© 2000 Michelle Day
Recording in Aguacatenango, Chiapas, Mexico

Page Index:

Historical Information

On-line Tzeltal Resources

Bibliography on Tzeltal Related Materials

Two Short Stories in Tzeltal from Aguacatenango

Other Pages/Comments

Tzeltal is a member of the Mayan family of languages and is spoken mainly in the State of Chiapas, Mexico. Some of the earliest written documents in Tzeltal are Fray Domingo de Ara's Vocabulario de Lengua Tzeldal Según el Orden de Copanabastla, which is believed to have been written in 1571, and Manuel Díez's 1675 work, Conciones en Lingua Tzeldaica. According to Campbell (1987), there are currently at least six different dialects of Tzeltal spoken in Chiapas: Northern (Ocosingo, Bachajon) , West Central (Tenejapa, Cancuc), East Central (Oxchuc, Chanal, Amatenango), Southern (Aguacatenango, Villa las Rosas, Teopisca), South Western (Copanaguastla [extinct], Comitan), and the nearly extinct South Eastern (Trinitaria, Lagos de Montebello). However, this classification scheme is partial at best - each town where Tzeltal is spoken in the highlands of Chiapas has significant dialectical variation, with some towns even having two or more "sub-dialects" spoken within town boundaries.

www.tzeltal.org: An excellent page with links, downloads, bibliographies, photos, and other information pertaining to Tzeltal. Managed by Stuart Robinson.

Manual of Spoken Tzeltal: Written in Spanish by Joshua Hinmán Smith, translated into English by Stuart Robinson who writes, "I first came across a reference to Smith's Tzeltal grammar when I translated John B. Haviland's grammar of Tzotzil, Sk'op Sotz'leb: El Tzotzil de Zinacantán, into English before going to Mexico for fieldwork. Haviland held Smith's grammar in sufficiently high esteem to model his grammar of Tzotzil after it. But since the grammar has never been published and is distributed only as a manuscript, it was only recently that I obtained a copy. This work is badly needed, since-not too suprisingly-there are no pedagogical grammars of Tzeltal written in English and the only reference grammar for the language, written in English, is Kaufman's 1971 publication of his dissertation (a descriptive grammar of Oxchuc Tzeltal). It lacks any substantial discussion of the language's syntax. Feeling a need for anglophile materials on the language, I decided to translate my recently-obtained copy of the manuscript and make it available to the wider linguistics community..." [*NOTE: Kaufman's dissertation was actually based on Aguacatenango Tzeltal, not Oxchuc Tzeltal - M. Day]

MAYAN LANGUAGES: BIBLIOGRAPHY. By Brian Stross.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Tzeltal. Source: United Nations Information Centre (UNIC, Mexico).

PUEBLOS TZELTALES: "Un estudio de los tzeltales es una construcción abstracta, que alude a grupos sociales que no necesariamente tienen algo en común, más allá de la lengua tzeltal como idioma materno. La misma idea de que quienes hablan tzeltal como lengua materna son indígenas no es un concepto aceptado por todas aquellas personas con esta característica. Asimismo, debe decirse que no sólo existen los grupos sociales tradicionalmente caracterizados como tzeltales en los estudios antropológicos (incluyendo a los habitantes de los municipios de Tenejapa, Oxchuc y Amatenango del Valle), sino que también hay hablantes nativos de tzeltal en otros municipios de Chiapas y en otros estados de México..."

Ara, Fray Domingo de. 1986 [1571] Bocabulario de lengua tzeldal según el orden de Copanabastla. Mario Humberto Ruz, ed. México: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.

Becquelin-Monod, A. (1981). "Des Pieds et des Mains: Analyse Sémantique des Concepts en Tzeltal (Maya du Chiapas)." La Linguistique 17(2): 99-118.

Berlin, Brent. 1963a. "A possible paradigmatic structure for Tzeltal pronominals." Anthropological Linguistics 5(2):1-5.
____. 1963b. "Some sematic fetures of reduplification in Tzeltal." International Journal of American Linguistics ____. 1964. Tzeltal - Aguacatenango (tape). Chicago: Language Laboratory, University of Chicago.
____. 1968. Tzeltal Numeral Classifiers: A Study in Ethnographic Semantics. Janua Linguarum. The Netherlands: Mouton & Co. N.V., The Hague.

Berlin, Brent and Terrence Kaufman. 1977. Diccionario Tzeltal de Tenejapa, Chiapas. Microfilm Collection of Manuscripts on Cultural Anthropology. Series LIII, no. 281. Chicago: University of Chicago Library.

Breton, A. (1984). Bachajon: Organizacion Socioterritorial de una Comunidad Tzeltal. México, D. F., Instituto Nacional Indigenista.

Brown, Penelope and Stephen C. Levinson. 1993. "Uphill" and "Downhill" in Tzeltal. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 3(1):46-74.

Campbell, Lyle. 1987. "Tzeltal Dialects: New and Old". In Anthropological Linguistics 29(4):549-570.

Campbell, Lyle and Terrence Kaufman. 1985. "Maya Linguistics: Where Are We Now?". In Annual Review of Anthropology. 14:187-198. Palo Alto: Annual Review, Inc.

Castro G., Carlo Antonio. 1955. El Tzeltal Hablado: Basado en Hablemos en Tzeltal! Language tapes recorded by Norman A. McQuown. San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas: Instituto Nacional Indigenisto and Chicago: Language Laboratory, University of Chicago.

Day, Christopher. 1962. Tzeltal - Pinola . Two tapes, tape one dated 7/31/62. Chicago: Language Laboratory, University of Chicago.
____. 1970. "Variacion en el habla y diferencias sociales en un pueblo Tzeltal". In McQuown and Pitt-Rivers, eds., pp. 215-235.

Diez, M. (1675 [1989]). Conciones in Lingua Tzeldaica. Las Lenguas del Chiapas Colonial. H. Ruz. México, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México: 279-378.

Esponda Jimeno, V. M. (1994). La Organización Social de los Tzeltales. Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas, Mexico, Gobierno del Estado de Chiapas.

Gómez Ramírez, M. (1991). Ofrenda de los Ancestros en Oxchuc/Xlimoxma neel jme'tatik Oxchuk'. Chiapas, Gobierno del Estado.

Guiteras Holmes, C. (1984). Cancuc: etnografía de un pueblo tzeltal de los altos de Chiapas, 1944. Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, Talleres Gráficos del Estado.

Harman, R. C. (1974). Cambios Medicos y Sociales en una Comunidad Maya-Tzeltal. México, Instituto Nacional Indigenista.

Hermitte, M. E. (1970). Poder Sobrenatural y Control Social en un Pueblo Maya Contemporáneo. México, Instituto Indigenista Interamericano.

Hopkins, Nicholas A. 1977 [1964] Tones in Aguacatenango Tzeltal. Microfilm Collection of Manuscripts on Cultural Anthropology. Series XXXIV, no. 183. Chicago: University of Chicago Library.

Humberto Ruz, Mario. 1989. Las Lenguas del Chiapas Colonial: Manuscritos en la Biblioteca Nacional de París. México: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
____. 1989. "Vocabularios indígenas coloniales: otra lectura, otra historia." Mesoamérica 18(diciembre): 295-328.
____. 1985. Copanaguastla en un Espejo: Un pueblo tzeltal en el Virreinato. San Cristóbal de las Casas, Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas.

Juárez Espinosa, I. (1994). Cuentos y Teatro Tzeltales (A'yejetik sok Tajimal K'op). Mexico, Editorial Diana.

Kaufman, Terrence S. 1963. Tzeltal Grammer. Ph.D. Dissertation. Berkeley: University of California.
____. 1970. "Posicion del Tzeltal y del Tzotzil en la Familia de Lingüistica Mayance." In Ensayos de Antropología en la Zona Central de Chiapas. pp. 171-183.
____. 1971. Tzeltal Phonology and Morphology. University of California Publications in Linguistics, Volume 61. Berkeley: University of California Press.
____. 1972. El Proto-Tzeltal-Tzotzil: Fonología Comparada y Diccionario Reconstruido. México: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.

Maurer, E. 1984. Los Tseltales. Mexico: Centro de Estudios Educatives.

McQuown, Norman A. 1958. Measure of Dialect-Distance in Tzeltal-Tzotzil. University of Chicago.
____. 1959. Linguistica Tzeltal-Tzotzil. University of Chicago.
____. 1967. "History of Studies in Middle American Linguistics". In Handbook of Middle American Indians. Volume Five (Linguistics). McQuown, Norman A., ed., pp. 3-7. Austin: University of Texas Press.

McQuown, Norman A. (ed.). 1967. Handbook of Middle American Indians. Volume Five (Linguistics). Austin: University of Texas Press.

McQuown, Norman A. and Mariano Juárez Aguilar. 1977 . Notes on Aguacatenango Tzeltal (1959-1962). Microfilm Collection of Manuscripts on Cultural Anthropology. Series LII, no. 277. Chicago: University of Chicago Library.

Metzger, Duane G., Terrence S. Kaufman, and Norman A. McQuown. 1977. Textos Tzeltales de Aguacatenango. Transcribed and translated by Mariano Juárez Aguilar (1959-1962). Microfilm Collection of Manuscripts on Cultural Anthropology. Series LX, No. 319. Chicago: University of Chicago Library.

Metzger, Kaufman, and Juárez Aguilar. 1977 [1961] Report on "An Exploratory Study of Linguistic Usages: The Mapping of Linguistic Patterns on the Domain of Social Roles" (carried out with the Tzeltal Indians of Aguacatenango, Chiapas). Microfilm Collection on Manuscripts on Cultural Anthropology. Series LIII, no. 282. Chicago: University of Chicago Library.

Pineda, Vicente. 1887. Gramatica de la Lengua Tzeltal. Chiapas, México: Tipografia del Gobierno en Palacio.
___. 1888. Sublevaciones Indigenas en Chiapas: Gramatica y Diccionario Tzeltal. Mexico: Instituto Nacional Indegenista.

Robertson, J. S. (1987). "Diachronic Change in Tzeltalan Kinship Based on a Universal Kin Notation System." Anthropological Linguistics 29(4): 389-408.

Robertson, J. S. (1987). "The Common Beginning and Evolution of the Tense-Aspect System of Tzotzil and Tzeltal Mayan." International Journal of American Linguistics 53(4): 423-444.

Robles Uribe, Carlos. 1966. La Dialectologia Tzeltal y el Diccionario Compacto. México: Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia.

Slocum, Marianna C. 1948. "Tzeltal (Mayan) noun and verb morphology." International Journal of American Linguistics, 14:77-86.

Sna Jtz'ibajon. 1988. Sk'oplal jkuxultatik sok jch'ume'tik (Cuento del sol y la luna). San Cristóbal de las Casas, Dirreción General de Culturas Populars de la SEP.

Sna Jtzi'bajom. 1990. Ya'yejik te Mamletik (Palabras de los Ancianos). San Cristóbal de las Casas, Dirección General de Culturas Populares del Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes (SEP).

Stross, B. 1976. "Tzeltal Anatomical Terminology: Semantic Processes." In Mayan Linguistics. Los Angeles, University of California.
____. 1979. Tzeltal Texts. International Journal of American Linguistics Native American Texts Series. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 3: 106-121.

Stubblefield, P. 1961. Medical Beliefs and Practices, and Disease Terminology in a Tzeltal Village. Harvard University.

Villa Rojas, A. 1969. "The Tzeltal." Handbook of Middle American Indians. E. Vogt, ed.
___. 1990 . (Research done between 1942-1944). Etnografia Tzeltal de Chiapas: Modalidades de una Cosmovisión Prehispánica. México, Gobierno del Estado de Chiapas.

1. The Devouring Lagoon (M. Day 1994:12-33): This story was told by Victoria Juarez Aguilar in 1994. She brought the story up after we had seen a book in a local library in San Cristóbal with a mermaid drawn on the front cover. A lagoon on the outskirts of the community is a frequent topic of Aguacatenango narratives - many residents have drowned in the lake over the years, including a whole boatload of residents during a flood in the early 1970s.

Ha' te ta naméh 7ay kayih te kuenta. Es ta... 7ay lah tul 7antz,
Prt phr art adj adv 1pro-Vt-trm art N Sp prt art...adv pst n.c. N
Thus long ago there I heard the story. It is...there was one woman,
It was long ago that I heard this story. There was this one woman, her child was sick.

ya la xcham ta ch'in yal. Despwes, 7och la yak ta tamel ta ch'in
vp pst Vtr art adj pro3-N Sp prt Vnt pst pro3-Vtr art N art adj
was sick the small her child. Then, came she gave the curing ceremony the little
When the child got sick, the woman gave the child a little curing ceremony

yak ta 7àntzeh. Despwes, ha tz'in ta 7uleh, ta medikoeh.
pro3-Vtr art N Sp prt prt adj art N-loc art N-loc
she gave the woman. Then this soon the curer there, the doctor there.
she gave, the woman. Then, soon this curer was there, the doctor was there.

Esteh... "b'a' nuses 7atin ta ti' ha'," xchi lah ta 7ul winik.
Sp prt prt... Vnt V?-suf V? art Vtr N qtv pst art N N
It is... going to bathe to wash in the flesh eat water," said in the past the curing man.
Then..."You are going to wash the child in the devouring lagoon," he said, the curing man.

I dehspwes, ha' tz'in ta 7antzéh b'a snusis ta ch'in yal ta ti' ha'.
Sp prt phr prt adj art N Vnt pro3-vbtr art adj pro3-N art Vtr N
And afterwards, thus soon the woman went to wash him, the little child in the eat water
And soon afterwards, the woman went to wash her little baby in the devouring lagoon.

Despwes, es te...pi tzul ta skab' ta ch'in yak ta 7antzéh, 7och kal ta rio.
Sp prt phr prt V? V? prt pro3-N prt adj pro3-Vtr prt N Vnt ? prt SpN
Then, it is.. slipped? the hand the little it gave the woman, entered? the river.
Then, ...it slipped away from her, the hand held by the woman, and the baby went into the river.

7Olil ha' 7ay tz'inaten ta 7alaleh, lok la hol hun rósah,
loc prt N adv adj-?-trm art N-loc Vnt pst N num SpN
Middle water there was soon the child there, rose up to his head one rose,
In the middle of the water the child was soon, and there rose up at his head one rose,

ta yolil ta ha'eh. Ya la xok'il ta 7antz ta ti' ha'.
art pro3-loc art N-loc. Vp pst Vtr-trm art N art Vtr N
at its middle the water there. She cried the women at the eating water.
in the middle of the water there. She cried, the woman, at the devouring lagoon.

Despwes, hila tz'in ta 7antzeh. Ya xok' ta sme' ta 7alal.
Sp prt, V-trm? adj art N v.p. pst-Vtr art pro3-N art N
Then, stayed shortly the woman. She cried the mother of the baby.
Then, she stayed for a while, the woman. She cried, the mother of the baby.

Ta lok..7och ta lokil kol ta yolil ta ha'eh, wotz lah rohsos.
Prt Vnt...Vnt prt Vnt-trm ? prt pro3-loc prt N-loc, V? pst N
It came...it entered coming ? to the middle of the water there, ? the rose.
There it came up, in the middle of the water there, it came up, the rose.

Ha' kuentah ta nameh b'ih. Ha' kwenta ta nameh b'ih...
Prt N prt adj adv Prt N art adj adv
This story is very old already This story the very old already
This story is very old already. This story is already very old...

a lah mak litik ta k'op b'ih, kwenta nameh.
? pst ? loc-pl prt N adv N adj
not here we the talk already story very old
We don't tell the story here any more already, it is a very old story.

FREE ENGLISH GLOSS OF TEXT ONE: The Devouring Lagoon

I heard this story a long time ago. There was this woman whose child was sick, so she gave the baby a curing ceremony. When the curer, the doctor, arrived he said, "You should go wash the baby in the lagoon." So, soon afterwards the woman went to wash the baby. But the baby slipped out of her hand and fell into the river. The baby disappeared into the middle of the lagoon, and then a rose floated up to the surface where the baby disappeared. The woman cried, there at the edge of the lagoon. She cried afterwards, the mother of the child. There it came up, in the middle of the water, a rose. This is a story from a long time ago. It's an old story. We don't tell it anymore here, it is an old story.

2. A More Recent Story (M. Day, 1994:28-42): After the above story was told, I asked Victoria if she knew any other similar stories with a mermaid-like theme, and she told me this "more recent story." I later heard a very similar version from her daughter, who told me that she actually saw this girl at a carnival "freak" show in the nearby town of Teopisca.

Este tih kwenta. Despwes 7ach'il hun ch'in kwento.
Sp prt loc N Sp prt adj-trm num adj N
This recent story. After new one little story
This recent story. Next I'll tell one new little story.

Ta 7ay lah tul 7ach'ix. Ke ma' lah te cheb'al ha'wil.
Prt adv pst n.c. N Sp prt neg pst prt num-trm N
There is, was, one girl. That not past the two years.
There was this one girl. It hasn't been two years.

Ke ma' la ch'un k'op, ma' lah ch'un mantal...
Sp prt neg pst Vtr N neg pst Vtr Sp N
That not in past listen to talk, not in past obey orders...
She didn't listen, she didn't obey orders...

ta stohol sme', ta stohol stat. Ke lom lah k'ahk' ta 7ach'ix.
art pro3-ad pro3-N art pro3-ad pro3-N. Sp prt adj pst adj art N
from her own mother, from her own father. That very was hot the girl
From her very own mother, her very own father. She was very hot, this girl.

Ma' la ch'un mantal, ma' la ch'un k'op ta stohol sme', ta stohol stat.
Neg pst Vtr N neg pst Vtr N art pro3-adj pro3-N art pro3-adj pro3-N
Not in past obeyed orders, not in past listened to her own mother, to her own father.
She hadn't obeyed orders, she hadn't listened to the talk of her own mother, her own father.

Despwes tz'in tan...ta 7ach'ix, suht lah ta chan!
Sp prt adj adv art N Vnt pst art N
Afterwards soon very the girl, turned into a snake!
Very soon afterwards, the girl turned into a snake!

Media kwerpa 7este kristiana...media kwerpe chan lah!
Sp prt SpN prt N Sp prt Sp N N pst
Half body is human... half body snake was!
Half her body was human, half her body was a snake!

Despwes yal la tz'in ta 7ach'ixeh yal lah yal consého:
Sp prt pro3-Vtr pst adj prt N-loc pro3-Vtr pst pro3-Vtr SpN
Then she says in past soon the girl there she says in past she says advice:
Then soon afterwards she spoke, the girl there, she spoke some advice:

"Ma' ma' pas te stul tuti la hpas ho'on, porke ho'on,
neg neg Vtr art pro3-n.c. intr pst pro1-Vtr pro conj pro
"No don't do that yourself what past I did myself, because myself,
"Don't you do yourself what I did myself, because myself,

ma' ch'un ta k'op, ma' ch'un ta mantal ta stohol tat, ta stohol me'.
neg Vtr art N neg Vtr art N art pro3-adj N art pro3-adj N
not listen to words, not obey the orders from my own father, my own mother
I didn't listen to talk, I didn't obey orders from my own father, from my own mother.

7Ay yu'un e tul suhton ta chan. Aunke mil b'eses ya suht kot'an,
adv conj conj n.c. Vnt-pro3 art N Sp prt num SpN v.m. Vnt pro1-N
It is because one human I turn the snake. Although a thousand times I return my heart,
Because of this I have turned into a snake. Although I have changed my heart a thousand times,

mil b'eses 7es te ya hpasa repentir. Mayuk pox porke...
num SpN prt phr v.m. pro1-Vtr-trm Vtr Sp Neg N conj
A thousand times it is that I make to repent. There is no cure because...
A thousand times I have made repentence. There is no cure because...

porke ma' ch'un mantal stohol me', stohol tat'.
conj neg Vtr N pro3-adj N pro3-adj N
because not obey orders own mother own father
because I did not obey the orders from mother, from father.

7Ay yuun ma' ma' 7apasik ta ma x ach'un k'op,
Adv pro neg neg pro2-Vtr-pl art neg Vtr N
It is therefore do not you make the not listening words
Therefore, because of this, don't you do this, the not listening to talk,

ta ma' x ach'un mantal ta stohol ta me'tik tah tahtik.
art neg Vtr N art pro3-adj art Npl art Npl
the not obeying orders from your own mothers fathers
the not obeying of orders from your mothers and fathers.

Ho'oneh 7olil me' b'ah," xchi la ta 7ach'ix.
pro1-loc prt N Vntr qtv past art N
Myself there half woman gone said in past the girl.
As for myself there, half of my body is gone," said the girl.

FREE ENGLISH GLOSS OF TEXT TWO: A Recent Story

This is a more recent story. I'm telling a new story next. There was this one girl - it hasn't been more than two years - who wouldn't listen. She didn't obey her mother or her father. She was very hot, this girl. She didn't obey and she didn't listen to her parents. Then soon afterwards, the girl turned into a snake! Half of her body was still human, but half of her body became a snake. The girl gave out some advice soon after this had happened. She said, "Don't you do what I did! I didn't listen, I didn't obey my parents, and then I turned into a snake! Although I have repented in my heart a thousand times there isn't any cure because I didn't listen to my mother and my father. So you! You should listen and obey your parents! As for me, half of my body is now forever destroyed."

Key to abbreviations:

You may send me e-mail at: mmday@midway.uchicago.edu