Old page wikitext, before the edit (old_wikitext ) | '{{short description|Language family spoken in Mesoamerica}}
{{redirect|Maya language}}
{{featured article}}
<!--Spelling conventions:
- This article uses the ALMG orthographies for the Mayan languages of Guatemala, and the Mexican languages Chʼol, Wastek and Tojolabʼal. Traditional Spanish spellings are used for Tzotzil, Tzeltal, Lacandón and Chicomuceltec. The Cordemex orthography is used for the Yucatec language. For Classical CHiché the traditional spanish spelling is used. The name Jakaltek is preferred over the alternative Poptiʼ.
– For the names of language groups in the genealogical classification the following spellings are used: Chʼolan, Qʼanjobalan, Quichean, Yucatecan and Huastecan.-->
{{infobox language family
|name=Mayan
|region= [[Mesoamerica]]: Southern [[Mexico]]; [[Guatemala]]; [[Belize]]; western [[Honduras]] and [[El Salvador]]; small refugee and emigrant populations, especially in the [[United States]] and [[Canada]]
|familycolor=American
|family = One of the world's primary [[language family|language families]]
|speakers = 6.0 million
|glotto=maya1287
|glottorefname=Mayan
|protoname=[[Proto-Mayan language|Proto-Mayan]]
|child1=[[Huastecan languages|Huastecan]]
|child2=[[Yucatecan languages|Yucatecan]]
|child3=[[Chʼolan languages|Chʼolan–Tzeltalan]]
|child4=[[Qʼanjobalan languages|Qʼanjobalan]]
|child5=[[Quichean languages|Quichean]]–[[Mamean languages|Mamean]]
|child7=
|iso2=myn
|iso5=myn
|map=Distribution-myn2.png
|mapcaption=Location of Mayan speaking populations. See [[#Distribution|below]] for a detailed map of the different languages.
}}
{{Maya civilization}}
The '''Mayan languages'''<ref group=notes>In [[linguistics]], it is conventional to use ''Mayan'' when referring to the languages, or an aspect of a language. In other academic fields, ''Maya'' is the preferred usage, serving as both a singular and plural [[noun]], and as the [[adjective|adjectival]] form.</ref> form a [[language family]] spoken in [[Mesoamerica]], both in the south of Mexico and northern [[Central America]]. Mayan languages are spoken by at least 6 million [[Maya peoples|Maya people]], primarily in [[Guatemala]], [[Mexico]], [[Belize]], [[El Salvador]] and [[Honduras]]. In 1996, Guatemala formally recognized 21 Mayan languages by name,{{sfn|Spence|Dye|Worby|de Leon-Escribano|1998}}<ref group=notes>Achiʼ is counted as a variant of Kʼicheʼ by the Guatemalan government.</ref> and Mexico [[Languages of Mexico|recognizes]] eight within its territory.
The Mayan language family is one of the best-documented and most studied in the [[Americas]].<ref name="Campbell 1997, p.165">{{harvtxt|Campbell |1997|p=165}}</ref> Modern Mayan languages descend from the [[Proto-Mayan language]], thought to have been spoken at least 5,000 years ago; it has been partially [[historical linguistics|reconstructed]] using the [[comparative method (linguistics)|comparative method]]. The proto-Mayan language diversified into at least six different branches: the [[Huastecan languages|Huastecan]], [[Kʼicheʼ language|Quichean]], [[Yucatecan languages|Yucatecan]], [[Qʼanjobʼal language|Qanjobalan]], [[Mamean languages|Mamean]] and [[Chʼolan languages|Chʼolan–Tzeltalan]] branches.
Mayan languages form part of the [[Mesoamerican language area]], an [[sprachbund|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 noun]]s instead of [[preposition]]s to indicate spatial relationships. They also possess [[grammar|grammatical]] and [[linguistic typology|typological]] features that set them apart from other languages of Mesoamerica, such as the use of [[Ergative–absolutive language|ergativity]] in the grammatical treatment of verbs and their subjects and objects, specific inflectional categories on verbs, and a special [[Lexical category|word class]] of "positionals" which is typical of all Mayan languages.
During the [[pre-Columbian era]] of [[Mesoamerican chronology|Mesoamerican history]], some Mayan languages were written in the [[Logogram|logo-syllabic]] [[Maya script]]. Its use was particularly widespread during the [[Maya civilization#Classic period (c. 250–900 AD)|Classic period]] of Maya civilization (c. 250–900). The surviving corpus of over 5,000 known individual Maya inscriptions on buildings, monuments, pottery and bark-paper [[Maya codices|codices]],{{sfn|Kettunen|Helmke|2020|p=6}} combined with the rich post-Conquest [[Mesoamerican literature|literature in Mayan languages]] written in the [[Latin script]], provides a basis for the modern understanding of pre-Columbian history unparalleled in the Americas.
==History==
===Proto-Mayan===
[[File:Mayan Language Migration Map.svg|thumb|right|upright=1.63|Approximate migration routes and dates for various Mayan language families. The region shown as Proto-Mayan is now occupied by speakers of the Qʼanjobalan branch (light blue in other figures).<ref group=notes>Based on Kaufman (1976).</ref>]]
Mayan languages are the descendants of a [[proto-language]] called Proto-Mayan or, in Kʼicheʼ Maya, ''Nabʼee Mayaʼ Tzij'' ("the old Maya Language").{{sfn|England|1994}} The Proto-Mayan language is believed to have been spoken in the Cuchumatanes highlands of central Guatemala in an area corresponding roughly to where Qʼanjobalan is spoken today.{{sfn|Campbell|1997|p=165}} The earliest proposal which identified the Chiapas-Guatemalan highlands as the likely "cradle" of Mayan languages was published by the German antiquarian and scholar [[Karl Sapper]] in 1912.<ref group=notes>see attribution in {{harvtxt|Fernández de Miranda|1968|p=75}}</ref> [[Terrence Kaufman]] and John Justeson have reconstructed more than 3000 lexical items for the proto-Mayan language.{{sfn|Kaufman| with Justeson|2003}}
According to the prevailing classification scheme by [[Lyle Campbell]] and Terrence Kaufman, the first division occurred around 2200 BCE, when Huastecan split away from Mayan proper after its speakers moved northwest along the [[Gulf Coast of Mexico]].{{sfn|Campbell|Kaufman|1985}} Proto-Yucatecan and Proto-Chʼolan 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 Chʼolan group and moved south into the [[Chiapas Highlands]], they came into contact with speakers of [[Mixe–Zoque languages]].{{sfn|Kaufman|1976}} According to an alternative theory by Robertson and [[Stephen D. Houston|Houston]], Huastecan stayed in the Guatemalan highlands with speakers of Chʼolan–Tzeltalan, separating from that branch at a much later date than proposed by Kaufman.{{sfn|Robertson|Houston|2002}}
In the Archaic period (before 2000 BCE), a number of [[loanword]]s 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]].<ref group=notes>This theory was first proposed by {{harvcoltxt|Campbell|Kaufman|1976}}</ref> In the case of the [[Xincan language|Xincan]] and [[Lencan languages]], on the other hand, Mayan languages are more often the source than the receiver of loanwords. Mayan language specialists such as Campbell believe this suggests a period of intense contact between Maya and the [[Lenca people|Lencan]] and [[Xinca people]], possibly during the Classic period (250–900).<ref name="Campbell 1997, p.165" />
===Classic period===
[[File:Palenque glyphs-edit1.jpg|thumb|upright=1.81|Classic period Maya glyphs in stucco at the ''Museo de sitio'' in [[Palenque]], Mexico]]
During the Classic period the major branches began diversifying into separate languages. The split between Proto-Yucatecan (in the north, that is, the Yucatán Peninsula) and Proto-Chʼolan (in the south, that is, the Chiapas highlands and [[Petén Basin]]) had already occurred by the Classic period, when most extant [[#Glyphic writing|Maya inscriptions]] were written. Both variants are attested in hieroglyphic inscriptions at the [[List of Maya sites|Maya sites]] of the time, and both are commonly referred to as "[[Classic Maya language]]". Although a single prestige language was by far the most frequently recorded on extant hieroglyphic texts, evidence for at least three different varieties of Mayan have been discovered within the hieroglyphic corpus—an Eastern Chʼolan variety found in texts written in the southern Maya area and the highlands, a Western Chʼolan variety diffused from the Usumacinta region from the mid-7th century on,{{sfn|Hruby|Child|2004}} and a Yucatecan variety found in the texts from the Yucatán Peninsula.<ref name="Kettunen & Helmke 2020 p. 13">{{harvtxt|Kettunen|Helmke|2020|p=13}}</ref> The reason why only few linguistic varieties are found in the glyphic texts is probably that these served as [[prestige dialect]]s throughout the Maya region; hieroglyphic texts would have been composed in the language of the elite.<ref name="Kettunen & Helmke 2020 p. 13" />
Stephen Houston, John Robertson and David Stuart have suggested that the specific variety of Chʼolan found in the majority of Southern Lowland glyphic texts was a language they dub "Classic Chʼoltiʼan", the ancestor language of the modern [[Chʼortiʼ language|Chʼortiʼ]] and [[Chʼoltiʼ language]]s. They propose that it originated in western and south-central Petén Basin, and that it was used in the inscriptions and perhaps also spoken by elites and priests.{{sfn|Houston|Robertson|Stuart|2000}} However, Mora-Marín has argued that traits shared by Classic Lowland Maya and the Chʼoltiʼan languages are retentions rather than innovations, and that the diversification of Chʼolan in fact post-dates the classic period. The language of the classical lowland inscriptions then would have been proto-Chʼolan.{{sfn|Mora-Marín|2009}}
===Colonial period===
During the Spanish colonization of Central America, all [[Indigenous languages of the Americas|indigenous]] languages were eclipsed by [[Spanish language|Spanish]], which became the new prestige language. The use of Mayan languages 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,<ref group=notes>The last independent Maya kingdom ([[Tayasal]]) was not conquered until 1697, some 170 years after the first ''[[conquistador]]es'' arrived. During the Colonial and Postcolonial periods, Maya peoples periodically rebelled against the colonizers, such as the [[Caste War of Yucatán]], which extended into the 20th century.</ref> and perhaps for this reason, many Maya communities still retain a high proportion of [[monolingual]] speakers. The Maya area is now dominated by the Spanish language. While a number of Mayan languages are [[moribund language|moribund]] or are considered [[endangered language|endangered]], others remain quite viable, with speakers across all age groups and native language use in all domains of society.<ref group=notes>Grenoble & Whaley (1998) characterized the situation this way: "Mayan languages typically have several hundreds of thousands of speakers, and a majority of Mayas speak a Mayan language as a first language. The driving concern of Maya communities is not to revitalize their language but to buttress it against the increasingly rapid spread of Spanish ... [rather than being] at the end of a process of language shift, [Mayan languages are] ... at the beginning."{{harvtxt|Grenoble|Whaley|1998|pages=xi-xii}}</ref>
===Modern period===
[[File:Idioma Chuj.JPG|right|thumb|Drawing with text written in the Chuj language from Ixcán, Guatemala.]]
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 [[Maya civilization]].<ref group=notes>{{harvtxt|Choi|2002}} writes: "In the recent Maya cultural activism, maintenance of Mayan languages has been promoted in an attempt to support 'unified Maya identity'. However, there is a complex array of perceptions about Mayan language and identity among Maya who I researched in Momostenango, a highland Maya community in Guatemala. On the one hand, Maya denigrate Kʼicheʼ and have doubts about its potential to continue as a viable language because the command of Spanish is an economic and political necessity. On the other hand, they do recognize the value of Mayan language when they wish to claim the 'authentic Maya identity'. It is this conflation of conflicting and ambivalent ideologies that inform language choice..."</ref>
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 Maya identify first and foremost with a particular ethnic group, e.g. as "Yucatec" or "Kʼicheʼ"; but they also recognize a shared Maya kinship.{{sfn|Choi|2002}} Language has been fundamental in defining the boundaries of that kinship. Fabri writes: "The term Maya is problematic because Maya peoples do not constitute a homogeneous identity. Maya, rather, has become a strategy of self-representation for the Maya movements and its followers. The Academia de Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala (ALMG) finds twenty-one distinct Mayan languages."{{sfn|Fabri|2003|page=61. n1}} This pride in unity has led to an insistence on the distinctions of different Mayan languages, some of which are so closely related that they could easily be referred to as [[dialects]] of a single language. But, given that the term "dialect" has been used by some with [[Racism|racialist]] overtones in the past, as scholars made a spurious distinction between Amerindian "dialects" and European "languages", the preferred usage in Mesoamerica in recent years has been to designate the linguistic varieties spoken by different ethnic group as separate languages.<ref group=notes>See {{harvtxt|Suárez|1983}} chapter 2 for a thorough discussion of the usage and meanings of the words "dialect" and "language" in Mesoamerica.</ref>
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 Maya organisations in 1986. Following the 1996 [[Guatemalan Civil War|peace accords]], it has been gaining a growing recognition as the regulatory authority on Mayan languages both among Mayan scholars and the Maya peoples.<ref name=French>{{harvtxt|French|2003}}</ref><ref name=England2007>{{harvtxt|England|2007|pages=14, 93}}</ref>
==Genealogy and classification==
{{See also|List of Mayan languages}}
===Relations with other families===
The Mayan language family has no demonstrated [[Genetic relationship (linguistics)|genetic relationship]] to other language families. Similarities with some languages of Mesoamerica are understood to be 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.{{sfn|Campbell|Kaufman|Smith-Stark|1986}}
A wide range of proposals have tried to link the Mayan family to other language families or [[language isolate|isolates]], but none is generally supported by linguists. Examples include linking Mayan with the [[Uru–Chipaya languages]], [[Mapuche language|Mapuche]], the Lencan languages, [[Purépecha language|Purépecha]], and [[Huave language|Huave]]. Mayan has also been included in various [[Hokan languages|Hokan]], [[Penutian languages|Penutian]], and [[Siouan]] hypotheses. The linguist [[Joseph Greenberg]] included Mayan in his highly controversial [[Amerind languages|Amerind hypothesis]], which is rejected by most [[historical linguistics|historical linguists]] as unsupported by available evidence.{{sfn|Campbell|1997|pages=''passim''}}
Writing in 1997, [[Lyle Campbell]], an expert in Mayan languages and historical linguistics, argued that the most promising proposal is the "[[Macro-Mayan languages|Macro-Mayan]]" hypothesis, which posits links between Mayan, the [[Mixe–Zoque languages]] and the [[Totonacan languages]], but more research is needed to support or disprove this hypothesis.<ref name="Campbell 1997, p.165"/> In 2015, Campbell noted that recent evidence presented by David Mora-Marin makes the case for a relationship between Mayan and Mixe-Zoquean languages "much more plausible".{{sfn|Mora-Marín|2016}}{{sfn|Campbell|2015|p=54}}
===Subdivisions===
The Mayan family consists of thirty languages. Typically, these languages are grouped into 5-6 major subgroups (Yucatecan, Huastecan, Chʼolan–Tzeltalan, Qʼanjobʼalan, Mamean, and Kʼichean).{{sfn|Campbell|Kaufman|1985}}{{sfn|Campbell|2015}}{{sfn|Bennett|Coon|Henderson|2015}}
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.{{sfn|Law|2013}}
One point still at issue is the position of Chʼolan and Qʼanjobalan–Chujean. Some scholars think these form a separate Western branch{{sfn|Campbell|Kaufman|1985}} (as in the diagram below). Other linguists do not support the positing of an especially close relationship between Chʼolan and Qʼanjobalan–Chujean; consequently they classify these as two distinct branches emanating directly from the proto-language.{{sfn|Robertson| 1977}} An alternative proposed classification groups the Huastecan branch as springing from the Chʼolan–Tzeltalan node, rather than as an outlying branch springing directly from the proto-Mayan node.{{sfn|Robertson|Houston|2002}}{{sfn|Houston|Robertson|Stuart|2000}}
[[File:Mayan languages tree en.svg|center|upright=3.22|Genealogy of Mayan languages.|frameless]]
==Distribution==
{{see also|List of Mayan languages}}{{Multiple image
| align =
| direction = vertical
| total_width = 300
| image1 = Mayan languages map.svg
| alt1 =
| caption1 = Present geographic distribution of Mayan languages in Mexico and Central America
| image2 = Mayan Language Map.png
| caption2 = Map of Mayan language communities—font indicates relative size of speaker population. (Yucatec and Kʼicheʼ with 900,000 and 400,000 speakers respectively; 100,000–500,000 speakers; 10,000–100,000 speakers; and under 10,000 speakers.)
}}
Studies estimate that Mayan languages are spoken by more than 6 million people. Most of them live in Guatemala where depending on estimates 40%-60% of the population speaks a Mayan language. In Mexico the Mayan speaking population was estimated at 2.5 million people in 2010, whereas the Belizean speaker population figures around 30,000.{{sfn|Bennett|Coon|Henderson|2015}}
===Western branch===
The Chʼolan languages were formerly widespread throughout the Maya area, but today the language with most speakers is [[Chʼol language|Chʼol]], spoken by 130,000 in Chiapas.<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005). [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=cti Ethnologue report on Chʼol de Tila], [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ctu Ethnologue report on Chʼol de Tumbalá], both accessed March 07, 2007.</ref> Its closest relative, the [[Chontal Maya language]],<ref group=notes>Chontal Maya is not to be confused with the [[Tequistlatecan]] languages that are referred to as "Chontal of Oaxaca".</ref> is spoken by 55,000<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005). [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=chf Ethnologue report on Chontal de Tabasco], accessed March 07, 2007.</ref> in the state of [[Tabasco]]. Another related language, now endangered, is [[Chʼortiʼ language|Chʼortiʼ]], which is spoken by 30,000 in Guatemala.<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005). [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=caa Chʼortiʼ: A language of Guatemala.] Ethnologue.com, accessed March 07, 2007.</ref> It was previously also spoken in the extreme west of [[Honduras]] and [[El Salvador]], but the Salvadorian variant is now extinct and the Honduran one is considered moribund. [[Chʼoltiʼ language|Chʼoltiʼ]], a sister language of Chʼortiʼ, is also extinct.{{sfn|Campbell|Kaufman|1985}} Chʼolan languages are believed to be the most conservative in vocabulary and phonology, and are closely related to the [[Classic Maya language|language of the Classic-era inscriptions]] found in the 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 Chʼortiʼ zone and the areas where Chʼol and Chontal are spoken.{{sfn|Kettunen|Helmke|2020|p=13}}
The closest relatives of the Chʼolan languages are the languages of the Tzeltalan branch, [[Tzotzil language|Tzotzil]] and [[Tzeltal language|Tzeltal]], both spoken in Chiapas by large and stable or growing populations (265,000 for Tzotzil and 215,000 for [[Tzeltal people|Tzeltal]]).<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005) [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_family.asp?subid=91318 Family Tree for Tzeltalan] accessed March 26, 2007.</ref> Tzeltal has tens of thousands of monolingual speakers.<ref>Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charl47547es D. Fennig (eds.). "[http://www.ethnologue.com/language/tzh/18 Tzeltal]" ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Eighteenth edition'', (2015). Dallas, Texas: SIL International.</ref>
[[Qʼanjobʼal language|Qʼanjobʼal]] is spoken by 77,700 in Guatemala's [[Huehuetenango]] department,<ref name="Gordon, Raymond G. 2005"/> with small populations elsewhere. The region of Qʼanjobalan speakers in Guatemala, due to genocidal policies during the [[Guatemalan Civil War|Civil War]] and its close proximity to the [[Guatemala–Mexico border|Mexican border]], was the source of a number of refugees. Thus there are now small Qʼanjobʼal, Jakaltek, and Akatek populations in various locations in Mexico, the United States (such as [[Tuscarawas County, Ohio]]{{sfn|Solá|2011}} and Los Angeles, California{{sfn|Popkin|2005}}), and, through postwar resettlement, other parts of Guatemala.{{sfn|Rao|2015}} [[Jakaltek language|Jakaltek]] (also known as Poptiʼ<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005). Gordon (2005) recognizes Eastern and Western dialects of [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_family.asp?subid=92216 Jakaltek], as well as [[Mochoʼ language|Mochoʼ]] (also called Mototzintlec), a language with less than 200 speakers in the Chiapan villages of Tuzantán and Mototzintla.</ref>) is spoken by almost 100,000 in several municipalities<ref>Jakaltek is spoken in the ''[[Municipio (Mexico)|municipios]]'' of [[Jacaltenango]], [[La Democracia, Huehuetenango|La Democracia]], [[Concepción, Mexico|Concepción]], [[San Antonio Huista]] and [[Santa Ana Huista]], and in parts of the [[Nentón]] ''municipio''.</ref> of [[Huehuetenango]]. Another member of this branch is [[Akatek language|Akatek]], with over 50,000 speakers in [[San Miguel Acatán]] and [[San Rafael La Independencia]].<ref>Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig (eds.). "[http://www.ethnologue.com/language/knj/18 Akateko]" ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Eighteenth edition'', (2015). Dallas, Texas: SIL International.</ref>
[[Chuj language|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 [[La Trinitaria, Mexico|La Trinitaria]], [[Chiapas]], and the villages of Tziscau and Cuauhtémoc. [[Tojolabal language|Tojolabʼal]] is spoken in eastern Chiapas by 36,000 people.<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005) [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=toj Tojolabal: A language of Mexico.] and [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=cnam Chuj: A language of Guatemala.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001200045/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=cnam |date=2007-10-01 }} both accessed March 19, 2007.</ref>
===Eastern branch===
The Quichean–Mamean languages and dialects, with two sub-branches and three subfamilies, are spoken in the [[Guatemalan Highlands|Guatemalan highlands]].
[[Qʼeqchiʼ language|Qʼeqchiʼ]] (sometimes spelled Kekchi), which constitutes its own sub-branch within Quichean–Mamean, is spoken by about 800,000 people in the southern [[Petén (department)|Petén]], [[Izabal Department|Izabal]] and [[Alta Verapaz]] departments of Guatemala, and also in Belize by 9,000 speakers. In El Salvador it is spoken by 12,000 as a result of recent migrations.<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005). [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=kek Ethnologue report on Qʼeqchi], accessed March 07, 2007.</ref>
The [[Uspantek language]], which also springs directly from the Quichean–Mamean node, is native only to the [[Uspantán]] ''[[Municipalities of Guatemala|municipio]]'' in the department of [[Quiché (department)|El Quiché]], and has 3,000 speakers.<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005) [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=usp Ethnologue report for Uspantec], accessed March 26, 2007.</ref>
Within the Quichean sub-branch [[Kʼicheʼ language|Kʼicheʼ (Quiché)]], the Mayan language with the largest number of speakers, is spoken by around 1,000,000 [[Kʼicheʼ people|Kʼicheʼ Maya]] in the [[Guatemala]]n highlands, around the towns of [[Chichicastenango]] and [[Quetzaltenango]] and in the [[Sierra de los Cuchumatanes|Cuchumatán mountains]], as well as by urban emigrants in [[Guatemala City]].<ref name="Gordon, Raymond G. 2005"/> The famous Maya mythological document, ''[[Popol Vuh]]'', is written in an antiquated Kʼicheʼ often called [[Classical Kʼicheʼ language|Classical Kʼicheʼ (or Quiché)]]. The [[Kʼicheʼ Kingdom of Qʼumarkaj|Kʼicheʼ culture]] was at its pinnacle at the time of the Spanish conquest. [[Qʼumarkaj]], near the present-day city of [[Santa Cruz del Quiché]], was its economic and ceremonial center.{{sfn|Edmonson|1968|pages=250–251}} [[Achi language|Achi]] is spoken by 85,000 people in [[Cubulco]] and [[Rabinal]], two ''municipios'' of [[Baja Verapaz]]. In some classifications, e.g. the one by [[Lyle Campbell|Campbell]], Achi is counted as a form of Kʼicheʼ. However, owing to a historical division between the two ethnic groups, the Achi Maya do not regard themselves as Kʼicheʼ.<ref group=notes>The Ethnologue considers the dialects spoken in Cubulco and Rabinal to be distinct languages, two of the eight languages of a Quiché-Achi family. Raymond G., Gordon Jr. (ed.). Ethnologue, (2005). [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_family.asp?subid=91829 Language Family Tree for Mayan], accessed March 26, 2007.</ref> The [[Kaqchikel language]] is spoken by about 400,000 people in an area stretching from Guatemala City westward to the northern shore of [[Lago de Atitlán|Lake Atitlán]].<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005). [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_family.asp?subid=92230 Family Tree for Kaqchikel], accessed March 26, 2007.</ref> [[Tzʼutujil language|Tzʼutujil]] has about 90,000 speakers in the vicinity of Lake Atitlán.<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005). [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=tzj Ethnologue report on Eastern Tzʼutujil], [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=tzt Ethnologue report on Western Tzʼutujil] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070410081706/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=tzt |date=2007-04-10 }}, both accessed March 26, 2007.</ref> Other members of the Kʼichean branch are [[Sakapultek language|Sakapultek]], spoken by about 15,000 people mostly in [[El Quiché]] department,<ref>Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig (eds.). "[http://www.ethnologue.com/language/quv/18 Sakapulteko]" ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Eighteenth edition'', (2015). Dallas, Texas: SIL International.</ref> and [[Sipakapense language|Sipakapense]], which is spoken by 8,000 people in [[Sipacapa]], [[San Marcos (department)|San Marcos]].<ref>Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig (eds.). "[http://www.ethnologue.com/language/qum/18 Sipakapense]" ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Eighteenth edition'', (2015). Dallas, Texas: SIL International.</ref>
The largest language in the Mamean sub-branch is [[Mam language|Mam]], spoken by 478,000 people in the departments of San Marcos and Huehuetenango. [[Awakatek language|Awakatek]] is the language of 20,000 inhabitants of central [[Aguacatán]], another municipality of Huehuetenango. [[Ixil language|Ixil]] (possibly three different languages) is spoken by 70,000 in the "[[Ixil Triangle]]" region of the [[Quiché (department)|department of El Quiché]].<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005) [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ixi Ethnologue report on Nebaj Ixil] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080504025151/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ixi |date=2008-05-04 }}, [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ixj Chajul Ixil] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061208132311/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ixj |date=2006-12-08 }} & [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ixl San Juan Cotzal Ixil], accessed March 07, 2008.</ref> [[Tektitek language|Tektitek]] (or Teko) is spoken by over 6,000 people in the municipality of Tectitán, and 1,000 refugees in Mexico. According to the Ethnologue the number of speakers of Tektitek is growing.<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005) [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ttc Ethnologue report for Tektitek], accessed March 07, 2007.</ref>
The Poqom languages are closely related to Core Quichean, with which they constitute a Poqom-Kʼichean sub-branch on the Quichean–Mamean node.{{sfn|Campbell|1997|p=163}} [[Poqomchiʼ language|Poqomchiʼ]] is spoken by 90,000 people<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005). [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=poh Ethnologue report on Eastern Poqomam], [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=pob Ethnologue report on Western Poqomchiʼ], both accessed March 07, 2007.</ref> in [[Purulhá]], [[Baja Verapaz]], and in the following municipalities of [[Alta Verapaz]]: [[Santa Cruz Verapaz]], [[San Cristóbal Verapaz]], [[Tactic (municipality)|Tactic]], [[Tamahú]] and [[Tucurú]]. [[Poqomam language|Poqomam]] is spoken by around 49,000 people in several small pockets in [[Guatemala]].<ref>Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig (eds.). "[http://www.ethnologue.com/language/poc/18 Poqomam]" ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Eighteenth edition'', (2015). Dallas, Texas: SIL International.</ref>
===Yucatecan branch===
[[File:Map-Maya in Mexico.svg|thumb|The area where Yucatec Maya is spoken in the peninsula of Yucatán]]
[[Yucatec Maya language|Yucatec Maya]] (known simply as "Maya" to its speakers) is the most commonly spoken Mayan 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]].<ref name="Gordon, Raymond G. 2005">Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.). Ethnologue, (2005).</ref><ref>
[http://www.inegi.gob.mx/est/contenidos/espanol/rutinas/ept.asp?t=mlen10&c=3337 Población hablante de lengua indígena de 5 y más años por principales lenguas, 1970 a 2005] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070825062559/http://www.inegi.gob.mx/est/contenidos/espanol/rutinas/ept.asp?t=mlen10&c=3337 |date=2007-08-25 }} [[INEGI]]
</ref> It remains common in [[Yucatán (state)|Yucatán]] and in the adjacent states of [[Quintana Roo]] and [[Campeche]].<ref>Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig (eds.). "[http://www.ethnologue.com/language/yua/18 Maya, Yucatec]" ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Eighteenth edition'', (2015). Dallas, Texas: SIL International.</ref>
The other three Yucatecan languages are [[Mopan language|Mopan]], spoken by around 10,000 speakers primarily in [[Belize]]; [[Itzaʼ language|Itzaʼ]], an extinct or moribund language from Guatemala's Petén Basin;<ref>There were only 12 remaining native speakers in 1986 according to Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.). Ethnologue, (2005).</ref> and [[Lacandon language|Lacandón]] or Lakantum, also severely endangered with about 1,000 speakers in a few villages on the outskirts of the [[Selva Lacandona]], in [[Chiapas]].<ref>Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig (eds.). "[http://www.ethnologue.com/language/lac/18 Lacandon]" ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Eighteenth edition'', (2015). Dallas, Texas: SIL International.</ref>
===Huastecan branch===
[[Wastek language|Wastek]] (also spelled Huastec and Huaxtec) is spoken in the Mexican states of [[Veracruz]] and [[San Luis Potosí]] by around 110,000 people.<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.). Ethnologue (2005).</ref> 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.{{sfn|Campbell|Canger|1978}}
==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.{{sfn|Campbell|Kaufman|1985}}{{sfn|Campbell|2015}}<ref group=notes>Proto-Mayan allowed roots of the shape {{IPA|CVC, CVVC, CVhC, CVʔC}}, and {{IPA|CVSC}} (where {{IPA|S}} is {{IPA|/s/}}, {{IPA|/ʃ/}}, or {{IPA|/x/}})); see {{harvtxt|England|1994|pages=77}}</ref> 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.{{sfn|Campbell|2015}} It has been suggested that proto-Mayan was a [[Tonal Language|tonal language]], based on the fact that four different contemporary Mayan languages have tone (Yucatec, Uspantek, San Bartolo Tzotzil<ref group=notes>{{harvtxt|Campbell|2015}} mistakenly writes Tzeltal for Tzotzil, {{harvtxt|Avelino|Shin|2011}} states that the reports of a fully developed tone contrast in San Bartolome Tzotzil are inaccurate</ref> and Mochoʼ), but since these languages each can be shown to have innovated tone in different ways, Campbell considers this unlikely.{{sfn|Campbell|2015}}
{| align="center" class="wikitable" style="float: none; text-align: center"
|-
|+Proto-Mayan vowels
!rowspan=2 |
!colspan=2 | [[Front vowel|Front]]
!colspan=2 | [[Central vowel|Central]]
!colspan=2 | [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! <small>[[Vowel length|Short]]</small>
! <small>[[Vowel length|Long]]</small>
! <small>[[Vowel length|Short]]</small>
! <small>[[Vowel length|Long]]</small>
! <small>[[Vowel length|Short]]</small>
! <small>[[Vowel length|Long]]</small>
|-
! [[Close vowel|High]]
| {{IPA link|i}}
| {{IPA link|iː}}
|colspan=2|
| {{IPA link|u}}
| {{IPA link|uː}}
|-
! [[Close-mid vowel|Mid]]
| {{IPA link|e}}
| {{IPA link|eː}}
|colspan=2|
| {{IPA link|o}}
| {{IPA link|oː}}
|-
! [[Open vowel|Low]]
|colspan=2|
| {{IPA link|a}}
| {{IPA link|aː}}
|colspan=2|
|}
{| class="wikitable" align="center" style="float: none; text-align: center"
|+Proto-Mayan consonants
! colspan="2" |
! [[Bilabial consonant|Bilabial]]
! [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! [[Uvular consonant|Uvular]]
! [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| {{IPA link|m}}
| {{IPA link|n}}
|
| {{IPA link|ŋ}}
|
|
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Plosive]]
! {{small|Plain}}
| {{IPA link|p}}
| {{IPA link|t}}
| {{IPA link|tʲ}}
| {{IPA link|k}}
| {{IPA link|q}}
| rowspan="2" | {{IPA link|ʔ}}
|-
! {{small|[[Glottalic consonant|Glottalic]]}}
| {{IPA link|ɓ}}
| {{IPA link|tʼ}}
| {{IPA link|tʲʼ}}
| {{IPA link|kʼ}}
| {{IPA link|qʼ}}
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Affricate]]
! {{small|Plain}}
|
| {{IPA link|t͡s}}
| {{IPA link|t͡ʃ}}
|
|
|
|-
! {{small|[[Glottalic consonant|Glottalic]]}}
|
| {{IPA link|t͡sʼ}}
| {{IPA link|t͡ʃʼ}}
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Fricative]]
|
| {{IPA link|s}}
| {{IPA link|ʃ}}
| {{IPA link|x}}
|
| {{IPA link|h}}
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Liquid consonant|Liquid]]
|
| {{IPA link|l}} {{IPA link|r}}
|
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Glide consonant|Glide]]
|
|
| {{IPA link|j}}
| {{IPA link|w}}
|
|
|}
===Phonological evolution of Proto-Mayan===
{{main|Proto-Mayan language}}
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 Chʼolan) all changed the Proto-Mayan [[phoneme]] *{{IPA|/r/}} into {{IPA|[j]}}, some languages of the eastern branch retained {{IPA|[r]}} (Kʼichean), and others changed it into {{IPA|[tʃ]}} or, word-finally, {{IPA|[t]}} (Mamean). The shared innovations between Huastecan, Yucatecan and Chʼolan show that they separated from the other Mayan languages before the changes found in other branches had taken place.<ref name="England 1994, pp.30–31">{{harvtxt|England|1994|pages=30–31}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|+ Reflexes of Proto-Mayan *{{IPA|[r]}} in daughter languages
! scope="col" | Proto-Mayan
! scope="col" style="background-color:orange;"|Wastek
! scope="col" style="background-color:lime;"|Yucatec
! scope="col" style="background-color:lime;"|Mopan
! scope="col" style="background-color:blue; color:white"|Tzeltal
! scope="col" style="background-color:#2a7FFF; color:white"|Chuj
! scope="col" style="background-color:#2a7FFF; color:white"|Qʼanjobʼal
! scope="col" style="background-color:#892ca0; color:white"|Mam
! scope="col" style="background-color:#892ca0; color:white"|Ixil
! scope="col" style="background-color:magenta"|Kʼicheʼ
! scope="col" style="background-color:magenta"|Kaqchikel
! scope="col" style="background-color:magenta"|Poqomam
! scope="col" style="background-color:magenta"|Qʼeqchiʼ
|-
! scope="row" style="font-weight:normal;" | *{{IPA|[raʔʃ]}}<br/>"''green''"
| style="background-color:#FFD482;" align="center" | {{IPA|[jaʃ]}}
| style="background-color:#83FF82;" align="center" | {{IPA|[jaʔʃ]}}
| style="background-color:#83FF82;" align="center" | {{IPA|[jaʔaʃ]}}
| style="background-color:#9B9CFF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[jaʃ]}}
| style="background-color:#95C0FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[jaʔaʃ]}}
| style="background-color:#95C0FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[jaʃ]}}
| style="background-color:#bb9fb8;" align="center" | {{IPA|[tʃaʃ]}}
| style="background-color:#bb9fb8;" align="center" | {{IPA|[tʃaʔʃ]}}
| style="background-color:#FF82FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[raʃ]}}
| style="background-color:#FF82FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[rɐʃ]}}
| style="background-color:#FF82FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[raʃ]}}
| style="background-color:#FF82FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[raʃ]}}
|-
! scope="row" style="font-weight:normal;" | *{{IPA|[war]}}<br/>"''sleep''"
| style="background-color:#FFD482;" align="center" | {{IPA|[waj]}}
| style="background-color:#83FF82;" align="center" | {{IPA|[waj]}}
| style="background-color:#83FF82;" align="center" | {{IPA|[wɐjn]}}
| style="background-color:#9B9CFF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[waj]}}
| style="background-color:#95C0FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[waj]}}
| style="background-color:#95C0FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[waj]}}
| style="background-color:#bb9fb8;" align="center" | {{IPA|[wit]}}<br/><small>(Awakatek)</small>
| style="background-color:#bb9fb8;" align="center" | {{IPA|[wat]}}
| style="background-color:#FF82FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[war]}}
| style="background-color:#FF82FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[war]}}
| style="background-color:#FF82FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[wɨr]}}
| style="background-color:#FF82FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[war]}}
|}
The palatalized [[plosive]]s {{IPA|[tʲʼ]}} and {{IPA|[tʲ]}} are not found in most of the modern families. Instead they are reflected differently in different branches, allowing a reconstruction of these phonemes as palatalized plosives. In the eastern branch (Chujean-Qʼanjobalan and Chʼolan) they are reflected as {{IPA|[t]}} and {{IPA|[tʼ]}}. In Mamean they are reflected as {{IPA|[ts]}} and {{IPA|[tsʼ]}} and in Quichean as {{IPA|[tʃ]}} and {{IPA|[tʃʼ]}}. Yucatec stands out from other western languages in that its palatalized plosives are sometimes changed into {{IPA|[tʃ]}} and sometimes {{IPA|[t]}}.{{sfn|England|1994|page=35}}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|+ Reflexes of Proto-Mayan {{IPA|[tʲʼ]}} and {{IPA|[tʲ]}}<ref name="EnglandCognates">Adapted from cognate list in {{harvtxt|England|1994}}.</ref><ref name=HullChorti>Kerry Hull <nowiki>''An Abbreviated Dictionary of Ch’orti’ Maya''</nowiki>. 2005</ref><ref name=HopkinsChuj1965>Nicholas A. Hopkins. <nowiki>''A DICTIONARY OF THE CHUJ (MAYAN) LANGUAGE''</nowiki>. 2012</ref>
! scope="col" | Proto-Mayan
! scope="col" style="background-color:lime;" | Yucatec
! scope="col" style="background-color:blue; color:white"|Ch'ol
! scope="col" style="background-color:blue; color:white"|Chʼortiʼ
! scope="col" style="background-color:#2a7FFF; color:white" | Chuj
! scope="col" style="background-color:#2a7FFF; color:white" | Qʼanjobʼal
! scope="col" style="background-color:#2a7FFF; color:white" | Poptiʼ (Jakaltek)
! scope="col" style="background-color:#892ca0; color:white" | Mam
! scope="col" style="background-color:#892ca0; color:white" | Ixil
! scope="col" style="background-color:magenta" | Kʼicheʼ
! scope="col" style="background-color:magenta" | Kaqchikel
|-
! scope="row" style="font-weight:normal;" | *{{IPA|[tʲeːʔ]}}<br/>"''tree''"
| style="background-color:#83FF82;" align="center" | {{IPA|[tʃeʔ]}}
| style="background-color:#9B9CFF;" align="center" |{{IPA|/tʲeʔ/}}
| style="background-color:#9B9CFF;" align="center" |{{IPA|/teʔ/}}
| style="background-color:#95C0FF;" align="center" |{{IPA|/teʔ/}}
| style="background-color:#95C0FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[teʔ]}}
| style="background-color:#95C0FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[teʔ]}}
| style="background-color:#bb9fb8;" align="center" | {{IPA|[tseːʔ]}}
| style="background-color:#bb9fb8;" align="center" | {{IPA|[tseʔ]}}
| style="background-color:#FF82FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[tʃeːʔ]}}
| style="background-color:#FF82FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[tʃeʔ]}}
|-
! scope="row" style="font-weight:normal;" | *{{IPA|[tʲaʔŋ]}}<br/>"''ashes''"
| style="background-color:#83FF82;" align="center" | {{IPA|[taʔn]}}
| style="background-color:#9B9CFF;" align="center" |
| style="background-color:#9B9CFF;" align="center" |
| style="background-color:#95C0FF;" align="center" |{{IPA|/taʔaŋ/}}
| style="background-color:#95C0FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[tan]}}
| style="background-color:#95C0FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[taŋ]}}
| style="background-color:#bb9fb8;" align="center" | {{IPA|[tsaːx]}}
| style="background-color:#bb9fb8;" align="center" | {{IPA|[tsaʔ]}}
| style="background-color:#FF82FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[tʃaːx]}}
| style="background-color:#FF82FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[tʃax]}}
|}
The Proto-Mayan velar nasal *{{IPA|[ŋ]}} is reflected as {{IPA|[x]}} in the eastern branches (Quichean–Mamean), {{IPA|[n]}} in Qʼanjobalan, Chʼolan and Yucatecan, {{IPA|[h]}} in Huastecan, and only conserved as {{IPA|[ŋ]}} in Chuj and Jakaltek.<ref name="England 1994, pp.30–31"/><ref name=HullChorti /><ref name=HopkinsChuj1965 />
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|+ Reflexes of Proto-Mayan {{IPA|[ŋ]}}<ref name="EnglandCognates"/>
! scope="col" | Proto-Mayan
! scope="col" style="background-color:lime;" | Yucatec
! scope="col" style="background-color:blue; color:white"|Chʼortiʼ
! scope="col" style="background-color:#2a7FFF; color:white" | Qʼanjobal
! scope="col" style="background-color:#2a7FFF; color:white" | Chuj
! scope="col" style="background-color:#2a7FFF; color:white" | Jakaltek (Poptiʼ)
! scope="col" style="background-color:#892ca0; color:white" | Ixil
! scope="col" style="background-color:magenta" | Kʼicheʼ
|-
! scope="row" style="font-weight:normal;" | *{{IPA|[ŋeːh]}}<br/>"''tail''"
| style="background-color:#83FF82;" align="center" | {{IPA|[neːh]}}
| style="background-color:#9B9CFF;" align="center" |{{IPA|/nex/}}
| style="background-color:#95C0FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[ne]}}
| style="background-color:#95C0FF;" align="center" | {{nowrap|{{IPA|/ŋeh/}}}}
| style="background-color:#95C0FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[ŋe]}}
| style="background-color:#a47fA0;" align="center" | {{IPA|[xeh]}}
| style="background-color:#FF82FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[xeːʔ]}}
|}
===Diphthongs===
Vowel quality is typically classified as having monophthongal vowels. In traditionally diphthongized contexts, Mayan languages will realize the V-V sequence by inserting a hiatus-breaking glottal stop or glide insertion between the vowels. Some Kʼichean-branch languages have exhibited developed diphthongs from historical long vowels, by breaking /e:/ and /o:/.{{sfn|England|2001}}
==Grammar==
The [[morphology (linguistics)|morphology]] of Mayan languages is simpler than that of other Mesoamerican languages,<ref group=notes>{{harvtxt|Suárez|1983|p=65}} writes: "Neither Tarascan nor Mayan have words as complex as those found in Nahuatl, Totonac or Mixe–Zoque, but, in different ways both have a rich morphology."</ref> yet its [[morphology (linguistics)|morphology]] is still considered [[Agglutinative language|agglutinating]] and [[polysynthetic language|polysynthetic]].{{sfn|Suárez|1983|p=65}} Verbs are marked for [[Grammatical aspect|aspect]] or [[Grammatical tense|tense]], the [[Grammatical person|person]] of the [[subject (grammar)|subject]], the person of the [[object (grammar)|object]] (in the case of [[transitive verb]]s), and for [[Grammatical number|plurality]] of person. Possessed nouns are marked for person of possessor. In Mayan languages, nouns are not marked for case, and gender is not explicitly marked.
===Word order===
Proto-Mayan is thought to have had a basic [[verb–object–subject]] word order with possibilities of switching to [[verb–subject–object|VSO]] in certain circumstances, such as complex sentences, sentences where object and subject were of equal animacy and when the subject was definite.<ref group=notes>Lyle Campbell (1997) refers to studies by Norman and Campbell ((1978) "Toward a proto-Mayan syntax: a comparative perspective on grammar", in ''Papers in Mayan Linguistics'', ed. Nora C. England, pp. 136–56. Columbia: Museum of Anthropology, University of Missouri) and by {{harvtxt|England|1991}}.</ref> Today Yucatecan, Tzotzil and Tojolabʼal have a basic fixed VOS word order. Mamean, Qʼanjobʼal, Jakaltek and one dialect of Chuj have a fixed VSO one. Only Chʼortiʼ has a basic [[subject–verb–object|SVO]] word order. Other Mayan languages allow both VSO and VOS word orders.{{sfn|England|1991}}
===Numeral classifiers===
In many Mayan languages, counting requires the use of [[numeral classifiers]], which specify the class of items being counted; the numeral cannot appear without an accompanying classifier. Some Mayan languages, such as Kaqchikel, do not use numeral classifiers. Class is usually assigned according to whether the object is animate or inanimate or according to an object's general shape.<ref>See, e.g., Tozzer (1977 [1921]), pp. 103, 290–292.</ref> Thus when counting "flat" objects, a different form of numeral classifier is used than when counting round things, oblong items or people. In some Mayan languages such as Chontal, classifiers take the form of affixes attached to the numeral; in others such as Tzeltal, they are free forms. Jakaltek has both numeral classifiers and noun classifiers, and the noun classifiers can also be used as pronouns.{{sfn|Craig|1977|p=141}}
The meaning denoted by a noun may be altered significantly by changing the accompanying classifier. In Chontal, for example, when the classifier ''-tek'' is used with names of plants it is understood that the objects being enumerated are whole trees. If in this expression a different classifier, ''-tsʼit'' (for counting long, slender objects) is substituted for ''-tek'', this conveys the meaning that only sticks or branches of the tree are being counted:<ref>Example follows {{harvtxt|Suárez|1983|page=88}}</ref>
{|align="center" class="wikitable"
|+Semantic differences in numeral classifiers (from Chontal)
|bgcolor="#FFDEAD"|'''''untek wop''''' (one-tree Jahuacte)
|bgcolor="#FFFFAA"|'''''untsʼit wop''''' (one-stick jahuacte)
|-
|{{interlinear|un- tek wop|one- "plant" {jahuacte tree}|"one jahuacte tree"}}
|{{interlinear|un- tsʼit wop|one- {"long.slender.object"} {jahuacte tree}|"one stick from a jahuacte tree"}}
|}
===Possession===
The morphology of Mayan nouns is fairly simple: they inflect for number (plural or singular), and, when possessed, for person and number of their possessor. Pronominal possession is expressed by a set of possessive prefixes attached to the noun, as in Kaqchikel ''ru-kej'' "his/her horse". Nouns may furthermore adopt a special form marking them as possessed. For nominal possessors, the possessed noun is inflected as possessed by a third-person possessor, and followed by the possessor noun, e.g. Kaqchikel ''ru-kej ri achin'' "the man's horse" (literally "his horse the man").<ref name="Suaréz 1983, p. 85">{{harvtxt|Suárez|1983|page=85}}</ref> This type of formation is a main diagnostic trait of the [[Mesoamerican Linguistic Area]] and recurs throughout [[Mesoamerica]].{{sfn|Campbell|Kaufman|Smith-Stark|1986|pages=544–545}}
Mayan languages often contrast alienable and [[inalienable possession]] by varying the way the noun is (or is not) marked as possessed. Jakaltek, for example, contrasts inalienably possessed ''{{IPA|wetʃel}}'' "my photo (in which I am depicted)" with alienably possessed ''{{IPA|wetʃele}}'' "my photo (taken by me)". The prefix ''we-'' marks the first person singular possessor in both, but the absence of the ''-e'' possessive suffix in the first form marks inalienable possession.<ref name="Suaréz 1983, p. 85"/>
===Relational nouns===
Mayan languages which have [[preposition]]s at all normally have only one. To express location and other relations between entities, use is made of a special class of "[[relational noun]]s". This pattern is also recurrent throughout Mesoamerica and is another diagnostic trait of the Mesoamerican Linguistic Area. In Mayan most relational nouns are metaphorically derived from body parts so that "on top of", for example, is expressed by the word for ''head''.{{sfn|Campbell|Kaufman|Smith-Stark|1986|pages=545–546}}
===Subjects and objects===
Mayan languages are [[ergative–absolutive language|ergative]] in their [[morphosyntactic alignment|alignment]]. This means that the subject of an intransitive verb is treated similarly to the object of a transitive verb, but differently from the subject of a transitive verb.{{sfn|Coon|2010|pages=47–52}}
Mayan languages have two sets of affixes that are attached to a verb to indicate the person of its arguments. One set (often referred to in Mayan grammars as set B) indicates the person of subjects of intransitive verbs, and of objects of transitive verbs. They can also be used with adjective or noun predicates to indicate the subject.{{sfn|Suárez|1983|page=77}}
{|class="wikitable"
|+Set B
!Usage
!Language of example
!Example
!Translation
|-
!style="text-align:left;"|Subject of an intransitive verb
|[[Kaqchikel language|Kaqchikel]]
|x-'''ix-'''ok
|"'''You [plural]''' entered"
|-
!style="text-align:left;"| Object of a transitive verb
|[[Kaqchikel language|Kaqchikel]]
|x-'''ix'''-ru-chöp
|"He/she took '''you [plural]'''"
|-
!style="text-align:left;"| Subject of an adjective predicate
|[[Kaqchikel language|Kaqchikel]]
|'''ix-'''samajel
|"'''You [plural]''' are hard-working."
|-
!style="text-align:left;"| Subject of a noun predicate
|[[Tzotzil language|Tzotzil]]
|ʼantz'''-ot'''
|"'''You''' are a woman."
|}
Another set (set A) is used to indicate the person of subjects of transitive verbs (and in some languages, such as Yucatec, also the subjects of intransitive verbs, but only in the incompletive aspects), and also the possessors of nouns (including relational nouns).<ref group=notes>Another view has been suggested by Carlos Lenkersdorf, an [[anthropologist]] who studied the [[Tojolabʼal language]]. He argued that a native Tojolabʼal speaker makes no cognitive distinctions between subject and object, or even between active and passive, animate and inanimate, seeing both subject and object as active participants in an action. For instance, in Tojolabʼal rather than saying "I teach you", one says the equivalent of "I-teach you-learn". See {{harvtxt|Lenkersdorf|1996|pp=60–62}}</ref>
{|class="wikitable"
|+Set A
!Usage
!Language of example
!Example
!Translation
|-
!style="text-align:left;"|Subject of a<br/>transitive verb
|[[Kaqchikel language|Kaqchikel]]
|x-ix-'''ru'''-chöp
|"'''He/she''' took you guys"
|-
!style="text-align:left;"|Possessive marker
|[[Kaqchikel language|Kaqchikel]]
|'''ru'''-kej ri achin
| "the man''''s''' horse" (literally: "'''his''' horse the man")
|-
!style="text-align:left;"|Relational marker
|[[Classical Kʼicheʼ]]
|'''u'''-wach ulew
| "on the earth" (literally: "'''its''' face the earth", i.e. "face of the earth")
|}
===Verbs===
In addition to subject and object (agent and patient), the Mayan verb has affixes signalling aspect, tense, and mood as in the following example:
{| class="wikitable"
|+Mayan verb structure
|{{interlinear|style1 = font-weight:bold;|italics1=no|italics2=yes|glossing3=yes
|Aspect/mood/tense {Class A prefix} {Class B prefix} Root Aspect/mood/voice Plural
|k- in- a- chʼay -o {}
|{{gcl|INCOMPL|incompletive}} 1SG.{{gcl|P|patient}} 2SG.{{gcl|A|agent}} hit {{gcl|INCOMPL|incompletive}} {}
|(Kʼicheʼ) ''kinachʼayo'' "You are hitting me"}}
|}
[[Grammatical tense|Tense]] systems in Mayan languages are generally simple. Jakaltek, for example, contrasts only past and non-past, while Mam has only future and non-future. [[grammatical aspect|Aspect]] systems are normally more prominent. [[Grammatical mood|Mood]] does not normally form a separate system in Mayan, but is instead intertwined with the tense/aspect system.<ref>Suaréz (1983), p. 71.</ref> Kaufman has reconstructed a tense/aspect/mood system for proto-Mayan that includes seven aspects: incompletive, progressive, completive/punctual, imperative, potential/future, optative, and perfective.{{sfn|England|1994|page=126}}
Mayan languages tend to have a rich set of [[grammatical voice]]s. Proto-Mayan had at least one passive construction as well as an [[Antipassive voice|antipassive]] rule for downplaying the importance of the agent in relation to the patient. Modern Kʼicheʼ has two antipassives: one which ascribes focus to the object and another that emphasizes the verbal action.<ref name="Campbell">{{harvtxt|Campbell|1997|page=164}}</ref> Other voice-related constructions occurring in Mayan languages are the following: [[mediopassive voice|mediopassive]], incorporational (incorporating a direct object into the verb), instrumental (promoting the instrument to object position) and referential (a kind of [[applicative voice|applicative]] promoting an indirect argument such as a [[benefactive]] or recipient to the object position).{{sfn|England|1994|page=97–103}}
===Statives and positionals===
In Mayan languages, statives are a class of [[predicate (grammar)|predicative]] words expressing a quality or state, whose syntactic properties fall in between those of verbs and adjectives in Indo-European languages. Like verbs, statives can sometimes be inflected for person but normally lack inflections for tense, aspect and other purely verbal categories. Statives can be adjectives, positionals or numerals.{{sfn|Coon|Preminger|2009}}
Positionals, a class of [[root (linguistics)|root]]s characteristic of, if not unique to, the Mayan languages, form stative adjectives and verbs (usually with the help of suffixes) with meanings related to the position or shape of an object or person. Mayan languages have between 250 and 500 distinct positional roots:{{sfn|Coon|Preminger|2009}}
{{quotation|'''''Telan''' ay jun naq winaq yul bʼe.''<br/>
::{{mono|1=There is a man '''lying down fallen''' on the road.}}
<br/>'''''Woqan''' hin kʼal ay max ekkʼu.''<br/>
::{{mono|1=I spent the entire day '''sitting down'''.}}
<br/>''Yet ewi '''xoyan''' ay jun lobʼaj stina.''<br/>
::{{mono|1=Yesterday there was a snake '''lying curled up''' in the entrance of the house.}}}}
In these three Qʼanjobʼal sentences, the positionals are ''telan'' ("something large or cylindrical lying down as if having fallen"), ''{{lang|kjb|woqan}}'' ("person sitting on a chairlike object"), and ''{{lang|kjb|xoyan}}'' ("curled up like a rope or snake").{{sfn|England|1994|p=87}}
===Word formation===
Compounding of noun roots to form new nouns is commonplace; there are also many morphological processes to derive nouns from verbs. Verbs also admit highly productive [[Derivation (linguistics)|derivational]] affixes of several kinds, most of which specify transitivity or voice.{{sfn|Suárez|1983| page=65–67}}
As in other Mesoamerican languages, there is a widespread metaphorical use of roots denoting body parts, particularly to form locatives and relational nouns, such as Kaqchikel ''-pan'' ("inside" and "stomach") or ''-wi'' ("head-hair" and "on top of").{{sfn|Campbell|Kaufman|Smith-Stark|1986|page=549}}
==Mayan loanwords==
A number of [[loanword]]s of Mayan or potentially Mayan origins are found in many other languages, principally [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[English language|English]], and some neighboring [[Mesoamerican languages]]. In addition, Mayan languages borrowed words, especially from Spanish.<ref name=Hofling2011>{{cite book|last=Hofling|first=Charles Andrew|title=Mopan Maya-Spanish-English Dictionary|year=2011|publisher=University of Utah Press|location=Salt Lake City, Utah|isbn=978-1607810292|page=6}}</ref>
A Mayan loanword is ''[[cigar]]''. {{lang|myn|sic}} is Mayan for "tobacco" and {{lang|myn|sicar}} means "to smoke tobacco leaves". This is the most likely origin for cigar and thus cigarette.<ref>[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=cigar Cigar], Online Etymology Dictionary.</ref>
The English word "[[hurricane]]", which is a borrowing from the Spanish word {{lang|es|huracán}} is considered to be related to the name of Maya storm deity [[Huracan|Jun Raqan]]. However, it is probable that the word passed into European languages from a [[Cariban languages|Cariban language]] or [[Taíno language|Taíno]].<ref>Read & González (2000), p.200</ref>
==Writing systems==
[[File:Dresden codex, page 2.jpg|thumb|left|[[Yucatec Maya language|Yucatec Maya writing]] in the ''[[Dresden Codex]]'', ca. 11–12th century, [[Chichen Itza]]]]
[[File:Dresden Codex p09.jpg|thumb|upright=0.68|right|Page 9 of the [[Dresden Codex]] showing the classic Maya language written in [[Maya script|Mayan hieroglyphs]] (from the 1880 Förstermann edition)]] The complex script used to write Mayan languages in pre-Columbian times and known today from engravings at several Maya archaeological sites has been deciphered almost completely. The script is a mix between a logographic and a syllabic system.<ref name="Kettunen & Helmke 2020, p. 8">{{harvtxt|Kettunen|Helmke|2020|page=8}}</ref>
In colonial times Mayan languages came to be written in a script derived from the Latin alphabet; orthographies were developed mostly by missionary grammarians.{{sfn|Suárez|1983|p=5}} Not all modern Mayan languages have standardized orthographies, but the Mayan languages of Guatemala use a standardized, Latin-based phonemic spelling system developed by the [[Academia de Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala]] (ALMG).<ref name=French/><ref name=England2007/> Orthographies for the languages of Mexico are currently being developed by the [[Instituto Nacional de Lenguas Indígenas]] (INALI).{{sfn|Campbell|2015}}{{sfn|Maxwell|2011}}
===Glyphic writing===
{{Main|Maya script}}
{{multiple image
| align = right
| image1 = Balam_1.svg
| width1 = 100
| alt1 =
| caption1 =
| image2 = Balam_2.svg
| width2 = 135
| alt2 =
| caption2 =
| footer = Two different ways of writing the word ''bʼalam'' "jaguar" in the Maya script. First as logogram representing the entire word with the single glyph <small>BʼALAM</small>, then phonetically using the three syllable signs ''bʼa'', ''la'', and ''ma''.
}}
{{multiple image
| align = right
| image1 = Balam_3.svg
| width1 = 120
| alt1 =
| caption1 =
| image2 = Balam_4.svg
| width2 = 100
| alt2 =
| caption2 =
| image3 = Balam_5.svg
| width3 = 130
| alt3 =
| caption3 =
| footer = Three ways to write ''bʼalam'' using combinations of the logogram with the syllabic signs as phonetic complements.
}}
The pre-Columbian [[Maya civilization]] developed and used an intricate and fully functional [[writing system]], which is the only [[Mesoamerican writing systems|Mesoamerican script]] that can be said to be almost fully deciphered. Earlier-established civilizations to the west and north of the Maya homelands that also had scripts recorded in surviving inscriptions include the [[Zapotec civilization|Zapotec]], [[Olmec]], and the [[Zoque languages|Zoque]]-speaking peoples of the southern [[Veracruz]] and western Chiapas area—but their scripts are as yet largely undeciphered. It is generally agreed that the Maya writing system was adapted from one or more of these earlier systems. A number of references identify the undeciphered [[Olmec hieroglyphs|Olmec script]] as its most likely precursor.{{sfn|Schele|Freidel|1990}}{{sfn|Soustelle|1984}}
In the course of the deciphering of the Maya hieroglyphic script, scholars have come to understand that it was a fully functioning writing system in which it was possible to express unambiguously any sentence of the spoken language. The system is of a type best classified as [[logosyllabary|logosyllabic]], in which symbols ([[glyph]]s or ''[[grapheme]]s'') can be used as either [[logogram]]s or [[syllable]]s.<ref name="Kettunen & Helmke 2020, p. 8"/> The script has a complete [[syllabary]] (although not all possible syllables have yet been identified), and a Maya scribe would have been able to write anything [[phonetic]]ally, syllable by syllable, using these symbols.<ref name="Kettunen & Helmke 2020, p. 8"/>
At least two major Mayan languages have been confidently identified in hieroglyphic texts, with at least one other language probably identified. An archaic language variety known as [[Classic Maya language|Classic Maya]] predominates in these texts, particularly in the Classic-era inscriptions of the southern and central lowland areas. This language is most closely related to the Chʼolan branch of the language family, modern descendants of which include Chʼol, Chʼortiʼ and Chontal. Inscriptions in an early Yucatecan language (the ancestor of the main surviving [[Yucatec language]]) have also been recognised or proposed, mainly in the [[Yucatán Peninsula]] region and from a later period. Three of the four extant [[Maya codices]] are based on Yucatec. It has also been surmised that some inscriptions found in the [[Chiapas highlands]] region may be in a Tzeltalan language whose modern descendants are Tzeltal and Tzotzil.{{sfn|Kettunen|Helmke|2020|p=13}} Other regional varieties and dialects are also presumed to have been used, but have not yet been identified with certainty.<ref name="Kettunen & Helmke 2020 p. 13"/>
Use and knowledge of the Maya script continued until the 16th century [[Spanish conquest of Yucatán|Spanish conquest]] at least. Bishop [[Diego de Landa Calderón]] of the [[Catholic Archdiocese of Yucatán]] prohibited the use of the written language, effectively ending the Mesoamerican tradition of literacy in the native script. He worked with the Spanish colonizers to destroy the bulk of Mayan texts as part of his efforts to [[religious conversion|convert]] the locals to [[Christianity]] and away from what he perceived as [[pagan]] idolatry. Later he described the use of hieroglyphic writing in the religious practices of Yucatecan Maya in his ''[[Relación de las cosas de Yucatán]]''.{{sfn|Kettunen|Helmke|2020|pages=9–11}}
===Colonial orthography===
{{anchor|Parra letter}}
Colonial orthography is marked by the use of ''c'' for /k/ (always hard, as in ''cic'' /kiik/), ''k'' for /q/ in Guatemala or for /kʼ/ in the Yucatán, ''h'' for /x/, and ''tz'' for /ts/; the absence of glottal stop or vowel length (apart sometimes for a double vowel letter for a long glottalized vowel, as in ''uuc'' /uʼuk/), the use of ''u'' for /w/, as in ''uac'' /wak/, and the variable use of ''z, ç, s'' for /s/. The greatest difference from modern orthography, however, is in the various attempts to transcribe the ejective consonants.<ref name=Missionary/>
About 1550, [[Francisco de la Parra]] invented distinctive letters for ejectives in the Mayan languages of Guatemala, the ''[[Tresillo (letter)|tresillo]]'' and ''[[cuatrillo]]'' (and derivatives). These were used in all subsequent Franciscan writing, and are occasionally seen even today [2005]. In 1605, [[Alonso Urbano]] doubled consonants for ejectives in [[Otomi language|Otomi]] (''pp, tt, ttz, cc / cqu''), and similar systems were adapted to Mayan. Another approach, in [[Yucatec]], was to add a bar to the letter, or to double the stem.<ref name=Missionary>{{harvtxt|Arzápalo Marín|2005}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Phoneme
!Yucatec
!Parra
|-
!pʼ
|pp, ꝑ, ꝑꝑ, 𝕡*
|
|-
!tʼ
|th, tħ, ŧ
|tt, th
|-
!tsʼ
|ɔ, dz
|ꜯ
|-
!tʃʼ
|cħ
|ꜯh
|-
!kʼ
|k
|[[cuatrillo|ꜭ]]
|-
!qʼ
|
|[[Tresillo (letter)|ꜫ]]
|}
<nowiki>*</nowiki>Only the stem of 𝕡 is doubled, but that is not supported by Unicode.
A ligature ꜩ for ''tz'' is used alongside ꜭ and ꜫ. The Yucatec convention of ''dz'' for {{IPA|/tsʼ/}} is retained in Maya family names such as [[Dzib]].
===Modern orthography===
{{main|Academia de Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala}}
[[File:Menu in maya.jpg|thumb|right|Dinner menu in Kaqchikel, [[Antigua, Guatemala]]]]
Since the colonial period, practically all Maya writing has used a [[Latin script|Latin alphabet]]. Formerly these were based largely on the [[Spanish alphabet]] and varied between authors, and it is only recently that standardized alphabets have been established. The first widely accepted alphabet was created for Yucatec Maya by the authors and contributors of the ''Diccionario Maya Cordemex'', a project directed by [[Alfredo Barrera Vásquez]] and first published in 1980.<ref group=notes>The Cordemex contains a lengthy introduction on the history, importance, and key resources of written Yucatec Maya, including a summary of the orthography used by the project (pp. 39a-42a).</ref> Subsequently, the [[Guatemalan Academy of Mayan Languages]] (known by its Spanish acronym ALMG), founded in 1986, adapted these standards to 22 Mayan languages (primarily in Guatemala). The script is largely phonemic, but abandoned the distinction between the apostrophe for ejective consonants and the glottal stop, so that ejective {{IPA|/tʼ/}} and the non-ejective sequence {{IPA|/tʔ/}} (previously ''tʼ ''and ''t7'') are both written ''tʼ.''<ref>
Josephe DeChicchis, [http://kgur.kwansei.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/10236/7801/1/37-2.pdf "Revisiting an imperfection in Mayan orthography"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141103001201/http://kgur.kwansei.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/10236/7801/1/37-2.pdf |date=2014-11-03 }} , ''Journal of Policy Studies'' 37 (March 2011)
</ref> Other major Maya languages, primarily in the Mexican state of Chiapas, such as Tzotzil, Tzeltal, Chʼol, and Tojolabʼal, are not generally included in this reformation, and are sometimes written with the conventions standardized by the Chiapan "State Center for Indigenous Language, Art, and Literature" (CELALI), which for instance writes "ts" rather than "tz" (thus Tseltal and Tsotsil).
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" width="100%"
|+ ALMG orthography for the [[phoneme]]s of Mayan languages
!colspan=6 width="30%"|Vowels
!colspan=10|Consonants
|-
!ALMG !![[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]] !!ALMG !!IPA !!ALMG !!IPA !!ALMG !!IPA !!ALMG !!IPA !!ALMG !!IPA !!ALMG !!IPA !!ALMG !!IPA
|-
|'''a'''||{{IPA|[a]}}
|'''aa''' ||{{IPA|[aː]}}
|'''ä''' ||{{IPA|[ɐ]}}
|'''bʼ''' ||{{IPA|[ɓ]}}
|'''b''' ||{{IPA|[b]}}
|'''ch''' ||{{IPA|[t͡ʃ]}}
|'''chʼ''' ||{{IPA|[t͡ʃʼ]}}
|'''h''' ||{{IPA|[h]}}
|-
|'''e''' ||{{IPA|[e]}}
|'''ee''' ||{{IPA|[eː]}}
|'''ë''' ||{{IPA|[ɛ]}}
|'''j''' ||{{IPA|[χ]}}
|'''l''' ||{{IPA|[l]}}
|'''k''' ||{{IPA|[k]}}
|'''kʼ''' ||{{IPA|[kʼ]}}
|'''m''' ||{{IPA|[m]}}
|-
|'''i''' ||{{IPA|[i]}}
|'''ii''' ||{{IPA|[iː]}}
|'''ï''' ||{{IPA|[ɪ]}}
|'''y''' ||{{IPA|[j]}}
|'''p''' ||{{IPA|[p]}}
|'''q''' ||{{IPA|[q]}}
|'''qʼ''' ||{{IPA|[qʼ]}}
|'''n''' ||{{IPA|[n]}}
|-
|'''o''' ||{{IPA|[o]}}
|'''oo''' ||{{IPA|[oː]}}
|'''ö''' ||{{IPA|[ɤ̞]}}
|'''s''' ||{{IPA|[s]}}
|'''x''' ||{{IPA|[ʃ]}}
|'''t''' ||{{IPA|[t]}}
|'''tʼ''' ||{{IPA|[tʼ]}}
|'''nh''' ||{{IPA|[ŋ]}}
|-
|'''u''' ||{{IPA|[u]}}
|'''uu''' ||{{IPA|[uː]}}
|'''ü''' ||{{IPA|[ʊ]}}
|'''w''' ||{{IPA|[w]}}
|'''r''' ||{{IPA|[r]}}
|'''tz''' ||{{IPA|[t͡s]}}
|'''tzʼ''' ||{{IPA|[t͡sʼ]}}
|''' ʼ ''' ||{{IPA|[ʔ]}}
|-
|colspan=16 align=left|
In tonal languages (primarily Yucatec), a high tone is indicated with an accent, as with "á" or "ée".
|}
For the languages that make a distinction between [[Palato-alveolar consonant|palato-alveolar]] and [[Retroflex consonant|retroflex]] affricates and fricatives (Mam, Ixil, Tektitek, Awakatek, Qʼanjobʼal, Poptiʼ, and Akatek in Guatemala, and Yucatec in Mexico) the ALMG suggests the following set of conventions.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" width="55%"
|+ ALMG convention for palato-alveolar and retroflex consonants
!ALMG !!IPA !!ALMG !!IPA !!ALMG !!IPA
|-
|'''ch''' ||{{IPA|[tʃ]}}
|'''chʼ''' ||{{IPA|[tʃʼ]}}
|'''x''' ||{{IPA|[ʃ]}}
|-
|'''tx'''||{{IPA|[tʂ]}}
|'''txʼ'''||{{IPA|[tʂʼ]}}
|'''xh''' ||{{IPA|[ʂ]}}
|}
==Literature==
{{main|Mesoamerican literature}}
From the classic language to the present day, a body of literature has been written in Mayan languages. The earliest texts to have been preserved are largely monumental inscriptions documenting rulership, succession, and ascension, conquest and calendrical and astronomical events. It is likely that other kinds of literature were written in perishable media such as [[Mayan codices|codices]] made of [[amate|bark]], only four of which have survived the ravages of time and the campaign of destruction by Spanish missionaries.{{sfn|Coe|1987|p=161}}
Shortly after the [[Spanish conquest of Mexico|Spanish conquest]], the Mayan languages began to be written with Latin letters. Colonial-era literature in Mayan languages include the famous ''[[Popol Vuh]]'', a mythico-historical narrative written in 17th century Classical Quiché but believed to be based on an earlier work written in the 1550s, now lost. The ''[[Título de Totonicapán]]'' and the 17th century theatrical work the ''[[Rabinal Achí]]'' are other notable early works in Kʼicheʼ, the latter in the [[Achi language|Achí dialect]].<ref group=notes>See {{harvtxt|Edmonson|1985}} for a thorough treatment of colonial Quiché literature.</ref> The ''[[Annals of the Cakchiquels]]'' from the late 16th century, which provides a historical narrative of the Kaqchikel, contains elements paralleling some of the accounts appearing in the ''Popol Vuh''. The historical and prophetical accounts in the several variations known collectively as the books of [[Chilam Balam]] are primary sources of early Yucatec Maya traditions.<ref group=notes>Read {{harvtxt|Edmonson|Bricker|1985}} for a thorough treatment of colonial Yucatec literature.</ref> The only surviving book of early lyric poetry, the [[Songs of Dzitbalche]] by Ah Bam, comes from this same period.{{sfn|Curl|2005}}
In addition to these singular works, many early grammars of indigenous languages, called "''artes''", were written by priests and friars. Languages covered by these early grammars include Kaqchikel, Classical Quiché, Tzeltal, Tzotzil and Yucatec. Some of these came with indigenous-language translations of the Catholic catechism.{{sfn|Suárez|1983|page=5}}
While Mayan peoples continued to produce a rich oral literature in the postcolonial period (after 1821), very little written literature was produced in this period.{{sfn|Suárez|1983|pages=163–168}}<ref group=notes>See {{harvtxt|Gossen|1985}} for examples of the Tzotzil tradition of oral literature.</ref>
Because indigenous languages were excluded from the education systems of Mexico and Guatemala after independence, Mayan peoples remained largely illiterate in their native languages, learning to read and write in Spanish, if at all.{{sfn|Maxwell|2015}} However, since the establishment of the Cordemex {{sfn|Barrera Vásquez|Bastarrachea Manzano|Brito Sansores|1980}} and the Guatemalan Academy of Mayan Languages (1986), native language literacy has begun to spread and a number of indigenous writers have started a new tradition of writing in Mayan languages.{{sfn|Maxwell|2011}}{{sfn|Maxwell|2015}} Notable among this new generation is the Kʼicheʼ poet [[Humberto Ak'abal]], whose works are often published in dual-language Spanish/Kʼicheʼ editions,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mcd.gob.gt/MICUDE/directorios/directorio_cultural_deportivo/letras/inst15040512/ |title=Humberto Ak´abal |access-date=2007-02-23 |date=March 26, 2007 |publisher=Guatemala Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes |language=es |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060214102223/http://www.mcd.gob.gt/MICUDE/directorios/directorio_cultural_deportivo/letras/inst15040512 |archive-date=February 14, 2006 }}</ref> as well as Kʼicheʼ scholar [[Luis Enrique Sam Colop]] (1955–2011) whose translations of the [[Popol Vuh]] into both Spanish and modern Kʼicheʼ achieved high acclaim.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ais.arizona.edu/news/luis-enrique-sam-colop-1955-2011 |title=Luis Enrique Sam Colop, 1955–2011 | American Indian Studies |publisher=Ais.arizona.edu |access-date=2011-12-19}}</ref>
==See also==
*[[Mayan Sign Language]]
*[[Cauque Mayan language|Cauque Mayan]] (mixed language)
==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=notes}}
===Citations===
{{Reflist|30em}}
==References==
{{refbegin|indent=yes|2}}<!--BEGIN biblio format. -->
*{{cite book|last=Arzápalo Marín|first=R. |chapter=La representación escritural del maya de Yucatán desde la época prehispánica hasta la colonia: Proyecciones hacia el siglo XXI|editor=Zwartjes|editor2=Altman|year=2005|title=Missionary Linguistics II: Orthography and Phonology|publisher=Walter Benjamins}}
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* {{cite book|last=Gossen|first=Gary|year=1985|chapter=Tzotzil Literature|title=Supplement to the Handbook of Middle American Indians, Volume 3|editor=Victoria Reifler Bricker|publisher=[[University of Texas Press]]|location=Austin|isbn=0-292-77593-8|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/supplementtohand00edmo|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/supplementtohand00edmo}}
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{{refend}}<!-- END biblio format style -->
==External links==
{{Incubator|code=hus|language=Huastec}}
{{Incubator|code=yua|language=Yucatec Maya}}
{{Incubator|code=ctu|language=Chʼol}}
{{Incubator|code=tzh|language=Tzeltal}}
{{Incubator|code=mam|language=Mam}}
{{Incubator|code=cak|language=Kaqchikel}}
*[http://www.almg.org.gt/ The Guatemalan Academy of Mayan Languages] – Spanish/Mayan site, the primary authority on Mayan Languages {{in lang|es}}
*[http://www.peabody.harvard.edu/node/24 Corpus of Maya Hieroglyphic Inscriptions Program at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University]
*[http://www.hup.harvard.edu/results-list.php?collection=1210 Corpus of Maya Hieroglyphic Inscriptions, Volumes 1–9. Published by the Peabody Museum Press and distributed by Harvard University Press]
*[http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Swadesh_lists_for_Mayan_languages Swadesh lists for Mayan languages] (from Wiktionary's [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Swadesh_lists Swadesh-list appendix])
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120814025555/http://cholsamaj.org/libros_por_genero.php?genre=4 Mayan languages and linguistics books from Cholsamaj]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060812000027/http://www.utexas.edu/courses/stross/ant389_files/maylanbib.htm Online bibliography of Mayan languages at the University of Texas]
*[http://www.mayas.uady.mx/diccionario/index.html Universidad Autonoma de Yucatan Mayan-Spanish dictionary] (Spanish)
{{Mayan languages|state=open}}
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[[Category:Mayan languages| ]]
[[Category:Languages attested from the 3rd century BC]]
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[[Category:Indigenous languages of Central America]]
[[Category:Indigenous languages of Mexico]]
[[Category:Mesoamerican languages]]' |
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-{{short description|Language family spoken in Mesoamerica}}
-{{redirect|Maya language}}
-{{featured article}}
-<!--Spelling conventions:
-- This article uses the ALMG orthographies for the Mayan languages of Guatemala, and the Mexican languages Chʼol, Wastek and Tojolabʼal. Traditional Spanish spellings are used for Tzotzil, Tzeltal, Lacandón and Chicomuceltec. The Cordemex orthography is used for the Yucatec language. For Classical CHiché the traditional spanish spelling is used. The name Jakaltek is preferred over the alternative Poptiʼ.
-– For the names of language groups in the genealogical classification the following spellings are used: Chʼolan, Qʼanjobalan, Quichean, Yucatecan and Huastecan.-->
-
-{{infobox language family
-|name=Mayan
- |region= [[Mesoamerica]]: Southern [[Mexico]]; [[Guatemala]]; [[Belize]]; western [[Honduras]] and [[El Salvador]]; small refugee and emigrant populations, especially in the [[United States]] and [[Canada]]
- |familycolor=American
-|family = One of the world's primary [[language family|language families]]
-|speakers = 6.0 million
- |glotto=maya1287
- |glottorefname=Mayan
- |protoname=[[Proto-Mayan language|Proto-Mayan]]
- |child1=[[Huastecan languages|Huastecan]]
- |child2=[[Yucatecan languages|Yucatecan]]
- |child3=[[Chʼolan languages|Chʼolan–Tzeltalan]]
- |child4=[[Qʼanjobalan languages|Qʼanjobalan]]
- |child5=[[Quichean languages|Quichean]]–[[Mamean languages|Mamean]]
- |child7=
- |iso2=myn
- |iso5=myn
- |map=Distribution-myn2.png
- |mapcaption=Location of Mayan speaking populations. See [[#Distribution|below]] for a detailed map of the different languages.
-}}
-{{Maya civilization}}
-
-The '''Mayan languages'''<ref group=notes>In [[linguistics]], it is conventional to use ''Mayan'' when referring to the languages, or an aspect of a language. In other academic fields, ''Maya'' is the preferred usage, serving as both a singular and plural [[noun]], and as the [[adjective|adjectival]] form.</ref> form a [[language family]] spoken in [[Mesoamerica]], both in the south of Mexico and northern [[Central America]]. Mayan languages are spoken by at least 6 million [[Maya peoples|Maya people]], primarily in [[Guatemala]], [[Mexico]], [[Belize]], [[El Salvador]] and [[Honduras]]. In 1996, Guatemala formally recognized 21 Mayan languages by name,{{sfn|Spence|Dye|Worby|de Leon-Escribano|1998}}<ref group=notes>Achiʼ is counted as a variant of Kʼicheʼ by the Guatemalan government.</ref> and Mexico [[Languages of Mexico|recognizes]] eight within its territory.
-
-The Mayan language family is one of the best-documented and most studied in the [[Americas]].<ref name="Campbell 1997, p.165">{{harvtxt|Campbell |1997|p=165}}</ref> Modern Mayan languages descend from the [[Proto-Mayan language]], thought to have been spoken at least 5,000 years ago; it has been partially [[historical linguistics|reconstructed]] using the [[comparative method (linguistics)|comparative method]]. The proto-Mayan language diversified into at least six different branches: the [[Huastecan languages|Huastecan]], [[Kʼicheʼ language|Quichean]], [[Yucatecan languages|Yucatecan]], [[Qʼanjobʼal language|Qanjobalan]], [[Mamean languages|Mamean]] and [[Chʼolan languages|Chʼolan–Tzeltalan]] branches.
-
-Mayan languages form part of the [[Mesoamerican language area]], an [[sprachbund|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 noun]]s instead of [[preposition]]s to indicate spatial relationships. They also possess [[grammar|grammatical]] and [[linguistic typology|typological]] features that set them apart from other languages of Mesoamerica, such as the use of [[Ergative–absolutive language|ergativity]] in the grammatical treatment of verbs and their subjects and objects, specific inflectional categories on verbs, and a special [[Lexical category|word class]] of "positionals" which is typical of all Mayan languages.
-
-During the [[pre-Columbian era]] of [[Mesoamerican chronology|Mesoamerican history]], some Mayan languages were written in the [[Logogram|logo-syllabic]] [[Maya script]]. Its use was particularly widespread during the [[Maya civilization#Classic period (c. 250–900 AD)|Classic period]] of Maya civilization (c. 250–900). The surviving corpus of over 5,000 known individual Maya inscriptions on buildings, monuments, pottery and bark-paper [[Maya codices|codices]],{{sfn|Kettunen|Helmke|2020|p=6}} combined with the rich post-Conquest [[Mesoamerican literature|literature in Mayan languages]] written in the [[Latin script]], provides a basis for the modern understanding of pre-Columbian history unparalleled in the Americas.
-
-==History==
-
-===Proto-Mayan===
-[[File:Mayan Language Migration Map.svg|thumb|right|upright=1.63|Approximate migration routes and dates for various Mayan language families. The region shown as Proto-Mayan is now occupied by speakers of the Qʼanjobalan branch (light blue in other figures).<ref group=notes>Based on Kaufman (1976).</ref>]]
-Mayan languages are the descendants of a [[proto-language]] called Proto-Mayan or, in Kʼicheʼ Maya, ''Nabʼee Mayaʼ Tzij'' ("the old Maya Language").{{sfn|England|1994}} The Proto-Mayan language is believed to have been spoken in the Cuchumatanes highlands of central Guatemala in an area corresponding roughly to where Qʼanjobalan is spoken today.{{sfn|Campbell|1997|p=165}} The earliest proposal which identified the Chiapas-Guatemalan highlands as the likely "cradle" of Mayan languages was published by the German antiquarian and scholar [[Karl Sapper]] in 1912.<ref group=notes>see attribution in {{harvtxt|Fernández de Miranda|1968|p=75}}</ref> [[Terrence Kaufman]] and John Justeson have reconstructed more than 3000 lexical items for the proto-Mayan language.{{sfn|Kaufman| with Justeson|2003}}
-
-According to the prevailing classification scheme by [[Lyle Campbell]] and Terrence Kaufman, the first division occurred around 2200 BCE, when Huastecan split away from Mayan proper after its speakers moved northwest along the [[Gulf Coast of Mexico]].{{sfn|Campbell|Kaufman|1985}} Proto-Yucatecan and Proto-Chʼolan 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 Chʼolan group and moved south into the [[Chiapas Highlands]], they came into contact with speakers of [[Mixe–Zoque languages]].{{sfn|Kaufman|1976}} According to an alternative theory by Robertson and [[Stephen D. Houston|Houston]], Huastecan stayed in the Guatemalan highlands with speakers of Chʼolan–Tzeltalan, separating from that branch at a much later date than proposed by Kaufman.{{sfn|Robertson|Houston|2002}}
-
-In the Archaic period (before 2000 BCE), a number of [[loanword]]s 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]].<ref group=notes>This theory was first proposed by {{harvcoltxt|Campbell|Kaufman|1976}}</ref> In the case of the [[Xincan language|Xincan]] and [[Lencan languages]], on the other hand, Mayan languages are more often the source than the receiver of loanwords. Mayan language specialists such as Campbell believe this suggests a period of intense contact between Maya and the [[Lenca people|Lencan]] and [[Xinca people]], possibly during the Classic period (250–900).<ref name="Campbell 1997, p.165" />
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-===Classic period===
-[[File:Palenque glyphs-edit1.jpg|thumb|upright=1.81|Classic period Maya glyphs in stucco at the ''Museo de sitio'' in [[Palenque]], Mexico]]
-During the Classic period the major branches began diversifying into separate languages. The split between Proto-Yucatecan (in the north, that is, the Yucatán Peninsula) and Proto-Chʼolan (in the south, that is, the Chiapas highlands and [[Petén Basin]]) had already occurred by the Classic period, when most extant [[#Glyphic writing|Maya inscriptions]] were written. Both variants are attested in hieroglyphic inscriptions at the [[List of Maya sites|Maya sites]] of the time, and both are commonly referred to as "[[Classic Maya language]]". Although a single prestige language was by far the most frequently recorded on extant hieroglyphic texts, evidence for at least three different varieties of Mayan have been discovered within the hieroglyphic corpus—an Eastern Chʼolan variety found in texts written in the southern Maya area and the highlands, a Western Chʼolan variety diffused from the Usumacinta region from the mid-7th century on,{{sfn|Hruby|Child|2004}} and a Yucatecan variety found in the texts from the Yucatán Peninsula.<ref name="Kettunen & Helmke 2020 p. 13">{{harvtxt|Kettunen|Helmke|2020|p=13}}</ref> The reason why only few linguistic varieties are found in the glyphic texts is probably that these served as [[prestige dialect]]s throughout the Maya region; hieroglyphic texts would have been composed in the language of the elite.<ref name="Kettunen & Helmke 2020 p. 13" />
-
-Stephen Houston, John Robertson and David Stuart have suggested that the specific variety of Chʼolan found in the majority of Southern Lowland glyphic texts was a language they dub "Classic Chʼoltiʼan", the ancestor language of the modern [[Chʼortiʼ language|Chʼortiʼ]] and [[Chʼoltiʼ language]]s. They propose that it originated in western and south-central Petén Basin, and that it was used in the inscriptions and perhaps also spoken by elites and priests.{{sfn|Houston|Robertson|Stuart|2000}} However, Mora-Marín has argued that traits shared by Classic Lowland Maya and the Chʼoltiʼan languages are retentions rather than innovations, and that the diversification of Chʼolan in fact post-dates the classic period. The language of the classical lowland inscriptions then would have been proto-Chʼolan.{{sfn|Mora-Marín|2009}}
-
-===Colonial period===
-During the Spanish colonization of Central America, all [[Indigenous languages of the Americas|indigenous]] languages were eclipsed by [[Spanish language|Spanish]], which became the new prestige language. The use of Mayan languages 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,<ref group=notes>The last independent Maya kingdom ([[Tayasal]]) was not conquered until 1697, some 170 years after the first ''[[conquistador]]es'' arrived. During the Colonial and Postcolonial periods, Maya peoples periodically rebelled against the colonizers, such as the [[Caste War of Yucatán]], which extended into the 20th century.</ref> and perhaps for this reason, many Maya communities still retain a high proportion of [[monolingual]] speakers. The Maya area is now dominated by the Spanish language. While a number of Mayan languages are [[moribund language|moribund]] or are considered [[endangered language|endangered]], others remain quite viable, with speakers across all age groups and native language use in all domains of society.<ref group=notes>Grenoble & Whaley (1998) characterized the situation this way: "Mayan languages typically have several hundreds of thousands of speakers, and a majority of Mayas speak a Mayan language as a first language. The driving concern of Maya communities is not to revitalize their language but to buttress it against the increasingly rapid spread of Spanish ... [rather than being] at the end of a process of language shift, [Mayan languages are] ... at the beginning."{{harvtxt|Grenoble|Whaley|1998|pages=xi-xii}}</ref>
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-===Modern period===
-[[File:Idioma Chuj.JPG|right|thumb|Drawing with text written in the Chuj language from Ixcán, Guatemala.]]
-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 [[Maya civilization]].<ref group=notes>{{harvtxt|Choi|2002}} writes: "In the recent Maya cultural activism, maintenance of Mayan languages has been promoted in an attempt to support 'unified Maya identity'. However, there is a complex array of perceptions about Mayan language and identity among Maya who I researched in Momostenango, a highland Maya community in Guatemala. On the one hand, Maya denigrate Kʼicheʼ and have doubts about its potential to continue as a viable language because the command of Spanish is an economic and political necessity. On the other hand, they do recognize the value of Mayan language when they wish to claim the 'authentic Maya identity'. It is this conflation of conflicting and ambivalent ideologies that inform language choice..."</ref>
-
-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 Maya identify first and foremost with a particular ethnic group, e.g. as "Yucatec" or "Kʼicheʼ"; but they also recognize a shared Maya kinship.{{sfn|Choi|2002}} Language has been fundamental in defining the boundaries of that kinship. Fabri writes: "The term Maya is problematic because Maya peoples do not constitute a homogeneous identity. Maya, rather, has become a strategy of self-representation for the Maya movements and its followers. The Academia de Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala (ALMG) finds twenty-one distinct Mayan languages."{{sfn|Fabri|2003|page=61. n1}} This pride in unity has led to an insistence on the distinctions of different Mayan languages, some of which are so closely related that they could easily be referred to as [[dialects]] of a single language. But, given that the term "dialect" has been used by some with [[Racism|racialist]] overtones in the past, as scholars made a spurious distinction between Amerindian "dialects" and European "languages", the preferred usage in Mesoamerica in recent years has been to designate the linguistic varieties spoken by different ethnic group as separate languages.<ref group=notes>See {{harvtxt|Suárez|1983}} chapter 2 for a thorough discussion of the usage and meanings of the words "dialect" and "language" in Mesoamerica.</ref>
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-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 Maya organisations in 1986. Following the 1996 [[Guatemalan Civil War|peace accords]], it has been gaining a growing recognition as the regulatory authority on Mayan languages both among Mayan scholars and the Maya peoples.<ref name=French>{{harvtxt|French|2003}}</ref><ref name=England2007>{{harvtxt|England|2007|pages=14, 93}}</ref>
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-==Genealogy and classification==
-{{See also|List of Mayan languages}}
-
-===Relations with other families===
-The Mayan language family has no demonstrated [[Genetic relationship (linguistics)|genetic relationship]] to other language families. Similarities with some languages of Mesoamerica are understood to be 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.{{sfn|Campbell|Kaufman|Smith-Stark|1986}}
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-A wide range of proposals have tried to link the Mayan family to other language families or [[language isolate|isolates]], but none is generally supported by linguists. Examples include linking Mayan with the [[Uru–Chipaya languages]], [[Mapuche language|Mapuche]], the Lencan languages, [[Purépecha language|Purépecha]], and [[Huave language|Huave]]. Mayan has also been included in various [[Hokan languages|Hokan]], [[Penutian languages|Penutian]], and [[Siouan]] hypotheses. The linguist [[Joseph Greenberg]] included Mayan in his highly controversial [[Amerind languages|Amerind hypothesis]], which is rejected by most [[historical linguistics|historical linguists]] as unsupported by available evidence.{{sfn|Campbell|1997|pages=''passim''}}
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-Writing in 1997, [[Lyle Campbell]], an expert in Mayan languages and historical linguistics, argued that the most promising proposal is the "[[Macro-Mayan languages|Macro-Mayan]]" hypothesis, which posits links between Mayan, the [[Mixe–Zoque languages]] and the [[Totonacan languages]], but more research is needed to support or disprove this hypothesis.<ref name="Campbell 1997, p.165"/> In 2015, Campbell noted that recent evidence presented by David Mora-Marin makes the case for a relationship between Mayan and Mixe-Zoquean languages "much more plausible".{{sfn|Mora-Marín|2016}}{{sfn|Campbell|2015|p=54}}
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-===Subdivisions===
-The Mayan family consists of thirty languages. Typically, these languages are grouped into 5-6 major subgroups (Yucatecan, Huastecan, Chʼolan–Tzeltalan, Qʼanjobʼalan, Mamean, and Kʼichean).{{sfn|Campbell|Kaufman|1985}}{{sfn|Campbell|2015}}{{sfn|Bennett|Coon|Henderson|2015}}
-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.{{sfn|Law|2013}}
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-One point still at issue is the position of Chʼolan and Qʼanjobalan–Chujean. Some scholars think these form a separate Western branch{{sfn|Campbell|Kaufman|1985}} (as in the diagram below). Other linguists do not support the positing of an especially close relationship between Chʼolan and Qʼanjobalan–Chujean; consequently they classify these as two distinct branches emanating directly from the proto-language.{{sfn|Robertson| 1977}} An alternative proposed classification groups the Huastecan branch as springing from the Chʼolan–Tzeltalan node, rather than as an outlying branch springing directly from the proto-Mayan node.{{sfn|Robertson|Houston|2002}}{{sfn|Houston|Robertson|Stuart|2000}}
-
-[[File:Mayan languages tree en.svg|center|upright=3.22|Genealogy of Mayan languages.|frameless]]
-
-==Distribution==
-{{see also|List of Mayan languages}}{{Multiple image
-| align =
-| direction = vertical
-| total_width = 300
-| image1 = Mayan languages map.svg
-| alt1 =
-| caption1 = Present geographic distribution of Mayan languages in Mexico and Central America
-| image2 = Mayan Language Map.png
-| caption2 = Map of Mayan language communities—font indicates relative size of speaker population. (Yucatec and Kʼicheʼ with 900,000 and 400,000 speakers respectively; 100,000–500,000 speakers; 10,000–100,000 speakers; and under 10,000 speakers.)
-}}
-Studies estimate that Mayan languages are spoken by more than 6 million people. Most of them live in Guatemala where depending on estimates 40%-60% of the population speaks a Mayan language. In Mexico the Mayan speaking population was estimated at 2.5 million people in 2010, whereas the Belizean speaker population figures around 30,000.{{sfn|Bennett|Coon|Henderson|2015}}
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-===Western branch===
-The Chʼolan languages were formerly widespread throughout the Maya area, but today the language with most speakers is [[Chʼol language|Chʼol]], spoken by 130,000 in Chiapas.<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005). [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=cti Ethnologue report on Chʼol de Tila], [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ctu Ethnologue report on Chʼol de Tumbalá], both accessed March 07, 2007.</ref> Its closest relative, the [[Chontal Maya language]],<ref group=notes>Chontal Maya is not to be confused with the [[Tequistlatecan]] languages that are referred to as "Chontal of Oaxaca".</ref> is spoken by 55,000<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005). [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=chf Ethnologue report on Chontal de Tabasco], accessed March 07, 2007.</ref> in the state of [[Tabasco]]. Another related language, now endangered, is [[Chʼortiʼ language|Chʼortiʼ]], which is spoken by 30,000 in Guatemala.<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005). [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=caa Chʼortiʼ: A language of Guatemala.] Ethnologue.com, accessed March 07, 2007.</ref> It was previously also spoken in the extreme west of [[Honduras]] and [[El Salvador]], but the Salvadorian variant is now extinct and the Honduran one is considered moribund. [[Chʼoltiʼ language|Chʼoltiʼ]], a sister language of Chʼortiʼ, is also extinct.{{sfn|Campbell|Kaufman|1985}} Chʼolan languages are believed to be the most conservative in vocabulary and phonology, and are closely related to the [[Classic Maya language|language of the Classic-era inscriptions]] found in the 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 Chʼortiʼ zone and the areas where Chʼol and Chontal are spoken.{{sfn|Kettunen|Helmke|2020|p=13}}
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-The closest relatives of the Chʼolan languages are the languages of the Tzeltalan branch, [[Tzotzil language|Tzotzil]] and [[Tzeltal language|Tzeltal]], both spoken in Chiapas by large and stable or growing populations (265,000 for Tzotzil and 215,000 for [[Tzeltal people|Tzeltal]]).<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005) [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_family.asp?subid=91318 Family Tree for Tzeltalan] accessed March 26, 2007.</ref> Tzeltal has tens of thousands of monolingual speakers.<ref>Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charl47547es D. Fennig (eds.). "[http://www.ethnologue.com/language/tzh/18 Tzeltal]" ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Eighteenth edition'', (2015). Dallas, Texas: SIL International.</ref>
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-[[Qʼanjobʼal language|Qʼanjobʼal]] is spoken by 77,700 in Guatemala's [[Huehuetenango]] department,<ref name="Gordon, Raymond G. 2005"/> with small populations elsewhere. The region of Qʼanjobalan speakers in Guatemala, due to genocidal policies during the [[Guatemalan Civil War|Civil War]] and its close proximity to the [[Guatemala–Mexico border|Mexican border]], was the source of a number of refugees. Thus there are now small Qʼanjobʼal, Jakaltek, and Akatek populations in various locations in Mexico, the United States (such as [[Tuscarawas County, Ohio]]{{sfn|Solá|2011}} and Los Angeles, California{{sfn|Popkin|2005}}), and, through postwar resettlement, other parts of Guatemala.{{sfn|Rao|2015}} [[Jakaltek language|Jakaltek]] (also known as Poptiʼ<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005). Gordon (2005) recognizes Eastern and Western dialects of [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_family.asp?subid=92216 Jakaltek], as well as [[Mochoʼ language|Mochoʼ]] (also called Mototzintlec), a language with less than 200 speakers in the Chiapan villages of Tuzantán and Mototzintla.</ref>) is spoken by almost 100,000 in several municipalities<ref>Jakaltek is spoken in the ''[[Municipio (Mexico)|municipios]]'' of [[Jacaltenango]], [[La Democracia, Huehuetenango|La Democracia]], [[Concepción, Mexico|Concepción]], [[San Antonio Huista]] and [[Santa Ana Huista]], and in parts of the [[Nentón]] ''municipio''.</ref> of [[Huehuetenango]]. Another member of this branch is [[Akatek language|Akatek]], with over 50,000 speakers in [[San Miguel Acatán]] and [[San Rafael La Independencia]].<ref>Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig (eds.). "[http://www.ethnologue.com/language/knj/18 Akateko]" ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Eighteenth edition'', (2015). Dallas, Texas: SIL International.</ref>
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-[[Chuj language|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 [[La Trinitaria, Mexico|La Trinitaria]], [[Chiapas]], and the villages of Tziscau and Cuauhtémoc. [[Tojolabal language|Tojolabʼal]] is spoken in eastern Chiapas by 36,000 people.<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005) [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=toj Tojolabal: A language of Mexico.] and [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=cnam Chuj: A language of Guatemala.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001200045/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=cnam |date=2007-10-01 }} both accessed March 19, 2007.</ref>
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-===Eastern branch===
-The Quichean–Mamean languages and dialects, with two sub-branches and three subfamilies, are spoken in the [[Guatemalan Highlands|Guatemalan highlands]].
-
-[[Qʼeqchiʼ language|Qʼeqchiʼ]] (sometimes spelled Kekchi), which constitutes its own sub-branch within Quichean–Mamean, is spoken by about 800,000 people in the southern [[Petén (department)|Petén]], [[Izabal Department|Izabal]] and [[Alta Verapaz]] departments of Guatemala, and also in Belize by 9,000 speakers. In El Salvador it is spoken by 12,000 as a result of recent migrations.<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005). [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=kek Ethnologue report on Qʼeqchi], accessed March 07, 2007.</ref>
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-The [[Uspantek language]], which also springs directly from the Quichean–Mamean node, is native only to the [[Uspantán]] ''[[Municipalities of Guatemala|municipio]]'' in the department of [[Quiché (department)|El Quiché]], and has 3,000 speakers.<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005) [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=usp Ethnologue report for Uspantec], accessed March 26, 2007.</ref>
-
-Within the Quichean sub-branch [[Kʼicheʼ language|Kʼicheʼ (Quiché)]], the Mayan language with the largest number of speakers, is spoken by around 1,000,000 [[Kʼicheʼ people|Kʼicheʼ Maya]] in the [[Guatemala]]n highlands, around the towns of [[Chichicastenango]] and [[Quetzaltenango]] and in the [[Sierra de los Cuchumatanes|Cuchumatán mountains]], as well as by urban emigrants in [[Guatemala City]].<ref name="Gordon, Raymond G. 2005"/> The famous Maya mythological document, ''[[Popol Vuh]]'', is written in an antiquated Kʼicheʼ often called [[Classical Kʼicheʼ language|Classical Kʼicheʼ (or Quiché)]]. The [[Kʼicheʼ Kingdom of Qʼumarkaj|Kʼicheʼ culture]] was at its pinnacle at the time of the Spanish conquest. [[Qʼumarkaj]], near the present-day city of [[Santa Cruz del Quiché]], was its economic and ceremonial center.{{sfn|Edmonson|1968|pages=250–251}} [[Achi language|Achi]] is spoken by 85,000 people in [[Cubulco]] and [[Rabinal]], two ''municipios'' of [[Baja Verapaz]]. In some classifications, e.g. the one by [[Lyle Campbell|Campbell]], Achi is counted as a form of Kʼicheʼ. However, owing to a historical division between the two ethnic groups, the Achi Maya do not regard themselves as Kʼicheʼ.<ref group=notes>The Ethnologue considers the dialects spoken in Cubulco and Rabinal to be distinct languages, two of the eight languages of a Quiché-Achi family. Raymond G., Gordon Jr. (ed.). Ethnologue, (2005). [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_family.asp?subid=91829 Language Family Tree for Mayan], accessed March 26, 2007.</ref> The [[Kaqchikel language]] is spoken by about 400,000 people in an area stretching from Guatemala City westward to the northern shore of [[Lago de Atitlán|Lake Atitlán]].<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005). [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_family.asp?subid=92230 Family Tree for Kaqchikel], accessed March 26, 2007.</ref> [[Tzʼutujil language|Tzʼutujil]] has about 90,000 speakers in the vicinity of Lake Atitlán.<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005). [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=tzj Ethnologue report on Eastern Tzʼutujil], [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=tzt Ethnologue report on Western Tzʼutujil] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070410081706/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=tzt |date=2007-04-10 }}, both accessed March 26, 2007.</ref> Other members of the Kʼichean branch are [[Sakapultek language|Sakapultek]], spoken by about 15,000 people mostly in [[El Quiché]] department,<ref>Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig (eds.). "[http://www.ethnologue.com/language/quv/18 Sakapulteko]" ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Eighteenth edition'', (2015). Dallas, Texas: SIL International.</ref> and [[Sipakapense language|Sipakapense]], which is spoken by 8,000 people in [[Sipacapa]], [[San Marcos (department)|San Marcos]].<ref>Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig (eds.). "[http://www.ethnologue.com/language/qum/18 Sipakapense]" ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Eighteenth edition'', (2015). Dallas, Texas: SIL International.</ref>
-
-The largest language in the Mamean sub-branch is [[Mam language|Mam]], spoken by 478,000 people in the departments of San Marcos and Huehuetenango. [[Awakatek language|Awakatek]] is the language of 20,000 inhabitants of central [[Aguacatán]], another municipality of Huehuetenango. [[Ixil language|Ixil]] (possibly three different languages) is spoken by 70,000 in the "[[Ixil Triangle]]" region of the [[Quiché (department)|department of El Quiché]].<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005) [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ixi Ethnologue report on Nebaj Ixil] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080504025151/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ixi |date=2008-05-04 }}, [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ixj Chajul Ixil] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061208132311/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ixj |date=2006-12-08 }} & [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ixl San Juan Cotzal Ixil], accessed March 07, 2008.</ref> [[Tektitek language|Tektitek]] (or Teko) is spoken by over 6,000 people in the municipality of Tectitán, and 1,000 refugees in Mexico. According to the Ethnologue the number of speakers of Tektitek is growing.<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005) [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ttc Ethnologue report for Tektitek], accessed March 07, 2007.</ref>
-
-The Poqom languages are closely related to Core Quichean, with which they constitute a Poqom-Kʼichean sub-branch on the Quichean–Mamean node.{{sfn|Campbell|1997|p=163}} [[Poqomchiʼ language|Poqomchiʼ]] is spoken by 90,000 people<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005). [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=poh Ethnologue report on Eastern Poqomam], [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=pob Ethnologue report on Western Poqomchiʼ], both accessed March 07, 2007.</ref> in [[Purulhá]], [[Baja Verapaz]], and in the following municipalities of [[Alta Verapaz]]: [[Santa Cruz Verapaz]], [[San Cristóbal Verapaz]], [[Tactic (municipality)|Tactic]], [[Tamahú]] and [[Tucurú]]. [[Poqomam language|Poqomam]] is spoken by around 49,000 people in several small pockets in [[Guatemala]].<ref>Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig (eds.). "[http://www.ethnologue.com/language/poc/18 Poqomam]" ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Eighteenth edition'', (2015). Dallas, Texas: SIL International.</ref>
-
-===Yucatecan branch===
-[[File:Map-Maya in Mexico.svg|thumb|The area where Yucatec Maya is spoken in the peninsula of Yucatán]]
-[[Yucatec Maya language|Yucatec Maya]] (known simply as "Maya" to its speakers) is the most commonly spoken Mayan 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]].<ref name="Gordon, Raymond G. 2005">Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.). Ethnologue, (2005).</ref><ref>
-[http://www.inegi.gob.mx/est/contenidos/espanol/rutinas/ept.asp?t=mlen10&c=3337 Población hablante de lengua indígena de 5 y más años por principales lenguas, 1970 a 2005] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070825062559/http://www.inegi.gob.mx/est/contenidos/espanol/rutinas/ept.asp?t=mlen10&c=3337 |date=2007-08-25 }} [[INEGI]]
-</ref> It remains common in [[Yucatán (state)|Yucatán]] and in the adjacent states of [[Quintana Roo]] and [[Campeche]].<ref>Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig (eds.). "[http://www.ethnologue.com/language/yua/18 Maya, Yucatec]" ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Eighteenth edition'', (2015). Dallas, Texas: SIL International.</ref>
-
-The other three Yucatecan languages are [[Mopan language|Mopan]], spoken by around 10,000 speakers primarily in [[Belize]]; [[Itzaʼ language|Itzaʼ]], an extinct or moribund language from Guatemala's Petén Basin;<ref>There were only 12 remaining native speakers in 1986 according to Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.). Ethnologue, (2005).</ref> and [[Lacandon language|Lacandón]] or Lakantum, also severely endangered with about 1,000 speakers in a few villages on the outskirts of the [[Selva Lacandona]], in [[Chiapas]].<ref>Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig (eds.). "[http://www.ethnologue.com/language/lac/18 Lacandon]" ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Eighteenth edition'', (2015). Dallas, Texas: SIL International.</ref>
-
-===Huastecan branch===
-[[Wastek language|Wastek]] (also spelled Huastec and Huaxtec) is spoken in the Mexican states of [[Veracruz]] and [[San Luis Potosí]] by around 110,000 people.<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.). Ethnologue (2005).</ref> 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.{{sfn|Campbell|Canger|1978}}
-
-==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.{{sfn|Campbell|Kaufman|1985}}{{sfn|Campbell|2015}}<ref group=notes>Proto-Mayan allowed roots of the shape {{IPA|CVC, CVVC, CVhC, CVʔC}}, and {{IPA|CVSC}} (where {{IPA|S}} is {{IPA|/s/}}, {{IPA|/ʃ/}}, or {{IPA|/x/}})); see {{harvtxt|England|1994|pages=77}}</ref> 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.{{sfn|Campbell|2015}} It has been suggested that proto-Mayan was a [[Tonal Language|tonal language]], based on the fact that four different contemporary Mayan languages have tone (Yucatec, Uspantek, San Bartolo Tzotzil<ref group=notes>{{harvtxt|Campbell|2015}} mistakenly writes Tzeltal for Tzotzil, {{harvtxt|Avelino|Shin|2011}} states that the reports of a fully developed tone contrast in San Bartolome Tzotzil are inaccurate</ref> and Mochoʼ), but since these languages each can be shown to have innovated tone in different ways, Campbell considers this unlikely.{{sfn|Campbell|2015}}
-
-{| align="center" class="wikitable" style="float: none; text-align: center"
-|-
-|+Proto-Mayan vowels
-!rowspan=2 |
-!colspan=2 | [[Front vowel|Front]]
-!colspan=2 | [[Central vowel|Central]]
-!colspan=2 | [[Back vowel|Back]]
-|-
-! <small>[[Vowel length|Short]]</small>
-! <small>[[Vowel length|Long]]</small>
-! <small>[[Vowel length|Short]]</small>
-! <small>[[Vowel length|Long]]</small>
-! <small>[[Vowel length|Short]]</small>
-! <small>[[Vowel length|Long]]</small>
-|-
-! [[Close vowel|High]]
-| {{IPA link|i}}
-| {{IPA link|iː}}
-|colspan=2|
-| {{IPA link|u}}
-| {{IPA link|uː}}
-|-
-! [[Close-mid vowel|Mid]]
-| {{IPA link|e}}
-| {{IPA link|eː}}
-|colspan=2|
-| {{IPA link|o}}
-| {{IPA link|oː}}
-|-
-! [[Open vowel|Low]]
-|colspan=2|
-| {{IPA link|a}}
-| {{IPA link|aː}}
-|colspan=2|
-|}
-
-{| class="wikitable" align="center" style="float: none; text-align: center"
-|+Proto-Mayan consonants
-! colspan="2" |
-! [[Bilabial consonant|Bilabial]]
-! [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
-! [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
-! [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
-! [[Uvular consonant|Uvular]]
-! [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
-|-
-! colspan="2" | [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
-| {{IPA link|m}}
-| {{IPA link|n}}
-|
-| {{IPA link|ŋ}}
-|
-|
-|-
-! rowspan="2" | [[Plosive]]
-! {{small|Plain}}
-| {{IPA link|p}}
-| {{IPA link|t}}
-| {{IPA link|tʲ}}
-| {{IPA link|k}}
-| {{IPA link|q}}
-| rowspan="2" | {{IPA link|ʔ}}
-|-
-! {{small|[[Glottalic consonant|Glottalic]]}}
-| {{IPA link|ɓ}}
-| {{IPA link|tʼ}}
-| {{IPA link|tʲʼ}}
-| {{IPA link|kʼ}}
-| {{IPA link|qʼ}}
-|-
-! rowspan="2" | [[Affricate]]
-! {{small|Plain}}
-|
-| {{IPA link|t͡s}}
-| {{IPA link|t͡ʃ}}
-|
-|
-|
-|-
-! {{small|[[Glottalic consonant|Glottalic]]}}
-|
-| {{IPA link|t͡sʼ}}
-| {{IPA link|t͡ʃʼ}}
-|
-|
-|
-|-
-! colspan="2" | [[Fricative]]
-|
-| {{IPA link|s}}
-| {{IPA link|ʃ}}
-| {{IPA link|x}}
-|
-| {{IPA link|h}}
-|-
-! colspan="2" | [[Liquid consonant|Liquid]]
-|
-| {{IPA link|l}} {{IPA link|r}}
-|
-|
-|
-|
-|-
-! colspan="2" | [[Glide consonant|Glide]]
-|
-|
-| {{IPA link|j}}
-| {{IPA link|w}}
-|
-|
-|}
-
-===Phonological evolution of Proto-Mayan===
-{{main|Proto-Mayan language}}
-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 Chʼolan) all changed the Proto-Mayan [[phoneme]] *{{IPA|/r/}} into {{IPA|[j]}}, some languages of the eastern branch retained {{IPA|[r]}} (Kʼichean), and others changed it into {{IPA|[tʃ]}} or, word-finally, {{IPA|[t]}} (Mamean). The shared innovations between Huastecan, Yucatecan and Chʼolan show that they separated from the other Mayan languages before the changes found in other branches had taken place.<ref name="England 1994, pp.30–31">{{harvtxt|England|1994|pages=30–31}}</ref>
-
-{| class="wikitable"
-|-
-|+ Reflexes of Proto-Mayan *{{IPA|[r]}} in daughter languages
-! scope="col" | Proto-Mayan
-! scope="col" style="background-color:orange;"|Wastek
-! scope="col" style="background-color:lime;"|Yucatec
-! scope="col" style="background-color:lime;"|Mopan
-! scope="col" style="background-color:blue; color:white"|Tzeltal
-! scope="col" style="background-color:#2a7FFF; color:white"|Chuj
-! scope="col" style="background-color:#2a7FFF; color:white"|Qʼanjobʼal
-! scope="col" style="background-color:#892ca0; color:white"|Mam
-! scope="col" style="background-color:#892ca0; color:white"|Ixil
-! scope="col" style="background-color:magenta"|Kʼicheʼ
-! scope="col" style="background-color:magenta"|Kaqchikel
-! scope="col" style="background-color:magenta"|Poqomam
-! scope="col" style="background-color:magenta"|Qʼeqchiʼ
-|-
-! scope="row" style="font-weight:normal;" | *{{IPA|[raʔʃ]}}<br/>"''green''"
-| style="background-color:#FFD482;" align="center" | {{IPA|[jaʃ]}}
-| style="background-color:#83FF82;" align="center" | {{IPA|[jaʔʃ]}}
-| style="background-color:#83FF82;" align="center" | {{IPA|[jaʔaʃ]}}
-| style="background-color:#9B9CFF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[jaʃ]}}
-| style="background-color:#95C0FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[jaʔaʃ]}}
-| style="background-color:#95C0FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[jaʃ]}}
-| style="background-color:#bb9fb8;" align="center" | {{IPA|[tʃaʃ]}}
-| style="background-color:#bb9fb8;" align="center" | {{IPA|[tʃaʔʃ]}}
-| style="background-color:#FF82FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[raʃ]}}
-| style="background-color:#FF82FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[rɐʃ]}}
-| style="background-color:#FF82FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[raʃ]}}
-| style="background-color:#FF82FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[raʃ]}}
-|-
-! scope="row" style="font-weight:normal;" | *{{IPA|[war]}}<br/>"''sleep''"
-| style="background-color:#FFD482;" align="center" | {{IPA|[waj]}}
-| style="background-color:#83FF82;" align="center" | {{IPA|[waj]}}
-| style="background-color:#83FF82;" align="center" | {{IPA|[wɐjn]}}
-| style="background-color:#9B9CFF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[waj]}}
-| style="background-color:#95C0FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[waj]}}
-| style="background-color:#95C0FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[waj]}}
-| style="background-color:#bb9fb8;" align="center" | {{IPA|[wit]}}<br/><small>(Awakatek)</small>
-| style="background-color:#bb9fb8;" align="center" | {{IPA|[wat]}}
-| style="background-color:#FF82FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[war]}}
-| style="background-color:#FF82FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[war]}}
-| style="background-color:#FF82FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[wɨr]}}
-| style="background-color:#FF82FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[war]}}
-|}
-
-The palatalized [[plosive]]s {{IPA|[tʲʼ]}} and {{IPA|[tʲ]}} are not found in most of the modern families. Instead they are reflected differently in different branches, allowing a reconstruction of these phonemes as palatalized plosives. In the eastern branch (Chujean-Qʼanjobalan and Chʼolan) they are reflected as {{IPA|[t]}} and {{IPA|[tʼ]}}. In Mamean they are reflected as {{IPA|[ts]}} and {{IPA|[tsʼ]}} and in Quichean as {{IPA|[tʃ]}} and {{IPA|[tʃʼ]}}. Yucatec stands out from other western languages in that its palatalized plosives are sometimes changed into {{IPA|[tʃ]}} and sometimes {{IPA|[t]}}.{{sfn|England|1994|page=35}}
-
-{| class="wikitable"
-|-
-|+ Reflexes of Proto-Mayan {{IPA|[tʲʼ]}} and {{IPA|[tʲ]}}<ref name="EnglandCognates">Adapted from cognate list in {{harvtxt|England|1994}}.</ref><ref name=HullChorti>Kerry Hull <nowiki>''An Abbreviated Dictionary of Ch’orti’ Maya''</nowiki>. 2005</ref><ref name=HopkinsChuj1965>Nicholas A. Hopkins. <nowiki>''A DICTIONARY OF THE CHUJ (MAYAN) LANGUAGE''</nowiki>. 2012</ref>
-! scope="col" | Proto-Mayan
-! scope="col" style="background-color:lime;" | Yucatec
-! scope="col" style="background-color:blue; color:white"|Ch'ol
-! scope="col" style="background-color:blue; color:white"|Chʼortiʼ
-! scope="col" style="background-color:#2a7FFF; color:white" | Chuj
-! scope="col" style="background-color:#2a7FFF; color:white" | Qʼanjobʼal
-! scope="col" style="background-color:#2a7FFF; color:white" | Poptiʼ (Jakaltek)
-! scope="col" style="background-color:#892ca0; color:white" | Mam
-! scope="col" style="background-color:#892ca0; color:white" | Ixil
-! scope="col" style="background-color:magenta" | Kʼicheʼ
-! scope="col" style="background-color:magenta" | Kaqchikel
-|-
-! scope="row" style="font-weight:normal;" | *{{IPA|[tʲeːʔ]}}<br/>"''tree''"
-| style="background-color:#83FF82;" align="center" | {{IPA|[tʃeʔ]}}
-| style="background-color:#9B9CFF;" align="center" |{{IPA|/tʲeʔ/}}
-| style="background-color:#9B9CFF;" align="center" |{{IPA|/teʔ/}}
-| style="background-color:#95C0FF;" align="center" |{{IPA|/teʔ/}}
-| style="background-color:#95C0FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[teʔ]}}
-| style="background-color:#95C0FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[teʔ]}}
-| style="background-color:#bb9fb8;" align="center" | {{IPA|[tseːʔ]}}
-| style="background-color:#bb9fb8;" align="center" | {{IPA|[tseʔ]}}
-| style="background-color:#FF82FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[tʃeːʔ]}}
-| style="background-color:#FF82FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[tʃeʔ]}}
-|-
-! scope="row" style="font-weight:normal;" | *{{IPA|[tʲaʔŋ]}}<br/>"''ashes''"
-| style="background-color:#83FF82;" align="center" | {{IPA|[taʔn]}}
-| style="background-color:#9B9CFF;" align="center" |
-| style="background-color:#9B9CFF;" align="center" |
-| style="background-color:#95C0FF;" align="center" |{{IPA|/taʔaŋ/}}
-| style="background-color:#95C0FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[tan]}}
-| style="background-color:#95C0FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[taŋ]}}
-| style="background-color:#bb9fb8;" align="center" | {{IPA|[tsaːx]}}
-| style="background-color:#bb9fb8;" align="center" | {{IPA|[tsaʔ]}}
-| style="background-color:#FF82FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[tʃaːx]}}
-| style="background-color:#FF82FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[tʃax]}}
-|}
-
-The Proto-Mayan velar nasal *{{IPA|[ŋ]}} is reflected as {{IPA|[x]}} in the eastern branches (Quichean–Mamean), {{IPA|[n]}} in Qʼanjobalan, Chʼolan and Yucatecan, {{IPA|[h]}} in Huastecan, and only conserved as {{IPA|[ŋ]}} in Chuj and Jakaltek.<ref name="England 1994, pp.30–31"/><ref name=HullChorti /><ref name=HopkinsChuj1965 />
-
-{| class="wikitable"
-|-
-|+ Reflexes of Proto-Mayan {{IPA|[ŋ]}}<ref name="EnglandCognates"/>
-! scope="col" | Proto-Mayan
-! scope="col" style="background-color:lime;" | Yucatec
-! scope="col" style="background-color:blue; color:white"|Chʼortiʼ
-! scope="col" style="background-color:#2a7FFF; color:white" | Qʼanjobal
-! scope="col" style="background-color:#2a7FFF; color:white" | Chuj
-! scope="col" style="background-color:#2a7FFF; color:white" | Jakaltek (Poptiʼ)
-! scope="col" style="background-color:#892ca0; color:white" | Ixil
-! scope="col" style="background-color:magenta" | Kʼicheʼ
-|-
-! scope="row" style="font-weight:normal;" | *{{IPA|[ŋeːh]}}<br/>"''tail''"
-| style="background-color:#83FF82;" align="center" | {{IPA|[neːh]}}
-| style="background-color:#9B9CFF;" align="center" |{{IPA|/nex/}}
-| style="background-color:#95C0FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[ne]}}
-| style="background-color:#95C0FF;" align="center" | {{nowrap|{{IPA|/ŋeh/}}}}
-| style="background-color:#95C0FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[ŋe]}}
-| style="background-color:#a47fA0;" align="center" | {{IPA|[xeh]}}
-| style="background-color:#FF82FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[xeːʔ]}}
-|}
-
-===Diphthongs===
-Vowel quality is typically classified as having monophthongal vowels. In traditionally diphthongized contexts, Mayan languages will realize the V-V sequence by inserting a hiatus-breaking glottal stop or glide insertion between the vowels. Some Kʼichean-branch languages have exhibited developed diphthongs from historical long vowels, by breaking /e:/ and /o:/.{{sfn|England|2001}}
-
-==Grammar==
-The [[morphology (linguistics)|morphology]] of Mayan languages is simpler than that of other Mesoamerican languages,<ref group=notes>{{harvtxt|Suárez|1983|p=65}} writes: "Neither Tarascan nor Mayan have words as complex as those found in Nahuatl, Totonac or Mixe–Zoque, but, in different ways both have a rich morphology."</ref> yet its [[morphology (linguistics)|morphology]] is still considered [[Agglutinative language|agglutinating]] and [[polysynthetic language|polysynthetic]].{{sfn|Suárez|1983|p=65}} Verbs are marked for [[Grammatical aspect|aspect]] or [[Grammatical tense|tense]], the [[Grammatical person|person]] of the [[subject (grammar)|subject]], the person of the [[object (grammar)|object]] (in the case of [[transitive verb]]s), and for [[Grammatical number|plurality]] of person. Possessed nouns are marked for person of possessor. In Mayan languages, nouns are not marked for case, and gender is not explicitly marked.
-
-===Word order===
-Proto-Mayan is thought to have had a basic [[verb–object–subject]] word order with possibilities of switching to [[verb–subject–object|VSO]] in certain circumstances, such as complex sentences, sentences where object and subject were of equal animacy and when the subject was definite.<ref group=notes>Lyle Campbell (1997) refers to studies by Norman and Campbell ((1978) "Toward a proto-Mayan syntax: a comparative perspective on grammar", in ''Papers in Mayan Linguistics'', ed. Nora C. England, pp. 136–56. Columbia: Museum of Anthropology, University of Missouri) and by {{harvtxt|England|1991}}.</ref> Today Yucatecan, Tzotzil and Tojolabʼal have a basic fixed VOS word order. Mamean, Qʼanjobʼal, Jakaltek and one dialect of Chuj have a fixed VSO one. Only Chʼortiʼ has a basic [[subject–verb–object|SVO]] word order. Other Mayan languages allow both VSO and VOS word orders.{{sfn|England|1991}}
-
-===Numeral classifiers===
-In many Mayan languages, counting requires the use of [[numeral classifiers]], which specify the class of items being counted; the numeral cannot appear without an accompanying classifier. Some Mayan languages, such as Kaqchikel, do not use numeral classifiers. Class is usually assigned according to whether the object is animate or inanimate or according to an object's general shape.<ref>See, e.g., Tozzer (1977 [1921]), pp. 103, 290–292.</ref> Thus when counting "flat" objects, a different form of numeral classifier is used than when counting round things, oblong items or people. In some Mayan languages such as Chontal, classifiers take the form of affixes attached to the numeral; in others such as Tzeltal, they are free forms. Jakaltek has both numeral classifiers and noun classifiers, and the noun classifiers can also be used as pronouns.{{sfn|Craig|1977|p=141}}
-
-The meaning denoted by a noun may be altered significantly by changing the accompanying classifier. In Chontal, for example, when the classifier ''-tek'' is used with names of plants it is understood that the objects being enumerated are whole trees. If in this expression a different classifier, ''-tsʼit'' (for counting long, slender objects) is substituted for ''-tek'', this conveys the meaning that only sticks or branches of the tree are being counted:<ref>Example follows {{harvtxt|Suárez|1983|page=88}}</ref>
-
-{|align="center" class="wikitable"
-|+Semantic differences in numeral classifiers (from Chontal)
-|bgcolor="#FFDEAD"|'''''untek wop''''' (one-tree Jahuacte)
-|bgcolor="#FFFFAA"|'''''untsʼit wop''''' (one-stick jahuacte)
-|-
-|{{interlinear|un- tek wop|one- "plant" {jahuacte tree}|"one jahuacte tree"}}
-|{{interlinear|un- tsʼit wop|one- {"long.slender.object"} {jahuacte tree}|"one stick from a jahuacte tree"}}
-|}
-
-===Possession===
-The morphology of Mayan nouns is fairly simple: they inflect for number (plural or singular), and, when possessed, for person and number of their possessor. Pronominal possession is expressed by a set of possessive prefixes attached to the noun, as in Kaqchikel ''ru-kej'' "his/her horse". Nouns may furthermore adopt a special form marking them as possessed. For nominal possessors, the possessed noun is inflected as possessed by a third-person possessor, and followed by the possessor noun, e.g. Kaqchikel ''ru-kej ri achin'' "the man's horse" (literally "his horse the man").<ref name="Suaréz 1983, p. 85">{{harvtxt|Suárez|1983|page=85}}</ref> This type of formation is a main diagnostic trait of the [[Mesoamerican Linguistic Area]] and recurs throughout [[Mesoamerica]].{{sfn|Campbell|Kaufman|Smith-Stark|1986|pages=544–545}}
-
-Mayan languages often contrast alienable and [[inalienable possession]] by varying the way the noun is (or is not) marked as possessed. Jakaltek, for example, contrasts inalienably possessed ''{{IPA|wetʃel}}'' "my photo (in which I am depicted)" with alienably possessed ''{{IPA|wetʃele}}'' "my photo (taken by me)". The prefix ''we-'' marks the first person singular possessor in both, but the absence of the ''-e'' possessive suffix in the first form marks inalienable possession.<ref name="Suaréz 1983, p. 85"/>
-
-===Relational nouns===
-Mayan languages which have [[preposition]]s at all normally have only one. To express location and other relations between entities, use is made of a special class of "[[relational noun]]s". This pattern is also recurrent throughout Mesoamerica and is another diagnostic trait of the Mesoamerican Linguistic Area. In Mayan most relational nouns are metaphorically derived from body parts so that "on top of", for example, is expressed by the word for ''head''.{{sfn|Campbell|Kaufman|Smith-Stark|1986|pages=545–546}}
-
-===Subjects and objects===
-Mayan languages are [[ergative–absolutive language|ergative]] in their [[morphosyntactic alignment|alignment]]. This means that the subject of an intransitive verb is treated similarly to the object of a transitive verb, but differently from the subject of a transitive verb.{{sfn|Coon|2010|pages=47–52}}
-
-Mayan languages have two sets of affixes that are attached to a verb to indicate the person of its arguments. One set (often referred to in Mayan grammars as set B) indicates the person of subjects of intransitive verbs, and of objects of transitive verbs. They can also be used with adjective or noun predicates to indicate the subject.{{sfn|Suárez|1983|page=77}}
-{|class="wikitable"
-|+Set B
-!Usage
-!Language of example
-!Example
-!Translation
-|-
-!style="text-align:left;"|Subject of an intransitive verb
-|[[Kaqchikel language|Kaqchikel]]
-|x-'''ix-'''ok
-|"'''You [plural]''' entered"
-|-
-!style="text-align:left;"| Object of a transitive verb
-|[[Kaqchikel language|Kaqchikel]]
-|x-'''ix'''-ru-chöp
-|"He/she took '''you [plural]'''"
-|-
-!style="text-align:left;"| Subject of an adjective predicate
-|[[Kaqchikel language|Kaqchikel]]
-|'''ix-'''samajel
-|"'''You [plural]''' are hard-working."
-|-
-!style="text-align:left;"| Subject of a noun predicate
-|[[Tzotzil language|Tzotzil]]
-|ʼantz'''-ot'''
-|"'''You''' are a woman."
-|}
-
-Another set (set A) is used to indicate the person of subjects of transitive verbs (and in some languages, such as Yucatec, also the subjects of intransitive verbs, but only in the incompletive aspects), and also the possessors of nouns (including relational nouns).<ref group=notes>Another view has been suggested by Carlos Lenkersdorf, an [[anthropologist]] who studied the [[Tojolabʼal language]]. He argued that a native Tojolabʼal speaker makes no cognitive distinctions between subject and object, or even between active and passive, animate and inanimate, seeing both subject and object as active participants in an action. For instance, in Tojolabʼal rather than saying "I teach you", one says the equivalent of "I-teach you-learn". See {{harvtxt|Lenkersdorf|1996|pp=60–62}}</ref>
-{|class="wikitable"
-|+Set A
-!Usage
-!Language of example
-!Example
-!Translation
-|-
-!style="text-align:left;"|Subject of a<br/>transitive verb
-|[[Kaqchikel language|Kaqchikel]]
-|x-ix-'''ru'''-chöp
-|"'''He/she''' took you guys"
-|-
-!style="text-align:left;"|Possessive marker
-|[[Kaqchikel language|Kaqchikel]]
-|'''ru'''-kej ri achin
-| "the man''''s''' horse" (literally: "'''his''' horse the man")
-|-
-!style="text-align:left;"|Relational marker
-|[[Classical Kʼicheʼ]]
-|'''u'''-wach ulew
-| "on the earth" (literally: "'''its''' face the earth", i.e. "face of the earth")
-|}
-
-===Verbs===
-In addition to subject and object (agent and patient), the Mayan verb has affixes signalling aspect, tense, and mood as in the following example:
-
-{| class="wikitable"
-|+Mayan verb structure
-|{{interlinear|style1 = font-weight:bold;|italics1=no|italics2=yes|glossing3=yes
-|Aspect/mood/tense {Class A prefix} {Class B prefix} Root Aspect/mood/voice Plural
-|k- in- a- chʼay -o {}
-|{{gcl|INCOMPL|incompletive}} 1SG.{{gcl|P|patient}} 2SG.{{gcl|A|agent}} hit {{gcl|INCOMPL|incompletive}} {}
-|(Kʼicheʼ) ''kinachʼayo'' "You are hitting me"}}
-|}
-
-[[Grammatical tense|Tense]] systems in Mayan languages are generally simple. Jakaltek, for example, contrasts only past and non-past, while Mam has only future and non-future. [[grammatical aspect|Aspect]] systems are normally more prominent. [[Grammatical mood|Mood]] does not normally form a separate system in Mayan, but is instead intertwined with the tense/aspect system.<ref>Suaréz (1983), p. 71.</ref> Kaufman has reconstructed a tense/aspect/mood system for proto-Mayan that includes seven aspects: incompletive, progressive, completive/punctual, imperative, potential/future, optative, and perfective.{{sfn|England|1994|page=126}}
-
-Mayan languages tend to have a rich set of [[grammatical voice]]s. Proto-Mayan had at least one passive construction as well as an [[Antipassive voice|antipassive]] rule for downplaying the importance of the agent in relation to the patient. Modern Kʼicheʼ has two antipassives: one which ascribes focus to the object and another that emphasizes the verbal action.<ref name="Campbell">{{harvtxt|Campbell|1997|page=164}}</ref> Other voice-related constructions occurring in Mayan languages are the following: [[mediopassive voice|mediopassive]], incorporational (incorporating a direct object into the verb), instrumental (promoting the instrument to object position) and referential (a kind of [[applicative voice|applicative]] promoting an indirect argument such as a [[benefactive]] or recipient to the object position).{{sfn|England|1994|page=97–103}}
-
-===Statives and positionals===
-In Mayan languages, statives are a class of [[predicate (grammar)|predicative]] words expressing a quality or state, whose syntactic properties fall in between those of verbs and adjectives in Indo-European languages. Like verbs, statives can sometimes be inflected for person but normally lack inflections for tense, aspect and other purely verbal categories. Statives can be adjectives, positionals or numerals.{{sfn|Coon|Preminger|2009}}
-
-Positionals, a class of [[root (linguistics)|root]]s characteristic of, if not unique to, the Mayan languages, form stative adjectives and verbs (usually with the help of suffixes) with meanings related to the position or shape of an object or person. Mayan languages have between 250 and 500 distinct positional roots:{{sfn|Coon|Preminger|2009}}
-
-{{quotation|'''''Telan''' ay jun naq winaq yul bʼe.''<br/>
-::{{mono|1=There is a man '''lying down fallen''' on the road.}}
-
-<br/>'''''Woqan''' hin kʼal ay max ekkʼu.''<br/>
-::{{mono|1=I spent the entire day '''sitting down'''.}}
-
-<br/>''Yet ewi '''xoyan''' ay jun lobʼaj stina.''<br/>
-::{{mono|1=Yesterday there was a snake '''lying curled up''' in the entrance of the house.}}}}
-
-In these three Qʼanjobʼal sentences, the positionals are ''telan'' ("something large or cylindrical lying down as if having fallen"), ''{{lang|kjb|woqan}}'' ("person sitting on a chairlike object"), and ''{{lang|kjb|xoyan}}'' ("curled up like a rope or snake").{{sfn|England|1994|p=87}}
-
-===Word formation===
-Compounding of noun roots to form new nouns is commonplace; there are also many morphological processes to derive nouns from verbs. Verbs also admit highly productive [[Derivation (linguistics)|derivational]] affixes of several kinds, most of which specify transitivity or voice.{{sfn|Suárez|1983| page=65–67}}
-
-As in other Mesoamerican languages, there is a widespread metaphorical use of roots denoting body parts, particularly to form locatives and relational nouns, such as Kaqchikel ''-pan'' ("inside" and "stomach") or ''-wi'' ("head-hair" and "on top of").{{sfn|Campbell|Kaufman|Smith-Stark|1986|page=549}}
-
-==Mayan loanwords==
-A number of [[loanword]]s of Mayan or potentially Mayan origins are found in many other languages, principally [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[English language|English]], and some neighboring [[Mesoamerican languages]]. In addition, Mayan languages borrowed words, especially from Spanish.<ref name=Hofling2011>{{cite book|last=Hofling|first=Charles Andrew|title=Mopan Maya-Spanish-English Dictionary|year=2011|publisher=University of Utah Press|location=Salt Lake City, Utah|isbn=978-1607810292|page=6}}</ref>
-
-A Mayan loanword is ''[[cigar]]''. {{lang|myn|sic}} is Mayan for "tobacco" and {{lang|myn|sicar}} means "to smoke tobacco leaves". This is the most likely origin for cigar and thus cigarette.<ref>[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=cigar Cigar], Online Etymology Dictionary.</ref>
-
-The English word "[[hurricane]]", which is a borrowing from the Spanish word {{lang|es|huracán}} is considered to be related to the name of Maya storm deity [[Huracan|Jun Raqan]]. However, it is probable that the word passed into European languages from a [[Cariban languages|Cariban language]] or [[Taíno language|Taíno]].<ref>Read & González (2000), p.200</ref>
-
-==Writing systems==
-[[File:Dresden codex, page 2.jpg|thumb|left|[[Yucatec Maya language|Yucatec Maya writing]] in the ''[[Dresden Codex]]'', ca. 11–12th century, [[Chichen Itza]]]]
-[[File:Dresden Codex p09.jpg|thumb|upright=0.68|right|Page 9 of the [[Dresden Codex]] showing the classic Maya language written in [[Maya script|Mayan hieroglyphs]] (from the 1880 Förstermann edition)]] The complex script used to write Mayan languages in pre-Columbian times and known today from engravings at several Maya archaeological sites has been deciphered almost completely. The script is a mix between a logographic and a syllabic system.<ref name="Kettunen & Helmke 2020, p. 8">{{harvtxt|Kettunen|Helmke|2020|page=8}}</ref>
-
-In colonial times Mayan languages came to be written in a script derived from the Latin alphabet; orthographies were developed mostly by missionary grammarians.{{sfn|Suárez|1983|p=5}} Not all modern Mayan languages have standardized orthographies, but the Mayan languages of Guatemala use a standardized, Latin-based phonemic spelling system developed by the [[Academia de Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala]] (ALMG).<ref name=French/><ref name=England2007/> Orthographies for the languages of Mexico are currently being developed by the [[Instituto Nacional de Lenguas Indígenas]] (INALI).{{sfn|Campbell|2015}}{{sfn|Maxwell|2011}}
-
-===Glyphic writing===
-{{Main|Maya script}}
-{{multiple image
-| align = right
-| image1 = Balam_1.svg
-| width1 = 100
-| alt1 =
-| caption1 =
-| image2 = Balam_2.svg
-| width2 = 135
-| alt2 =
-| caption2 =
-| footer = Two different ways of writing the word ''bʼalam'' "jaguar" in the Maya script. First as logogram representing the entire word with the single glyph <small>BʼALAM</small>, then phonetically using the three syllable signs ''bʼa'', ''la'', and ''ma''.
-}}
-{{multiple image
-| align = right
-| image1 = Balam_3.svg
-| width1 = 120
-| alt1 =
-| caption1 =
-| image2 = Balam_4.svg
-| width2 = 100
-| alt2 =
-| caption2 =
-| image3 = Balam_5.svg
-| width3 = 130
-| alt3 =
-| caption3 =
-| footer = Three ways to write ''bʼalam'' using combinations of the logogram with the syllabic signs as phonetic complements.
-}}
-The pre-Columbian [[Maya civilization]] developed and used an intricate and fully functional [[writing system]], which is the only [[Mesoamerican writing systems|Mesoamerican script]] that can be said to be almost fully deciphered. Earlier-established civilizations to the west and north of the Maya homelands that also had scripts recorded in surviving inscriptions include the [[Zapotec civilization|Zapotec]], [[Olmec]], and the [[Zoque languages|Zoque]]-speaking peoples of the southern [[Veracruz]] and western Chiapas area—but their scripts are as yet largely undeciphered. It is generally agreed that the Maya writing system was adapted from one or more of these earlier systems. A number of references identify the undeciphered [[Olmec hieroglyphs|Olmec script]] as its most likely precursor.{{sfn|Schele|Freidel|1990}}{{sfn|Soustelle|1984}}
-
-In the course of the deciphering of the Maya hieroglyphic script, scholars have come to understand that it was a fully functioning writing system in which it was possible to express unambiguously any sentence of the spoken language. The system is of a type best classified as [[logosyllabary|logosyllabic]], in which symbols ([[glyph]]s or ''[[grapheme]]s'') can be used as either [[logogram]]s or [[syllable]]s.<ref name="Kettunen & Helmke 2020, p. 8"/> The script has a complete [[syllabary]] (although not all possible syllables have yet been identified), and a Maya scribe would have been able to write anything [[phonetic]]ally, syllable by syllable, using these symbols.<ref name="Kettunen & Helmke 2020, p. 8"/>
-
-At least two major Mayan languages have been confidently identified in hieroglyphic texts, with at least one other language probably identified. An archaic language variety known as [[Classic Maya language|Classic Maya]] predominates in these texts, particularly in the Classic-era inscriptions of the southern and central lowland areas. This language is most closely related to the Chʼolan branch of the language family, modern descendants of which include Chʼol, Chʼortiʼ and Chontal. Inscriptions in an early Yucatecan language (the ancestor of the main surviving [[Yucatec language]]) have also been recognised or proposed, mainly in the [[Yucatán Peninsula]] region and from a later period. Three of the four extant [[Maya codices]] are based on Yucatec. It has also been surmised that some inscriptions found in the [[Chiapas highlands]] region may be in a Tzeltalan language whose modern descendants are Tzeltal and Tzotzil.{{sfn|Kettunen|Helmke|2020|p=13}} Other regional varieties and dialects are also presumed to have been used, but have not yet been identified with certainty.<ref name="Kettunen & Helmke 2020 p. 13"/>
-
-Use and knowledge of the Maya script continued until the 16th century [[Spanish conquest of Yucatán|Spanish conquest]] at least. Bishop [[Diego de Landa Calderón]] of the [[Catholic Archdiocese of Yucatán]] prohibited the use of the written language, effectively ending the Mesoamerican tradition of literacy in the native script. He worked with the Spanish colonizers to destroy the bulk of Mayan texts as part of his efforts to [[religious conversion|convert]] the locals to [[Christianity]] and away from what he perceived as [[pagan]] idolatry. Later he described the use of hieroglyphic writing in the religious practices of Yucatecan Maya in his ''[[Relación de las cosas de Yucatán]]''.{{sfn|Kettunen|Helmke|2020|pages=9–11}}
-
-===Colonial orthography===
-{{anchor|Parra letter}}
-Colonial orthography is marked by the use of ''c'' for /k/ (always hard, as in ''cic'' /kiik/), ''k'' for /q/ in Guatemala or for /kʼ/ in the Yucatán, ''h'' for /x/, and ''tz'' for /ts/; the absence of glottal stop or vowel length (apart sometimes for a double vowel letter for a long glottalized vowel, as in ''uuc'' /uʼuk/), the use of ''u'' for /w/, as in ''uac'' /wak/, and the variable use of ''z, ç, s'' for /s/. The greatest difference from modern orthography, however, is in the various attempts to transcribe the ejective consonants.<ref name=Missionary/>
-
-About 1550, [[Francisco de la Parra]] invented distinctive letters for ejectives in the Mayan languages of Guatemala, the ''[[Tresillo (letter)|tresillo]]'' and ''[[cuatrillo]]'' (and derivatives). These were used in all subsequent Franciscan writing, and are occasionally seen even today [2005]. In 1605, [[Alonso Urbano]] doubled consonants for ejectives in [[Otomi language|Otomi]] (''pp, tt, ttz, cc / cqu''), and similar systems were adapted to Mayan. Another approach, in [[Yucatec]], was to add a bar to the letter, or to double the stem.<ref name=Missionary>{{harvtxt|Arzápalo Marín|2005}}</ref>
-
-{| class="wikitable"
-|-
-!Phoneme
-!Yucatec
-!Parra
-|-
-!pʼ
-|pp, ꝑ, ꝑꝑ, 𝕡*
-|
-|-
-!tʼ
-|th, tħ, ŧ
-|tt, th
-|-
-!tsʼ
-|ɔ, dz
-|ꜯ
-|-
-!tʃʼ
-|cħ
-|ꜯh
-|-
-!kʼ
-|k
-|[[cuatrillo|ꜭ]]
-|-
-!qʼ
-|
-|[[Tresillo (letter)|ꜫ]]
-|}
-<nowiki>*</nowiki>Only the stem of 𝕡 is doubled, but that is not supported by Unicode.
-
-A ligature ꜩ for ''tz'' is used alongside ꜭ and ꜫ. The Yucatec convention of ''dz'' for {{IPA|/tsʼ/}} is retained in Maya family names such as [[Dzib]].
-
-===Modern orthography===
-{{main|Academia de Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala}}
-[[File:Menu in maya.jpg|thumb|right|Dinner menu in Kaqchikel, [[Antigua, Guatemala]]]]
-Since the colonial period, practically all Maya writing has used a [[Latin script|Latin alphabet]]. Formerly these were based largely on the [[Spanish alphabet]] and varied between authors, and it is only recently that standardized alphabets have been established. The first widely accepted alphabet was created for Yucatec Maya by the authors and contributors of the ''Diccionario Maya Cordemex'', a project directed by [[Alfredo Barrera Vásquez]] and first published in 1980.<ref group=notes>The Cordemex contains a lengthy introduction on the history, importance, and key resources of written Yucatec Maya, including a summary of the orthography used by the project (pp. 39a-42a).</ref> Subsequently, the [[Guatemalan Academy of Mayan Languages]] (known by its Spanish acronym ALMG), founded in 1986, adapted these standards to 22 Mayan languages (primarily in Guatemala). The script is largely phonemic, but abandoned the distinction between the apostrophe for ejective consonants and the glottal stop, so that ejective {{IPA|/tʼ/}} and the non-ejective sequence {{IPA|/tʔ/}} (previously ''tʼ ''and ''t7'') are both written ''tʼ.''<ref>
-Josephe DeChicchis, [http://kgur.kwansei.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/10236/7801/1/37-2.pdf "Revisiting an imperfection in Mayan orthography"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141103001201/http://kgur.kwansei.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/10236/7801/1/37-2.pdf |date=2014-11-03 }} , ''Journal of Policy Studies'' 37 (March 2011)
-</ref> Other major Maya languages, primarily in the Mexican state of Chiapas, such as Tzotzil, Tzeltal, Chʼol, and Tojolabʼal, are not generally included in this reformation, and are sometimes written with the conventions standardized by the Chiapan "State Center for Indigenous Language, Art, and Literature" (CELALI), which for instance writes "ts" rather than "tz" (thus Tseltal and Tsotsil).
-
-{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" width="100%"
-|+ ALMG orthography for the [[phoneme]]s of Mayan languages
-!colspan=6 width="30%"|Vowels
-!colspan=10|Consonants
-|-
-!ALMG !![[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]] !!ALMG !!IPA !!ALMG !!IPA !!ALMG !!IPA !!ALMG !!IPA !!ALMG !!IPA !!ALMG !!IPA !!ALMG !!IPA
-|-
-|'''a'''||{{IPA|[a]}}
-|'''aa''' ||{{IPA|[aː]}}
-|'''ä''' ||{{IPA|[ɐ]}}
-|'''bʼ''' ||{{IPA|[ɓ]}}
-|'''b''' ||{{IPA|[b]}}
-|'''ch''' ||{{IPA|[t͡ʃ]}}
-|'''chʼ''' ||{{IPA|[t͡ʃʼ]}}
-|'''h''' ||{{IPA|[h]}}
-|-
-|'''e''' ||{{IPA|[e]}}
-|'''ee''' ||{{IPA|[eː]}}
-|'''ë''' ||{{IPA|[ɛ]}}
-|'''j''' ||{{IPA|[χ]}}
-|'''l''' ||{{IPA|[l]}}
-|'''k''' ||{{IPA|[k]}}
-|'''kʼ''' ||{{IPA|[kʼ]}}
-|'''m''' ||{{IPA|[m]}}
-|-
-|'''i''' ||{{IPA|[i]}}
-|'''ii''' ||{{IPA|[iː]}}
-|'''ï''' ||{{IPA|[ɪ]}}
-|'''y''' ||{{IPA|[j]}}
-|'''p''' ||{{IPA|[p]}}
-|'''q''' ||{{IPA|[q]}}
-|'''qʼ''' ||{{IPA|[qʼ]}}
-|'''n''' ||{{IPA|[n]}}
-|-
-|'''o''' ||{{IPA|[o]}}
-|'''oo''' ||{{IPA|[oː]}}
-|'''ö''' ||{{IPA|[ɤ̞]}}
-|'''s''' ||{{IPA|[s]}}
-|'''x''' ||{{IPA|[ʃ]}}
-|'''t''' ||{{IPA|[t]}}
-|'''tʼ''' ||{{IPA|[tʼ]}}
-|'''nh''' ||{{IPA|[ŋ]}}
-|-
-|'''u''' ||{{IPA|[u]}}
-|'''uu''' ||{{IPA|[uː]}}
-|'''ü''' ||{{IPA|[ʊ]}}
-|'''w''' ||{{IPA|[w]}}
-|'''r''' ||{{IPA|[r]}}
-|'''tz''' ||{{IPA|[t͡s]}}
-|'''tzʼ''' ||{{IPA|[t͡sʼ]}}
-|''' ʼ ''' ||{{IPA|[ʔ]}}
-|-
-|colspan=16 align=left|
-In tonal languages (primarily Yucatec), a high tone is indicated with an accent, as with "á" or "ée".
-|}
-
-For the languages that make a distinction between [[Palato-alveolar consonant|palato-alveolar]] and [[Retroflex consonant|retroflex]] affricates and fricatives (Mam, Ixil, Tektitek, Awakatek, Qʼanjobʼal, Poptiʼ, and Akatek in Guatemala, and Yucatec in Mexico) the ALMG suggests the following set of conventions.
-
-{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" width="55%"
-|+ ALMG convention for palato-alveolar and retroflex consonants
-!ALMG !!IPA !!ALMG !!IPA !!ALMG !!IPA
-|-
-|'''ch''' ||{{IPA|[tʃ]}}
-|'''chʼ''' ||{{IPA|[tʃʼ]}}
-|'''x''' ||{{IPA|[ʃ]}}
-|-
-|'''tx'''||{{IPA|[tʂ]}}
-|'''txʼ'''||{{IPA|[tʂʼ]}}
-|'''xh''' ||{{IPA|[ʂ]}}
-|}
-
-==Literature==
-{{main|Mesoamerican literature}}
-From the classic language to the present day, a body of literature has been written in Mayan languages. The earliest texts to have been preserved are largely monumental inscriptions documenting rulership, succession, and ascension, conquest and calendrical and astronomical events. It is likely that other kinds of literature were written in perishable media such as [[Mayan codices|codices]] made of [[amate|bark]], only four of which have survived the ravages of time and the campaign of destruction by Spanish missionaries.{{sfn|Coe|1987|p=161}}
-
-Shortly after the [[Spanish conquest of Mexico|Spanish conquest]], the Mayan languages began to be written with Latin letters. Colonial-era literature in Mayan languages include the famous ''[[Popol Vuh]]'', a mythico-historical narrative written in 17th century Classical Quiché but believed to be based on an earlier work written in the 1550s, now lost. The ''[[Título de Totonicapán]]'' and the 17th century theatrical work the ''[[Rabinal Achí]]'' are other notable early works in Kʼicheʼ, the latter in the [[Achi language|Achí dialect]].<ref group=notes>See {{harvtxt|Edmonson|1985}} for a thorough treatment of colonial Quiché literature.</ref> The ''[[Annals of the Cakchiquels]]'' from the late 16th century, which provides a historical narrative of the Kaqchikel, contains elements paralleling some of the accounts appearing in the ''Popol Vuh''. The historical and prophetical accounts in the several variations known collectively as the books of [[Chilam Balam]] are primary sources of early Yucatec Maya traditions.<ref group=notes>Read {{harvtxt|Edmonson|Bricker|1985}} for a thorough treatment of colonial Yucatec literature.</ref> The only surviving book of early lyric poetry, the [[Songs of Dzitbalche]] by Ah Bam, comes from this same period.{{sfn|Curl|2005}}
-
-In addition to these singular works, many early grammars of indigenous languages, called "''artes''", were written by priests and friars. Languages covered by these early grammars include Kaqchikel, Classical Quiché, Tzeltal, Tzotzil and Yucatec. Some of these came with indigenous-language translations of the Catholic catechism.{{sfn|Suárez|1983|page=5}}
-
-While Mayan peoples continued to produce a rich oral literature in the postcolonial period (after 1821), very little written literature was produced in this period.{{sfn|Suárez|1983|pages=163–168}}<ref group=notes>See {{harvtxt|Gossen|1985}} for examples of the Tzotzil tradition of oral literature.</ref>
-
-Because indigenous languages were excluded from the education systems of Mexico and Guatemala after independence, Mayan peoples remained largely illiterate in their native languages, learning to read and write in Spanish, if at all.{{sfn|Maxwell|2015}} However, since the establishment of the Cordemex {{sfn|Barrera Vásquez|Bastarrachea Manzano|Brito Sansores|1980}} and the Guatemalan Academy of Mayan Languages (1986), native language literacy has begun to spread and a number of indigenous writers have started a new tradition of writing in Mayan languages.{{sfn|Maxwell|2011}}{{sfn|Maxwell|2015}} Notable among this new generation is the Kʼicheʼ poet [[Humberto Ak'abal]], whose works are often published in dual-language Spanish/Kʼicheʼ editions,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mcd.gob.gt/MICUDE/directorios/directorio_cultural_deportivo/letras/inst15040512/ |title=Humberto Ak´abal |access-date=2007-02-23 |date=March 26, 2007 |publisher=Guatemala Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes |language=es |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060214102223/http://www.mcd.gob.gt/MICUDE/directorios/directorio_cultural_deportivo/letras/inst15040512 |archive-date=February 14, 2006 }}</ref> as well as Kʼicheʼ scholar [[Luis Enrique Sam Colop]] (1955–2011) whose translations of the [[Popol Vuh]] into both Spanish and modern Kʼicheʼ achieved high acclaim.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ais.arizona.edu/news/luis-enrique-sam-colop-1955-2011 |title=Luis Enrique Sam Colop, 1955–2011 | American Indian Studies |publisher=Ais.arizona.edu |access-date=2011-12-19}}</ref>
-
-==See also==
-*[[Mayan Sign Language]]
-*[[Cauque Mayan language|Cauque Mayan]] (mixed language)
-
-==Notes==
-{{Reflist|group=notes}}
-
-===Citations===
-{{Reflist|30em}}
-
-==References==
-{{refbegin|indent=yes|2}}<!--BEGIN biblio format. -->
-*{{cite book|last=Arzápalo Marín|first=R. |chapter=La representación escritural del maya de Yucatán desde la época prehispánica hasta la colonia: Proyecciones hacia el siglo XXI|editor=Zwartjes|editor2=Altman|year=2005|title=Missionary Linguistics II: Orthography and Phonology|publisher=Walter Benjamins}}
-*{{cite book|last1=Avelino|first1=H.|last2=Shin|first2=E.|chapter=Chapter I The Phonetics of Laryngalization in Yucatec Maya|editor-last=Avelino|editor-first=Heriberto|editor2-first=Jessica|editor2-last=Coon|editor3-first=Elisabeth|editor3-last=Norcliffe|title=New perspectives in Mayan linguistics|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|year=2011}}
-* {{cite book |last1=Barrera Vásquez|first1=Alfredo |author-link=Alfredo Barrera Vásquez |last2=Bastarrachea Manzano|first2=Juan Ramón|last3=Brito Sansores|first3=William|title= Diccionario maya Cordemex : maya-español, español-maya|year=1980|publisher=Ediciones Cordemex|location=Mérida, Yucatán, México |oclc=7550928}} {{in lang|es|yua}}
-*{{cite journal|last1=Bennett|first1=Ryan|first2=Jessica|last2=Coon|first3=Robert|last3=Henderson|title=Introduction to Mayan Linguistics|journal=Language and Linguistics Compass|year=2015|url=https://campuspress.yale.edu/ryanbennett/files/2015/09/Bennett_etal2015_Mayan_ling_intro-1ymmbkj.pdf}}
-* {{cite web |last=Bolles|first=David |year=2003|edition=Revized|orig-year=1997 |title=Combined Dictionary–Concordance of the Yucatecan Mayan Language |publisher=Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc. (FAMSI) |url=http://www.famsi.org/reports/96072/index.html |access-date=2006-12-12}} {{in lang|yua|en}}
-* {{cite web |last1=Bolles|first1=David |last2=Bolles|first2=Alejandra |year=2004 |title=A Grammar of the Yucatecan Mayan Language |publisher=The Foundation Research Department |work=Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc. (FAMSI) |format=revised online edition, 1996 Lee, New Hampshire |url=http://www.famsi.org/research/bolles/grammar/index.html |access-date=2006-12-12}} {{in lang|yua|en}}
-* {{cite book |last=Campbell|first=Lyle|author-link=Lyle Campbell |year=1997 |title=American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|location= New York |isbn=0-19-509427-1 |series=Oxford Studies in Anthropological Linguistics, no. 4}}
-* {{cite journal |last1=Campbell|first1=Lyle|author-link=Lyle Campbell |last2=Canger|first2=Una|author-link2= Una Canger |year=1978 |title=Chicomuceltec's last throes |journal=[[International Journal of American Linguistics]] |volume=44 |pages=228–230 |issn=0020-7071 |doi=10.1086/465548 |issue=3|s2cid=144743316}}
-* {{cite journal |last1=Campbell|first1=Lyle|author-link=Lyle Campbell|last2=Kaufman|first2=Terrence|author-link2=Terrence Kaufman |year=1976 |title=A Linguistic Look at the Olmec |journal=[[American Antiquity]] |volume=41 |issue=1 |pages=80–89 |issn=0002-7316 |doi=10.2307/279044 |jstor =279044|s2cid=162230234}}
-* {{cite journal |last1=Campbell|first1=Lyle |author-link=Lyle Campbell |last2=Kaufman|first2=Terrence|author-link2=Terrence Kaufman| date=October 1985 |title=Mayan Linguistics: Where are We Now? |journal=Annual Review of Anthropology |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=187–198 |doi=10.1146/annurev.an.14.100185.001155}}
-*{{cite journal|last1=Campbell|first1=Lyle|first2=Terrence|last2=Kaufman|first3=Thomas C.|last3=Smith-Stark|title=Meso-America as a linguistic area|journal=Language|volume=62|issue=3|year=1986|pages=530–570|doi=10.1353/lan.1986.0105|s2cid=144784988}}
-*{{cite book|last=Campbell|first=Lyle|year=2015|chapter=History and reconstruction of the Mayan languages|editor=Aissen, Judith|editor2=England, Nora C. |editor3=Maldonado, Roberto Zavala|title=The Mayan Languages|pages=43–61|location=London|publisher=Routledge}}
-* {{cite conference|last=Choi|first=Jinsook|year=2002|title=The Role of Language in Ideological Construction of Mayan Identities in Guatemala|url=http://studentorgs.utexas.edu/salsa/proceedings/2002/papers/choi.pdf|work=Texas Linguistic Forum 45: Proceedings of the Tenth Annual Symposium about Language and Society—Austin, April 12–14|pages=22–31|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070319225630/http://studentorgs.utexas.edu/salsa/proceedings/2002/papers/choi.pdf|archive-date=2007-03-19}}
-* {{cite book |last=Coe|first=Michael D. |author-link=Michael D. Coe |year=1987 |title=The Maya |publisher=[[Thames & Hudson]] |location=London |edition=4th revised |isbn=0-500-27455-X}}
-* {{cite book |last=Coe |first=Michael D. |author-link=Michael D. Coe |year=1992 |title=Breaking the Maya Code |location=London |publisher=[[Thames & Hudson]] |isbn=0-500-05061-9 |oclc=26605966 |url=https://archive.org/details/breakingmayacode00coem_0 }}
-* {{cite thesis|last=Coon|first=Jessica |year=2010 |title=Complementation in Chol (Mayan): A Theory of Split Ergativity |format=electronic version |url=http://ling.auf.net/lingBuzz/001072|publisher=[[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]|type=PhD |access-date=2010-07-15}}
-*{{cite book|last1=Coon|first1=J.|last2=Preminger|first2=O.|year=2009|chapter=Positional roots and case absorption|title=New Perspectives in Mayan Linguistics|editor=Heriberto Avelino|pages=35–58|publisher=Cambridge University Press}}
-*{{cite book|last=Craig|first=Colette Grinevald|author-link=Colette Grinevald|title=The Structure of Jacaltec|url=https://archive.org/details/structureofjacal0007crai|url-access=registration|publisher=University of Texas Press|year=1977|isbn=9780292740051}}
-* {{cite book |last=Curl|first=John |year=2005 |title=Ancient American Poets |url=http://red-coral.net/Dzit.html |publisher=[[Bilingual Press]] |location=Tempe, AZ|isbn=1-931010-21-8}}
-* {{cite web|last=Dienhart |first=John M. |year=1997 |title=The Mayan Languages- A Comparative Vocabulary |format=electronic version |url=http://www.hum.sdu.dk/projekter/maya/mayainfo.html |publisher=[[Odense University]] |access-date=2006-12-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061208085418/http://www.hum.sdu.dk/projekter/maya/mayainfo.html |archive-date=2006-12-08 }}
-* {{cite book |last=Edmonson|first=Munro S. |author-link=Munro S. Edmonson|year=1968 |chapter=Classical Quiché |pages=249–268 |title=Handbook of Middle American Indians, Vol. 5: Linguistics |editor=Norman A. McQuown (Volume ed.) |others=[[Robert Wauchope (archaeologist)|R. Wauchope]] (General Editor) |publisher=University of Texas Press |location=Austin |isbn=0-292-73665-7}}
-* {{cite book|last=Edmonson|first=Munro S.|author-link=Munro S. Edmonson|year=1985|chapter=Quiche Literature|title=Supplement to the Handbook of Middle American Indians, Volume 3|editor=Victoria Reifler Bricker (volume ed.)|publisher=[[University of Texas Press]]|location=Austin|isbn=0-292-77593-8|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/supplementtohand00edmo|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/supplementtohand00edmo}}
-* {{cite book|last1=Edmonson|first1=Munro S.|author-link=Munro S. Edmonson|last2=Bricker|first2=Victoria R.|year=1985|chapter=Yucatecan Mayan Literature|title=Supplement to the Handbook of Middle American Indians, Volume 3|editor=Victoria Reifler Bricker (volume ed.)|publisher=[[University of Texas Press]]|location=Austin|isbn=0-292-77593-8|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/supplementtohand00edmo|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/supplementtohand00edmo}}
-* {{Cite book |last=England|first=Nora C. |author-link=Nora C. England|year=1994 |title=Autonomia de los Idiomas Mayas: Historia e identidad. (Ukutaʼmiil Ramaqʼiil Utzijobʼaal ri Mayaʼ Amaaqʼ.) |publisher=Cholsamaj |location= Guatemala City |edition=2nd |isbn=84-89451-05-2|language=es}}
-*{{cite journal|last=England|first=Nora C.|title=The influence of Mayan-speaking linguists on the state of Mayan linguistics|journal=Linguistische Berichte, Sonderheft|volume=14|year=2007|pages=93–112}}
-*{{cite book|last=England|first=Nora C. |year=2001|title=Introducción a la gramática de los idiomas mayas|publisher=Cholsamaj Fundacion|language=es}}
-*{{cite journal|last=England|first=N. C. |year=1991|title=Changes in basic word order in Mayan languages|journal=International Journal of American Linguistics|volume=57|issue=4|pages=446–486|doi=10.1086/ijal.57.4.3519735|s2cid=146516836 }}
-* {{Cite book |last=Fabri|first=Antonella |year=2003 |chapter=Genocide or Assimilation: Discourses of Women's Bodies, Health, and Nation in Guatemala|editor=Richard Harvey Brown |title=The Politics of Selfhood: Bodies and Identities in Global Capitalism|publisher=[[University of Minnesota Press]]|isbn=0-8166-3754-7}}
-* {{cite book |last=Fernández de Miranda|first=María Teresa |year=1968 |chapter=Inventory of Classificatory Materials |pages=63–78 |title=Handbook of Middle American Indians, Vol. 5: Linguistics |editor=Norman A. McQuown (Volume ed.) |others=[[Robert Wauchope (archaeologist)|R. Wauchope]] (General Editor) |publisher=University of Texas Press |location=Austin |isbn=0-292-73665-7}}
-*{{cite journal|last=French|first=Brigittine M.|title=The politics of Mayan linguistics in Guatemala: native speakers, expert analysts, and the nation.|journal=Pragmatics|volume=13|issue=4|year=2003|pages=483–498|doi=10.1075/prag.13.4.02fre|s2cid=145598734|url=https://semanticscholar.org/paper/3603510fc2880f041a615112163f4cfe70f42075}}
-* {{cite book|last=Gossen|first=Gary|year=1985|chapter=Tzotzil Literature|title=Supplement to the Handbook of Middle American Indians, Volume 3|editor=Victoria Reifler Bricker|publisher=[[University of Texas Press]]|location=Austin|isbn=0-292-77593-8|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/supplementtohand00edmo|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/supplementtohand00edmo}}
-* {{cite book |last1=Grenoble|first1=Lenore A. |last2=Whaley|first2=Lindsay J. |year=1998 |chapter=Preface |chapter-url=http://assets.cambridge.org/97805215/91027/frontmatter/9780521591027_frontmatter.pdf |chapter-format=[[PDF]]|pages=xi–xii|title=Endangered languages: Current issues and future prospects.|editor=Lenore A. Grenoble|editor2=Lindsay J. Whaley |publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0-521-59102-3}}
-* {{cite journal |last1=Houston|first1=Stephen D. |author-link=Stephen D. Houston |last2=Robertson|first2=John|last3=Stuart|first3=David|author-link3=David Stuart (Mayanist)|year=2000 |title=The Language of Classic Maya Inscriptions |journal=[[Current Anthropology]] |volume=41 |issue=3 |pages=321–356 |issn=0011-3204 |doi=10.1086/300142 |pmid=10768879|s2cid=741601 }}
-*{{cite book|last1=Hruby|first1=Z. X.|last2=Child|first2= M. B. |year=2004|chapter=Chontal linguistic influence in Ancient Maya writing|editor=S. Wichmann|title=The linguistics of Maya writin|pages=13–26}}
-* {{cite journal |doi=10.1080/00438243.1976.9979655 |last=Kaufman|first=Terrence |author-link=Terrence Kaufman |year=1976 |title=Archaeological and Linguistic Correlations in Mayaland and Associated Areas of Meso-America |journal=World Archaeology |volume=8 |issue=1|pages=101–118 |issn=0043-8243}}
-*{{cite web|last1=Kaufman|first1=Terrence|last2= with Justeson|first2=John|year=2003|title=A Preliminary Mayan Etymological Dictionary |url=http://www.famsi.org/reports/01051/pmed.pdf|publisher=FAMSI}}
-* {{cite book |last1=Kettunen|first1=Harri |last2=Helmke|first2=Christophe |year=2020 |title=Introduction to Maya Hieroglyphs |format=[[PDF]] |publisher=Wayeb |url=http://www.mesoweb.com/resources/handbook/index.html|access-date=2020-03-19}}
-*{{cite journal|last=Law|first=D.|year=2013|title=Mayan historical linguistics in a new age|journal=Language and Linguistics Compass|volume=7|issue=3|pages=141–156|doi=10.1111/lnc3.12012}}
-* {{cite book |last=Lenkersdorf|first=Carlos |year=1996 |title=Los hombres verdaderos. Voces y testimonios tojolabales. Lengua y sociedad, naturaleza y cultura, artes y comunidad cósmica |publisher=Siglo XXI |location=Mexico City |isbn=968-23-1998-6|language=es}}
-* {{cite book |last=Longacre|first=Robert |year=1968 |chapter=Systemic Comparison and Reconstruction |pages=117–159 |title=Handbook of Middle American Indians, Vol. 5: Linguistics |editor=Norman A. McQuown (Volume ed.) |others=[[Robert Wauchope (archaeologist)|R. Wauchope]] (General Editor) |publisher=University of Texas Press |location=Austin |isbn=0-292-73665-7}}
-*{{cite journal|last=Maxwell|first=Judith M. |title=Change in Literacy and Literature in Highland Guatemala, Precontact to Present|journal=Ethnohistory|volume=62|issue=3|year=2015|pages=553–572|doi=10.1215/00141801-2890234}}
-*{{cite book|last=Maxwell|first=Judith M. |chapter=The path back to literacy|editor1=Smith, T. J.|editor2=Adams, A. E.|year=2011|title=After the Coup: An Ethnographic Reframing of Guatemala 1954|publisher=University of Illinois Press}}
-*{{cite journal|last=Mora-Marín|first=David|year=2009|title=A Test and Falsification of the 'Classic Chʼoltiʼan' Hypothesis: A Study of Three Proto Chʼolan Markers|journal=International Journal of American Linguistics|volume=75|issue=2|pages=115–157|doi=10.1086/596592|s2cid=145216002|url=https://semanticscholar.org/paper/74d67ba1bedc9dec86a5c1d28c597813d4b36b71}}
-*{{cite journal|last=Mora-Marín|first=David|year=2016|title=Testing the Proto-Mayan-Mije-Sokean Hypothesis|journal=International Journal of American Linguistics|volume=82|issue=2|pages=125–180|doi=10.1086/685900|s2cid=147269181}}
-* {{cite book |last=McQuown|first=Norman A. |year=1968 |chapter=Classical Yucatec (Maya) |pages=201–248 |title=Handbook of Middle American Indians, Vol. 5: Linguistics |editor=Norman A. McQuown (Volume ed.) |others=[[Robert Wauchope (archaeologist)|R. Wauchope]] (General Editor) |publisher=University of Texas Press |location=Austin |isbn=0-292-73665-7}}
-* {{cite book |author=Oxlajuuj Keej Mayaʼ Ajtzʼiibʼ (OKMA) |year=1993 |title=Mayaʼ chiiʼ. Los idiomas Mayas de Guatemala |publisher=Cholsamaj |location=Guatemala City |isbn=84-89451-52-4}}
-*{{cite journal|last=Popkin|first=E|year=2005|title=The emergence of pan-Mayan ethnicity in the Guatemalan transnational community linking Santa Eulalia and Los Angeles|journal=Current Sociology|volume=53|issue=4|pages=675–706|doi=10.1177/0011392105052721|s2cid=143851930}}
-*{{cite thesis|last=Rao|first=S. |year=2015|title=Language Futures from Uprooted Pasts: Emergent Language Activism in the Mayan Diaspora of the United States|publisher=UCLA, MA thesis|url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3hj82094#page-4}}
-* {{cite book |last1=Read|first1=Kay Almere |last2=González|first2=Jason |year=2000 |title=Handbook of Mesoamerican Mythology |location=Oxford |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |isbn=1-85109-340-0 |oclc=43879188}}
-* {{cite journal|last=Robertson|first=John |year=1977|title=Proposed revision in Mayan subgrouping|journal=International Journal of American Linguistics|volume=43|pages=105–120|doi=10.1086/465466|issue=2|s2cid=143665564 }}
-* {{cite book|last=Robertson|first= John |year=1992|title=The History of Tense/Aspect/Mood/Voice in the Mayan Verbal Complex|publisher=University of Texas Press}}
-* {{cite book|last1=Robertson|first1=John |last2=Houston|first2= Stephen|year=2002|chapter=El problema del Wasteko: Una perspectiva lingüística y arqueológica|title=XVI Simposio de InvestigacionesArqueológicas en Guatemala|editor=J.P. Laporte|editor2=B. Arroyo|editor3=H. Escobedo|editor4=H. Mejía|pages=714–724|publisher=Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología, Guatemala}}
-* {{cite conference|last=Sapper|first=Karl |author-link=Karl Sapper |year=1912 |title=Über einige Sprachen von Südchiapas |work=Proceedings of the Seventeenth International Congress of Americanists (1910) |pages=295–320|language=de}}
-* {{cite book|last1=Schele|first1=Linda|author-link=Linda Schele|first2=David|last2=Freidel|year=1990|title=A Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of the Ancient Maya|publisher=[[William Morrow and Company]]|location=New York|isbn=0-688-07456-1|url=https://archive.org/details/forestofkingsunt0034sche}}
-*{{cite journal|last=Solá|first=J. O. |year=2011|title=The origins and formation of the Latino community in Northeast Ohio, 1900 to 2009|journal=Ohio History|volume=118|issue=1|pages=112–129|doi=10.1353/ohh.2011.0014|s2cid=145103773 }}
-* {{cite book | last=Soustelle | first=Jacques | author-link=Jacques Soustelle | title=The Olmecs: The Oldest Civilization in Mexico | year=1984 | location=New York | publisher=Doubleday and Co | isbn=0-385-17249-4 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/olmecsoldestcivi0000sous }}
-* {{cite web |last1=Spence|first1=Jack |last2=Dye|first2=David R.|last3=Worby|first3=Paula|last4=de Leon-Escribano|first4=Carmen Rosa|last5=Vickers |first5=George|last6=Lanchin|first6=Mike| date=August 1998 |title=Promise and Reality: Implementation of the Guatemalan Peace Accords |url=http://lanic.utexas.edu/project/hemisphereinitiatives/promise.htm |publisher=Hemispheres Initiatives |access-date=2006-12-06}}
-* {{cite book |last=Suárez |first=Jorge A. |year=1983 |title=The Mesoamerican Indian Languages |series=Cambridge Language Surveys |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge |isbn=0-521-22834-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/mesoamericanindi0009suar }}
-* {{cite book |last=Tozzer|first=Alfred M. |author-link=Alfred Tozzer |year=1977 |orig-year=1921 |title=A Maya Grammar |edition=unabridged republication |publisher=[[Dover Publications]] |location=New York |isbn=0-486-23465-7}}
-* {{cite journal|last=Wichmann|first=S.|year=2006|title=Mayan historical linguistics and epigraphy: a new synthesis|journal=Annual Review of Anthropology|volume=35|pages=279–294|doi=10.1146/annurev.anthro.35.081705.123257|s2cid=18014314|url=https://semanticscholar.org/paper/c5ba3211b17e0766d7ae7de919d32f486ea26ce8}}
-*{{cite journal|last1=Wichmann|first1=Søren|first2=Cecil H. |last2=Brown|title=Contact among some Mayan languages: Inferences from loanwords. |journal=Anthropological Linguistics|year=2003|pages=57–93}}
-*{{cite book|editor-last=Wichmann|editor-first=Søren|title=The linguistics of Maya writing|year=2004|publisher=Utah University Press}}
-{{refend}}<!-- END biblio format style -->
-
-==External links==
-{{Incubator|code=hus|language=Huastec}}
-{{Incubator|code=yua|language=Yucatec Maya}}
-{{Incubator|code=ctu|language=Chʼol}}
-{{Incubator|code=tzh|language=Tzeltal}}
-{{Incubator|code=mam|language=Mam}}
-{{Incubator|code=cak|language=Kaqchikel}}
-*[http://www.almg.org.gt/ The Guatemalan Academy of Mayan Languages] – Spanish/Mayan site, the primary authority on Mayan Languages {{in lang|es}}
-*[http://www.peabody.harvard.edu/node/24 Corpus of Maya Hieroglyphic Inscriptions Program at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University]
-*[http://www.hup.harvard.edu/results-list.php?collection=1210 Corpus of Maya Hieroglyphic Inscriptions, Volumes 1–9. Published by the Peabody Museum Press and distributed by Harvard University Press]
-*[http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Swadesh_lists_for_Mayan_languages Swadesh lists for Mayan languages] (from Wiktionary's [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Swadesh_lists Swadesh-list appendix])
-*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120814025555/http://cholsamaj.org/libros_por_genero.php?genre=4 Mayan languages and linguistics books from Cholsamaj]
-*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060812000027/http://www.utexas.edu/courses/stross/ant389_files/maylanbib.htm Online bibliography of Mayan languages at the University of Texas]
-*[http://www.mayas.uady.mx/diccionario/index.html Universidad Autonoma de Yucatan Mayan-Spanish dictionary] (Spanish)
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-{{Mayan languages|state=open}}
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-{{Authority control}}
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-[[Category:Mayan languages| ]]
-[[Category:Languages attested from the 3rd century BC]]
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-[[Category:Agglutinative languages]]
-[[Category:Language families]]
-[[Category:Indigenous languages of Central America]]
-[[Category:Indigenous languages of Mexico]]
-[[Category:Mesoamerican languages]]
+This is teddy teddy says hi tedday says clap your hands oops teddy died this is his sould it goes away and this is his bady and goes in a grave!!1!!!!1
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0 => '{{short description|Language family spoken in Mesoamerica}}',
1 => '{{redirect|Maya language}}',
2 => '{{featured article}}',
3 => '<!--Spelling conventions:',
4 => '- This article uses the ALMG orthographies for the Mayan languages of Guatemala, and the Mexican languages Chʼol, Wastek and Tojolabʼal. Traditional Spanish spellings are used for Tzotzil, Tzeltal, Lacandón and Chicomuceltec. The Cordemex orthography is used for the Yucatec language. For Classical CHiché the traditional spanish spelling is used. The name Jakaltek is preferred over the alternative Poptiʼ.',
5 => '– For the names of language groups in the genealogical classification the following spellings are used: Chʼolan, Qʼanjobalan, Quichean, Yucatecan and Huastecan.-->',
6 => '',
7 => '{{infobox language family',
8 => '|name=Mayan',
9 => ' |region= [[Mesoamerica]]: Southern [[Mexico]]; [[Guatemala]]; [[Belize]]; western [[Honduras]] and [[El Salvador]]; small refugee and emigrant populations, especially in the [[United States]] and [[Canada]]',
10 => ' |familycolor=American',
11 => '|family = One of the world's primary [[language family|language families]]',
12 => '|speakers = 6.0 million',
13 => ' |glotto=maya1287',
14 => ' |glottorefname=Mayan',
15 => ' |protoname=[[Proto-Mayan language|Proto-Mayan]]',
16 => ' |child1=[[Huastecan languages|Huastecan]]',
17 => ' |child2=[[Yucatecan languages|Yucatecan]]',
18 => ' |child3=[[Chʼolan languages|Chʼolan–Tzeltalan]]',
19 => ' |child4=[[Qʼanjobalan languages|Qʼanjobalan]]',
20 => ' |child5=[[Quichean languages|Quichean]]–[[Mamean languages|Mamean]]',
21 => ' |child7=',
22 => ' |iso2=myn',
23 => ' |iso5=myn',
24 => ' |map=Distribution-myn2.png',
25 => ' |mapcaption=Location of Mayan speaking populations. See [[#Distribution|below]] for a detailed map of the different languages.',
26 => '}}',
27 => '{{Maya civilization}}',
28 => '',
29 => 'The '''Mayan languages'''<ref group=notes>In [[linguistics]], it is conventional to use ''Mayan'' when referring to the languages, or an aspect of a language. In other academic fields, ''Maya'' is the preferred usage, serving as both a singular and plural [[noun]], and as the [[adjective|adjectival]] form.</ref> form a [[language family]] spoken in [[Mesoamerica]], both in the south of Mexico and northern [[Central America]]. Mayan languages are spoken by at least 6 million [[Maya peoples|Maya people]], primarily in [[Guatemala]], [[Mexico]], [[Belize]], [[El Salvador]] and [[Honduras]]. In 1996, Guatemala formally recognized 21 Mayan languages by name,{{sfn|Spence|Dye|Worby|de Leon-Escribano|1998}}<ref group=notes>Achiʼ is counted as a variant of Kʼicheʼ by the Guatemalan government.</ref> and Mexico [[Languages of Mexico|recognizes]] eight within its territory.',
30 => '',
31 => 'The Mayan language family is one of the best-documented and most studied in the [[Americas]].<ref name="Campbell 1997, p.165">{{harvtxt|Campbell |1997|p=165}}</ref> Modern Mayan languages descend from the [[Proto-Mayan language]], thought to have been spoken at least 5,000 years ago; it has been partially [[historical linguistics|reconstructed]] using the [[comparative method (linguistics)|comparative method]]. The proto-Mayan language diversified into at least six different branches: the [[Huastecan languages|Huastecan]], [[Kʼicheʼ language|Quichean]], [[Yucatecan languages|Yucatecan]], [[Qʼanjobʼal language|Qanjobalan]], [[Mamean languages|Mamean]] and [[Chʼolan languages|Chʼolan–Tzeltalan]] branches.',
32 => '',
33 => 'Mayan languages form part of the [[Mesoamerican language area]], an [[sprachbund|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 noun]]s instead of [[preposition]]s to indicate spatial relationships. They also possess [[grammar|grammatical]] and [[linguistic typology|typological]] features that set them apart from other languages of Mesoamerica, such as the use of [[Ergative–absolutive language|ergativity]] in the grammatical treatment of verbs and their subjects and objects, specific inflectional categories on verbs, and a special [[Lexical category|word class]] of "positionals" which is typical of all Mayan languages.',
34 => '',
35 => 'During the [[pre-Columbian era]] of [[Mesoamerican chronology|Mesoamerican history]], some Mayan languages were written in the [[Logogram|logo-syllabic]] [[Maya script]]. Its use was particularly widespread during the [[Maya civilization#Classic period (c. 250–900 AD)|Classic period]] of Maya civilization (c. 250–900). The surviving corpus of over 5,000 known individual Maya inscriptions on buildings, monuments, pottery and bark-paper [[Maya codices|codices]],{{sfn|Kettunen|Helmke|2020|p=6}} combined with the rich post-Conquest [[Mesoamerican literature|literature in Mayan languages]] written in the [[Latin script]], provides a basis for the modern understanding of pre-Columbian history unparalleled in the Americas.',
36 => '',
37 => '==History==',
38 => '',
39 => '===Proto-Mayan===',
40 => '[[File:Mayan Language Migration Map.svg|thumb|right|upright=1.63|Approximate migration routes and dates for various Mayan language families. The region shown as Proto-Mayan is now occupied by speakers of the Qʼanjobalan branch (light blue in other figures).<ref group=notes>Based on Kaufman (1976).</ref>]]',
41 => 'Mayan languages are the descendants of a [[proto-language]] called Proto-Mayan or, in Kʼicheʼ Maya, ''Nabʼee Mayaʼ Tzij'' ("the old Maya Language").{{sfn|England|1994}} The Proto-Mayan language is believed to have been spoken in the Cuchumatanes highlands of central Guatemala in an area corresponding roughly to where Qʼanjobalan is spoken today.{{sfn|Campbell|1997|p=165}} The earliest proposal which identified the Chiapas-Guatemalan highlands as the likely "cradle" of Mayan languages was published by the German antiquarian and scholar [[Karl Sapper]] in 1912.<ref group=notes>see attribution in {{harvtxt|Fernández de Miranda|1968|p=75}}</ref> [[Terrence Kaufman]] and John Justeson have reconstructed more than 3000 lexical items for the proto-Mayan language.{{sfn|Kaufman| with Justeson|2003}}',
42 => '',
43 => 'According to the prevailing classification scheme by [[Lyle Campbell]] and Terrence Kaufman, the first division occurred around 2200 BCE, when Huastecan split away from Mayan proper after its speakers moved northwest along the [[Gulf Coast of Mexico]].{{sfn|Campbell|Kaufman|1985}} Proto-Yucatecan and Proto-Chʼolan 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 Chʼolan group and moved south into the [[Chiapas Highlands]], they came into contact with speakers of [[Mixe–Zoque languages]].{{sfn|Kaufman|1976}} According to an alternative theory by Robertson and [[Stephen D. Houston|Houston]], Huastecan stayed in the Guatemalan highlands with speakers of Chʼolan–Tzeltalan, separating from that branch at a much later date than proposed by Kaufman.{{sfn|Robertson|Houston|2002}}',
44 => '',
45 => 'In the Archaic period (before 2000 BCE), a number of [[loanword]]s 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]].<ref group=notes>This theory was first proposed by {{harvcoltxt|Campbell|Kaufman|1976}}</ref> In the case of the [[Xincan language|Xincan]] and [[Lencan languages]], on the other hand, Mayan languages are more often the source than the receiver of loanwords. Mayan language specialists such as Campbell believe this suggests a period of intense contact between Maya and the [[Lenca people|Lencan]] and [[Xinca people]], possibly during the Classic period (250–900).<ref name="Campbell 1997, p.165" />',
46 => '',
47 => '===Classic period===',
48 => '[[File:Palenque glyphs-edit1.jpg|thumb|upright=1.81|Classic period Maya glyphs in stucco at the ''Museo de sitio'' in [[Palenque]], Mexico]]',
49 => 'During the Classic period the major branches began diversifying into separate languages. The split between Proto-Yucatecan (in the north, that is, the Yucatán Peninsula) and Proto-Chʼolan (in the south, that is, the Chiapas highlands and [[Petén Basin]]) had already occurred by the Classic period, when most extant [[#Glyphic writing|Maya inscriptions]] were written. Both variants are attested in hieroglyphic inscriptions at the [[List of Maya sites|Maya sites]] of the time, and both are commonly referred to as "[[Classic Maya language]]". Although a single prestige language was by far the most frequently recorded on extant hieroglyphic texts, evidence for at least three different varieties of Mayan have been discovered within the hieroglyphic corpus—an Eastern Chʼolan variety found in texts written in the southern Maya area and the highlands, a Western Chʼolan variety diffused from the Usumacinta region from the mid-7th century on,{{sfn|Hruby|Child|2004}} and a Yucatecan variety found in the texts from the Yucatán Peninsula.<ref name="Kettunen & Helmke 2020 p. 13">{{harvtxt|Kettunen|Helmke|2020|p=13}}</ref> The reason why only few linguistic varieties are found in the glyphic texts is probably that these served as [[prestige dialect]]s throughout the Maya region; hieroglyphic texts would have been composed in the language of the elite.<ref name="Kettunen & Helmke 2020 p. 13" />',
50 => '',
51 => 'Stephen Houston, John Robertson and David Stuart have suggested that the specific variety of Chʼolan found in the majority of Southern Lowland glyphic texts was a language they dub "Classic Chʼoltiʼan", the ancestor language of the modern [[Chʼortiʼ language|Chʼortiʼ]] and [[Chʼoltiʼ language]]s. They propose that it originated in western and south-central Petén Basin, and that it was used in the inscriptions and perhaps also spoken by elites and priests.{{sfn|Houston|Robertson|Stuart|2000}} However, Mora-Marín has argued that traits shared by Classic Lowland Maya and the Chʼoltiʼan languages are retentions rather than innovations, and that the diversification of Chʼolan in fact post-dates the classic period. The language of the classical lowland inscriptions then would have been proto-Chʼolan.{{sfn|Mora-Marín|2009}}',
52 => '',
53 => '===Colonial period===',
54 => 'During the Spanish colonization of Central America, all [[Indigenous languages of the Americas|indigenous]] languages were eclipsed by [[Spanish language|Spanish]], which became the new prestige language. The use of Mayan languages 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,<ref group=notes>The last independent Maya kingdom ([[Tayasal]]) was not conquered until 1697, some 170 years after the first ''[[conquistador]]es'' arrived. During the Colonial and Postcolonial periods, Maya peoples periodically rebelled against the colonizers, such as the [[Caste War of Yucatán]], which extended into the 20th century.</ref> and perhaps for this reason, many Maya communities still retain a high proportion of [[monolingual]] speakers. The Maya area is now dominated by the Spanish language. While a number of Mayan languages are [[moribund language|moribund]] or are considered [[endangered language|endangered]], others remain quite viable, with speakers across all age groups and native language use in all domains of society.<ref group=notes>Grenoble & Whaley (1998) characterized the situation this way: "Mayan languages typically have several hundreds of thousands of speakers, and a majority of Mayas speak a Mayan language as a first language. The driving concern of Maya communities is not to revitalize their language but to buttress it against the increasingly rapid spread of Spanish ... [rather than being] at the end of a process of language shift, [Mayan languages are] ... at the beginning."{{harvtxt|Grenoble|Whaley|1998|pages=xi-xii}}</ref>',
55 => '',
56 => '===Modern period===',
57 => '[[File:Idioma Chuj.JPG|right|thumb|Drawing with text written in the Chuj language from Ixcán, Guatemala.]]',
58 => '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 [[Maya civilization]].<ref group=notes>{{harvtxt|Choi|2002}} writes: "In the recent Maya cultural activism, maintenance of Mayan languages has been promoted in an attempt to support 'unified Maya identity'. However, there is a complex array of perceptions about Mayan language and identity among Maya who I researched in Momostenango, a highland Maya community in Guatemala. On the one hand, Maya denigrate Kʼicheʼ and have doubts about its potential to continue as a viable language because the command of Spanish is an economic and political necessity. On the other hand, they do recognize the value of Mayan language when they wish to claim the 'authentic Maya identity'. It is this conflation of conflicting and ambivalent ideologies that inform language choice..."</ref>',
59 => '',
60 => '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 Maya identify first and foremost with a particular ethnic group, e.g. as "Yucatec" or "Kʼicheʼ"; but they also recognize a shared Maya kinship.{{sfn|Choi|2002}} Language has been fundamental in defining the boundaries of that kinship. Fabri writes: "The term Maya is problematic because Maya peoples do not constitute a homogeneous identity. Maya, rather, has become a strategy of self-representation for the Maya movements and its followers. The Academia de Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala (ALMG) finds twenty-one distinct Mayan languages."{{sfn|Fabri|2003|page=61. n1}} This pride in unity has led to an insistence on the distinctions of different Mayan languages, some of which are so closely related that they could easily be referred to as [[dialects]] of a single language. But, given that the term "dialect" has been used by some with [[Racism|racialist]] overtones in the past, as scholars made a spurious distinction between Amerindian "dialects" and European "languages", the preferred usage in Mesoamerica in recent years has been to designate the linguistic varieties spoken by different ethnic group as separate languages.<ref group=notes>See {{harvtxt|Suárez|1983}} chapter 2 for a thorough discussion of the usage and meanings of the words "dialect" and "language" in Mesoamerica.</ref>',
61 => '',
62 => '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 Maya organisations in 1986. Following the 1996 [[Guatemalan Civil War|peace accords]], it has been gaining a growing recognition as the regulatory authority on Mayan languages both among Mayan scholars and the Maya peoples.<ref name=French>{{harvtxt|French|2003}}</ref><ref name=England2007>{{harvtxt|England|2007|pages=14, 93}}</ref>',
63 => '',
64 => '==Genealogy and classification==',
65 => '{{See also|List of Mayan languages}}',
66 => '',
67 => '===Relations with other families===',
68 => 'The Mayan language family has no demonstrated [[Genetic relationship (linguistics)|genetic relationship]] to other language families. Similarities with some languages of Mesoamerica are understood to be 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.{{sfn|Campbell|Kaufman|Smith-Stark|1986}}',
69 => '',
70 => 'A wide range of proposals have tried to link the Mayan family to other language families or [[language isolate|isolates]], but none is generally supported by linguists. Examples include linking Mayan with the [[Uru–Chipaya languages]], [[Mapuche language|Mapuche]], the Lencan languages, [[Purépecha language|Purépecha]], and [[Huave language|Huave]]. Mayan has also been included in various [[Hokan languages|Hokan]], [[Penutian languages|Penutian]], and [[Siouan]] hypotheses. The linguist [[Joseph Greenberg]] included Mayan in his highly controversial [[Amerind languages|Amerind hypothesis]], which is rejected by most [[historical linguistics|historical linguists]] as unsupported by available evidence.{{sfn|Campbell|1997|pages=''passim''}}',
71 => '',
72 => 'Writing in 1997, [[Lyle Campbell]], an expert in Mayan languages and historical linguistics, argued that the most promising proposal is the "[[Macro-Mayan languages|Macro-Mayan]]" hypothesis, which posits links between Mayan, the [[Mixe–Zoque languages]] and the [[Totonacan languages]], but more research is needed to support or disprove this hypothesis.<ref name="Campbell 1997, p.165"/> In 2015, Campbell noted that recent evidence presented by David Mora-Marin makes the case for a relationship between Mayan and Mixe-Zoquean languages "much more plausible".{{sfn|Mora-Marín|2016}}{{sfn|Campbell|2015|p=54}}',
73 => '',
74 => '===Subdivisions===',
75 => 'The Mayan family consists of thirty languages. Typically, these languages are grouped into 5-6 major subgroups (Yucatecan, Huastecan, Chʼolan–Tzeltalan, Qʼanjobʼalan, Mamean, and Kʼichean).{{sfn|Campbell|Kaufman|1985}}{{sfn|Campbell|2015}}{{sfn|Bennett|Coon|Henderson|2015}}',
76 => '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.{{sfn|Law|2013}}',
77 => '',
78 => 'One point still at issue is the position of Chʼolan and Qʼanjobalan–Chujean. Some scholars think these form a separate Western branch{{sfn|Campbell|Kaufman|1985}} (as in the diagram below). Other linguists do not support the positing of an especially close relationship between Chʼolan and Qʼanjobalan–Chujean; consequently they classify these as two distinct branches emanating directly from the proto-language.{{sfn|Robertson| 1977}} An alternative proposed classification groups the Huastecan branch as springing from the Chʼolan–Tzeltalan node, rather than as an outlying branch springing directly from the proto-Mayan node.{{sfn|Robertson|Houston|2002}}{{sfn|Houston|Robertson|Stuart|2000}}',
79 => '',
80 => '[[File:Mayan languages tree en.svg|center|upright=3.22|Genealogy of Mayan languages.|frameless]]',
81 => '',
82 => '==Distribution==',
83 => '{{see also|List of Mayan languages}}{{Multiple image',
84 => '| align = ',
85 => '| direction = vertical',
86 => '| total_width = 300',
87 => '| image1 = Mayan languages map.svg',
88 => '| alt1 = ',
89 => '| caption1 = Present geographic distribution of Mayan languages in Mexico and Central America',
90 => '| image2 = Mayan Language Map.png',
91 => '| caption2 = Map of Mayan language communities—font indicates relative size of speaker population. (Yucatec and Kʼicheʼ with 900,000 and 400,000 speakers respectively; 100,000–500,000 speakers; 10,000–100,000 speakers; and under 10,000 speakers.)',
92 => '}}',
93 => 'Studies estimate that Mayan languages are spoken by more than 6 million people. Most of them live in Guatemala where depending on estimates 40%-60% of the population speaks a Mayan language. In Mexico the Mayan speaking population was estimated at 2.5 million people in 2010, whereas the Belizean speaker population figures around 30,000.{{sfn|Bennett|Coon|Henderson|2015}}',
94 => '',
95 => '===Western branch===',
96 => 'The Chʼolan languages were formerly widespread throughout the Maya area, but today the language with most speakers is [[Chʼol language|Chʼol]], spoken by 130,000 in Chiapas.<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005). [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=cti Ethnologue report on Chʼol de Tila], [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ctu Ethnologue report on Chʼol de Tumbalá], both accessed March 07, 2007.</ref> Its closest relative, the [[Chontal Maya language]],<ref group=notes>Chontal Maya is not to be confused with the [[Tequistlatecan]] languages that are referred to as "Chontal of Oaxaca".</ref> is spoken by 55,000<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005). [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=chf Ethnologue report on Chontal de Tabasco], accessed March 07, 2007.</ref> in the state of [[Tabasco]]. Another related language, now endangered, is [[Chʼortiʼ language|Chʼortiʼ]], which is spoken by 30,000 in Guatemala.<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005). [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=caa Chʼortiʼ: A language of Guatemala.] Ethnologue.com, accessed March 07, 2007.</ref> It was previously also spoken in the extreme west of [[Honduras]] and [[El Salvador]], but the Salvadorian variant is now extinct and the Honduran one is considered moribund. [[Chʼoltiʼ language|Chʼoltiʼ]], a sister language of Chʼortiʼ, is also extinct.{{sfn|Campbell|Kaufman|1985}} Chʼolan languages are believed to be the most conservative in vocabulary and phonology, and are closely related to the [[Classic Maya language|language of the Classic-era inscriptions]] found in the 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 Chʼortiʼ zone and the areas where Chʼol and Chontal are spoken.{{sfn|Kettunen|Helmke|2020|p=13}}',
97 => '',
98 => 'The closest relatives of the Chʼolan languages are the languages of the Tzeltalan branch, [[Tzotzil language|Tzotzil]] and [[Tzeltal language|Tzeltal]], both spoken in Chiapas by large and stable or growing populations (265,000 for Tzotzil and 215,000 for [[Tzeltal people|Tzeltal]]).<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005) [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_family.asp?subid=91318 Family Tree for Tzeltalan] accessed March 26, 2007.</ref> Tzeltal has tens of thousands of monolingual speakers.<ref>Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charl47547es D. Fennig (eds.). "[http://www.ethnologue.com/language/tzh/18 Tzeltal]" ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Eighteenth edition'', (2015). Dallas, Texas: SIL International.</ref>',
99 => '',
100 => '[[Qʼanjobʼal language|Qʼanjobʼal]] is spoken by 77,700 in Guatemala's [[Huehuetenango]] department,<ref name="Gordon, Raymond G. 2005"/> with small populations elsewhere. The region of Qʼanjobalan speakers in Guatemala, due to genocidal policies during the [[Guatemalan Civil War|Civil War]] and its close proximity to the [[Guatemala–Mexico border|Mexican border]], was the source of a number of refugees. Thus there are now small Qʼanjobʼal, Jakaltek, and Akatek populations in various locations in Mexico, the United States (such as [[Tuscarawas County, Ohio]]{{sfn|Solá|2011}} and Los Angeles, California{{sfn|Popkin|2005}}), and, through postwar resettlement, other parts of Guatemala.{{sfn|Rao|2015}} [[Jakaltek language|Jakaltek]] (also known as Poptiʼ<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005). Gordon (2005) recognizes Eastern and Western dialects of [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_family.asp?subid=92216 Jakaltek], as well as [[Mochoʼ language|Mochoʼ]] (also called Mototzintlec), a language with less than 200 speakers in the Chiapan villages of Tuzantán and Mototzintla.</ref>) is spoken by almost 100,000 in several municipalities<ref>Jakaltek is spoken in the ''[[Municipio (Mexico)|municipios]]'' of [[Jacaltenango]], [[La Democracia, Huehuetenango|La Democracia]], [[Concepción, Mexico|Concepción]], [[San Antonio Huista]] and [[Santa Ana Huista]], and in parts of the [[Nentón]] ''municipio''.</ref> of [[Huehuetenango]]. Another member of this branch is [[Akatek language|Akatek]], with over 50,000 speakers in [[San Miguel Acatán]] and [[San Rafael La Independencia]].<ref>Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig (eds.). "[http://www.ethnologue.com/language/knj/18 Akateko]" ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Eighteenth edition'', (2015). Dallas, Texas: SIL International.</ref>',
101 => '',
102 => '[[Chuj language|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 [[La Trinitaria, Mexico|La Trinitaria]], [[Chiapas]], and the villages of Tziscau and Cuauhtémoc. [[Tojolabal language|Tojolabʼal]] is spoken in eastern Chiapas by 36,000 people.<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005) [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=toj Tojolabal: A language of Mexico.] and [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=cnam Chuj: A language of Guatemala.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001200045/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=cnam |date=2007-10-01 }} both accessed March 19, 2007.</ref>',
103 => '',
104 => '===Eastern branch===',
105 => 'The Quichean–Mamean languages and dialects, with two sub-branches and three subfamilies, are spoken in the [[Guatemalan Highlands|Guatemalan highlands]].',
106 => '',
107 => '[[Qʼeqchiʼ language|Qʼeqchiʼ]] (sometimes spelled Kekchi), which constitutes its own sub-branch within Quichean–Mamean, is spoken by about 800,000 people in the southern [[Petén (department)|Petén]], [[Izabal Department|Izabal]] and [[Alta Verapaz]] departments of Guatemala, and also in Belize by 9,000 speakers. In El Salvador it is spoken by 12,000 as a result of recent migrations.<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005). [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=kek Ethnologue report on Qʼeqchi], accessed March 07, 2007.</ref>',
108 => '',
109 => 'The [[Uspantek language]], which also springs directly from the Quichean–Mamean node, is native only to the [[Uspantán]] ''[[Municipalities of Guatemala|municipio]]'' in the department of [[Quiché (department)|El Quiché]], and has 3,000 speakers.<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005) [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=usp Ethnologue report for Uspantec], accessed March 26, 2007.</ref>',
110 => '',
111 => 'Within the Quichean sub-branch [[Kʼicheʼ language|Kʼicheʼ (Quiché)]], the Mayan language with the largest number of speakers, is spoken by around 1,000,000 [[Kʼicheʼ people|Kʼicheʼ Maya]] in the [[Guatemala]]n highlands, around the towns of [[Chichicastenango]] and [[Quetzaltenango]] and in the [[Sierra de los Cuchumatanes|Cuchumatán mountains]], as well as by urban emigrants in [[Guatemala City]].<ref name="Gordon, Raymond G. 2005"/> The famous Maya mythological document, ''[[Popol Vuh]]'', is written in an antiquated Kʼicheʼ often called [[Classical Kʼicheʼ language|Classical Kʼicheʼ (or Quiché)]]. The [[Kʼicheʼ Kingdom of Qʼumarkaj|Kʼicheʼ culture]] was at its pinnacle at the time of the Spanish conquest. [[Qʼumarkaj]], near the present-day city of [[Santa Cruz del Quiché]], was its economic and ceremonial center.{{sfn|Edmonson|1968|pages=250–251}} [[Achi language|Achi]] is spoken by 85,000 people in [[Cubulco]] and [[Rabinal]], two ''municipios'' of [[Baja Verapaz]]. In some classifications, e.g. the one by [[Lyle Campbell|Campbell]], Achi is counted as a form of Kʼicheʼ. However, owing to a historical division between the two ethnic groups, the Achi Maya do not regard themselves as Kʼicheʼ.<ref group=notes>The Ethnologue considers the dialects spoken in Cubulco and Rabinal to be distinct languages, two of the eight languages of a Quiché-Achi family. Raymond G., Gordon Jr. (ed.). Ethnologue, (2005). [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_family.asp?subid=91829 Language Family Tree for Mayan], accessed March 26, 2007.</ref> The [[Kaqchikel language]] is spoken by about 400,000 people in an area stretching from Guatemala City westward to the northern shore of [[Lago de Atitlán|Lake Atitlán]].<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005). [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_family.asp?subid=92230 Family Tree for Kaqchikel], accessed March 26, 2007.</ref> [[Tzʼutujil language|Tzʼutujil]] has about 90,000 speakers in the vicinity of Lake Atitlán.<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005). [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=tzj Ethnologue report on Eastern Tzʼutujil], [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=tzt Ethnologue report on Western Tzʼutujil] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070410081706/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=tzt |date=2007-04-10 }}, both accessed March 26, 2007.</ref> Other members of the Kʼichean branch are [[Sakapultek language|Sakapultek]], spoken by about 15,000 people mostly in [[El Quiché]] department,<ref>Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig (eds.). "[http://www.ethnologue.com/language/quv/18 Sakapulteko]" ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Eighteenth edition'', (2015). Dallas, Texas: SIL International.</ref> and [[Sipakapense language|Sipakapense]], which is spoken by 8,000 people in [[Sipacapa]], [[San Marcos (department)|San Marcos]].<ref>Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig (eds.). "[http://www.ethnologue.com/language/qum/18 Sipakapense]" ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Eighteenth edition'', (2015). Dallas, Texas: SIL International.</ref>',
112 => '',
113 => 'The largest language in the Mamean sub-branch is [[Mam language|Mam]], spoken by 478,000 people in the departments of San Marcos and Huehuetenango. [[Awakatek language|Awakatek]] is the language of 20,000 inhabitants of central [[Aguacatán]], another municipality of Huehuetenango. [[Ixil language|Ixil]] (possibly three different languages) is spoken by 70,000 in the "[[Ixil Triangle]]" region of the [[Quiché (department)|department of El Quiché]].<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005) [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ixi Ethnologue report on Nebaj Ixil] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080504025151/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ixi |date=2008-05-04 }}, [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ixj Chajul Ixil] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061208132311/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ixj |date=2006-12-08 }} & [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ixl San Juan Cotzal Ixil], accessed March 07, 2008.</ref> [[Tektitek language|Tektitek]] (or Teko) is spoken by over 6,000 people in the municipality of Tectitán, and 1,000 refugees in Mexico. According to the Ethnologue the number of speakers of Tektitek is growing.<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005) [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ttc Ethnologue report for Tektitek], accessed March 07, 2007.</ref>',
114 => '',
115 => 'The Poqom languages are closely related to Core Quichean, with which they constitute a Poqom-Kʼichean sub-branch on the Quichean–Mamean node.{{sfn|Campbell|1997|p=163}} [[Poqomchiʼ language|Poqomchiʼ]] is spoken by 90,000 people<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005). [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=poh Ethnologue report on Eastern Poqomam], [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=pob Ethnologue report on Western Poqomchiʼ], both accessed March 07, 2007.</ref> in [[Purulhá]], [[Baja Verapaz]], and in the following municipalities of [[Alta Verapaz]]: [[Santa Cruz Verapaz]], [[San Cristóbal Verapaz]], [[Tactic (municipality)|Tactic]], [[Tamahú]] and [[Tucurú]]. [[Poqomam language|Poqomam]] is spoken by around 49,000 people in several small pockets in [[Guatemala]].<ref>Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig (eds.). "[http://www.ethnologue.com/language/poc/18 Poqomam]" ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Eighteenth edition'', (2015). Dallas, Texas: SIL International.</ref>',
116 => '',
117 => '===Yucatecan branch===',
118 => '[[File:Map-Maya in Mexico.svg|thumb|The area where Yucatec Maya is spoken in the peninsula of Yucatán]]',
119 => '[[Yucatec Maya language|Yucatec Maya]] (known simply as "Maya" to its speakers) is the most commonly spoken Mayan 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]].<ref name="Gordon, Raymond G. 2005">Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.). Ethnologue, (2005).</ref><ref>',
120 => '[http://www.inegi.gob.mx/est/contenidos/espanol/rutinas/ept.asp?t=mlen10&c=3337 Población hablante de lengua indígena de 5 y más años por principales lenguas, 1970 a 2005] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070825062559/http://www.inegi.gob.mx/est/contenidos/espanol/rutinas/ept.asp?t=mlen10&c=3337 |date=2007-08-25 }} [[INEGI]]',
121 => '</ref> It remains common in [[Yucatán (state)|Yucatán]] and in the adjacent states of [[Quintana Roo]] and [[Campeche]].<ref>Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig (eds.). "[http://www.ethnologue.com/language/yua/18 Maya, Yucatec]" ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Eighteenth edition'', (2015). Dallas, Texas: SIL International.</ref>',
122 => '',
123 => 'The other three Yucatecan languages are [[Mopan language|Mopan]], spoken by around 10,000 speakers primarily in [[Belize]]; [[Itzaʼ language|Itzaʼ]], an extinct or moribund language from Guatemala's Petén Basin;<ref>There were only 12 remaining native speakers in 1986 according to Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.). Ethnologue, (2005).</ref> and [[Lacandon language|Lacandón]] or Lakantum, also severely endangered with about 1,000 speakers in a few villages on the outskirts of the [[Selva Lacandona]], in [[Chiapas]].<ref>Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig (eds.). "[http://www.ethnologue.com/language/lac/18 Lacandon]" ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Eighteenth edition'', (2015). Dallas, Texas: SIL International.</ref>',
124 => '',
125 => '===Huastecan branch===',
126 => '[[Wastek language|Wastek]] (also spelled Huastec and Huaxtec) is spoken in the Mexican states of [[Veracruz]] and [[San Luis Potosí]] by around 110,000 people.<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.). Ethnologue (2005).</ref> 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.{{sfn|Campbell|Canger|1978}}',
127 => '',
128 => '==Phonology==',
129 => '',
130 => '===Proto-Mayan sound system===',
131 => '[[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.{{sfn|Campbell|Kaufman|1985}}{{sfn|Campbell|2015}}<ref group=notes>Proto-Mayan allowed roots of the shape {{IPA|CVC, CVVC, CVhC, CVʔC}}, and {{IPA|CVSC}} (where {{IPA|S}} is {{IPA|/s/}}, {{IPA|/ʃ/}}, or {{IPA|/x/}})); see {{harvtxt|England|1994|pages=77}}</ref> Most Proto-Mayan roots were ''monosyllabic'' except for a few disyllabic nominal roots.',
132 => '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.{{sfn|Campbell|2015}} It has been suggested that proto-Mayan was a [[Tonal Language|tonal language]], based on the fact that four different contemporary Mayan languages have tone (Yucatec, Uspantek, San Bartolo Tzotzil<ref group=notes>{{harvtxt|Campbell|2015}} mistakenly writes Tzeltal for Tzotzil, {{harvtxt|Avelino|Shin|2011}} states that the reports of a fully developed tone contrast in San Bartolome Tzotzil are inaccurate</ref> and Mochoʼ), but since these languages each can be shown to have innovated tone in different ways, Campbell considers this unlikely.{{sfn|Campbell|2015}}',
133 => '',
134 => '{| align="center" class="wikitable" style="float: none; text-align: center"',
135 => '|-',
136 => '|+Proto-Mayan vowels',
137 => '!rowspan=2 |',
138 => '!colspan=2 | [[Front vowel|Front]]',
139 => '!colspan=2 | [[Central vowel|Central]]',
140 => '!colspan=2 | [[Back vowel|Back]]',
141 => '|-',
142 => '! <small>[[Vowel length|Short]]</small>',
143 => '! <small>[[Vowel length|Long]]</small>',
144 => '! <small>[[Vowel length|Short]]</small>',
145 => '! <small>[[Vowel length|Long]]</small>',
146 => '! <small>[[Vowel length|Short]]</small>',
147 => '! <small>[[Vowel length|Long]]</small>',
148 => '|-',
149 => '! [[Close vowel|High]]',
150 => '| {{IPA link|i}}',
151 => '| {{IPA link|iː}}',
152 => '|colspan=2|',
153 => '| {{IPA link|u}}',
154 => '| {{IPA link|uː}}',
155 => '|-',
156 => '! [[Close-mid vowel|Mid]]',
157 => '| {{IPA link|e}}',
158 => '| {{IPA link|eː}}',
159 => '|colspan=2|',
160 => '| {{IPA link|o}}',
161 => '| {{IPA link|oː}}',
162 => '|-',
163 => '! [[Open vowel|Low]]',
164 => '|colspan=2|',
165 => '| {{IPA link|a}}',
166 => '| {{IPA link|aː}}',
167 => '|colspan=2|',
168 => '|}',
169 => '',
170 => '{| class="wikitable" align="center" style="float: none; text-align: center"',
171 => '|+Proto-Mayan consonants',
172 => '! colspan="2" |',
173 => '! [[Bilabial consonant|Bilabial]]',
174 => '! [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]',
175 => '! [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]',
176 => '! [[Velar consonant|Velar]]',
177 => '! [[Uvular consonant|Uvular]]',
178 => '! [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]',
179 => '|-',
180 => '! colspan="2" | [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]',
181 => '| {{IPA link|m}}',
182 => '| {{IPA link|n}}',
183 => '|',
184 => '| {{IPA link|ŋ}}',
185 => '|',
186 => '|',
187 => '|-',
188 => '! rowspan="2" | [[Plosive]]',
189 => '! {{small|Plain}}',
190 => '| {{IPA link|p}}',
191 => '| {{IPA link|t}}',
192 => '| {{IPA link|tʲ}}',
193 => '| {{IPA link|k}}',
194 => '| {{IPA link|q}}',
195 => '| rowspan="2" | {{IPA link|ʔ}}',
196 => '|-',
197 => '! {{small|[[Glottalic consonant|Glottalic]]}}',
198 => '| {{IPA link|ɓ}}',
199 => '| {{IPA link|tʼ}}',
200 => '| {{IPA link|tʲʼ}}',
201 => '| {{IPA link|kʼ}}',
202 => '| {{IPA link|qʼ}}',
203 => '|-',
204 => '! rowspan="2" | [[Affricate]]',
205 => '! {{small|Plain}}',
206 => '|',
207 => '| {{IPA link|t͡s}}',
208 => '| {{IPA link|t͡ʃ}}',
209 => '|',
210 => '|',
211 => '|',
212 => '|-',
213 => '! {{small|[[Glottalic consonant|Glottalic]]}}',
214 => '|',
215 => '| {{IPA link|t͡sʼ}}',
216 => '| {{IPA link|t͡ʃʼ}}',
217 => '|',
218 => '|',
219 => '|',
220 => '|-',
221 => '! colspan="2" | [[Fricative]]',
222 => '|',
223 => '| {{IPA link|s}}',
224 => '| {{IPA link|ʃ}}',
225 => '| {{IPA link|x}}',
226 => '|',
227 => '| {{IPA link|h}}',
228 => '|-',
229 => '! colspan="2" | [[Liquid consonant|Liquid]]',
230 => '|',
231 => '| {{IPA link|l}} {{IPA link|r}}',
232 => '|',
233 => '|',
234 => '|',
235 => '|',
236 => '|-',
237 => '! colspan="2" | [[Glide consonant|Glide]]',
238 => '|',
239 => '|',
240 => '| {{IPA link|j}}',
241 => '| {{IPA link|w}}',
242 => '|',
243 => '|',
244 => '|}',
245 => '',
246 => '===Phonological evolution of Proto-Mayan===',
247 => '{{main|Proto-Mayan language}}',
248 => '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 Chʼolan) all changed the Proto-Mayan [[phoneme]] *{{IPA|/r/}} into {{IPA|[j]}}, some languages of the eastern branch retained {{IPA|[r]}} (Kʼichean), and others changed it into {{IPA|[tʃ]}} or, word-finally, {{IPA|[t]}} (Mamean). The shared innovations between Huastecan, Yucatecan and Chʼolan show that they separated from the other Mayan languages before the changes found in other branches had taken place.<ref name="England 1994, pp.30–31">{{harvtxt|England|1994|pages=30–31}}</ref>',
249 => '',
250 => '{| class="wikitable"',
251 => '|-',
252 => '|+ Reflexes of Proto-Mayan *{{IPA|[r]}} in daughter languages',
253 => '! scope="col" | Proto-Mayan',
254 => '! scope="col" style="background-color:orange;"|Wastek',
255 => '! scope="col" style="background-color:lime;"|Yucatec',
256 => '! scope="col" style="background-color:lime;"|Mopan',
257 => '! scope="col" style="background-color:blue; color:white"|Tzeltal',
258 => '! scope="col" style="background-color:#2a7FFF; color:white"|Chuj',
259 => '! scope="col" style="background-color:#2a7FFF; color:white"|Qʼanjobʼal',
260 => '! scope="col" style="background-color:#892ca0; color:white"|Mam',
261 => '! scope="col" style="background-color:#892ca0; color:white"|Ixil',
262 => '! scope="col" style="background-color:magenta"|Kʼicheʼ',
263 => '! scope="col" style="background-color:magenta"|Kaqchikel',
264 => '! scope="col" style="background-color:magenta"|Poqomam',
265 => '! scope="col" style="background-color:magenta"|Qʼeqchiʼ',
266 => '|-',
267 => '! scope="row" style="font-weight:normal;" | *{{IPA|[raʔʃ]}}<br/>"''green''"',
268 => '| style="background-color:#FFD482;" align="center" | {{IPA|[jaʃ]}}',
269 => '| style="background-color:#83FF82;" align="center" | {{IPA|[jaʔʃ]}}',
270 => '| style="background-color:#83FF82;" align="center" | {{IPA|[jaʔaʃ]}}',
271 => '| style="background-color:#9B9CFF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[jaʃ]}}',
272 => '| style="background-color:#95C0FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[jaʔaʃ]}}',
273 => '| style="background-color:#95C0FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[jaʃ]}}',
274 => '| style="background-color:#bb9fb8;" align="center" | {{IPA|[tʃaʃ]}}',
275 => '| style="background-color:#bb9fb8;" align="center" | {{IPA|[tʃaʔʃ]}}',
276 => '| style="background-color:#FF82FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[raʃ]}}',
277 => '| style="background-color:#FF82FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[rɐʃ]}}',
278 => '| style="background-color:#FF82FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[raʃ]}}',
279 => '| style="background-color:#FF82FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[raʃ]}}',
280 => '|-',
281 => '! scope="row" style="font-weight:normal;" | *{{IPA|[war]}}<br/>"''sleep''"',
282 => '| style="background-color:#FFD482;" align="center" | {{IPA|[waj]}}',
283 => '| style="background-color:#83FF82;" align="center" | {{IPA|[waj]}}',
284 => '| style="background-color:#83FF82;" align="center" | {{IPA|[wɐjn]}}',
285 => '| style="background-color:#9B9CFF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[waj]}}',
286 => '| style="background-color:#95C0FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[waj]}}',
287 => '| style="background-color:#95C0FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[waj]}}',
288 => '| style="background-color:#bb9fb8;" align="center" | {{IPA|[wit]}}<br/><small>(Awakatek)</small>',
289 => '| style="background-color:#bb9fb8;" align="center" | {{IPA|[wat]}}',
290 => '| style="background-color:#FF82FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[war]}}',
291 => '| style="background-color:#FF82FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[war]}}',
292 => '| style="background-color:#FF82FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[wɨr]}}',
293 => '| style="background-color:#FF82FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[war]}}',
294 => '|}',
295 => '',
296 => 'The palatalized [[plosive]]s {{IPA|[tʲʼ]}} and {{IPA|[tʲ]}} are not found in most of the modern families. Instead they are reflected differently in different branches, allowing a reconstruction of these phonemes as palatalized plosives. In the eastern branch (Chujean-Qʼanjobalan and Chʼolan) they are reflected as {{IPA|[t]}} and {{IPA|[tʼ]}}. In Mamean they are reflected as {{IPA|[ts]}} and {{IPA|[tsʼ]}} and in Quichean as {{IPA|[tʃ]}} and {{IPA|[tʃʼ]}}. Yucatec stands out from other western languages in that its palatalized plosives are sometimes changed into {{IPA|[tʃ]}} and sometimes {{IPA|[t]}}.{{sfn|England|1994|page=35}}',
297 => '',
298 => '{| class="wikitable"',
299 => '|-',
300 => '|+ Reflexes of Proto-Mayan {{IPA|[tʲʼ]}} and {{IPA|[tʲ]}}<ref name="EnglandCognates">Adapted from cognate list in {{harvtxt|England|1994}}.</ref><ref name=HullChorti>Kerry Hull <nowiki>''An Abbreviated Dictionary of Ch’orti’ Maya''</nowiki>. 2005</ref><ref name=HopkinsChuj1965>Nicholas A. Hopkins. <nowiki>''A DICTIONARY OF THE CHUJ (MAYAN) LANGUAGE''</nowiki>. 2012</ref>',
301 => '! scope="col" | Proto-Mayan',
302 => '! scope="col" style="background-color:lime;" | Yucatec',
303 => '! scope="col" style="background-color:blue; color:white"|Ch'ol',
304 => '! scope="col" style="background-color:blue; color:white"|Chʼortiʼ',
305 => '! scope="col" style="background-color:#2a7FFF; color:white" | Chuj',
306 => '! scope="col" style="background-color:#2a7FFF; color:white" | Qʼanjobʼal',
307 => '! scope="col" style="background-color:#2a7FFF; color:white" | Poptiʼ (Jakaltek)',
308 => '! scope="col" style="background-color:#892ca0; color:white" | Mam',
309 => '! scope="col" style="background-color:#892ca0; color:white" | Ixil',
310 => '! scope="col" style="background-color:magenta" | Kʼicheʼ',
311 => '! scope="col" style="background-color:magenta" | Kaqchikel',
312 => '|-',
313 => '! scope="row" style="font-weight:normal;" | *{{IPA|[tʲeːʔ]}}<br/>"''tree''"',
314 => '| style="background-color:#83FF82;" align="center" | {{IPA|[tʃeʔ]}}',
315 => '| style="background-color:#9B9CFF;" align="center" |{{IPA|/tʲeʔ/}}',
316 => '| style="background-color:#9B9CFF;" align="center" |{{IPA|/teʔ/}}',
317 => '| style="background-color:#95C0FF;" align="center" |{{IPA|/teʔ/}}',
318 => '| style="background-color:#95C0FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[teʔ]}}',
319 => '| style="background-color:#95C0FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[teʔ]}}',
320 => '| style="background-color:#bb9fb8;" align="center" | {{IPA|[tseːʔ]}}',
321 => '| style="background-color:#bb9fb8;" align="center" | {{IPA|[tseʔ]}}',
322 => '| style="background-color:#FF82FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[tʃeːʔ]}}',
323 => '| style="background-color:#FF82FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[tʃeʔ]}}',
324 => '|-',
325 => '! scope="row" style="font-weight:normal;" | *{{IPA|[tʲaʔŋ]}}<br/>"''ashes''"',
326 => '| style="background-color:#83FF82;" align="center" | {{IPA|[taʔn]}}',
327 => '| style="background-color:#9B9CFF;" align="center" |',
328 => '| style="background-color:#9B9CFF;" align="center" |',
329 => '| style="background-color:#95C0FF;" align="center" |{{IPA|/taʔaŋ/}}',
330 => '| style="background-color:#95C0FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[tan]}}',
331 => '| style="background-color:#95C0FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[taŋ]}}',
332 => '| style="background-color:#bb9fb8;" align="center" | {{IPA|[tsaːx]}}',
333 => '| style="background-color:#bb9fb8;" align="center" | {{IPA|[tsaʔ]}}',
334 => '| style="background-color:#FF82FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[tʃaːx]}}',
335 => '| style="background-color:#FF82FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[tʃax]}}',
336 => '|}',
337 => '',
338 => 'The Proto-Mayan velar nasal *{{IPA|[ŋ]}} is reflected as {{IPA|[x]}} in the eastern branches (Quichean–Mamean), {{IPA|[n]}} in Qʼanjobalan, Chʼolan and Yucatecan, {{IPA|[h]}} in Huastecan, and only conserved as {{IPA|[ŋ]}} in Chuj and Jakaltek.<ref name="England 1994, pp.30–31"/><ref name=HullChorti /><ref name=HopkinsChuj1965 />',
339 => '',
340 => '{| class="wikitable"',
341 => '|-',
342 => '|+ Reflexes of Proto-Mayan {{IPA|[ŋ]}}<ref name="EnglandCognates"/>',
343 => '! scope="col" | Proto-Mayan',
344 => '! scope="col" style="background-color:lime;" | Yucatec',
345 => '! scope="col" style="background-color:blue; color:white"|Chʼortiʼ',
346 => '! scope="col" style="background-color:#2a7FFF; color:white" | Qʼanjobal',
347 => '! scope="col" style="background-color:#2a7FFF; color:white" | Chuj',
348 => '! scope="col" style="background-color:#2a7FFF; color:white" | Jakaltek (Poptiʼ)',
349 => '! scope="col" style="background-color:#892ca0; color:white" | Ixil',
350 => '! scope="col" style="background-color:magenta" | Kʼicheʼ',
351 => '|-',
352 => '! scope="row" style="font-weight:normal;" | *{{IPA|[ŋeːh]}}<br/>"''tail''"',
353 => '| style="background-color:#83FF82;" align="center" | {{IPA|[neːh]}}',
354 => '| style="background-color:#9B9CFF;" align="center" |{{IPA|/nex/}}',
355 => '| style="background-color:#95C0FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[ne]}}',
356 => '| style="background-color:#95C0FF;" align="center" | {{nowrap|{{IPA|/ŋeh/}}}}',
357 => '| style="background-color:#95C0FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[ŋe]}}',
358 => '| style="background-color:#a47fA0;" align="center" | {{IPA|[xeh]}}',
359 => '| style="background-color:#FF82FF;" align="center" | {{IPA|[xeːʔ]}}',
360 => '|}',
361 => '',
362 => '===Diphthongs===',
363 => 'Vowel quality is typically classified as having monophthongal vowels. In traditionally diphthongized contexts, Mayan languages will realize the V-V sequence by inserting a hiatus-breaking glottal stop or glide insertion between the vowels. Some Kʼichean-branch languages have exhibited developed diphthongs from historical long vowels, by breaking /e:/ and /o:/.{{sfn|England|2001}}',
364 => '',
365 => '==Grammar==',
366 => 'The [[morphology (linguistics)|morphology]] of Mayan languages is simpler than that of other Mesoamerican languages,<ref group=notes>{{harvtxt|Suárez|1983|p=65}} writes: "Neither Tarascan nor Mayan have words as complex as those found in Nahuatl, Totonac or Mixe–Zoque, but, in different ways both have a rich morphology."</ref> yet its [[morphology (linguistics)|morphology]] is still considered [[Agglutinative language|agglutinating]] and [[polysynthetic language|polysynthetic]].{{sfn|Suárez|1983|p=65}} Verbs are marked for [[Grammatical aspect|aspect]] or [[Grammatical tense|tense]], the [[Grammatical person|person]] of the [[subject (grammar)|subject]], the person of the [[object (grammar)|object]] (in the case of [[transitive verb]]s), and for [[Grammatical number|plurality]] of person. Possessed nouns are marked for person of possessor. In Mayan languages, nouns are not marked for case, and gender is not explicitly marked.',
367 => '',
368 => '===Word order===',
369 => 'Proto-Mayan is thought to have had a basic [[verb–object–subject]] word order with possibilities of switching to [[verb–subject–object|VSO]] in certain circumstances, such as complex sentences, sentences where object and subject were of equal animacy and when the subject was definite.<ref group=notes>Lyle Campbell (1997) refers to studies by Norman and Campbell ((1978) "Toward a proto-Mayan syntax: a comparative perspective on grammar", in ''Papers in Mayan Linguistics'', ed. Nora C. England, pp. 136–56. Columbia: Museum of Anthropology, University of Missouri) and by {{harvtxt|England|1991}}.</ref> Today Yucatecan, Tzotzil and Tojolabʼal have a basic fixed VOS word order. Mamean, Qʼanjobʼal, Jakaltek and one dialect of Chuj have a fixed VSO one. Only Chʼortiʼ has a basic [[subject–verb–object|SVO]] word order. Other Mayan languages allow both VSO and VOS word orders.{{sfn|England|1991}}',
370 => '',
371 => '===Numeral classifiers===',
372 => 'In many Mayan languages, counting requires the use of [[numeral classifiers]], which specify the class of items being counted; the numeral cannot appear without an accompanying classifier. Some Mayan languages, such as Kaqchikel, do not use numeral classifiers. Class is usually assigned according to whether the object is animate or inanimate or according to an object's general shape.<ref>See, e.g., Tozzer (1977 [1921]), pp. 103, 290–292.</ref> Thus when counting "flat" objects, a different form of numeral classifier is used than when counting round things, oblong items or people. In some Mayan languages such as Chontal, classifiers take the form of affixes attached to the numeral; in others such as Tzeltal, they are free forms. Jakaltek has both numeral classifiers and noun classifiers, and the noun classifiers can also be used as pronouns.{{sfn|Craig|1977|p=141}}',
373 => '',
374 => 'The meaning denoted by a noun may be altered significantly by changing the accompanying classifier. In Chontal, for example, when the classifier ''-tek'' is used with names of plants it is understood that the objects being enumerated are whole trees. If in this expression a different classifier, ''-tsʼit'' (for counting long, slender objects) is substituted for ''-tek'', this conveys the meaning that only sticks or branches of the tree are being counted:<ref>Example follows {{harvtxt|Suárez|1983|page=88}}</ref>',
375 => '',
376 => '{|align="center" class="wikitable"',
377 => '|+Semantic differences in numeral classifiers (from Chontal)',
378 => '|bgcolor="#FFDEAD"|'''''untek wop''''' (one-tree Jahuacte)',
379 => '|bgcolor="#FFFFAA"|'''''untsʼit wop''''' (one-stick jahuacte)',
380 => '|-',
381 => '|{{interlinear|un- tek wop|one- "plant" {jahuacte tree}|"one jahuacte tree"}}',
382 => '|{{interlinear|un- tsʼit wop|one- {"long.slender.object"} {jahuacte tree}|"one stick from a jahuacte tree"}}',
383 => '|}',
384 => '',
385 => '===Possession===',
386 => 'The morphology of Mayan nouns is fairly simple: they inflect for number (plural or singular), and, when possessed, for person and number of their possessor. Pronominal possession is expressed by a set of possessive prefixes attached to the noun, as in Kaqchikel ''ru-kej'' "his/her horse". Nouns may furthermore adopt a special form marking them as possessed. For nominal possessors, the possessed noun is inflected as possessed by a third-person possessor, and followed by the possessor noun, e.g. Kaqchikel ''ru-kej ri achin'' "the man's horse" (literally "his horse the man").<ref name="Suaréz 1983, p. 85">{{harvtxt|Suárez|1983|page=85}}</ref> This type of formation is a main diagnostic trait of the [[Mesoamerican Linguistic Area]] and recurs throughout [[Mesoamerica]].{{sfn|Campbell|Kaufman|Smith-Stark|1986|pages=544–545}}',
387 => '',
388 => 'Mayan languages often contrast alienable and [[inalienable possession]] by varying the way the noun is (or is not) marked as possessed. Jakaltek, for example, contrasts inalienably possessed ''{{IPA|wetʃel}}'' "my photo (in which I am depicted)" with alienably possessed ''{{IPA|wetʃele}}'' "my photo (taken by me)". The prefix ''we-'' marks the first person singular possessor in both, but the absence of the ''-e'' possessive suffix in the first form marks inalienable possession.<ref name="Suaréz 1983, p. 85"/>',
389 => '',
390 => '===Relational nouns===',
391 => 'Mayan languages which have [[preposition]]s at all normally have only one. To express location and other relations between entities, use is made of a special class of "[[relational noun]]s". This pattern is also recurrent throughout Mesoamerica and is another diagnostic trait of the Mesoamerican Linguistic Area. In Mayan most relational nouns are metaphorically derived from body parts so that "on top of", for example, is expressed by the word for ''head''.{{sfn|Campbell|Kaufman|Smith-Stark|1986|pages=545–546}}',
392 => '',
393 => '===Subjects and objects===',
394 => 'Mayan languages are [[ergative–absolutive language|ergative]] in their [[morphosyntactic alignment|alignment]]. This means that the subject of an intransitive verb is treated similarly to the object of a transitive verb, but differently from the subject of a transitive verb.{{sfn|Coon|2010|pages=47–52}}',
395 => '',
396 => 'Mayan languages have two sets of affixes that are attached to a verb to indicate the person of its arguments. One set (often referred to in Mayan grammars as set B) indicates the person of subjects of intransitive verbs, and of objects of transitive verbs. They can also be used with adjective or noun predicates to indicate the subject.{{sfn|Suárez|1983|page=77}}',
397 => '{|class="wikitable"',
398 => '|+Set B',
399 => '!Usage',
400 => '!Language of example',
401 => '!Example',
402 => '!Translation',
403 => '|-',
404 => '!style="text-align:left;"|Subject of an intransitive verb',
405 => '|[[Kaqchikel language|Kaqchikel]]',
406 => '|x-'''ix-'''ok',
407 => '|"'''You [plural]''' entered"',
408 => '|-',
409 => '!style="text-align:left;"| Object of a transitive verb',
410 => '|[[Kaqchikel language|Kaqchikel]]',
411 => '|x-'''ix'''-ru-chöp',
412 => '|"He/she took '''you [plural]'''"',
413 => '|-',
414 => '!style="text-align:left;"| Subject of an adjective predicate',
415 => '|[[Kaqchikel language|Kaqchikel]]',
416 => '|'''ix-'''samajel',
417 => '|"'''You [plural]''' are hard-working."',
418 => '|-',
419 => '!style="text-align:left;"| Subject of a noun predicate',
420 => '|[[Tzotzil language|Tzotzil]]',
421 => '|ʼantz'''-ot'''',
422 => '|"'''You''' are a woman."',
423 => '|}',
424 => '',
425 => 'Another set (set A) is used to indicate the person of subjects of transitive verbs (and in some languages, such as Yucatec, also the subjects of intransitive verbs, but only in the incompletive aspects), and also the possessors of nouns (including relational nouns).<ref group=notes>Another view has been suggested by Carlos Lenkersdorf, an [[anthropologist]] who studied the [[Tojolabʼal language]]. He argued that a native Tojolabʼal speaker makes no cognitive distinctions between subject and object, or even between active and passive, animate and inanimate, seeing both subject and object as active participants in an action. For instance, in Tojolabʼal rather than saying "I teach you", one says the equivalent of "I-teach you-learn". See {{harvtxt|Lenkersdorf|1996|pp=60–62}}</ref>',
426 => '{|class="wikitable"',
427 => '|+Set A',
428 => '!Usage',
429 => '!Language of example',
430 => '!Example',
431 => '!Translation',
432 => '|-',
433 => '!style="text-align:left;"|Subject of a<br/>transitive verb',
434 => '|[[Kaqchikel language|Kaqchikel]]',
435 => '|x-ix-'''ru'''-chöp',
436 => '|"'''He/she''' took you guys"',
437 => '|-',
438 => '!style="text-align:left;"|Possessive marker',
439 => '|[[Kaqchikel language|Kaqchikel]]',
440 => '|'''ru'''-kej ri achin',
441 => '| "the man''''s''' horse" (literally: "'''his''' horse the man")',
442 => '|-',
443 => '!style="text-align:left;"|Relational marker',
444 => '|[[Classical Kʼicheʼ]]',
445 => '|'''u'''-wach ulew',
446 => '| "on the earth" (literally: "'''its''' face the earth", i.e. "face of the earth")',
447 => '|}',
448 => '',
449 => '===Verbs===',
450 => 'In addition to subject and object (agent and patient), the Mayan verb has affixes signalling aspect, tense, and mood as in the following example:',
451 => '',
452 => '{| class="wikitable"',
453 => '|+Mayan verb structure',
454 => '|{{interlinear|style1 = font-weight:bold;|italics1=no|italics2=yes|glossing3=yes',
455 => '|Aspect/mood/tense {Class A prefix} {Class B prefix} Root Aspect/mood/voice Plural',
456 => '|k- in- a- chʼay -o {}',
457 => '|{{gcl|INCOMPL|incompletive}} 1SG.{{gcl|P|patient}} 2SG.{{gcl|A|agent}} hit {{gcl|INCOMPL|incompletive}} {}',
458 => '|(Kʼicheʼ) ''kinachʼayo'' "You are hitting me"}}',
459 => '|}',
460 => '',
461 => '[[Grammatical tense|Tense]] systems in Mayan languages are generally simple. Jakaltek, for example, contrasts only past and non-past, while Mam has only future and non-future. [[grammatical aspect|Aspect]] systems are normally more prominent. [[Grammatical mood|Mood]] does not normally form a separate system in Mayan, but is instead intertwined with the tense/aspect system.<ref>Suaréz (1983), p. 71.</ref> Kaufman has reconstructed a tense/aspect/mood system for proto-Mayan that includes seven aspects: incompletive, progressive, completive/punctual, imperative, potential/future, optative, and perfective.{{sfn|England|1994|page=126}}',
462 => '',
463 => 'Mayan languages tend to have a rich set of [[grammatical voice]]s. Proto-Mayan had at least one passive construction as well as an [[Antipassive voice|antipassive]] rule for downplaying the importance of the agent in relation to the patient. Modern Kʼicheʼ has two antipassives: one which ascribes focus to the object and another that emphasizes the verbal action.<ref name="Campbell">{{harvtxt|Campbell|1997|page=164}}</ref> Other voice-related constructions occurring in Mayan languages are the following: [[mediopassive voice|mediopassive]], incorporational (incorporating a direct object into the verb), instrumental (promoting the instrument to object position) and referential (a kind of [[applicative voice|applicative]] promoting an indirect argument such as a [[benefactive]] or recipient to the object position).{{sfn|England|1994|page=97–103}}',
464 => '',
465 => '===Statives and positionals===',
466 => 'In Mayan languages, statives are a class of [[predicate (grammar)|predicative]] words expressing a quality or state, whose syntactic properties fall in between those of verbs and adjectives in Indo-European languages. Like verbs, statives can sometimes be inflected for person but normally lack inflections for tense, aspect and other purely verbal categories. Statives can be adjectives, positionals or numerals.{{sfn|Coon|Preminger|2009}}',
467 => '',
468 => 'Positionals, a class of [[root (linguistics)|root]]s characteristic of, if not unique to, the Mayan languages, form stative adjectives and verbs (usually with the help of suffixes) with meanings related to the position or shape of an object or person. Mayan languages have between 250 and 500 distinct positional roots:{{sfn|Coon|Preminger|2009}}',
469 => '',
470 => '{{quotation|'''''Telan''' ay jun naq winaq yul bʼe.''<br/>',
471 => '::{{mono|1=There is a man '''lying down fallen''' on the road.}}',
472 => '',
473 => '<br/>'''''Woqan''' hin kʼal ay max ekkʼu.''<br/>',
474 => '::{{mono|1=I spent the entire day '''sitting down'''.}}',
475 => '',
476 => '<br/>''Yet ewi '''xoyan''' ay jun lobʼaj stina.''<br/>',
477 => '::{{mono|1=Yesterday there was a snake '''lying curled up''' in the entrance of the house.}}}}',
478 => '',
479 => 'In these three Qʼanjobʼal sentences, the positionals are ''telan'' ("something large or cylindrical lying down as if having fallen"), ''{{lang|kjb|woqan}}'' ("person sitting on a chairlike object"), and ''{{lang|kjb|xoyan}}'' ("curled up like a rope or snake").{{sfn|England|1994|p=87}}',
480 => '',
481 => '===Word formation===',
482 => 'Compounding of noun roots to form new nouns is commonplace; there are also many morphological processes to derive nouns from verbs. Verbs also admit highly productive [[Derivation (linguistics)|derivational]] affixes of several kinds, most of which specify transitivity or voice.{{sfn|Suárez|1983| page=65–67}}',
483 => '',
484 => 'As in other Mesoamerican languages, there is a widespread metaphorical use of roots denoting body parts, particularly to form locatives and relational nouns, such as Kaqchikel ''-pan'' ("inside" and "stomach") or ''-wi'' ("head-hair" and "on top of").{{sfn|Campbell|Kaufman|Smith-Stark|1986|page=549}}',
485 => '',
486 => '==Mayan loanwords==',
487 => 'A number of [[loanword]]s of Mayan or potentially Mayan origins are found in many other languages, principally [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[English language|English]], and some neighboring [[Mesoamerican languages]]. In addition, Mayan languages borrowed words, especially from Spanish.<ref name=Hofling2011>{{cite book|last=Hofling|first=Charles Andrew|title=Mopan Maya-Spanish-English Dictionary|year=2011|publisher=University of Utah Press|location=Salt Lake City, Utah|isbn=978-1607810292|page=6}}</ref>',
488 => '',
489 => 'A Mayan loanword is ''[[cigar]]''. {{lang|myn|sic}} is Mayan for "tobacco" and {{lang|myn|sicar}} means "to smoke tobacco leaves". This is the most likely origin for cigar and thus cigarette.<ref>[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=cigar Cigar], Online Etymology Dictionary.</ref>',
490 => '',
491 => 'The English word "[[hurricane]]", which is a borrowing from the Spanish word {{lang|es|huracán}} is considered to be related to the name of Maya storm deity [[Huracan|Jun Raqan]]. However, it is probable that the word passed into European languages from a [[Cariban languages|Cariban language]] or [[Taíno language|Taíno]].<ref>Read & González (2000), p.200</ref>',
492 => '',
493 => '==Writing systems==',
494 => '[[File:Dresden codex, page 2.jpg|thumb|left|[[Yucatec Maya language|Yucatec Maya writing]] in the ''[[Dresden Codex]]'', ca. 11–12th century, [[Chichen Itza]]]]',
495 => '[[File:Dresden Codex p09.jpg|thumb|upright=0.68|right|Page 9 of the [[Dresden Codex]] showing the classic Maya language written in [[Maya script|Mayan hieroglyphs]] (from the 1880 Förstermann edition)]] The complex script used to write Mayan languages in pre-Columbian times and known today from engravings at several Maya archaeological sites has been deciphered almost completely. The script is a mix between a logographic and a syllabic system.<ref name="Kettunen & Helmke 2020, p. 8">{{harvtxt|Kettunen|Helmke|2020|page=8}}</ref>',
496 => '',
497 => 'In colonial times Mayan languages came to be written in a script derived from the Latin alphabet; orthographies were developed mostly by missionary grammarians.{{sfn|Suárez|1983|p=5}} Not all modern Mayan languages have standardized orthographies, but the Mayan languages of Guatemala use a standardized, Latin-based phonemic spelling system developed by the [[Academia de Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala]] (ALMG).<ref name=French/><ref name=England2007/> Orthographies for the languages of Mexico are currently being developed by the [[Instituto Nacional de Lenguas Indígenas]] (INALI).{{sfn|Campbell|2015}}{{sfn|Maxwell|2011}}',
498 => '',
499 => '===Glyphic writing===',
500 => '{{Main|Maya script}}',
501 => '{{multiple image',
502 => '| align = right',
503 => '| image1 = Balam_1.svg',
504 => '| width1 = 100',
505 => '| alt1 = ',
506 => '| caption1 = ',
507 => '| image2 = Balam_2.svg',
508 => '| width2 = 135',
509 => '| alt2 = ',
510 => '| caption2 = ',
511 => '| footer = Two different ways of writing the word ''bʼalam'' "jaguar" in the Maya script. First as logogram representing the entire word with the single glyph <small>BʼALAM</small>, then phonetically using the three syllable signs ''bʼa'', ''la'', and ''ma''.',
512 => '}}',
513 => '{{multiple image',
514 => '| align = right',
515 => '| image1 = Balam_3.svg',
516 => '| width1 = 120',
517 => '| alt1 = ',
518 => '| caption1 = ',
519 => '| image2 = Balam_4.svg',
520 => '| width2 = 100',
521 => '| alt2 = ',
522 => '| caption2 = ',
523 => '| image3 = Balam_5.svg',
524 => '| width3 = 130',
525 => '| alt3 = ',
526 => '| caption3 = ',
527 => '| footer = Three ways to write ''bʼalam'' using combinations of the logogram with the syllabic signs as phonetic complements.',
528 => '}}',
529 => 'The pre-Columbian [[Maya civilization]] developed and used an intricate and fully functional [[writing system]], which is the only [[Mesoamerican writing systems|Mesoamerican script]] that can be said to be almost fully deciphered. Earlier-established civilizations to the west and north of the Maya homelands that also had scripts recorded in surviving inscriptions include the [[Zapotec civilization|Zapotec]], [[Olmec]], and the [[Zoque languages|Zoque]]-speaking peoples of the southern [[Veracruz]] and western Chiapas area—but their scripts are as yet largely undeciphered. It is generally agreed that the Maya writing system was adapted from one or more of these earlier systems. A number of references identify the undeciphered [[Olmec hieroglyphs|Olmec script]] as its most likely precursor.{{sfn|Schele|Freidel|1990}}{{sfn|Soustelle|1984}}',
530 => '',
531 => 'In the course of the deciphering of the Maya hieroglyphic script, scholars have come to understand that it was a fully functioning writing system in which it was possible to express unambiguously any sentence of the spoken language. The system is of a type best classified as [[logosyllabary|logosyllabic]], in which symbols ([[glyph]]s or ''[[grapheme]]s'') can be used as either [[logogram]]s or [[syllable]]s.<ref name="Kettunen & Helmke 2020, p. 8"/> The script has a complete [[syllabary]] (although not all possible syllables have yet been identified), and a Maya scribe would have been able to write anything [[phonetic]]ally, syllable by syllable, using these symbols.<ref name="Kettunen & Helmke 2020, p. 8"/>',
532 => '',
533 => 'At least two major Mayan languages have been confidently identified in hieroglyphic texts, with at least one other language probably identified. An archaic language variety known as [[Classic Maya language|Classic Maya]] predominates in these texts, particularly in the Classic-era inscriptions of the southern and central lowland areas. This language is most closely related to the Chʼolan branch of the language family, modern descendants of which include Chʼol, Chʼortiʼ and Chontal. Inscriptions in an early Yucatecan language (the ancestor of the main surviving [[Yucatec language]]) have also been recognised or proposed, mainly in the [[Yucatán Peninsula]] region and from a later period. Three of the four extant [[Maya codices]] are based on Yucatec. It has also been surmised that some inscriptions found in the [[Chiapas highlands]] region may be in a Tzeltalan language whose modern descendants are Tzeltal and Tzotzil.{{sfn|Kettunen|Helmke|2020|p=13}} Other regional varieties and dialects are also presumed to have been used, but have not yet been identified with certainty.<ref name="Kettunen & Helmke 2020 p. 13"/>',
534 => '',
535 => 'Use and knowledge of the Maya script continued until the 16th century [[Spanish conquest of Yucatán|Spanish conquest]] at least. Bishop [[Diego de Landa Calderón]] of the [[Catholic Archdiocese of Yucatán]] prohibited the use of the written language, effectively ending the Mesoamerican tradition of literacy in the native script. He worked with the Spanish colonizers to destroy the bulk of Mayan texts as part of his efforts to [[religious conversion|convert]] the locals to [[Christianity]] and away from what he perceived as [[pagan]] idolatry. Later he described the use of hieroglyphic writing in the religious practices of Yucatecan Maya in his ''[[Relación de las cosas de Yucatán]]''.{{sfn|Kettunen|Helmke|2020|pages=9–11}}',
536 => '',
537 => '===Colonial orthography===',
538 => '{{anchor|Parra letter}}',
539 => 'Colonial orthography is marked by the use of ''c'' for /k/ (always hard, as in ''cic'' /kiik/), ''k'' for /q/ in Guatemala or for /kʼ/ in the Yucatán, ''h'' for /x/, and ''tz'' for /ts/; the absence of glottal stop or vowel length (apart sometimes for a double vowel letter for a long glottalized vowel, as in ''uuc'' /uʼuk/), the use of ''u'' for /w/, as in ''uac'' /wak/, and the variable use of ''z, ç, s'' for /s/. The greatest difference from modern orthography, however, is in the various attempts to transcribe the ejective consonants.<ref name=Missionary/>',
540 => '',
541 => 'About 1550, [[Francisco de la Parra]] invented distinctive letters for ejectives in the Mayan languages of Guatemala, the ''[[Tresillo (letter)|tresillo]]'' and ''[[cuatrillo]]'' (and derivatives). These were used in all subsequent Franciscan writing, and are occasionally seen even today [2005]. In 1605, [[Alonso Urbano]] doubled consonants for ejectives in [[Otomi language|Otomi]] (''pp, tt, ttz, cc / cqu''), and similar systems were adapted to Mayan. Another approach, in [[Yucatec]], was to add a bar to the letter, or to double the stem.<ref name=Missionary>{{harvtxt|Arzápalo Marín|2005}}</ref>',
542 => '',
543 => '{| class="wikitable"',
544 => '|-',
545 => '!Phoneme',
546 => '!Yucatec',
547 => '!Parra',
548 => '|-',
549 => '!pʼ',
550 => '|pp, ꝑ, ꝑꝑ, 𝕡*',
551 => '|',
552 => '|-',
553 => '!tʼ',
554 => '|th, tħ, ŧ',
555 => '|tt, th',
556 => '|-',
557 => '!tsʼ',
558 => '|ɔ, dz',
559 => '|ꜯ',
560 => '|-',
561 => '!tʃʼ',
562 => '|cħ',
563 => '|ꜯh',
564 => '|-',
565 => '!kʼ',
566 => '|k',
567 => '|[[cuatrillo|ꜭ]]',
568 => '|-',
569 => '!qʼ',
570 => '|',
571 => '|[[Tresillo (letter)|ꜫ]]',
572 => '|}',
573 => '<nowiki>*</nowiki>Only the stem of 𝕡 is doubled, but that is not supported by Unicode.',
574 => '',
575 => 'A ligature ꜩ for ''tz'' is used alongside ꜭ and ꜫ. The Yucatec convention of ''dz'' for {{IPA|/tsʼ/}} is retained in Maya family names such as [[Dzib]].',
576 => '',
577 => '===Modern orthography===',
578 => '{{main|Academia de Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala}}',
579 => '[[File:Menu in maya.jpg|thumb|right|Dinner menu in Kaqchikel, [[Antigua, Guatemala]]]]',
580 => 'Since the colonial period, practically all Maya writing has used a [[Latin script|Latin alphabet]]. Formerly these were based largely on the [[Spanish alphabet]] and varied between authors, and it is only recently that standardized alphabets have been established. The first widely accepted alphabet was created for Yucatec Maya by the authors and contributors of the ''Diccionario Maya Cordemex'', a project directed by [[Alfredo Barrera Vásquez]] and first published in 1980.<ref group=notes>The Cordemex contains a lengthy introduction on the history, importance, and key resources of written Yucatec Maya, including a summary of the orthography used by the project (pp. 39a-42a).</ref> Subsequently, the [[Guatemalan Academy of Mayan Languages]] (known by its Spanish acronym ALMG), founded in 1986, adapted these standards to 22 Mayan languages (primarily in Guatemala). The script is largely phonemic, but abandoned the distinction between the apostrophe for ejective consonants and the glottal stop, so that ejective {{IPA|/tʼ/}} and the non-ejective sequence {{IPA|/tʔ/}} (previously ''tʼ ''and ''t7'') are both written ''tʼ.''<ref>',
581 => 'Josephe DeChicchis, [http://kgur.kwansei.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/10236/7801/1/37-2.pdf "Revisiting an imperfection in Mayan orthography"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141103001201/http://kgur.kwansei.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/10236/7801/1/37-2.pdf |date=2014-11-03 }} , ''Journal of Policy Studies'' 37 (March 2011)',
582 => '</ref> Other major Maya languages, primarily in the Mexican state of Chiapas, such as Tzotzil, Tzeltal, Chʼol, and Tojolabʼal, are not generally included in this reformation, and are sometimes written with the conventions standardized by the Chiapan "State Center for Indigenous Language, Art, and Literature" (CELALI), which for instance writes "ts" rather than "tz" (thus Tseltal and Tsotsil).',
583 => '',
584 => '{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" width="100%"',
585 => '|+ ALMG orthography for the [[phoneme]]s of Mayan languages',
586 => '!colspan=6 width="30%"|Vowels',
587 => '!colspan=10|Consonants',
588 => '|-',
589 => '!ALMG !![[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]] !!ALMG !!IPA !!ALMG !!IPA !!ALMG !!IPA !!ALMG !!IPA !!ALMG !!IPA !!ALMG !!IPA !!ALMG !!IPA',
590 => '|-',
591 => '|'''a'''||{{IPA|[a]}}',
592 => '|'''aa''' ||{{IPA|[aː]}}',
593 => '|'''ä''' ||{{IPA|[ɐ]}}',
594 => '|'''bʼ''' ||{{IPA|[ɓ]}}',
595 => '|'''b''' ||{{IPA|[b]}}',
596 => '|'''ch''' ||{{IPA|[t͡ʃ]}}',
597 => '|'''chʼ''' ||{{IPA|[t͡ʃʼ]}}',
598 => '|'''h''' ||{{IPA|[h]}}',
599 => '|-',
600 => '|'''e''' ||{{IPA|[e]}}',
601 => '|'''ee''' ||{{IPA|[eː]}}',
602 => '|'''ë''' ||{{IPA|[ɛ]}}',
603 => '|'''j''' ||{{IPA|[χ]}}',
604 => '|'''l''' ||{{IPA|[l]}}',
605 => '|'''k''' ||{{IPA|[k]}}',
606 => '|'''kʼ''' ||{{IPA|[kʼ]}}',
607 => '|'''m''' ||{{IPA|[m]}}',
608 => '|-',
609 => '|'''i''' ||{{IPA|[i]}}',
610 => '|'''ii''' ||{{IPA|[iː]}}',
611 => '|'''ï''' ||{{IPA|[ɪ]}}',
612 => '|'''y''' ||{{IPA|[j]}}',
613 => '|'''p''' ||{{IPA|[p]}}',
614 => '|'''q''' ||{{IPA|[q]}}',
615 => '|'''qʼ''' ||{{IPA|[qʼ]}}',
616 => '|'''n''' ||{{IPA|[n]}}',
617 => '|-',
618 => '|'''o''' ||{{IPA|[o]}}',
619 => '|'''oo''' ||{{IPA|[oː]}}',
620 => '|'''ö''' ||{{IPA|[ɤ̞]}}',
621 => '|'''s''' ||{{IPA|[s]}}',
622 => '|'''x''' ||{{IPA|[ʃ]}}',
623 => '|'''t''' ||{{IPA|[t]}}',
624 => '|'''tʼ''' ||{{IPA|[tʼ]}}',
625 => '|'''nh''' ||{{IPA|[ŋ]}}',
626 => '|-',
627 => '|'''u''' ||{{IPA|[u]}}',
628 => '|'''uu''' ||{{IPA|[uː]}}',
629 => '|'''ü''' ||{{IPA|[ʊ]}}',
630 => '|'''w''' ||{{IPA|[w]}}',
631 => '|'''r''' ||{{IPA|[r]}}',
632 => '|'''tz''' ||{{IPA|[t͡s]}}',
633 => '|'''tzʼ''' ||{{IPA|[t͡sʼ]}}',
634 => '|''' ʼ ''' ||{{IPA|[ʔ]}}',
635 => '|-',
636 => '|colspan=16 align=left|',
637 => 'In tonal languages (primarily Yucatec), a high tone is indicated with an accent, as with "á" or "ée".',
638 => '|}',
639 => '',
640 => 'For the languages that make a distinction between [[Palato-alveolar consonant|palato-alveolar]] and [[Retroflex consonant|retroflex]] affricates and fricatives (Mam, Ixil, Tektitek, Awakatek, Qʼanjobʼal, Poptiʼ, and Akatek in Guatemala, and Yucatec in Mexico) the ALMG suggests the following set of conventions.',
641 => '',
642 => '{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" width="55%"',
643 => '|+ ALMG convention for palato-alveolar and retroflex consonants',
644 => '!ALMG !!IPA !!ALMG !!IPA !!ALMG !!IPA',
645 => '|-',
646 => '|'''ch''' ||{{IPA|[tʃ]}}',
647 => '|'''chʼ''' ||{{IPA|[tʃʼ]}}',
648 => '|'''x''' ||{{IPA|[ʃ]}}',
649 => '|-',
650 => '|'''tx'''||{{IPA|[tʂ]}}',
651 => '|'''txʼ'''||{{IPA|[tʂʼ]}}',
652 => '|'''xh''' ||{{IPA|[ʂ]}}',
653 => '|}',
654 => '',
655 => '==Literature==',
656 => '{{main|Mesoamerican literature}}',
657 => 'From the classic language to the present day, a body of literature has been written in Mayan languages. The earliest texts to have been preserved are largely monumental inscriptions documenting rulership, succession, and ascension, conquest and calendrical and astronomical events. It is likely that other kinds of literature were written in perishable media such as [[Mayan codices|codices]] made of [[amate|bark]], only four of which have survived the ravages of time and the campaign of destruction by Spanish missionaries.{{sfn|Coe|1987|p=161}}',
658 => '',
659 => 'Shortly after the [[Spanish conquest of Mexico|Spanish conquest]], the Mayan languages began to be written with Latin letters. Colonial-era literature in Mayan languages include the famous ''[[Popol Vuh]]'', a mythico-historical narrative written in 17th century Classical Quiché but believed to be based on an earlier work written in the 1550s, now lost. The ''[[Título de Totonicapán]]'' and the 17th century theatrical work the ''[[Rabinal Achí]]'' are other notable early works in Kʼicheʼ, the latter in the [[Achi language|Achí dialect]].<ref group=notes>See {{harvtxt|Edmonson|1985}} for a thorough treatment of colonial Quiché literature.</ref> The ''[[Annals of the Cakchiquels]]'' from the late 16th century, which provides a historical narrative of the Kaqchikel, contains elements paralleling some of the accounts appearing in the ''Popol Vuh''. The historical and prophetical accounts in the several variations known collectively as the books of [[Chilam Balam]] are primary sources of early Yucatec Maya traditions.<ref group=notes>Read {{harvtxt|Edmonson|Bricker|1985}} for a thorough treatment of colonial Yucatec literature.</ref> The only surviving book of early lyric poetry, the [[Songs of Dzitbalche]] by Ah Bam, comes from this same period.{{sfn|Curl|2005}}',
660 => '',
661 => 'In addition to these singular works, many early grammars of indigenous languages, called "''artes''", were written by priests and friars. Languages covered by these early grammars include Kaqchikel, Classical Quiché, Tzeltal, Tzotzil and Yucatec. Some of these came with indigenous-language translations of the Catholic catechism.{{sfn|Suárez|1983|page=5}}',
662 => '',
663 => 'While Mayan peoples continued to produce a rich oral literature in the postcolonial period (after 1821), very little written literature was produced in this period.{{sfn|Suárez|1983|pages=163–168}}<ref group=notes>See {{harvtxt|Gossen|1985}} for examples of the Tzotzil tradition of oral literature.</ref>',
664 => '',
665 => 'Because indigenous languages were excluded from the education systems of Mexico and Guatemala after independence, Mayan peoples remained largely illiterate in their native languages, learning to read and write in Spanish, if at all.{{sfn|Maxwell|2015}} However, since the establishment of the Cordemex {{sfn|Barrera Vásquez|Bastarrachea Manzano|Brito Sansores|1980}} and the Guatemalan Academy of Mayan Languages (1986), native language literacy has begun to spread and a number of indigenous writers have started a new tradition of writing in Mayan languages.{{sfn|Maxwell|2011}}{{sfn|Maxwell|2015}} Notable among this new generation is the Kʼicheʼ poet [[Humberto Ak'abal]], whose works are often published in dual-language Spanish/Kʼicheʼ editions,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mcd.gob.gt/MICUDE/directorios/directorio_cultural_deportivo/letras/inst15040512/ |title=Humberto Ak´abal |access-date=2007-02-23 |date=March 26, 2007 |publisher=Guatemala Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes |language=es |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060214102223/http://www.mcd.gob.gt/MICUDE/directorios/directorio_cultural_deportivo/letras/inst15040512 |archive-date=February 14, 2006 }}</ref> as well as Kʼicheʼ scholar [[Luis Enrique Sam Colop]] (1955–2011) whose translations of the [[Popol Vuh]] into both Spanish and modern Kʼicheʼ achieved high acclaim.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ais.arizona.edu/news/luis-enrique-sam-colop-1955-2011 |title=Luis Enrique Sam Colop, 1955–2011 | American Indian Studies |publisher=Ais.arizona.edu |access-date=2011-12-19}}</ref>',
666 => '',
667 => '==See also==',
668 => '*[[Mayan Sign Language]]',
669 => '*[[Cauque Mayan language|Cauque Mayan]] (mixed language)',
670 => '',
671 => '==Notes==',
672 => '{{Reflist|group=notes}}',
673 => '',
674 => '===Citations===',
675 => '{{Reflist|30em}}',
676 => '',
677 => '==References==',
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680 => '*{{cite book|last1=Avelino|first1=H.|last2=Shin|first2=E.|chapter=Chapter I The Phonetics of Laryngalization in Yucatec Maya|editor-last=Avelino|editor-first=Heriberto|editor2-first=Jessica|editor2-last=Coon|editor3-first=Elisabeth|editor3-last=Norcliffe|title=New perspectives in Mayan linguistics|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|year=2011}}',
681 => '* {{cite book |last1=Barrera Vásquez|first1=Alfredo |author-link=Alfredo Barrera Vásquez |last2=Bastarrachea Manzano|first2=Juan Ramón|last3=Brito Sansores|first3=William|title= Diccionario maya Cordemex : maya-español, español-maya|year=1980|publisher=Ediciones Cordemex|location=Mérida, Yucatán, México |oclc=7550928}} {{in lang|es|yua}}',
682 => '*{{cite journal|last1=Bennett|first1=Ryan|first2=Jessica|last2=Coon|first3=Robert|last3=Henderson|title=Introduction to Mayan Linguistics|journal=Language and Linguistics Compass|year=2015|url=https://campuspress.yale.edu/ryanbennett/files/2015/09/Bennett_etal2015_Mayan_ling_intro-1ymmbkj.pdf}}',
683 => '* {{cite web |last=Bolles|first=David |year=2003|edition=Revized|orig-year=1997 |title=Combined Dictionary–Concordance of the Yucatecan Mayan Language |publisher=Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc. (FAMSI) |url=http://www.famsi.org/reports/96072/index.html |access-date=2006-12-12}} {{in lang|yua|en}}',
684 => '* {{cite web |last1=Bolles|first1=David |last2=Bolles|first2=Alejandra |year=2004 |title=A Grammar of the Yucatecan Mayan Language |publisher=The Foundation Research Department |work=Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc. (FAMSI) |format=revised online edition, 1996 Lee, New Hampshire |url=http://www.famsi.org/research/bolles/grammar/index.html |access-date=2006-12-12}} {{in lang|yua|en}}',
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690 => '*{{cite book|last=Campbell|first=Lyle|year=2015|chapter=History and reconstruction of the Mayan languages|editor=Aissen, Judith|editor2=England, Nora C. |editor3=Maldonado, Roberto Zavala|title=The Mayan Languages|pages=43–61|location=London|publisher=Routledge}}',
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694 => '* {{cite thesis|last=Coon|first=Jessica |year=2010 |title=Complementation in Chol (Mayan): A Theory of Split Ergativity |format=electronic version |url=http://ling.auf.net/lingBuzz/001072|publisher=[[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]|type=PhD |access-date=2010-07-15}}',
695 => '*{{cite book|last1=Coon|first1=J.|last2=Preminger|first2=O.|year=2009|chapter=Positional roots and case absorption|title=New Perspectives in Mayan Linguistics|editor=Heriberto Avelino|pages=35–58|publisher=Cambridge University Press}}',
696 => '*{{cite book|last=Craig|first=Colette Grinevald|author-link=Colette Grinevald|title=The Structure of Jacaltec|url=https://archive.org/details/structureofjacal0007crai|url-access=registration|publisher=University of Texas Press|year=1977|isbn=9780292740051}}',
697 => '* {{cite book |last=Curl|first=John |year=2005 |title=Ancient American Poets |url=http://red-coral.net/Dzit.html |publisher=[[Bilingual Press]] |location=Tempe, AZ|isbn=1-931010-21-8}}',
698 => '* {{cite web|last=Dienhart |first=John M. |year=1997 |title=The Mayan Languages- A Comparative Vocabulary |format=electronic version |url=http://www.hum.sdu.dk/projekter/maya/mayainfo.html |publisher=[[Odense University]] |access-date=2006-12-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061208085418/http://www.hum.sdu.dk/projekter/maya/mayainfo.html |archive-date=2006-12-08 }}',
699 => '* {{cite book |last=Edmonson|first=Munro S. |author-link=Munro S. Edmonson|year=1968 |chapter=Classical Quiché |pages=249–268 |title=Handbook of Middle American Indians, Vol. 5: Linguistics |editor=Norman A. McQuown (Volume ed.) |others=[[Robert Wauchope (archaeologist)|R. Wauchope]] (General Editor) |publisher=University of Texas Press |location=Austin |isbn=0-292-73665-7}}',
700 => '* {{cite book|last=Edmonson|first=Munro S.|author-link=Munro S. Edmonson|year=1985|chapter=Quiche Literature|title=Supplement to the Handbook of Middle American Indians, Volume 3|editor=Victoria Reifler Bricker (volume ed.)|publisher=[[University of Texas Press]]|location=Austin|isbn=0-292-77593-8|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/supplementtohand00edmo|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/supplementtohand00edmo}}',
701 => '* {{cite book|last1=Edmonson|first1=Munro S.|author-link=Munro S. Edmonson|last2=Bricker|first2=Victoria R.|year=1985|chapter=Yucatecan Mayan Literature|title=Supplement to the Handbook of Middle American Indians, Volume 3|editor=Victoria Reifler Bricker (volume ed.)|publisher=[[University of Texas Press]]|location=Austin|isbn=0-292-77593-8|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/supplementtohand00edmo|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/supplementtohand00edmo}}',
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705 => '*{{cite journal|last=England|first=N. C. |year=1991|title=Changes in basic word order in Mayan languages|journal=International Journal of American Linguistics|volume=57|issue=4|pages=446–486|doi=10.1086/ijal.57.4.3519735|s2cid=146516836 }}',
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707 => '* {{cite book |last=Fernández de Miranda|first=María Teresa |year=1968 |chapter=Inventory of Classificatory Materials |pages=63–78 |title=Handbook of Middle American Indians, Vol. 5: Linguistics |editor=Norman A. McQuown (Volume ed.) |others=[[Robert Wauchope (archaeologist)|R. Wauchope]] (General Editor) |publisher=University of Texas Press |location=Austin |isbn=0-292-73665-7}}',
708 => '*{{cite journal|last=French|first=Brigittine M.|title=The politics of Mayan linguistics in Guatemala: native speakers, expert analysts, and the nation.|journal=Pragmatics|volume=13|issue=4|year=2003|pages=483–498|doi=10.1075/prag.13.4.02fre|s2cid=145598734|url=https://semanticscholar.org/paper/3603510fc2880f041a615112163f4cfe70f42075}}',
709 => '* {{cite book|last=Gossen|first=Gary|year=1985|chapter=Tzotzil Literature|title=Supplement to the Handbook of Middle American Indians, Volume 3|editor=Victoria Reifler Bricker|publisher=[[University of Texas Press]]|location=Austin|isbn=0-292-77593-8|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/supplementtohand00edmo|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/supplementtohand00edmo}}',
710 => '* {{cite book |last1=Grenoble|first1=Lenore A. |last2=Whaley|first2=Lindsay J. |year=1998 |chapter=Preface |chapter-url=http://assets.cambridge.org/97805215/91027/frontmatter/9780521591027_frontmatter.pdf |chapter-format=[[PDF]]|pages=xi–xii|title=Endangered languages: Current issues and future prospects.|editor=Lenore A. Grenoble|editor2=Lindsay J. Whaley |publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0-521-59102-3}}',
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713 => '* {{cite journal |doi=10.1080/00438243.1976.9979655 |last=Kaufman|first=Terrence |author-link=Terrence Kaufman |year=1976 |title=Archaeological and Linguistic Correlations in Mayaland and Associated Areas of Meso-America |journal=World Archaeology |volume=8 |issue=1|pages=101–118 |issn=0043-8243}}',
714 => '*{{cite web|last1=Kaufman|first1=Terrence|last2= with Justeson|first2=John|year=2003|title=A Preliminary Mayan Etymological Dictionary |url=http://www.famsi.org/reports/01051/pmed.pdf|publisher=FAMSI}}',
715 => '* {{cite book |last1=Kettunen|first1=Harri |last2=Helmke|first2=Christophe |year=2020 |title=Introduction to Maya Hieroglyphs |format=[[PDF]] |publisher=Wayeb |url=http://www.mesoweb.com/resources/handbook/index.html|access-date=2020-03-19}}',
716 => '*{{cite journal|last=Law|first=D.|year=2013|title=Mayan historical linguistics in a new age|journal=Language and Linguistics Compass|volume=7|issue=3|pages=141–156|doi=10.1111/lnc3.12012}}',
717 => '* {{cite book |last=Lenkersdorf|first=Carlos |year=1996 |title=Los hombres verdaderos. Voces y testimonios tojolabales. Lengua y sociedad, naturaleza y cultura, artes y comunidad cósmica |publisher=Siglo XXI |location=Mexico City |isbn=968-23-1998-6|language=es}}',
718 => '* {{cite book |last=Longacre|first=Robert |year=1968 |chapter=Systemic Comparison and Reconstruction |pages=117–159 |title=Handbook of Middle American Indians, Vol. 5: Linguistics |editor=Norman A. McQuown (Volume ed.) |others=[[Robert Wauchope (archaeologist)|R. Wauchope]] (General Editor) |publisher=University of Texas Press |location=Austin |isbn=0-292-73665-7}}',
719 => '*{{cite journal|last=Maxwell|first=Judith M. |title=Change in Literacy and Literature in Highland Guatemala, Precontact to Present|journal=Ethnohistory|volume=62|issue=3|year=2015|pages=553–572|doi=10.1215/00141801-2890234}}',
720 => '*{{cite book|last=Maxwell|first=Judith M. |chapter=The path back to literacy|editor1=Smith, T. J.|editor2=Adams, A. E.|year=2011|title=After the Coup: An Ethnographic Reframing of Guatemala 1954|publisher=University of Illinois Press}}',
721 => '*{{cite journal|last=Mora-Marín|first=David|year=2009|title=A Test and Falsification of the 'Classic Chʼoltiʼan' Hypothesis: A Study of Three Proto Chʼolan Markers|journal=International Journal of American Linguistics|volume=75|issue=2|pages=115–157|doi=10.1086/596592|s2cid=145216002|url=https://semanticscholar.org/paper/74d67ba1bedc9dec86a5c1d28c597813d4b36b71}}',
722 => '*{{cite journal|last=Mora-Marín|first=David|year=2016|title=Testing the Proto-Mayan-Mije-Sokean Hypothesis|journal=International Journal of American Linguistics|volume=82|issue=2|pages=125–180|doi=10.1086/685900|s2cid=147269181}}',
723 => '* {{cite book |last=McQuown|first=Norman A. |year=1968 |chapter=Classical Yucatec (Maya) |pages=201–248 |title=Handbook of Middle American Indians, Vol. 5: Linguistics |editor=Norman A. McQuown (Volume ed.) |others=[[Robert Wauchope (archaeologist)|R. Wauchope]] (General Editor) |publisher=University of Texas Press |location=Austin |isbn=0-292-73665-7}}',
724 => '* {{cite book |author=Oxlajuuj Keej Mayaʼ Ajtzʼiibʼ (OKMA) |year=1993 |title=Mayaʼ chiiʼ. Los idiomas Mayas de Guatemala |publisher=Cholsamaj |location=Guatemala City |isbn=84-89451-52-4}}',
725 => '*{{cite journal|last=Popkin|first=E|year=2005|title=The emergence of pan-Mayan ethnicity in the Guatemalan transnational community linking Santa Eulalia and Los Angeles|journal=Current Sociology|volume=53|issue=4|pages=675–706|doi=10.1177/0011392105052721|s2cid=143851930}}',
726 => '*{{cite thesis|last=Rao|first=S. |year=2015|title=Language Futures from Uprooted Pasts: Emergent Language Activism in the Mayan Diaspora of the United States|publisher=UCLA, MA thesis|url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3hj82094#page-4}}',
727 => '* {{cite book |last1=Read|first1=Kay Almere |last2=González|first2=Jason |year=2000 |title=Handbook of Mesoamerican Mythology |location=Oxford |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |isbn=1-85109-340-0 |oclc=43879188}}',
728 => '* {{cite journal|last=Robertson|first=John |year=1977|title=Proposed revision in Mayan subgrouping|journal=International Journal of American Linguistics|volume=43|pages=105–120|doi=10.1086/465466|issue=2|s2cid=143665564 }}',
729 => '* {{cite book|last=Robertson|first= John |year=1992|title=The History of Tense/Aspect/Mood/Voice in the Mayan Verbal Complex|publisher=University of Texas Press}}',
730 => '* {{cite book|last1=Robertson|first1=John |last2=Houston|first2= Stephen|year=2002|chapter=El problema del Wasteko: Una perspectiva lingüística y arqueológica|title=XVI Simposio de InvestigacionesArqueológicas en Guatemala|editor=J.P. Laporte|editor2=B. Arroyo|editor3=H. Escobedo|editor4=H. Mejía|pages=714–724|publisher=Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología, Guatemala}}',
731 => '* {{cite conference|last=Sapper|first=Karl |author-link=Karl Sapper |year=1912 |title=Über einige Sprachen von Südchiapas |work=Proceedings of the Seventeenth International Congress of Americanists (1910) |pages=295–320|language=de}}',
732 => '* {{cite book|last1=Schele|first1=Linda|author-link=Linda Schele|first2=David|last2=Freidel|year=1990|title=A Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of the Ancient Maya|publisher=[[William Morrow and Company]]|location=New York|isbn=0-688-07456-1|url=https://archive.org/details/forestofkingsunt0034sche}}',
733 => '*{{cite journal|last=Solá|first=J. O. |year=2011|title=The origins and formation of the Latino community in Northeast Ohio, 1900 to 2009|journal=Ohio History|volume=118|issue=1|pages=112–129|doi=10.1353/ohh.2011.0014|s2cid=145103773 }}',
734 => '* {{cite book | last=Soustelle | first=Jacques | author-link=Jacques Soustelle | title=The Olmecs: The Oldest Civilization in Mexico | year=1984 | location=New York | publisher=Doubleday and Co | isbn=0-385-17249-4 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/olmecsoldestcivi0000sous }}',
735 => '* {{cite web |last1=Spence|first1=Jack |last2=Dye|first2=David R.|last3=Worby|first3=Paula|last4=de Leon-Escribano|first4=Carmen Rosa|last5=Vickers |first5=George|last6=Lanchin|first6=Mike| date=August 1998 |title=Promise and Reality: Implementation of the Guatemalan Peace Accords |url=http://lanic.utexas.edu/project/hemisphereinitiatives/promise.htm |publisher=Hemispheres Initiatives |access-date=2006-12-06}}',
736 => '* {{cite book |last=Suárez |first=Jorge A. |year=1983 |title=The Mesoamerican Indian Languages |series=Cambridge Language Surveys |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge |isbn=0-521-22834-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/mesoamericanindi0009suar }}',
737 => '* {{cite book |last=Tozzer|first=Alfred M. |author-link=Alfred Tozzer |year=1977 |orig-year=1921 |title=A Maya Grammar |edition=unabridged republication |publisher=[[Dover Publications]] |location=New York |isbn=0-486-23465-7}}',
738 => '* {{cite journal|last=Wichmann|first=S.|year=2006|title=Mayan historical linguistics and epigraphy: a new synthesis|journal=Annual Review of Anthropology|volume=35|pages=279–294|doi=10.1146/annurev.anthro.35.081705.123257|s2cid=18014314|url=https://semanticscholar.org/paper/c5ba3211b17e0766d7ae7de919d32f486ea26ce8}}',
739 => '*{{cite journal|last1=Wichmann|first1=Søren|first2=Cecil H. |last2=Brown|title=Contact among some Mayan languages: Inferences from loanwords. |journal=Anthropological Linguistics|year=2003|pages=57–93}}',
740 => '*{{cite book|editor-last=Wichmann|editor-first=Søren|title=The linguistics of Maya writing|year=2004|publisher=Utah University Press}}',
741 => '{{refend}}<!-- END biblio format style -->',
742 => '',
743 => '==External links==',
744 => '{{Incubator|code=hus|language=Huastec}}',
745 => '{{Incubator|code=yua|language=Yucatec Maya}}',
746 => '{{Incubator|code=ctu|language=Chʼol}}',
747 => '{{Incubator|code=tzh|language=Tzeltal}}',
748 => '{{Incubator|code=mam|language=Mam}}',
749 => '{{Incubator|code=cak|language=Kaqchikel}}',
750 => '*[http://www.almg.org.gt/ The Guatemalan Academy of Mayan Languages] – Spanish/Mayan site, the primary authority on Mayan Languages {{in lang|es}}',
751 => '*[http://www.peabody.harvard.edu/node/24 Corpus of Maya Hieroglyphic Inscriptions Program at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University]',
752 => '*[http://www.hup.harvard.edu/results-list.php?collection=1210 Corpus of Maya Hieroglyphic Inscriptions, Volumes 1–9. Published by the Peabody Museum Press and distributed by Harvard University Press]',
753 => '*[http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Swadesh_lists_for_Mayan_languages Swadesh lists for Mayan languages] (from Wiktionary's [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Swadesh_lists Swadesh-list appendix])',
754 => '*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120814025555/http://cholsamaj.org/libros_por_genero.php?genre=4 Mayan languages and linguistics books from Cholsamaj]',
755 => '*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060812000027/http://www.utexas.edu/courses/stross/ant389_files/maylanbib.htm Online bibliography of Mayan languages at the University of Texas]',
756 => '*[http://www.mayas.uady.mx/diccionario/index.html Universidad Autonoma de Yucatan Mayan-Spanish dictionary] (Spanish)',
757 => '',
758 => '{{Mayan languages|state=open}}',
759 => '{{Mesoamerican families}}',
760 => '{{Language families}}',
761 => '{{Maya}}',
762 => '{{North American languages}}',
763 => '',
764 => '{{Authority control}}',
765 => '',
766 => '[[Category:Mayan languages| ]]',
767 => '[[Category:Languages attested from the 3rd century BC]]',
768 => '<!--cat sort position-->',
769 => '[[Category:Agglutinative languages]]',
770 => '[[Category:Language families]]',
771 => '[[Category:Indigenous languages of Central America]]',
772 => '[[Category:Indigenous languages of Mexico]]',
773 => '[[Category:Mesoamerican languages]]'
] |