Cuoxeh

Cuoxeh
Cuoxeh
Pronunciation	[kʷoˈʃeʔ]
Created by	–
Native to	Guatemala, Belize
Native speakers	<15,000 (2010)
Language family	language isolate Cuoxeh
Writing system	Latin

Cuoxeh (pronounced /kʷoˈʃeʔ/, literally "the speech" or "the talk") is a small native American language spoken in Belize and Guatemala. There are between 10,000 and 15,000 native speakers spread out within a fairly large area of land and though the language is not officially recognised in Guatemala, it is in Belize.

Cuoxeh has phonemic aspiration on both plosives and affricates as well as phonemic vowel length. Unlike some other native American languages, for example Blackfoot, it does not have phonemic consonant gemination. Cuoxeh is also highly agglutinative and as a result is very regular (cf. other agglutinative languages, such as Turkish).

Phonology and orthography

Consonants

		Bilabial	Alveolar	Post-alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Labio-velar	Uvular1	Glottal
Nasal		m /m/	n /n/		ñ /ɲ/
Plosive	Central	p /p/	t /t/			c2, 3 /k/	cu2 /kʷ/	q /q/
	Aspirated	ph /pʰ/	th /tʰ/			ch /kʰ/		qh /qʰ/
Fricative	Central		s /s/	x /ʃ/					h4, 5 /h~ʔ/
	Lateral		l /ɬ/
Affricate	Central		ts /t͡s/	tx /t͡ʃ/
	Aspirated		tsh /t͡sʰ/	txh /t͡ʃʰ/
	Lateral		tl /t͡ɬ/
Approximant	Central				y /j/		hu /w/
	Lateral		ł /l/		ll /ʎ/

1. When the close vowels "i" and "ī" neighbour uvular consonants they are realised as [ɪ] and [ɪː] respectively (and even as [e] and [eː] by some speakers).
2. The graphemes "c" and "cu" become "cu" and "cü" respectively before "e" and "i".
   

   Approximate linguistic area of Cuoxeh shown on Google Maps.
3. In loan words, especially proper nouns, "c" may represent /s/ before "e" and "i", e.g. "cesałxi", meaning "tyrant", from the Spanish "césar".
4. When "h" is syllable initial it is usually realised as [h] and when syllable final it is always realised as [ʔ]
5. Long vowels are shortened before coda "h".

Vowels

	Front	Back
Close	i /i/ ī /iː/
Mid	e /e/ ē /eː/	o /o/ ō /oː/
Open	a /a/ ā /aː/

Phonotactics

Syllable shape

Cuoxeh syllables have the structure (C)V(F) where:

• C is any consonant: m/n/ñ/p/t/c/cu/q/ph/th/ch/qh/s/x/h/l/ts/tx/tsh/txh/tl/y/hu/ł/ll
• V is any vowel: i/ī/e/ē/o/ō/a/ā
• F is any final consonant: m/n/ñ/p/t/c/q/s/x/h/l/ts/tx/tl/ł/ll

Assimilation

The syllables of morphemes may be altered when followed or proceeded by certain other morphemes. A list of such assimilations is shown below:

Coda		Onset		Result
m	+	y	→	ñ
n	+	y	→	ñ
ñ	+	y	→	ñ
t	+	ł	→	tl
t	+	ll	→	tl
c	+	cu	→	cu
s	+	y	→	x
x	+	y	→	x
h	+	h	→	ch
h	+	hu	→	cu
l	+	y	→	ll
l	+	tl	→	tl
ts	+	y	→	stx
ts	+	ts	→	sts
tx	+	y	→	xtx
tx	+	tx	→	tx
ł	+	y	→	ll
ł	+	tl	→	łt
ll	+	y	→	ll
ll	+	tl	→	łt
Vshort	+	Vshort	→	Vlong
Vshort	+	Vlong	→	Vlong
Vlong	+	Vshort	→	Vlong

E.g.: "Castilla" + "ałtah" = Castillāłtah

Stress

Primary stress in Cuoxeh falls on the penultimate syllable if a word ends in a vowel and if a word ends in a consonant then the final syllable is stressed. Glottal stops shift the stress of a word to the vowel preceding them. Otherwise, certain affixes (chiefly of negation) that may not bear stress can cause words to appear to violate the above rules.

• "ōmsi", /ˈoːmsi/, "heart"
• "ematl", /eˈmat͡ɬ/, "maize"
• "lehcuansi", /ˈleʔkʷansi/, "giant yucca"
• "txicuatemcüēll", /t͡ʃikʷaˈtemkʷeːʎ/, "It will not rain"

Grammar

Pronominal verbal prefixes

	1ps	2ps	3ps	1pp	2pp	3pp
Subject	ī-	l(o)-	txi-	eme-	ña-	ch(a)-
Direct object	-tī-	-(y)ō-	-som-	-ēm-	-ni-	-c-
Indirect object	-tī-	-(y)ō-	-xo-	-ēm-	-ni-	-qo-
Reflexive	-(i)ll(i)-

Tense-aspect-mood

Present

The present tense is, loosely speaking, used to indicate that an event or action is occurring at the time of speaking. It is also used to describe a current state of affairs or to refer to the nature of something, e.g. an action. In Cuoxeh, it is not possible to use the present tense to refer to events that occur entirely outside of the present (with the exception of the habitual), cf. the use of the present tense of "to go" in English and other languages to indicate the future: "I am going home tomorrow", "Завтра я еду домой".

• The horse is running.
• It's raining today.
• Guatemala is a republic.
• They are European.
• I visit my parents every week.

Copula

yō (to be, to exist)
	1ps	2ps	3ps	1pp	2pp	3pp
Present	īyo	loyo	txiyo	emeyo	ñayo	chayo
Past imperfect	ītl	lōtl	txitl	emetl	ñatl	chatl
Past perfect	yoh	loh	txih	emeh	ñah	chah
Pluperfect	yohna	lohna	txihna	emehna	ñahna	chahna
Future imperfect	yocüe	locüe	txicüe	emecüe	ñacüe	chacüe
Future perfect	yocüeh	locüeh	txicüeh	emecüeh	ñacüeh	chacüeh
Irrealis	yōyo	lōlo	txītxi	emēme	ñāña	chācha
Imperative	-	caloyo	-	cuemeyo	cañayo	-

The verbal form of copula is less common than verbifying nouns or adjectives:

• "Spain is large"
  • "Lophicuo Castillāłtah." ("It-larges Spain")
  • /kastiʎaːltaʔ ɬopʰikʷo/
• "I am Spanish", "I am a Spaniard"
  • "Īcastillahētl" ("I Spanish")
  • /iːkastiʎaheːt͡ɬ/
• "He speaks Spanish"
  • "Locuoxe macastilla(cuoxe)" ("He speaks ADV-Spain(-speech)")
  • /ɬokʷoʃe makastiʎa(kʷoʃe)/
• "He speaks Spanish well"
  • "Locuoxe ñocastilla(cuoxe)" ("He speaks well-Spain(-speech)")
  • /ɬokʷoʃe ɲokastiʎa(kʷoʃe)/
• "He speaks Spanish badly"
  • "Locuoxe tamcastilla(cuoxe)" ("He speaks badly-Spain(-speech)")
  • /ɬokʷoʃe tamkastiʎa(kʷoʃe)/

Regular verbs

-V

huaxa (to give)
	1ps	2ps	3ps	1pp	2pp	3pp
Present	īhuaxa	lohuaxa	txihuaxa	emehuaxa	ñahuaxa	chahuaxa
Past imperfect	īhuaxatl	lohuaxatl	txihuaxatl	emehuaxatl	ñahuaxatl	chahuaxatl
Past perfect	īhuaxah	lohuaxah	txihuaxah	emehuaxah	ñahuaxah	chahuaxah
Pluperfect	īhuaxanah	lohuaxanah	txihuaxanah	emehuaxanah	ñahuaxanah	chahuaxanah
Future imperfect	īhuaxacüe	lohuaxacüe	txihuaxacüe	emehuaxacüe	ñahuaxacüe	chahuaxacüe
Future perfect	īhuaxacüeh	lohuaxacüeh	txihuaxacüeh	emehuaxacüeh	ñahuaxacüeh	chahuaxacüeh
Irrealis	īhuaxāxa	lohuaxāxa	txihuaxāxa	emehuaxāxa	ñahuaxāxa	chahuaxāxa
Imperative	-	calohuaxa	-	cuemehuaxa	cañahuaxa	-

• "I will give you the mango"
  • "Īyōhuaxacüe txīloh"
  • /iːjoːwaʃakʷe t͡ʃiːloʔ/
• "He has [already] given it to me"
  • "Txisomtīhuaxah."
  • /t͡ʃisitiːwaʃaʔ/

-C

ec (to hear)
	1ps	2ps	3ps	1pp	2pp	3pp
Present	īec	lec	txiec	emēc	ñaec	chec
Past imperfect	īectli	lectli	txiectli	emēctli	ñaectli	chectli
Past perfect	īecoh	lecoh	txiecoh	emēcoh	ñaecoh	checoh
Pluperfect	īecnah	lecnah	txiecnah	emēcnah	ñaecnah	checnah
Future imperfect	īecüe	lecüe	txiecüe	emēcüe	ñaecüe	checüe
Future perfect	īecüeh	lecüeh	txiecüeh	emēcüeh	ñaecüeh	checüeh
Irrealis	īēcuec	lēcuec	txiēcuec	emēcuec	ñaēcuec	chēcuec
Imperative	-	calec	-	cuemēc	cañaec	-

Relational verbs

The function of adpositions is fulfilled by relational verbs which are in effect conjugated prepositions. They are conjugated verbs which then take an adpositional suffix. Relational verbs also alter word order, placing the referee to after the relational verb whereas the subject would normally follow the verb.

• "The book is on the table"
  • "Txiyoni tacteh xāmsi" ("Txi-yō-ni tacte-h xām-si", "It-be-on table-the book-the")
  • /t͡ʃijoni takteʔ ʃaːmsi/

• "The books are on the table"
  • "Chayoni tacteh xāmamsi" ("Txi-yō-ni tacte-h xam-am-si", "They-be-on table-the book-s-the"
  • /kʰajoni takteʔ ʃaːmamsi/

Nouns

Nouns are somewhat of a loose category in Cuoxeh. They are formed by affixing a suffix to a root word, normally a verb. For example, "tsha" means "to eat" and adding the absolutive (or nominalisation) suffix "-h" gives "tshah" which means "food". If the root ends in a vowel "-h" is added, otherwise one of "-si", "-xi" or "-atl" is added. The suffix "-si" is added unless the word contains an "s" (including "ts" and "tsh") in which case "-xi" is added: "semxi" meaning "cloud". The suffix "-atl" is added if the word end in a consonant and contains an "x" (including "tx" and "txh"): "xocatl" meaning "[Baird's] tapir".

Plurals are formed by reduplicating the final syllable of the root (less the onset unless the root ends in a vowel) and lengthening the vowel in the reduplicated syllable whilst keeping the second vowel short. If the vowel which is reduplicated is already long the second vowel becomes shortened.

• "txhoh" ("chayote") > "txho-h" > "txhōtxho-h" > "txhōtxho-h" ("chayotes")
• "xocatl" ("tapir") > "xoc-atl" > "xōcoc-atl" > "xōcocatl" ("tapirs")
• "thōnsi" ("wheel") > "thōn-si" > "thōnon-si" > "thōnonsi" ("wheels")

Relative clauses

Relative clauses are indicated by the use of the circumposition "mi... mi".

Example sentences

Glossing abbreviations used below
Abbreviation	Meaning
1	first person
2	second person
3	third person
~	reduplication (followed by its significance)
ABS	absolutive
ADV	adverbial
CAUS	causative
FI	future imperfect
FP	future perfect
IM	imperative
IR	irrealis
NG	negative
PI	past imperfect
PF	past perfect
PL	plural
POSS	possessive
PP	pluperfect
PR	present
RC	relative clause circumposition
SG	singular
TRANS	translative

Graded Sentences for Analysis from http://www.potterpcs.net/gsfa/
English	Cuoxeh
	Gloss
Part 1
Birds sing.	Chahānā tsīmimxi.
	3PL-sing-PR bird~PL-ABS
Children play.	Chaxāne ayēlelsi.
	3PL-play-PR child~PL-ABS
Dogs bark.	Chehatlo alatsēseh.
	3PL-bark-PR dog~PL-ABS
Bees hum.	Chatxīxa etsīnānah.
	3PL-hum-PR bee~PL-ABS
The baby laughed.	Lachatl hehueh.
	3SG-laugh-PI baby-ABS
The sun shines.	Lotlełe mēneh.
	3SG-shine-PR sun-ABS
The wind blows.	Lophilā ēmitl.
	3SG-blow-PR wind-ABS

Other
I may decide to leave in a hurry.	Tahīlōso īācue maxīcüi.
	EP-1SG-decide 1SG-leave ADV-hurry.
Having stayed underwater in the channel, the wooden plank had expanded.	Txithōcohiq monītl etahsi, txicahphicuonah ocnoh mi txitloh mi.
	3SG-stay-PF-in 3SG.POSS-water stream-ABS 3SG-TRANS-big-PP board-ABS RC 3SG-wood-PR RC
The candles caused the frozen cake, which had proven inedible, to thaw.	Chalacahtonīlatl ciłyōyoh txinīlah phānsi mi txitīmanah txitotshanah mi.
	3PL-CAUS-TRANS-NG-freeze-PI candle~PL-ABS 3SG-freeze-PF cake-ABS RC 3SG-prove-PP 3SG-NG-food-PP RC