Mayan languages: Encyclopedia II - Mayan languages - Overview

Mayan languages - Overview

In the Guatemalan highlands the Mayan language with the largest population, K'iche' (earlier spelled Quiché), is spoken by more than two million speakers (Ethnologue 2004). This language is the language in which the famous Maya mythological document the Popol Wuj was written. It is centered around the towns Chichicastenango and Quetzaltenango, and in the Cuchumatán Highlands. The K'iche' culture was at its pinnacle at the time of the Spanish conquest.

The most commonly spoken Maya language in Mexico is called Yucatec Maya by linguists but known simply as Maya to its speakers. It is currently spoken by approximately 900,000 people in the Yucatan Peninsula (Ethnologue 2004). It has a rich literature through the Spanish Colonial era, and remains common as the first language in rural areas in Yucatan today, where in many towns even Yucatecans of Spanish ancestry have a working knowledge of the tongue.

Another historically important Mayan language is Chol, formerly widespread, but only spoken today in pockets in Chiapas and Guatemala. A closely related language, Chorti, is spoken in a region around the boundaries of the nations of Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador. These particular languages are believed to be the most conservative in vocabulary and phonology, and are closely related to the language of the inscriptions of the ancient sites of the Classic era Central Lowlands.

The Classic Maya language is quite closely related to modern Chol and Yucatec, and the split between these two languages may be observed in Maya inscriptions.

In the Highlands of Guatemala are the Quichéan-Mamean Maya languages and dialects, including Quiché proper, Cakchiquel, K'ekchi, Tz'utujil, Poqomam, and Mam. In the western highlands around Huehuetenango, Jacaltec is spoken.

The Huastec language, spoken in east-central Mexico, is part of the Mayan language family, although it is distant both linguistically and geographically from the rest of the language family.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Overview", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki