Everything about Mayan Languages totally explained
The
Mayan languages (alternatively:
Maya languages) form a
language family spoken in
Mesoamerica and northern
Central America. Mayan languages are spoken by at least 6 million
indigenous Maya, primarily in
Guatemala,
Mexico, and
Belize. In 1996, Guatemala formally recognized 21 Mayan languages by name, and Mexico
recognizes eight more.
The Mayan language family is one of the best documented and most studied in the
Americas. Modern Mayan languages descend from
Proto-Mayan, a language thought to have been spoken at least 5,000 years ago; it has been partially
reconstructed using the
comparative method.
Mayan languages form part of the
Mesoamerican Linguistic Area, an
area of linguistic convergence developed throughout millennia of interaction between the peoples of Mesoamerica. All Mayan languages display the basic diagnostic traits of this linguistic area. For example, all use
relational nouns instead of
prepositions to indicate spatial relationships. They also possess
grammatical and
typological features that set them apart from other languages of Mesoamerica, such as the use of
ergativity in the grammatical treatment of verbs and their subjects and objects, specific inflectional categories on verbs, and a special
word class of "positionals" which is typical of all Mayan languages.
During the
pre-Columbian era of
Mesoamerican history, some Mayan languages were written in the
Maya hieroglyphic script. Its use was particularly widespread during the Classic period of
Maya civilization (c. 250–900 CE). The surviving corpus of over 10,000 known individual Maya inscriptions on buildings, monuments, pottery and bark-paper
codices, combined with the rich postcolonial
literature in Mayan languages written in the
Latin alphabet, provides a basis for the modern understanding of pre-Columbian history unparalleled in the Americas.
History
Mayan languages are the descendants of a
proto-language called Proto-Mayan or, in K'iche' Maya,
Nab'ee Maya' Tzij ("the old Maya Language"). The Proto-Mayan language is believed to have been spoken in the Cuchumatanes highlands of central Guatemala in an area corresponding roughly to where Q'anjobalan is spoken today. The first division occurred around 2200 BCE when Huastecan split away from Mayan proper, after its speakers moved northwest along the
Gulf Coast. Proto-Yucatecan and Proto-Ch'olan speakers subsequently split off from the main group and moved north into the
Yucatán Peninsula. Speakers of the western branch moved south into the areas now inhabited by Mamean and Quichean people. When speakers of proto-Tzeltalan later separated from the Ch'olan group and moved south into the
Chiapas highlands, they came into contact with speakers of
Mixe-Zoquean languages.
In the Archaic period (before 2000 BCE), a number of
loanwords from Mixe-Zoquean languages seem to have entered the proto-Mayan language. This has led to hypotheses that the early Maya were dominated by speakers of Mixe-Zoquean languages, possibly the
Olmec culture. In the case of the
Xinca and
Lenca languages, on the other hand, Mayan languages are more often the source than the receiver of loanwords. This is seen by Mayan language specialists like
Lyle Campbell to suggest a period of intense contact between Maya and the
Lencan and
Xinca people, possibly during the Classic period (250–900 CE).
The split between Proto-Yucatecan (in the north, that is, the Yucatán Peninsula) and Proto-Ch'olan (in the south, that is, the Chiapas highlands and
Petén Basin) had already occurred by the Classic period, when most extant
Maya inscriptions were written. Both variants are attested in hieroglyphic inscriptions at the
Maya sites of the time, and both are commonly referred to as "
Classic Maya language."
During the Classic period all the major branches diversified into separate languages. But the glyphic texts only record two varieties of Mayan — a Ch'olan variety found in texts written in the southern Maya area and the highlands, and a Yucatecan variety found in the texts from Yucatán Peninsula.
It was recently suggested that the specific variety of Ch'olan found in the glyphic texts is best understood as "Classic Ch'olti'an", the ancestor language of modern Ch'orti' and Ch'olti'. It is thought to have originated in western and south-central Petén Basin; it would have been used in the inscriptions and perhaps also spoken by elites and priests. The reason why only two linguistic varieties are found in the glyphic texts is probably that these served as
prestige dialects throughout the Maya region; hieroglyphic texts would have been composed in the language of the elite. Nevertheless, common Mayan people must already have spoken a number of distinct languages by the Classic period.
During the Spanish colonization of Central America, all indigenous languages were eclipsed by
Spanish which became the new prestige language. Mayan languages were no exception, and their use in many important domains of society, including administration, religion and literature, came to an end. Yet the Maya area was more resistant to outside influence than others, and perhaps for this reason many Maya communities still retain a high proportion of
monolingual speakers. Nonetheless, the Maya area is now dominated by Spanish. While a number of Mayan languages are
moribund or are considered
endangered, others remain quite viable, with speakers across all age groups and native language use in all domains of society.
As Maya archaeology advanced during the 20th century and
nationalist and ethnic-pride-based ideologies spread, the Mayan-speaking peoples began to develop a shared ethnic identity as Maya, the heirs of the great
Maya civilization.
The word "Maya" was likely derived from the postclassical Yucatán city of
Mayapan; its more restricted meaning in pre-colonial and colonial times points to an origin in a particular region of the Yucatán Peninsula. The broader meaning of "Maya" now current, while defined by linguistic relationships, is also used to refer to ethnic or cultural traits. Most Mayans identify themselves first and foremost with a particular ethnic group, for example as "Yucatec" or "K'iche'"; but they also recognize a shared Mayan kinship.
Language has been fundamental in defining the boundaries of that kinship. Paradoxically perhaps, this pride in unity has led to an insistence on the separateness of different Mayan languages, some of which are so closely related that they could easily be referred to as dialects of a single language. However, given that the term "dialect" has been used by some with racialist overtones in the past, making a spurious distinction between Amerindian "dialects" and European "languages", the preferred usage in recent years has been to designate the linguistic varieties spoken by different ethnic group as separate languages.
In Guatemala, matters such as developing standardized orthographies for the Mayan languages are governed by the
Academia de Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala (ALMG; Guatemalan Academy of Mayan Languages) which was founded by Mayan organisations in 1986. Following the 1996
peace accords it has been gaining growing recognition as the regulatory authority on Mayan languages both among Mayan scholars and the Maya peoples themselves.
Genealogy and classification
Relations with other families
The Mayan linguistic family has no demonstrated
genetic ties to other linguistic families. Similarities with some languages of Mesoamerica are understood to be the due to diffusion of linguistic traits from neighboring languages into Mayan and not to common ancestry.
Mesoamerica has been proven to be an area of substantial linguistic diffusion.
A wide range of proposals have tried to link the Mayan family to other language families or
isolates, but none were generally supported by linguists. Examples include linking Mayan with
Chipaya-Uru,
Mapudungun,
Lenca,
P'urhépecha and
Huave. Mayan has also been included in various
Hokan and
Penutian hypotheses. The linguist
Joseph Greenberg included Mayan in his highly controversial
Amerind hypothesis, which is rejected by most
historical linguists as unsupported by available evidence.
According to
Lyle Campbell, an expert in Mayan languages, the most promising proposal is the "Macro-Mayan" hypothesis, which posits
linkages between Mayan,
Mixe-Zoquean languages and
Totonacan, but more research is needed to support or disprove this hypothesis.
Subdivisions
The Mayan language family is extremely well-documented, and its internal genealogical classification scheme is widely accepted and established, except for some minor unresolved differences.
One point still at issue is the position of Ch'olan and Q'anjobalan-Chujean. Some scholars think these form a separate Western branch (as in the diagram below). Other linguists don't support the positing of an especially close relationship between Ch'olan and Q'anjobalan-Chujean; consequently they classify these as two distinct branches emanating directly from the proto-language.
Geography and demographics
Huastecan branch
Wastek (also spelled Huastec and Huaxtec) is spoken in the Mexican states of
Veracruz and
San Luis Potosí by around 110,000 people. It is the most divergent of modern Mayan languages.
Chicomuceltec was a language related to Wastek and spoken in Chiapas that became extinct some time before 1982.
Yucatecan branch
Yucatec Maya (known simply as "Maya" to its speakers) is the most commonly spoken Maya language in
Mexico. It is currently spoken by approximately 800,000 people, the vast majority of whom are to be found on the
Yucatán Peninsula. It has a rich post-colonial literature, and remains common as a first language in rural areas in
Yucatán and in the adjacent states of
Quintana Roo and
Campeche.
The other three Yucatecan languages are
Mopan, spoken by around 10,000 speakers primarily in
Belize;
Itza', an extinct or moribund language from Guatemala's Petén Basin; and
Lacandón or Lakantum, also severely endangered with about 1,000 speakers in a few villages on the outskirts of the
Selva Lacandona, in
Chiapas.
Western branch
Ch'olan
The Ch'olan languages were formerly widespread throughout the Maya area, but today the language with most speakers is
Ch'ol, spoken by 130,000 in Chiapas. Its closest relative, the
Chontal Maya language, is spoken by 55,000 in the state of
Tabasco. Another related language, now endangered, is
Ch'orti', which is spoken by 30,000 in Guatemala. It was previously also spoken in extreme western
Honduras and
El Salvador but the El Salvador variant is now extinct and that of Honduras is considered moribund.
Ch'olti', a sister language of Ch'orti', is also extinct.
Ch'olan languages are believed to be the most conservative in vocabulary and phonology, and are closely related to the language of the Classic-era inscriptions found in Central Lowlands. They may have served as prestige languages, coexisting with other dialects in some areas. This assumption provides a plausible explanation for the geographical distance between the Ch'orti' zone and the areas where Ch'ol and Chontal are spoken.
Tzeltalan
The closest relatives of the Ch'olan languages are the languages of the Tzeltalan branch,
Tzotzil and
Tzeltal, both spoken in Chiapas by large and stable or growing populations (265,000 for Tzotzil and 215,000 for Tzeltal). Tzotzil and Tzeltal have large numbers of monolingual speakers.
Q'anjobalan
Q'anjob'al is spoken by 77,700 in Guatemala's
Huehuetenango department, with small populations elsewhere.
Jakaltek (also known as Popti') is spoken by almost 100,000 in several municipalities of
Huehuetenango. Another member of this branch is
Akatek, with over 50,000 speakers in
San Miguel Acatán and
San Rafael La Independencia.
Chuj is spoken by 40,000 people in Huehuetenango, and by 9,500 people, primarily refugees, over the border in Mexico, in the municipality of Trinitaria, Chiapas, and the villages of Tziscau and Cuauhtémoc.
Tojolab'al is spoken in eastern Chiapas by 36,000 people.
Eastern branch
Quichean-Mamean
The Quichean-Mamean languages and dialects, with two sub-branches and three subfamilies, are spoken in the Guatemalan highlands.
Q'eqchi' (sometimes spelled Kekchi), which constitutes its own sub-branch within Quichean-Mamean, is spoken by about 400,000 people in the southern
Petén,
Izabal and
Alta Verapaz departments of Guatemala, and also in Belize by 9,000 speakers. In El Salvador it's spoken by 12,000 as a result of recent migrations.
The
Uspantek language, which also springs directly from the Quichean-Mamean node, is native only to the
Uspantán municipio in the department of
El Quiché, and has 3,000 speakers, one of whom is the
Nobel Peace Prize winner
Rigoberta Menchú.
Mamean
The largest language in this branch is
Mam, spoken by 150,000 people in the departments of San Marcos and Cuchumatanes.
Awakatek is the language of 20,000 inhabitants of central
Aguacatán, another municipality of Huehuetenango.
Ixil (possibly three different languages) is spoken by 70,000 in the "
Ixil Triangle" region of the
department of El Quiché.
Tektitek (or Teko) is spoken by over 1,000 people in the municipality of Tectitán, and 1,000 refugees in Mexico. According to the Ethnologue the number of speakers of Tektitek is growing.
Core Quichean
K'iche', the Mayan language with the largest number of speakers, is spoken by around 1,000,000 people in the
Guatemalan highlands, around the towns of
Chichicastenango and
Quetzaltenango and in the Cuchumatán mountains, as well as by urban emigrants in
Guatemala City. The famous Maya mythological document,
Popol Vuh, is written in an antiquated K'iche' often called
Classical Quiché. The
K'iche' culture was at its pinnacle at the time of the Spanish conquest.
Utatlán, near the present-day city of
Santa Cruz del Quiché, was its economic and ceremonial center.
Achi is spoken by 85,000 people in
Cubulco and
Rabinal, two
municipios of
Baja Verapaz. In some classifications, for example the one by
Campbell, Achi is counted as a form of K'iche'. However, owing to a historical division between the two ethnic groups, the Achi Maya don't regard themselves as K'iche'.
The
Kaqchikel language is spoken by about 400,000 people in an area stretching from Guatemala City westward to the northern shore of
Lake Atitlán.
Tz'utujil has about 90,000 speakers in the vicinity of Lake Atitlán. Other members of the K'ichean branch are
Sakapultek, spoken by somewhat fewer than 40,000 people mostly in
El Quiché department, and
Sipakapense, which is spoken by 8,000 people in
Sipacapa,
San Marcos. The
Annals of the Cakchiquels, written in Kaqchikel, is an important literary work dating from the 16th century that traces the history of the ruling classes of the Kaqchikel people.
Poqom
The Poqom languages are closely related to Core Quichean, with which they constitute a Poqom-K'ichean sub-branch on the Quichean-Mamean node.
Poqomchi' is spoken by 90,000 people in
Purulhá,
Baja Verapaz, and in the following municipalities of
Alta Verapaz:
Santa Cruz Verapaz,
San Cristóbal Verapaz,
Tactic,
Tamahú and
Tucurú.
Poqomam is spoken by around 30,000 people in several small pockets, the largest of which is in the department of
Alta Verapaz. Formerly Poqomam was also spoken in
El Salvador.
Phonology
Proto-Mayan sound system
Proto-Mayan (the common ancestor of the Mayan languages as reconstructed using the
comparative method) has a predominant CVC syllable structure, only allowing consonant clusters across syllable boundaries. Most Proto-Mayan roots were monosyllabic except for a few disyllabic nominal roots.
Due to subsequent vowel loss many Mayan languages now show complex consonant clusters at both ends of syllables. Following the reconstruction of
Lyle Campbell and
Terrence Kaufman, the Proto-Mayan language had the following sounds; the sounds present in the modern languages are largely similar to this root set.
Phonological evolution of Proto-Mayan
The classification of Mayan languages is based on changes shared between groups of languages. For example languages of the western group (such as Huastecan, Yucatecan and Ch'olan) all changed the Proto-Mayan
phoneme */r/ into [j], some languages of the eastern branch retained [r] (K'ichean), and others changed it into [ʧ] or, word-finally, [t] (Mamean). The shared innovations between Huastecan, Yucatecan and Ch'olan show that they separated from the other Mayan languages before the changes found in other branches had taken place.
| Proto-Mayan |
Wastek |
Yucatec |
Mopan |
Tzeltal |
Chuj |
Q'anjob'al |
Mam |
Ixil |
K'iche' |
Kaqchikel |
Poqomam |
Q'eqchi' |
*[raʔʃ]
"green" |
[jaʃ] |
[jaʔʃ] |
[jaʔaʃ] |
[jaʃ] |
[jaʔaʃ] |
[jaʃ] |
[ʧaʃ] |
[ʧaʔʃ] |
[raʃ] |
[rɐʃ] |
[raʃ] |
[raːʃ] |
*[war]
"sleep" |
[waj] |
[waj] |
[wɐjn] |
[waj] |
[waj] |
[waj] |
[wit]
(Awakatek) |
[wat] |
[war] |
[war] |
[wɨr] |
[war] |
The palatalized
plosives ([tʲ’] and [tʲ] are not found in any of the modern families. Instead they're reflected differently in different branches, allowing a reconstruction of these phonemes as palatalized plosives. In the eastern branch (Chujean-Q'anjobalan and Ch'olan) they're reflected as [t] and [t’]. In Mamean they're reflected as [ʦ] and [ʦ’] and in Quichean as [ʧ] and [ʧ’]. Yucatec stands out from other western languages in that its palatalized plosives are sometimes changed into [ʧ] and sometimes [t].
| Proto-Mayan |
Yucatec |
Q'anjob'al |
Popti' |
Mam |
Ixil |
K'iche' |
Kaqchikel |
*[tʲeːʔ]
"tree" |
[ʧeʔ] |
[teʔ] |
[teʔ] |
[ʦeːʔ] |
[ʦeʔ] |
[ʧeːʔ] |
[ʧeʔ] |
*[tʲaʔŋ]
"ashes" |
[taʔn] |
[tan] |
[taŋ] |
[ʦaːx] |
[ʦaʔ] |
[ʧaːx] |
[ʧax] |
The Proto-Mayan velar nasal *[ŋ] is reflected as [x] in the eastern branches (Quichean-Mamean), [n] in Q'anjobalan, Ch'olan and Yucatecan, [h] in Huastecan, and only conserved as [ŋ] in Chuj and Jakaltek.
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