The Syntactic Structure of Tz'utujil Maya

In this paper, I examine the ordering principles of the post verbal argument noun phrases (NPs) of the K'ichean language of Tz'utujil. I show that the ordering principles are primarily a function of the properties of the NPs with the definiteness property predominant. But other NP properties, such as animacy, clause weight, proper/common status, and pronominal use all contribute to NP ordering principles. I demonstrate that verb initial word order with NPs of equal definiteness (excluding the unmarked NP) is ambiguous but still grammatical. Yet syntax cannot be ignored in the ordering of post verbal NPs. I prove that VSO word order is grammatical, although VOS is clearly preferred.

I scrutinize Tz'utujil focus particles, re-evaluate past analyses about Tz'utujil's preverbal foci, and propose ordering principles for contrastive focus (ConFoc) and negative focus (NegFoc). I propose that the Tz'utujil topic phrase is in [Spec, CP], rather than [Spec, IP]. This result better accommodates adverb adjunction than does the currently proposed Kaqchikel model. In addition, I establish that the preverbal foci of ConFoc and NegFoc are in [Spec, IP], and are ordered such that ConFoc precedes NegFoc obligatorily. I demonstrate that X-bar theoretic functional projections, which until now have been considered to encode only discourse related material or pragmatics, can, in fact, encode grammatical relations as well. The Tz'utujil data is compared throughout to the K'ichean sister language of Kaqchikel for typological reasons. Ultimately a phrase structure for Tz'utujil Maya within the theoretical paradigm of Lexical-Functional Grammar but using a revised general schema is proposed.