Poqomchiʼ language
Mayan language spoken in Guatemala
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Poqomchiʼ (Pokomchi: Poqomchiiʼ) is a Mayan language spoken by the Poqomchiʼ Maya of Guatemala, and is very closely related to Poqomam. Its two main dialects, eastern and western, were spoken by 90,000 or so people in the year 2000, in Purulhá, Baja Verapaz, and in the following municipalities of Alta Verapaz: Santa Cruz Verapaz, San Cristóbal Verapaz, Tactic, Tamahú and Tucurú. It is also the predominant language in Aldea Belejú, in the municipality of Chicamán (El Quiché), which borders Alta Verapaz.[2]
Geographic distribution
Poq'omchí is spoken in the following municipalities of Alta Verapaz, Baja Verapaz, and El Quiché departments (Variación Dialectal en Poqom, 2000).
- Alta Verapaz
- Panzós (in the community of San Vicente II)
- La Tinta
- Tucurú
- Tamahú
- Tactic
- Santa Cruz Verapaz
- San Cristóbal Verapaz
- El Quiché
- Chicamán (in the aldea of Belejú)
- Baja Verapaz
- Purulhá (in the community of Ribalcó)
Phonology
Consonants
- In Western Poqomchi', /ɓ/ is non-existent and a glottalized /wʼ/ occurs in alteration. Sometimes an allophone of /wʼ/ can be heard as [mʼ].
- /pʼ/ mainly exists among the western dialects.
- /r/ can be heard as a flap [ɾ] when occurring word-medially.
- /l/ is devoiced to a voiceless fricative [ɬ] following a glottal consonant.
