A Comparative Analysis of Ch’orti’ Verbal Art and the Poetic Discourse Structures of Maya Hieroglyphic Writing

Triplet Constructions

Triplets are standard occurrences in Ch’orti’ formal discourse. They usually consist of ellipsis in the verbal or prepositional phrase and the subsequent alteration of a single term in each of the following lines:

Example 1:
             A’si taka uyatravesir ujolchanir ukolera
                                                     yususirantir ukolera
                                                        usakb’urichir ukolera.
             They play with their inhibiting force of the heat of their cholera
                                                                                    the sigh of their cholera
                                                                                      the simple heat of their cholera

Example 2:
             a’si tamar enyax rueda         They play in the green ring
                     tamar enyax rueda                            in the white ring
                      tamar uruedir a’syob’                         in the ring they play

Example 3:
             A’si tame’ gotera                      They play in the eaves [of the house]
                     tame’ enyax gotera                              in the green eaves
                                       sak gotera                                          white eaves

In terms of content, in Example 1 the evil spirits are said to "play" (a’si, the plural is commonly not marked in Ch’orti’) with uyatravesir, "their inhibiting force." This refers to the fact that the spirit is ’blocking’ or in some way ’obstructing’ the well being of the person. In contexts of pregnant women it usually means that the spirit is sideways in the womb and blocking the passageway of the child. It is interesting to note in Example 1 that it is the ’inhibiting force’ of the spirit’s jolchan that is responsible for the sickness. The term jolchan is a kind of ’bad heat’ that is inherent at each level of the underworld. Informants regularly translate it as "sudor" (perspiration), "calor" (heat), ""calor peligroso" (dangerous heat)," "el calor del mundo" (the heat of the world). It is transferred between menacing spirits and humans as well as between humans. If a man arrives at a house angry the Ch’orti’ say that his jolchan can "domina el espíritu" (overpower the spirit) of a child and cause them to fall ill. In other cases the jolchan of a man and a woman engaged in sexual relations can be passed to a man who may see them by accident. Through this it can cause him to get sick since his me’yn (shadow or spirit) was weakened by being embarrassed. Lightning strikes are called "mal jolchanes" (bad heats) which can infect or "grab" ("agarra") a person near the strike spot. These lightning bolts are sent by sub-group of the God’s angels who are said "to live below" and do their evil "work" when God sends his primary angels to do their "good work."

The second line of the triplet of Example 1 uses a form of the word for "sigh," yususiryantir, that refers to the exhaling of an ’evil breath’ that is akin to the bad heat I have described earlier. The third line of this triplet uses a specialized compound that is only used in healing contexts. Usakb’urichir is the possessed form of sak, meaning here "simple," and b’urich, meaning "sweat; evil heat." So whereas some other forms of ’heat’ are stronger, sakb’urich is a milder yet still potent form of bad heat.

The structure of Example 1 shows verbal and prepositional deletion in the second and third line of the triplet. Such syncope is a hallmark of Ch’orti’ verbal art.

In Example 2 a triplet is formed when referring to the watery rings in which the evil spirits are thought to play. These are specifically the rings that occasionally appear around the sun and moon that usually signal the coming of the rains. The structure of this triplet is noteworthy in that the verbal phrase comes at the beginning of the first line and is repeated at end of the third. This is a type of poetic enveloping of the triplet as a unit of discourse.

Finally, the text of Example 3 describe the eaves of a house as the location for the "play’" of the evil spirits. The Ch’orti’ believe that evil spirits come down when the rains begin and play around the eaves of houses. Families are taught to avoid sitting or standing under the eaves during rain storms since one will surely get "grabbed" by one of these spirits and will fall ill. This triplet shows continual deletion as the triplet progresses as is commonly observed in Ch’orti’ poetic structuring.

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