Ch'ol Blog 2010, No. 4

How to combine numbers and words:
As all Maya languages, Ch'ol uses classifiers that combine with numbers before the object that is counted. This has to be seen as part of the "nature" of numbers. They simply can't stay alone... As you may have noticed in the Number List the basic classicifer is -pe', like the -pel of Yucateco.
The basic classifiers are:
-pe'       (this one is good for everything, it can substitute even the other classifiers)
-tykil    (for humans only, we can find this one already in the Classic Period)
-kohty  (for animals only)
-ty'ek    (for trees and lumber)
-ke       (for slices cut from something. Remember the ke syllable!)
-kuch    (loads of all sorts)

Now how to use them:
hunpe' k'in .......  one day
cha'pe tzima' lak ixim ......2 "jicaras" of corn (note lak ixim our (affective!) corn)
huxkohty chitiam...... 3 pigs
chönty'ek tye'...... 4 trees

Expetion!
As we saw in the Number List the number 20 doesn't use classifiers.
hunk'al i wuhty lak ixim .... 20 corn grains (lit. faces)
hunk'al i b'ök lak ixim ..... 20 corn grains (lit. bones)