixSlots := [Mayan.VerbSlot.status, Mayan.VerbSlot.setB] }

Set A

def Yukatek.setAExponent : Phonology.Segment.Class → Mayan.ExponentTable

The Set A markers by the following segment, with the glides before a vowel; the second and third person plurals are the singular prefix with the suffixes -e'ex and -o'ob'.

Equations

• One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

Set B

def Yukatek.setBExponent : Mayan.ExponentTable

The Set B markers, with a zero third person singular.

Equations

• One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

The split

def Yukatek.markerSet : StatusCategory → ArgumentRole → Option Mayan.MarkerSet

The marker set cross-referencing each argument under each status ([Boh04] Table 1, [Hof17] p. 692): Set A on the transitive subject, Set B on the object, and on the intransitive subject Set A in the incompletive and Set B in the completive and the subjunctive. The imperative marks neither subject, jóok'-en 'go out!', il-ej-∅ 'see it!' ([Hof17] Tables 24.54, 24.56).

Equations

• Yukatek.markerSet Yukatek.StatusCategory.incompletive = Mayan.extendedErgativeMarking
• Yukatek.markerSet Yukatek.StatusCategory.completive = Mayan.ergativeMarking
• Yukatek.markerSet Yukatek.StatusCategory.subjunctive = Mayan.ergativeMarking
• Yukatek.markerSet Yukatek.StatusCategory.imperative = fun (r : ArgumentRole) => if r = ArgumentRole.P then some Mayan.MarkerSet.setB else none

theorem Yukatek.isErgative_markerSet_iff (s : StatusCategory) : Alignment.IsErgative (markerSet s) ↔ s.viewpointAspect = some Aspect.Perfectivity.perfective

The marking is ergative exactly under the statuses of perfective aspect, the completive and the subjunctive, Bohnemeyer's association of the split with the aspect of the status ([Boh04] Table 2).

theorem Yukatek.isAccusative_markerSet_incompletive : Alignment.IsAccusative (markerSet StatusCategory.incompletive)