How to say "only"
For us it seems easy to say "only three, please!", but in Ch'ol it is a bit more difficult. The same problem arises with the simple word "yes", but this will be discussed in another post.
So if you want to say "only three chickens" you need to add -hax to the classifier:
Huxkahtyhax muty.
Ho'pe'hax k'in...... Only five days.
Anyway, most Ch'oles (for reasons that escape European understanding) avoid words like "only" and other descriptions of scarcity that we have. They more simply describe the amount that is there. Is instead of saying "I will stay there for only three days" they say "Three days I'll be there". It is so "unnatural" to say only to them, that most Ch'oles don't even know the translation for the Spanish word "solo" ("only" not "alone")!
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