The conjugation in the Maya language is formed by affixing the pronouns and mode and tense signs to the stem. The pronoun is, according to a distinction to be noted hereafter, either the possessive pronoun or that one which, without verbal power in itself, yet receives it when a predicate is attached to it to form a sentence.
Besides this, the suffix cah accompanies all verbs in the present and imperfect; and the suffix ah accompanies all transitive verbs through the remaining tenses, except the future. Present, 1st person, sing., canan-in-cah, I guard; imperf. 1st pers. sing., canan-in cah cuchi; perf., 1st pers. sing., in canan-t-ah. In is the possessive pronoun, cuchi the sign of the imperfect, t in the perfect is a euphonic letter.
The idea of transitive verbs is here taken somewhat narrower than usual. Only those are included which govern a word outside of themselves. All others are considered intransitive, even those which of themselves are active, but either have no expressed object (as, I love, I hate, etc.), or the word which they govern is in the verb itself, as in the Greek οικοδομεο, οικουρεω. As these can govern a second accusative, the object incorporated in the verb is included in the idea they express.
The tenses of the intransitive verbs, except the present and imperfect, while they drop ah and the possessive pronoun, are formed with that pronoun which forms sentences with a predicate.
There are cases where not only the present omits cah, but where the stem, if it ends in ah as is often the case, drops it, and substitutes ic. The signification then alters, and indicates an habitual action or quality. As ic is the sign of the gerund, this change appears to be the transformation of the verb into a verbal, and to effect this, it must be united to that pronoun which serves as the substantive verb; ten yacunic, I love, properly, I am loving (habitually).
What cah and ah mean by themselves, we are not informed. Where cah is attached to the stem of some verbs it signifies intensity. Ah is as a prefix the sign of the male sex, of the inhabitant of a place, and of names derived from active verbs. Hence it seems to have meant at first person, man, and later to have become a pronoun, and finally an affix. It is noteworthy that the same difference exists between ah and cah, as between en and ten. The c may therefore be a radical sound. In the conjugation, cah is treated wholly as a verb. For in this the possessive pronoun is always prefixed; and as in the present and imperfect it is placed after the stem of the verb and before cah, it is evident from the difference between the two forms canan-in-cah and in-canan-t-ah, that in the former cah, and in the latter canan, are regarded as the verbs. Canan-in-cah is precisely as the English “I do guard.”
Cah is consequently a true auxiliary verb; ten, when it appears in conjunction with en must have the notion of Being understood: ah appears to be of similar nature, but as it appears only in the conjugation of transitive verbs, it is a verbal sign, and thus receives its verbal power. That cah and ah do really possess this powever is evident from the fact that they are never used whenever either of the pronouns which are always associated with the notion of Being is present.
Except in the future of transitive verbs, there is no instance in the conjugation where the stem of the verb is not accompanied by one of these four syllables, all of which indicate Being, and all of which have the force of auxiliary verbs.
The future of transitive verbs not only does not take any of these syllables, but even rejects ah when it is the terminal syllable of the stem. In this case no other termination replaces it. On the contrary, all other verbs receive a new suffix in their future, varying as they are of one or many syllables. The nature of these suffixes has not been explained.
The definite results of this analysis are as follows: