Chapter 9: Numbers, Counting, and Time

Starting point#

Ana is at the market in Tecpán (Iximche'), at the stall where xta Ixchel sells vegetables.

Notice what carries the conversation: the numbers (jun, ka'i', oxi', wo'o', lajuj, julajuj), the question words jaru "how much" and achike ramaj "what time", rajil "its price", and the time words wakami "today, now" and chwa'q "tomorrow". The verb yib'e "I go" waits for Chapter 10.

How it works#

9.1 One to nineteen#

Here are the first ten numbers.

Here is one teen taken apart:

ox-lajuj
three-ten
"thirteen"

The free word for three is oxi', but inside oxlajuj only ox- survives. Every teen is built the same way, from a shortened stem of the unit word plus lajuj:

Three things to notice.

The free-word ending. Most of the numbers from two to nine end in a vowel plus a glottal stop: ka'i', oxi', kaji', wo'o', waqi', wuqu', waqxaqi', b'eleje'. That ending marks the number as a free-standing word. When the number is glued onto something else, the ending drops and the bare stem remains, so the teens are literally "two-ten", "three-ten", and so on. The same stems build the twenties, the ordinals and the day counts later in this chapter.

Invariance. The numbers one to nineteen never change form for what they count. Three people, three tortillas, three years: oxi' every time. (Twenty is the exception; see the next section.)

Pronunciation. Keep both glottal stops in ka'i', one between the vowels and one at the end, and stress the last syllable: ju-la-JUJ.

9.2 Twenty and the base-twenty system#

English counts in tens: after nineteen comes "twenty" (two tens), and the next landmark is a hundred (ten tens). Kaqchikel, like all Mayan languages, counts in twenties. The landmarks are 20, then 400 (twenty twenties). A traditional explanation links this to the body: ten fingers and ten toes make twenty, and one word for "twenty", winäq, is also the word for "person". Threads on a loom and ears of corn are still counted in twenties today.

Two words for twenty. "Twenty" is k'al when you count things, and winäq when you count people and units of time (days, years). Both take the stem of the number in front of them to form the multiples of twenty:

Not every speaker keeps the two words apart. Many use winäq for everything, and you will be understood either way; above forty, the k'al forms are the ones you will hear most. Notice ka-, not kab'-, in kak'al "forty" and kawinäq: it is an older shape of the stem for "two".

Counting between the twenties. For 21 to 39, and every other in-between number, name the completed twenties and then add the rest, much as English does. Twenty-one is juk'al jun "twenty (and) one"; thirty-four is juk'al kajlajuj "twenty fourteen"; forty-five is kak'al wo'o' "forty five". This additive system is attested as early as the 1600s, and it is the one Maya schools and publications use, so it is the one to produce.

Four hundred. Juq'o' is 400, and kaq'o' is 800. Larger units exist but are rare in conversation; for big sums of money and for years, most speakers use Spanish numbers.

9.3 Counting things and people#

Number before the noun. A number goes directly in front of the noun it counts. The noun usually stays singular, because the number already says how many:

With people and animals a plural ending may appear alongside the number, especially when the speaker wants to stress the individuals: both oxi' tz'ikin and oxi' tz'ikina' "three birds" are heard. With things, the plural particle taq is normally dropped after a number. An adjective goes between the number and the noun, as in the frames of Chapter 6: ka'i' k'ak'a' po't "two new blouses", oxi' nim jay "three big houses".

Asking "how many are there?" Use the existential k'o of Chapter 5 with a question word: ¿Jampe e k'o? (or ¿Janpe e k'o? / ¿Jaru e k'o?, see 9.6). To ask about a particular thing, put the noun after the question word:

¿Jampe ak'wala' e k'o pa jay?
How many children are there in the house?

E k'o wo'o'.
There are five.

¿Jampe q'ij e k'o pa jun ik'?
How many days are there in a month?

Counting occurrences: times. "Once", "twice", "three times" use b'ey or mul "time, occasion" after the number: jun b'ey "once", ka'i' b'ey "twice", oxi' mul "three times". A daily rate is expressed with pa q'ij "per day":

9.4 Ordinals: first, second, third#

Ordinal numbers answer "which one in a sequence?" In Kaqchikel they are possessed numbers: the third-person Set A prefix ru- (r- before a vowel) goes on the bare number stem, as if you were saying "its-three", "the third of the set".

r-ox
3sA-three
"third" (literally "its-three")

"First" does not follow the pattern: nab'ey is made of an old root na- "first, ahead" and b'ey "time, occasion, road". "Last" is k'isib'äl, related to the verb -k'is "to finish" (Chapter 11), "the finishing one".

Ordinals go before the noun like adjectives:

The months of the Gregorian calendar are named with ordinals plus ik' "month, moon": nab'ey ik' "January", ruka'n ik' "February", rox ik' "March", rukaj ik' "April", ro' ik' "May", ruwaq ik' "June", ruwuq ik' "July", ruwaqxaq ik' "August", rub'elej ik' "September", rulaj ik' "October", rujulaj ik' "November", rukab'laj ik' "December". Spanish month names are also common in speech.

9.5 Distributives: one by one, two at a time#

English says "two by two" or "in threes" when a quantity is divided into equal groups. Kaqchikel builds these forms from the number stems. The two you will use constantly are jujun "one by one, one at a time" and kaka' "two by two, in pairs"; a group size is often introduced with pa: pa kaka' "in twos". From three up the series continues regularly (oxox "three by three", then -täq on the stem, as in wotäq "by fives"); Appendix A lists it.

Jujun deserves attention because it is very common with the meaning "each" or "some, a few": jujun q'ij "some days", jujun b'ey "sometimes", jujun winaqi' "some people", jujun juna' "each year".

9.6 How many, how much: jaru and jampe#

The question word for quantity is jaru, often jaru pe, "how many, how much". In many towns jampe (also pronounced janpe, janipe') has taken over the same meaning, and jampe is also the ordinary word for "when". Context sorts them out: nobody asking ¿Jampe rajil? wants to know when the price is.

Prices. The noun rajil means "its price, its value" (a possessed noun: r- + ajil). To give a price, say the amount and then rajil, or just the amount. Guatemala's currency is the quetzal; the Kaqchikel word is manq'uq', the name of the bird on the coin. Cents are tumin. Money in general is pwäq (originally "metal, silver"); the Spanish loans méro and mérya are also common.

Age. "How old are you?" is literally "how many are your years?": ¿Jaru ajuna'? (juna' "year" with the Set A prefix a- "your"). For a small child one can ask in months: ¿Jaru rik' ri ne'y? "How many months old is the baby?" (ik' "month" possessed: r-ik'). The answer mirrors the question, with the number followed by the possessed noun. Because years are a unit of time, speakers who keep the k'al / winäq distinction use winäq for twenty; those who don't say juk'al.

¿Jaru ajuna'?
How old are you?

Juwinäq ka'i' nujuna'.
I am twenty-two. (literally "twenty-two my-years")

¿Jaru rujuna' ri a Tz'ikin?
How old is Tz'ikin?

Juwinäq wo'o' rujuna'.
He is twenty-five.

Many speakers give their age in Spanish, but the Kaqchikel pattern is alive: the authors' sequel describes a seven-year-old with Xa xe wuqu' rujuna' "He is only seven" (Kik'aslemal ri Kaqchikela', draft, p. 53).

9.7 Clock time: ramaj#

The word ramaj means "hour", and more loosely "a while, a period of time". Clock times use a number plus ramaj; "at" a time uses pa, never chi.

A watch or clock is a q'ijob'äl, "a thing for the day" (q'ij plus the instrument suffix -b'äl of Chapter 7). A minute is ch'uti ramaj, "a little hour". There is no native way to say "half past" or "a quarter to", and for anything finer than the hour most speakers switch to Spanish.

Questions about scheduled times use achike ramaj "what time" (the verbs here belong to Chapter 10):

¿Achike ramaj yak'astäj?
What time do you wake up?

Pa wo'o' ramaj.
At five.

¿Achike ramaj yab'e pa samaj?
What time do you go to work?

Pa wuqu' ramaj.
At seven.

9.8 Parts of the day#

Kaqchikel divides the day by the position of the sun (q'ij means both "sun" and "day"):

These are simple adverbs: you place them at the start of the sentence or right after the predicate.

Nimaq'a' k'o pa k'ayb'äl ri xta Ixchel.
In the morning Ixchel is at the market.

Tiqaq'ij k'o pa jay.
In the afternoon she is at home.

Toq'a' e k'o konojel pa jay.
In the evening everyone is at home.

For a routine, add pa taq: pa taq nimaq'a' "in the mornings", pa taq toq'a' "in the evenings". Two adverbs that go with the clock are jukumaj "early" and k'arunaj (also k'arnaj) "late"; pa q'ij chik means "late in the day".

9.9 Today, yesterday, tomorrow#

Today and now. One word does both: wakami (fuller form wakamin; the regional variants are in the usage notes). "What day is it today?" is ¿Achike q'ij wakami?

Yesterday and tomorrow. "Yesterday" is iwir and "the day before yesterday" kab'ijir; "tomorrow" is chwa'q and "the day after tomorrow" kab'ij. The -ir ending looks back, the bare -ij looks ahead. Further out, count days with q'ij plus a directional particle: kan "back, remaining" for the past, apo "onward" for the future.

Chapter 12 adds the older one-word forms for three days and a week.

Days of the week. The names of the weekdays are Spanish in disguise: the first syllable of the Spanish day name, adapted to Kaqchikel sounds, plus q'ij "day".

The authors' sequel spells three of them slightly differently: miq'ij, jweq'ij, wyeq'ij. Saq'ij is also the word for the dry season.

Market days are the natural use:

Maq'ij chuqa' wiq'ij k'o k'ayb'äl pa Chiq'a'l.
On Tuesday and Friday there is a market in Comalapa.

Weeks, months, years. A week is wuqq'ij, literally "seven-day"; if a listener hesitates, wuqu' q'ij "seven days" is always clear. A month is ik', which is also "moon": jun ik' "one month", ka'i' ik' "two months". A year is juna': jun juna' "one year", oxi' juna' "three years". "Last year" is junab'ir; "next year" is ri juna' apo (literally "the year ahead").

Frequency. A few adverbs round out the toolkit:

9.10 A week at the market: a short text#

A short connected text using only what you have seen so far:

Ri xta Ixchel jun k'ayinel. Maq'ij chuqa' wiq'ij k'o k'ayb'äl pa Chiq'a'l, chuqa' saq'ij k'o k'ayb'äl pa Iximche'. Oxi' q'ij pa jun wuqq'ij k'o ri xta Ixchel pa k'ayb'äl. Nimaq'a', pa waqi' ramaj, k'o chik pa k'ayb'äl. E k'o k'iy oj, kinäq' chuqa' ichaj rik'in. Ka'i' manq'uq' rajil jun oj; man jotöl ta rajil ri kinäq'. Tiqaq'ij, pa kaji' ramaj, k'o chik pa jay. Toq'ij majun k'ayb'äl; toq'ij k'o ri xta Ixchel pa rochoch rik'in ri rute' chuqa' ri rutata'. Juwinäq ka'i' rujuna' ri xta Ixchel; ri a Tz'ikin, ri ruxib'al, juwinäq wo'o' rujuna'.

Ixchel is a vendor. On Tuesday and Friday there is a market in Comalapa, and on Saturday there is a market in Tecpán. Three days a week Ixchel is at the market. In the morning, at six o'clock, she is already at the market. She has a lot of avocados, beans and greens with her. One avocado costs two quetzals; the beans are not expensive. In the afternoon, at four o'clock, she is back at home. On Sunday there is no market; on Sunday Ixchel is at her house with her mother and her father. Ixchel is twenty-two; Tz'ikin, her brother, is twenty-five.

9.11 Sidebar: Maya numerals#

Classic Maya scribes wrote numbers with two signs, a dot for one and a bar for five: 6 is a dot over a bar, 13 is three dots over two bars, 19 is four dots over three bars. Above nineteen the system is positional in twenties, the same base the Kaqchikel number words use. Modern Kaqchikel publications still print the date this way on their covers.

The same numbers run the ritual calendar, the Cholq'ij, which pairs the numbers one to thirteen with twenty day names in a cycle of 260 days; Chapter 26 teaches it. Many families name their children from it, which is one reason the numbers up to twenty have stayed alive even among speakers who count prices in Spanish.

Patterns at a glance#

Cardinals 1-20 and the twenties

In-between numbers: twenties first, then the rest: juk'al jun 21, juk'al lajuj 30, kak'al oxi' 43.

Ordinals: nab'ey, ruka'n, rox, rukaj, ro', ruwaq, ruwuq, ruwaqxaq, rub'elej, rulaj, rujulaj, rukab'laj; last: k'isib'äl.

Questions

Days: (kaji' q'ij kan), kab'ijir, iwir, WAKAMI, chwa'q, kab'ij, (kaji' q'ij apo).

Time of day: nimaq'a' (morning), nik'aj q'ij / pa q'ij (noon), tiqaq'ij (afternoon), toq'a' (evening), aq'a' / chaq'a' (night), nik'aj aq'a' (midnight).

Vocabulary#

Reference: more number and time words#

Useful, but less urgent than the deck above: hover them in the text and learn them as you need them.

Usage and dialect notes#

• Spanish numbers are everywhere. For decades most Kaqchikel speakers counted to three or four in Kaqchikel and then switched to Spanish for prices, change and dates. New school materials have pushed Kaqchikel numbers back into use, but do not be surprised to hear "veinticinco" in the middle of a Kaqchikel sentence. Knowing juk'al wo'o' will earn you smiles; understanding the Spanish will get you your change.
• Which counting system you hear depends on who is talking. Expect the additive system (juk'al jun) in schools, publications and the Maya movement, and the forward-looking one (jun rukak'al) from older rural speakers.
• wakami has at least five shapes by region: wakami, wakamin, kami in the south and west, and wakamik, kamik near Lake Atitlán, where K'iche' and Tz'utujil influence favors the forms in -k. The authors' sequel writes the fuller form as wakamïn, with a lax ï.
• jaru pe, jani pe. Both question words often carry the tag pe; in towns where jampe covers "how much" as well as "when", you will hear it far more than jaru.

Looking back and ahead#

This chapter leaned on k'o from Chapter 5 and on possession from Chapter 4 (rajil "its price", ajuna' "your years", ruka'n "its-second"). The time words you now have (wakami, chwa'q, iwir, pa waqi' ramaj, q'ij q'ij) are exactly what Chapter 10 needs to talk about daily routine with intransitive verbs.