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Poqomam
Poqomam
Native to	Guatemala
Region	Alta Verapaz
Ethnicity	46,500 Poqomam (2019 census)
Native speakers	11,000 (2019 census)
Language family	Mayan Core Mayan Quichean–Mamean Greater Quichean Pocom Poqomam; ; ; ; ;
Official status
Recognised minority; language in	Guatemala
Regulated by	Academia de Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala
Language codes
ISO 639-3	poc
Glottolog	poqo1253
ELP	Poqomam

Poqomam is a Mayan language, closely related to Poqomchiʼ. It is spoken by 50,000 or so people in several small pockets in Guatemala, the largest of which is in Jalapa department.^[2]

Distribution

Poqomam is spoken in the following municipalities of Escuintla, Jalapa, and Guatemala departments (Variación Dialectal en Poqom, 2000).

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar		Post- alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
		Labial	plain	sibilant	Post- alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Plosive/ Affricate	voiceless	p	t	ts	tʃ		k	q	ʔ
	ejective	pʼ	tʼ	tsʼ	tʃʼ		kʼ	qʼ
	implosive	ɓ
Fricative				s	ʃ			χ	h
Nasal		m	n
Trill			r
Approximant	central		l			j	w
Approximant	glottalized						(wʼ)

Sounds /k, kʼ/ can be palatalized as [kʲ, kʲʼ] in different environments.
/ɓ/ can also occur freely as [wʼ] or [mʼ] in certain environments.
Stop sounds /p, t, k, q/ can be aspirated as [pʰ, tʰ, kʰ, qʰ] when in syllable-final position or before a consonant.
Sounds /l, r, w, j/ are devoiced as [l̥, r̥, w̥, j̊] in word-final position.
/n/ is heard as [ŋ] when before velar consonants.^[3]

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i iː		u uː
Mid	e eː		o oː
Open		a aː

Linguistic Format

In the journal Natural Language & Linguistic Theory^[4] it is noted that if subjects are realized as negative indefinite pronouns, they may also trigger agent focus. The Mayan languages differ with respect to the degree of how obligation for agent focus. In this case Poqomam's agent focus is optional in all relevant contexts.

An Example of Negative Indefinite Pronouns:

qu hamʼ wach

nobody

toʔ-w-i

help-AF-ITR

r-eh

3.E-DAT

Nobody helped him Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);

Translations

These are every day greetings from Poqomam, which is one of the Mayan languages of Guatemala. The translations are provided by the International Journal of American Linguistics:^[5]

Hello - Nqakʼul ta awach
Good Morning - Saqʼwa
Good Afternoon - Sanaqʼiij
Good Night - Qawaqʼaabʼ
How are you? - Qanke jat wilkaat
How did you wake up? - Qanke xtisaqʼwa
Thank you - Tiyoox tii
Bye - Xahʼoo

Language Revitalization

According to American Anthropologist,^[6] the revitalization of Mayan languages in Guatemala has increased in importance. In the 1996 Peace Accords the idea of officializing or co-officializing Mayan languages was introduced. Unfortunately in the 1999 referendum of the constitutional changes it was turned down. In May 2003, the Guatemala congress passed the "Law of National Languages" that, while it states that Spanish is the official language of Guatemala, the Law recognizes that indigenous languages are essential parts of the national identity which must be promoted. This is a considerable change from the Guatemalan Constitution, which only recognizes indigenous languages as a part of the "national patrimony."

The Mayans have taken a number of actions that are intended, in part, to address the problem of language status and language shift:

The establishment of the Academia de Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala is an autonomous state institution directed by Mayas.
The Academia's establishment of linguistic communities corresponds to the 21 Guatemalan Mayan languages.
The finding of several NGOs will be devoted to linguistic research by Mayas.
There will be an establishment of at least one foundation that addresses the community for language promotion.
There will be an increment of numbers of Mayas who are involved in the Ministry of Education bilingual education programs.
There will be an establishment of private "Maya schools" that will be intended to deliver appropriate education for Maya children.
There will be an organization of nongovernmental associations to support the Maya schools.
There will be an establishment of several Maya presses that promote publication in and about Mayan languages as well as other issues of concern.

References

^ Poqomam at Ethnologue (24th ed., 2021)
^ The official 2002 Guatemala census mentions a lower figure of 11,273 Poqomam speakers. See "XI Censo Nacional de Población y VI de Habitación (Censo 2002) – Idioma o lengua en que aprendió a hablar". Instituto Nacional de Estadística. 2002. Retrieved 2008-05-27.
^ Santos Nicolás, José Francisco; Pérez, José Gonzalo Benito (1998). Rukorb'aal Poqom Q'orb'al: Gramática Poqom (Poqomam). Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala: Cholsamaj.
^ Stiebels, B (May 2006). "Agent Focus in Mayan Languages". Natural Language & Linguistic Theory. 24 (2): 501–570. doi:10.1007/s11049-005-0539-9. JSTOR 27642832. S2CID 170887874.
^ Barret, R (April 2005). "Rukorb'aal Poqom Q'orb'al: Gramática Poqom (Poqomam). By Pala's José Francisco Santos Nicolás and Waykan José Gonzalo Benito Pérez. Guatemala City: Cholsamaj, 1998. Pp. 480 (Paper).Rukeemiik ja Tz'utujiil Chii': Gramática Tz'utujiil. By Ajpub' Pablo García Ixmatá. Guatemala City: Cholsamaj, 1997. Pp. 481 (Paper).Rukemik ri Kaqchikel Chi': Gramática Kaqchikel. By Lolmay Pedro García Matzar and Pakal B'alam José Obispo Rodríguez Guaján. Guatemala City: Cholsamaj, 1997. Pp. 485 (Paper).Ttxoolil Qyool Mam: Gramática Mam. By B'aayil Eduardo Pérez and Ajb'ee Odilio Jiménez. Guatemala City: Cholsamaj, 1997. Pp. 414 + appendixes (Paper).Gramática K'ichee'. By Saqijix Candelaria Dominga López Ixcoy. Guatemala City: Cholsamaj, 1997. Pp. 458 (Paper)". International Journal of American Linguistics. 71 (2): 215–221. doi:10.1086/491625.
^ England, Nora (December 2003). "Mayan Language Revival and Revitalization Politics: Linguists and Linguistic Ideologies". American Anthropologist. 105 (4): 733–743. doi:10.1525/aa.2003.105.4.733. JSTOR 3567138.