View source for Chʼortiʼ language

{{Short description|Mayan language spoken in Central America}}

{{POV|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Chʼortiʼ
| nativename       = {{lang|caa|Ch'orti', Tcor ti’}}
| states           = [[Guatemala]], [[Honduras]], [[El Salvador]]
| region           = [[Copán]]
| ethnicity        = [[Chʼortiʼ people|Chʼortiʼ]]
| speakers         = 30,000
| date             = 2000
| ref              = e18
| familycolor      = Mayan
| fam1             = [[Mayan languages|Mayan]]
| fam2             = Cholan–Tzeltalan
| fam3             = [[Ch'olan languages|Cholan]]
| fam4             = 
| ancestor         = [[Classic Maya language|Classic Maya]]
| iso3             = caa
| glotto           = chor1273
| glottorefname    = Chorti
| notice           = IPA
| map              = Pueblos Indigenas antes de la conquista El Salvador.svg
| mapcaption       = {{legend|#aedf90|Chʼortiʼ}}
}}

The '''Chʼortiʼ language''' (sometimes also ''Chorti'') is a [[Mayan language]], spoken by the [[Maya peoples|indigenous Maya]] people who are also known as the [[Chʼortiʼ people|Chʼortiʼ]] or Chʼortiʼ Maya.  Chʼortiʼ is a direct descendant of the [[Classic Maya language]] in which many of the [[pre-Columbian]] inscriptions using the [[Maya script]] were written.<ref name="Houston, S 2000" /> Chʼortiʼ is the modern version of the ancient Mayan language [[Chʼolan languages|Chʼolan]] (which was actively used and most popular between the years of A.D 250 and 850).<ref name="Houston, S 2000">Houston, S, J Robertson, and D Stuart. "The language of Classic Maya inscriptions." Current Anthropology 41.3 (2000): 321–356. Print.</ref>

==Classification==
Chʼortiʼ can be called a living "[[Rosetta Stone]]" of Mayan languages. Chʼortiʼ is an important tool for interpreting the contents of Maya glyphic writings, some of which are not yet fully understood. For several years, many linguists and anthropologists expected to grasp the Chʼortiʼ culture and language by studying its words and expressions.<ref>{{Cite web | last=Keys | first=David | title='Lost' Sacred Language of the Maya Is Rediscovered | website=mayanmajix.com | date=2003-12-07 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031219112500/http://mayanmajix.com/art439a.html | archive-date=2003-12-19 | url=http://mayanmajix.com/art439a.html}}</ref> Chʼortiʼ is spoken mainly in and around [[Jocotán]] and [[Camotán]], [[Chiquimula]] department, [[Guatemala]], as well as in adjacent areas of parts of western [[Honduras]] near the [[Copán|Copán Ruins]].<ref name="hdl.handle.net">{{Cite web | last=Hull | first=Kerry M. | year=2003 | title=Verbal art and performance in Chʼortiʼ and Maya hieroglyphic writing | publisher=The University of Texas at Austin | url= https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/items/2f24e188-4375-4048-9fcf-569d66d979d8/full}}</ref> Because the Classic Mayan language was ancestral to the modern Chʼorti, it can be used to decipher the ancient language.<ref name="Houston, S 2000"/> Researchers realized that the ancient language's script was based more on phonetics than previously thought.<ref name="Houston, S 2000"/>

[[File:Mayan Language Map.png|thumb|A map showing the present-day locations of the Mayan Languages. The colors of the language names show closely-related groups. The size of the name shows the relative number of speakers.]]

The name Chʼortiʼ (with unglottalized <ch>) means 'language of the corn farmers', a reference to the traditional agricultural activity of Chʼortiʼ families. It is one of the three modern descendants of the Chʼolan language, which constitute a sub-group of [[Mayan languages]]. The other two are [[Chontal Maya language|Chontal]] and [[Chʼol language|Chʼol]].<ref>{{Cite web | last1=Mathews | first1=Peter | last2=Bíró | first2=Péter | title=Maya Hieroglyphs and Mayan Languages | url=http://research.famsi.org/mdp/mdp_mayahiero.html | website=research.famsi.org}}</ref> These three descendants are still spoken today. Chʼortiʼ and Chʼolti are two sub-branches belonging to Eastern Chʼolan; Chʼolti is, however, already extinct.

There are some debates among scholars about how Chʼolan should be classified. John Robertson considered the direct ancestor of colonial Chʼoltiʼ to be the language of the [[Mayan script]] (also known as Mayan Glyphs). The language of the Mayan Glyphs is described as 'Classic Chʼoltiʼan' by John Robertson, David Stuart, and Stephen Houston. The language of the Mayan script is thus the ancestor of Chʼortiʼ. The relationship is shown in the chart below.<ref name="hdl.handle.net"/>

[[File:The Ch'olan sub-group of Mayan languages.jpg|The Chʼolan sub-group of Mayan languages]]

==Endangerment==
The Chʼortiʼ people are descendants of the people who lived in and around [[Copán]], one of the cultural capitals of the ancient Maya area. This covers parts of modern-day Honduras and Guatemala. Chʼorti is considered an endangered language as well as an endangered culture.

===Geographic location===
[[File:Distribution-myn2.png|thumbnail]]
This region is the only region in the world that Chʼorti speakers can be found. Although the area is completely shaded in, the majority of speakers reside in Guatemala, while the rest are sparsely distributed throughout the rest of the area.<ref>•	McAnany, Patricia, and Shoshaunna Parks. "Casualties of Heritage Distancing Children, Chʼortiʼ Indigeneity, and the Copan Archaeoscape." Current Anthropology 53.1 (2012): 80–107. Print.</ref>

===Honduras===
The government of Honduras has been trying to promote a uniform national language of Spanish, and therefore discourages the use and teaching of native languages such as Chʼorti. The Chʼortiʼ people in Honduras face homogenization and have to assimilate to their surroundings. The government has been clashing with the Chʼorti people over land disputes from the 1800s, which puts the people (and thus the language) at risk. In 1997, 2 prominent Chʼorti leaders were assassinated. This assassination is just one example of many cases where Chʼorti advocates have been harmed or killed. Every one of these killings reduces the number of Chʼorti speakers. As of right now, there are only 10 remaining native speakers in Honduras.<ref name="minorityrights.org">{{cite web |url=http://www.minorityrights.org/2572/honduras/lenca-miskitu-tawahka-pech-maya-chortis-and-xicaque.html |title=Minority Rights Group International : Honduras : Lenca, Miskitu, Tawahka, Pech, Maya, Chortis and Xicaque |access-date=2013-10-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029193324/http://www.minorityrights.org/2572/honduras/lenca-miskitu-tawahka-pech-maya-chortis-and-xicaque.html |archive-date=2013-10-29 | publisher=World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples}}</ref>

===Guatemala===
The government of Guatemala has been more supportive of Chʼorti speakers and has promoted programs that encourage the learning and teaching of Chʼorti. The Chʼorti's in Guatemala wear traditional clothing, unlike their counterparts in Honduras, who wear modern-day clothing.<ref name="minorityrights.org"/> Currently there are about 55,250 Chʼorti speakers in Guatemala. Even though Guatemala has established Spanish as its official language, it supports the teaching of these native languages.

===Ethnonyms: Cholotí, Chorté, Chortí===
The majority of Chʼortiʼ live in the Chiquimula Department of Guatemala, approximately 52,000. The remaining 4,000 live in Copán, Honduras. The Kʼicheʼ Maya however, dominated the Chʼortiʼ dating back to the early fifteenth century. Warfare as well as disease devastated much of the Chʼortiʼ during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Much of their land was lost to the Guatemalan government in the nineteenth century as well. More recently, 25 percent of the Guatemalan Chʼortiʼ went to the United States during the 1980s to escape political persecution.<ref>{{Cite web | last1=Chenier | first1=Jacqueline | first2=Steve | last2=Sherwood | title=Copan: Collaboration for Identity, Equity and Sustainability (Honduras) | website=srdis.ciesin.columbia.edu | publisher=Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) | date=2013-10-27 | url=http://srdis.ciesin.columbia.edu/cases/Honduras-Paper.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070614002729/http://srdis.ciesin.columbia.edu/cases/Honduras-Paper.html | archive-date=2007-06-14}}</ref>

== Phonology and orthography ==

The Chʼortiʼ have their own standard way of writing their language. However, inaccurate ways to represent phonemes led to some variation among recent publications.<ref name="famsi.org">{{Cite web | last=Hull | first=Kerry | year=2005 | title=A Dictionary of Chʼortiʼ Maya, Guatemala | website=FAMSI.org | url=http://www.famsi.org/reports/03031/03031Hull01.pdf}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

=== Consonants ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="2" |
![[Bilabial consonant|Bilabial]]
![[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
![[Postalveolar consonant|Post-<br />alveolar]]
![[Velar consonant|Velar]]
![[Glottalic consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| {{IPA link|m}} {{grapheme|m}}
| {{IPA link|n}} {{grapheme|n}}
|
|
|
|-
! rowspan="3" |[[Plosive]]
! <small>[[voicelessness|voiceless]]</small>
| {{IPA link|p}} {{grapheme|p}}
| {{IPA link|t}} {{grapheme|t}}
|
| {{IPA link|k}} {{grapheme|k}}
| rowspan="2" | {{IPA link|ʔ}} {{grapheme|ʼ}}
|-
!<small>[[Glottalic consonant|glottalic]]</small>
| {{IPA link|ɓ}} {{grapheme|bʼ}}
| {{IPA link|tʼ}} {{grapheme|tʼ}}
|
| {{IPA link|kʼ}} {{grapheme|kʼ}}
|-
!<small>[[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]]</small>{{efn|/b/, /d/ and /ɡ/ usually only appear in [[Spanish language|Spanish]] loan words.}}
| ({{IPA link|b}} {{grapheme|b}})
| ({{IPA link|d}} {{grapheme|d}})
|
| ({{IPA link|ɡ}} {{grapheme|g}})
|
|-
! rowspan="2" |[[Affricate]]
![[voicelessness|<small>voiceless</small>]]
|
| {{IPA link|ts}} {{grapheme|tz}}
| {{IPA link|tʃ}} {{grapheme|ch}}
|
|
|-
!<small>[[Glottalic consonant|glottalic]]</small>
|
| {{IPA link|tsʼ}} {{grapheme|tzʼ}}
| {{IPA link|tʃʼ}} {{grapheme|chʼ}}
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Fricative]]
|
| {{IPA link|s}} {{grapheme|s}}
| {{IPA link|ʃ}} {{grapheme|x}}
| {{IPA link|x}} {{grapheme|j}}{{efn|name=jh|{{grapheme|j}} has two pronunciations, as either a voiceless velar fricative {{IPAblink|x}} or a voiceless glottal fricative {{IPAblink|h}}. Classic Mayan differentiated between the two. This differentiation can be seen in some Chʼortiʼ literature, such as with the texts by Wisdom.}}
| {{IPA link|h}} {{grapheme|j}}{{efn|name=jh}}
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Trill consonant|Trill]]
|
| {{IPA link|r}} {{grapheme|r}}
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Approximant]]
|
| {{IPA link|l}} {{grapheme|l}}
| {{IPA link|j}} {{grapheme|y}}
| {{IPA link|w}} {{grapheme|w}}
|
|}
{{notelist}}

The consonants of Chʼortiʼ include glottal stop [ʼ], b, bʼ, ch, chʼ, d, g, j, k, kʼ, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, tʼ, tz, tzʼ, w, x, y.

The {{grapheme|w}} and {{grapheme|y}} are semivowels.

=== Vowels ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
!
! [[Front vowel|Front]]
! [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! [[Close vowel|Close]]
| {{IPA link|i}}
| {{IPA link|u}}
|-
! [[Mid vowel|Mid]]
| {{IPA link|e}}
| {{IPA link|o}}
|-
! [[Open vowel|Open]]
| colspan="2" | {{IPA link|a}}
|}

The vowels consist of a, e, i, o, and u.<ref name=":0">Pérez Martínez, Vitalino(1994) Gramática del idioma chʼortíʼ. Antigua, Guatemala: Proyecto Lingüístico Francisco Marroquín.</ref>

====Vowel clusters====
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Characters used
!Sometimes also used
!IPA symbol
!Chʼortiʼ pronunciation 
|-
|aa
|ā, aꞏ, a꞉
|a
|Like regular a but held longer 
|-
|ee
|ē, eꞏ, e꞉
|e
|Like e only held longer
|-
|ii
|ī, iꞏ, i꞉
|i
|Like i only held longer
|-
|oo
|ō, oꞏ, o꞉
|o
|Like o only held longer
|-
|uu
|ū, uꞏ, u꞉
|u
|Like u only held longer
|}

When two vowels are put together in Chʼortiʼ, the second vowel always takes precedence and then is always followed by a glottal stop. Chʼortiʼ does not have long vowels. According to historians, long vowels occur in Classical Mayan, but have been lost in modern Chʼortiʼ.

In Chʼortiʼ, aa or a꞉ is used as aʼ or Aʼ; this pattern occurs with all vowel clusters including eʼ, Iʼ, oʼ and uʼ.

Some examples of words with vowel clusters are꞉

* Jaʼx [xaʔʃ] = Her, ella
* Weʼr [weʔr] = meat, carne  
* Bʼiʼx [pʼiʔʃ] = seed, semilla
* Tunoʼron [tunoʔɾon] = everyone, todos
*Kuʼm [kuʔm] = egg, huevo <ref>{{Cite web|title=Chorti Maya Pronunciation Guide, Alphabet and Phonology|url=http://www.native-languages.org/chorti_guide.htm|access-date=2020-12-17|website=www.native-languages.org}}</ref>

== Morphology ==

=== Verb inflection ===

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Verb Inflections in Chʼortiʼ<ref name="Inflection">Quizar, Robin. 1994. "Motion Verbs in Chʼortiʼ." Función 15–16. 211–229.</ref>
|-
! colspan="2" |
! Ergative<br />(Set A)
! Absolutive<br />(Set B)
! Subjective<br />(Set C)
|-
! rowspan="2" | 1st<br />person
! {{small|singular}}
| in-/ni-
| -en
| in-
|-
! {{small|plural}}
| ka-
| -on
| ka-
|-
! rowspan="2" | 2nd<br />person
! {{small|singular}}
| a-
| -et
| i-
|-
! {{small|plural}}
| i-
| -ox
| ix-
|-
! rowspan="2" | 3rd<br />person
! {{small|singular}}
| u-
| -Ø
| a-
|-
! {{small|plural}}
| u-...-obʼ
| -obʼ
| aʼ...-obʼ
|}

Examples of inflected verbs from Isidro González's stories (John Fought, 1972):

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Verb Inflection Examples
|-
! Uninflected Verb
! Inflected Verb
|-
| {{interlinear|ixin|"to go"}}
| {{interlinear|ixinobʼ|go-A3-PL|"they went"}}
|-
| {{interlinear|ira|“to see”}}
| {{interlinear|uwira|E3-see-A3|“he sees it”}} 
|-
| {{interlinear|kojko|“to guard”}}
| {{interlinear|ukojkobʼ|E3-guard-A3-PL|“they guard over it”}}
|-
| {{interlinear|ixin|“to go”}}
| {{interlinear|aʼxin|S3-go|“he goes”}}
|}
<ref name="famsi.org" />

==== Possessions ====
Tak is plural for women and childrenʼ

* ijchʼok-tak "little girls"
* max-tak "children, young ones, family" (max does not occur without -tak)
* ixik-tak "women"

These are the only instances encountered. It is worthy of notice that ixkaʼr "wife", chʼurkabʼ "baby" and ar "offspring" take -ob'.

obʼ is a general plural. The suffix can be found in nouns, verbs, adjectives, and participials.

Examples on possessives:

{{interlinear
| indent = 3
| top = e mutobʼ war ubʼaxyobʼ nijinaj|e mut-obʼ war u-bʼax-i-obʼ ni-jinaj|DEF.ART bird-3.PL PROG {3A-pull up-THEM-3.PL} {1A.SG-maize plant}|The birds are pulling my maize plant.
}}

{{interlinear
| indent = 3
| top = Yarobʼ bʼikʼit ruch|Yar-obʼ bʼikʼit ruch|small-3.PL {small variety of} {gourd container}|And then come two little gourds,... (f330040)
}}

<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wichmann |first=Søren |title=A CHʼORTIʼ MORPHOLOGICAL SKETCH |year=1999 |pages=153}}</ref>

== Syntax ==
The aspectual system of Chʼortiʼ language changed to a tripartite pronominal system which comes with different morphemes used for the subject of transitive verbs, the object of transitive verbs and the subject of intransitive completive verbs, and a third set of pronouns only used for the subject of incompletive intransitive verbs.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1=Law | first1=Danny | first2=John |last2=Robertson | first3=Stephen | last3=Houston | title=Split Ergativity In The History Of The Chʼolan Branch Of The Mayan Language Family | publisher=University of Texas at Austin | journal=International Journal of American Linguistics | volume=72 | number=4 | year=2006 | pages=415–450 | url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/513056 | doi=10.1086/513056| url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Chʼortiʼ tripartite pronominal system (data from Hull 2005)

{{interlinear|indent=3
|top='''Transitive'''
|e sitzʼ u-buyi-Ø e siʼ
|def boy A-3-chop-B-3 def wood
|'The boy chops the wood (into tiny pieces)'}}

{{interlinear|indent=3
|top='''Intransitive completive'''
|intzaj lokʼoy-Ø e peʼych
|sweet go.out-B-3 def tomato 
|'The tomato turned out delicious'}}

{{interlinear|indent=3
|top='''Intransitive incompletive'''
|e kʼin a-lokʼoy  ta ixner kʼin 
|def sun C-1-go.out prep going sun
|'The sun sets in the west'}}

===Basic word order===
In the Chʼortiʼ language and other Mayan sentences it always starts with verbs but also there are agents or patients added and in which they are commonly represented by the acronym VOS, meaning [[verb-object-subject]]. The following rules apply VSO, SVO, SOV, OVS, OSV.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Pérez|first=Lauro|date=2004–2008|title=GRAMÁTICA PEDAGÓGICA Chʼortiʼ.|url=https://www.almg.org.gt/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/GRAMATICA-PEDAGOGICA..pdf?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=9aefae3b50c0990fb52169ce7595c0c596ef85dd-1607327367-0-AdVpEkLNKohiKs2VsdRy-r6wdNidSzhhVWOZ3gtz-3Bd8uJvdMnMYMA_W7jNxiGV4kFH1j0RvPF4W51xaSMFwCBKM2oBIuzEB5qq4E0vxFALuO1lKx88YExj2pqDjtDRpuQDNVFsfOF-yrf0l6Wwq49C0D4bxFMYJh1Otw2v2oIwtoJ0Qa3SXskENhDtkzVb42PW7hGQ4v3t75nMtS8UhBBOANgkzNrV6oSchVhWBk8uNWRAMHky9yVLoV0TDmznWgU0Td-vhBopba4zAGjS1wTecRBMFRFCza9kSM-PFWESw5QYfh1gTDYTTlZrMc81OB0EEDcL0lW9m0xn43492knjhpUKw3WqbF5kX4qw0mR2y450LZLCzoYVnejgml8pOw|access-date=November 17, 2020}}</ref>

In most of the Chʼortiʼ language there are phrases surrounding transitive verbs and they are order subject first (first-most) and it's followed by the verb then the object (SVO).<ref>{{Cite web|last=Dugan|first=James|date=May 20, 2013|title=The grammar of Chʼortiʼ Maya Folktales|url=https://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/islandora/object/tulane%3A27759/datastream/PDF/view}}</ref>

{{interlinear|indent=3
|Uchoni {e kar} enoya
|verb object subject
|sells vegetables grandma
|"Grandma sells vegetables."<ref name=":1" />}}

===Adjectives with attributive function===
The adjective works together with the nouns as a modifier formed with a noun phrase that plays some syntactic role, object etc.<ref name=":1" />

Predicative adjective indicate the size, color or state

{{interlinear|indent=3
|{E bʼikʼit} yurwobʼ chamobʼ
|adjective noun verb
|{The little} chicks died
|}}

{{interlinear|indent=3
|inchoni {e yaxax} pe'ych
|verb adjective noun
|{I am selling} green tomato
|}}

Chʼortiʼ has many other different forms, in the following sentence the words that appear to be bold is a preposition and underline one is a relational noun.<ref name=":1" />

{{interlinear|indent=3
|<u>E</u> <u>chij</u> numuy '''tu't''' e max-tak
|The horse passed in.front.of the child-PL
|"The horse passed in front of the children"}}

==Vocabulary==
The following list contains examples of common words in the Chʼortiʼ language:

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Common Words
|-
! English!! Chʼortiʼ !! English !! Chʼortiʼ
|-
| big || nixiʼ || fire || kʼajkʼ
|-
| bird || mut || here || tara
|-
| cold || insis || what || tukʼa
|-
| dog || txʼiʼ || husband || noxibʼ	
|-
| day || kʼin || man|| winik'
|-
| beverage || uchʼe || moon || uj
|-
| earth || rum || mountain || witzir
|}
<!--==Common words==
The following list contains examples of common words in the Chʼortiʼ language:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| all:  tuno\r || ashes:  tan
|-
| bark: pat || big: nohta
|-
| bite: ac\uhxop || bird: mut
|-
| black:  negru  u\t || blood:  ch\ich\
|-
| blow:  uyuhta|| bone:  b\ac
|-
| breast:  uchu\ || burn:  pur
|-
| child:  sitz/ihch\oc || cloud:  tocar
|-
| cold: insis || come: yo\p
|-
| cut: xur || day:  ahq\uin
|-
| die:  cham || dig:  impahni
|-
| dog:  tz\i\ || drink:  ch\I
|-
| dry:  taquin || dust:  pococ
|-
| ear:  chiquin || earth:  rum
|-
| eat:  we\|| egg:  cu\m
|-
| eye:  naq\uiu\t || fall:  c\ax
|-
| far:  naht || fat (n.):  ch\ichmar
|-
| fear:  ap\a\cta || feather:  tzutz
|-
| fingernail:  or  uyoc || fire:  c\ahc
|-
| fish:  chay || five:  inmohy
|-
| fly (v.):  top || fog:  mayuhy
|-
| foot:  oc || four:  chan
|-
| full:  b\ut\ur|| give:  ahc\
|-
| good:  imb\utzop|| green:  yaxax
|-
| hair:  tzutz || hand:  c\ap \
|-
| head:  hor || hear:  oyp\ica
|-
| heart:  alma|| heavy:  mb\ar
|-
| here:  tara || hit:  tz\ohy
|-
| horn:  cachu || how?:  tuc\a
|-
| husband:  noxip || I:  en
|-
| kill:  chamse || knee: pix
|-
| know:  na\t || lake:  eha\
|-
| laugh:  tze\n || leaf:  uyopor
|-
| left:  utz\ehc\ap || lie:  ch\a
|-
| liver:  xemem || long:  innaht
|-
| louse:  u\ch || man:  winic
|-
| meat:  we\r || moon: uh
|-
| mountain:  wίtzir || mouth:  ti\
|-
| name:  uc\ab\a || near:  nuťur
|-
| neck:  nuc || new:  tapop
|-
| night:  acb\are || nose:  ni\
|-
| one: in || other:  inmohr
|}



{| class="wikitable"
|-
| person:  winicop || pull:  nquerehb\a
|-
| rain: haha\r || red:  chacchacop
|-
| right:  wach\ c\ab\ || river:  xucur
|-
| road:  b\i\r  || root:  wi\r
|-
| rope:  ch\a\n || rope:  succhih
|-
| rotten:  oq\uem || round:  gororoh
|-
| sand: hi\ || say: a\r
|-
| seed:  hinah || see:  wira
|-
| sing:  c\aywi || sit: turu
|-
| skin: pat || sleep: way
|-
| smell:  chuchu\ co\c || smoke:  b\utz
|-
| stab:  inxeq\ue || stand:  wa\r
|-
| star:  e\c || stone: cha\
|-
| stone:  tun || suck:  catz\upi
|-
| sun:  q\uin || swell:  asampa
|-
| swim: nuhx || tail:  neh
|-
| that:  yaja\ || there:  yaha\
|-
| thick: pim || thin:  jay
|-
| this:  ira || thou:  et
|-
| tongue:  a\c|| tooth: cha\m
|-
| tooth: eh|| tree:  te\
|-
| two:  cha\ || walk:  axanop
|-
| warm:  inq\uin || wash:  poc
|-
| wash:  pohch\ || water:  ha\
|-
| we:  oŋ || wet: cuxur
|-
| what:  tuc\a || when?:  tuc\a dia
|-
| where?:  tia\ || white:  sacsac
|-
| who:  chi || wife:  wixca\r
|-
| woman:  ihch\oc || woman: \ixic
|-
| year: hap || yellow:  c\an
|-
|ye:  no\x || 
|}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.language-archives.org/item/oai:rosettaproject.org:rosettaproject_caa_swadesh-1 |title = OLAC Record: Ch'orti' Swadesh List}}</ref>
<ref>http://www.famsi.org/reports/03031/03031.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=January 2022}}</ref>-->
According to "A Dictionary of Chʼortiʼ Maya, Guatemala" by Kerry Hull, some words may be used as nouns (as shown above) or can double as a verb as well. For example "Witzir" can mean mountain as a noun, or 'to go uphill' as a verb.
<ref name="famsi.org" />

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050308055657/http://www.utexas.edu/courses/stross/chorti/ Online version of Wisdom's Chorti Dictionary (1950)]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I-bv4xlCao Oral Histories of the Chʼortiʼ Maya (2011)]
*[https://islandora-ailla.lib.utexas.edu/islandora/object/ailla%3A124489 Mayan Languages Collection of John Fought] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926170311/https://ailla.utexas.org/islandora/object/ailla:124489 |date=2020-09-26 }} at the [[Archive of the Indigenous Languages of Latin America]], containing several hundred recordings of Chʼortiʼ made between 1964 and 1967 in Guatemala, field notes and photographs.
*[http://www.native-languages.org/chorti.htm Information about Chʼortiʼ language]

{{Mayan languages}}
{{Languages of Honduras}}
{{Languages of Guatemala}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120708050908/http://www10.gencat.cat/pres_casa_llengues/AppJava/frontend/llengues_detall.jsp?id=1000&idioma=5 Linguamón Ch'orti']

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{{DEFAULTSORT:ChʼortiʼLanguage}}
[[Category:Mayan languages]]
[[Category:Agglutinative languages]]
[[Category:Verb–object–subject languages]]
[[Category:Indigenous languages of Central America]]
[[Category:Languages of Guatemala]]
[[Category:Chiquimula Department]]
[[Category:Languages of Honduras]]
[[Category:Mesoamerican languages]]
[[Category:Chʼortiʼ]]