Abstract

MATEO PEDRO, Pedro. Acquisition Numeral Classifiers in Q’anjob’al. Rev. pueblos front. digit. [online]. 2022, vol.17, e559.  Epub Mar 21, 2023. ISSN 1870-4115.  https://doi.org/10.22201/cimsur.18704115e.2022.v17.559.

This study discusses the acquisition of -eb’, -k’on and -wan numeral classifiers in Q’anjob’al through evaluating data from three children. Results demonstrate that Q’anjob’al speakers who are children gradually and sporadically start to use these classifiers. Mistakes in the use of these classifiers reveal that children use the numeral classifier system in a different way from adults, given that they find it difficult to assign semantic value to the classification of human beings, animals, and things. The low frequency of the use of -k’on (a classifier used for animals) and -wan (a classifier used for humans), and the frequent use of -eb’ (a classifier used for things) in parental communication could explain why the use of -eb’ prevails in the children’s data. The children also make mistakes in the use of heb’ (corresponding to human beings) in order to pluralize human beings and animals, which would not be expected among Q’anjob’al adults.

Keywords : morphology; language acquisition; Q’anjob’al language; numeral classifiers.