Genealogy and classification

Relations with other families

The Mayan linguistic family has no demonstrated genetic ties to other linguistic families. Similarities with some languages of Mesoamerica are understood to be the due to diffusion of linguistic traits from neighboring languages into Mayan and not to common ancestry. Mesoamerica has been proven to be an area of substantial linguistic diffusion.

A wide range of proposals have tried to link the Mayan family to other language families or isolates, but none were generally supported by linguists. Examples include linking Mayan with Chipaya-Uru, Mapudungun, Lenca, P'urhépecha and Huave. Mayan has also been included in various Hokan and Penutian hypotheses. The linguist Joseph Greenberg included Mayan in his highly controversial Amerind hypothesis, which is rejected by most historical linguists as unsupported by available evidence.

According to Lyle Campbell, an expert in Mayan languages, the most promising proposal is the "Macro-Mayan" hypothesis, which posits linkages between Mayan, Mixe-Zoquean languages and Totonacan, but more research is needed to support or disprove this hypothesis.

Subdivisions

The Mayan language family is extremely well-documented, and its internal genealogical classification scheme is widely accepted and established, except for some minor unresolved differences.

One point still at issue is the position of Ch'olan and Q'anjobalan-Chujean. Some scholars think these form a separate Western branch (as in the diagram below). Other linguists do not support the positing of an especially close relationship between Ch'olan and Q'anjobalan-Chujean; consequently they classify these as two distinct branches emanating directly from the proto-language.

Geography and demographics

Map of areas where the various Mayan languages are spoken. Font sizes indicate relative sizes of speaker populations (Yucatec and K'iche' with 900,000 and 2,000,000 speakers respectively; 100,000–500,000 speakers; 10,000–100,000 speakers; and under 10,000 speakers.)

Huastecan branch

Wastek (also spelled Huastec and Huaxtec) is spoken in the Mexican states of Veracruz and San Luis Potosí by around 110,000 people. It is the most divergent of modern Mayan languages. Chicomuceltec was a language related to Wastek and spoken in Chiapas that became extinct some time before 1982.

Yucatecan branch

Yucatec Maya (known simply as "Maya" to its speakers) is the most commonly spoken Maya language in Mexico. It is currently spoken by approximately 800,000 people, the vast majority of whom are to be found on the Yucatán Peninsula. It has a rich post-colonial literature, and remains common as a first language in rural areas in Yucatán and in the adjacent states of Quintana Roo and Campeche.
The other three Yucatecan languages are Mopan, spoken by around 10,000 speakers primarily in Belize; Itza', an extinct or moribund language from Guatemala's Petén Basin; and Lacandón or Lakantum, also severely endangered with about 1,000 speakers in a few villages on the outskirts of the Selva Lacandona, in Chiapas.

Western branch

Ch'olan

The Ch'olan languages were formerly widespread throughout the Maya area, but today the language with most speakers is Ch'ol, spoken by 130,000 in Chiapas Its closest relative, the Chontal Maya language, is spoken by 55,000in the state of Tabasco. Another related language, now endangered, is Ch'orti', which is spoken by 30,000 in Guatemala. It was previously also spoken in extreme western Honduras and El Salvador but the El Salvador variant is now extinct and that of Honduras is considered moribund. Ch'olti', a sister language of Ch'orti', is also extinct.

Ch'olan languages are believed to be the most conservative in vocabulary and phonology, and are closely related to the language of the Classic-era inscriptions found in Central Lowlands. They may have served as prestige languages, coexisting with other dialects in some areas. This assumption provides a plausible explanation for the geographical distance between the Ch'orti' zone and the areas where Ch'ol and Chontal are spoken.
Tzeltalan

The closest relatives of the Ch'olan languages are the languages of the Tzeltalan branch, Tzotzil and Tzeltal, both spoken in Chiapas by large and stable or growing populations (265,000 for Tzotzil and 215,000 for Tzeltal). Tzotzil and Tzeltal have large numbers of monolingual speakers.

Q'anjobalan

Q'anjob'al is spoken by 77,700 in Guatemala's Huehuetenango department, with small populations elsewhere. Jakaltek (also known as Popti') is spoken by almost 100,000 in several municipalities of Huehuetenango. Another member of this branch is Akatek, with over 50,000 speakers in San Miguel Acatán and San Rafael La Independencia.

Chuj is spoken by 40,000 people in Huehuetenango, and by 9,500 people, primarily refugees, over the border in Mexico, in the municipality of Trinitaria, Chiapas, and the villages of Tziscau and Cuauhtémoc. Tojolab'al is spoken in eastern Chiapas by 36,000 people.

Eastern branch

Quichean-Mamean

The Quichean-Mamean languages and dialects, with two sub-branches and three subfamilies, are spoken in the Guatemalan highlands.

Q'eqchi' (sometimes spelled Kekchi), which constitutes its own sub-branch within Quichean-Mamean, is spoken by about 400,000 people in the southern Petén, Izabal and Alta Verapaz departments of Guatemala, and also in Belize by 9,000 speakers. In El Salvador it is spoken by 12,000 as a result of recent migrations.

The Uspantek language, which also springs directly from the Quichean-Mamean node, is native only to the Uspantán municipio in the department of El Quiché, and has 3,000 speakers, one of whom is the Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchú.

Mamean

The largest language in this branch is Mam, spoken by 150,000 people in the departments of San Marcos and Huehuetenango. Awakatek is the language of 20,000 inhabitants of central Aguacatán, another municipality of Huehuetenango. Ixil (possibly three different languages) is spoken by 70,000 in the "Ixil Triangle" region of the department of El Quiché. Tektitek (or Teko) is spoken by over 1,000 people in the municipality of Tectitán, and 1,000 refugees in Mexico. According to the Ethnologue the number of speakers of Tektitek is growing.

Core Quichean

K'iche', the Mayan language with the largest number of speakers, is spoken by around 1,000,000 people in the Guatemalan highlands, around the towns of Chichicastenango and Quetzaltenango and in the Cuchumatán mountains, as well as by urban emigrants in Guatemala City. The famous Maya mythological document, Popol Vuh, is written in an antiquated K'iche' often called Classical Quiché. The K'iche' culture was at its pinnacle at the time of the Spanish conquest. Utatlán, near the present-day city of Santa Cruz del Quiché, was its economic and ceremonial center.

Achi is spoken by 85,000 people in Cubulco and Rabinal, two municipios of Baja Verapaz. In some classifications, e.g. the one by Campbell, Achi is counted as a form of K'iche'. However, owing to a historical division between the two ethnic groups, the Achi Maya do not regard themselves as K'iche'.

The Kaqchikel language is spoken by about 400,000 people in an area stretching from Guatemala City westward to the northern shore of Lake Atitlán. Tz'utujil has about 90,000 speakers in the vicinity of Lake Atitlán. Other members of the K'ichean branch are Sakapultek, spoken by somewhat fewer than 40,000 people mostly in El Quiché department, and Sipakapense, which is spoken by 8,000 people in Sipacapa, San Marcos. The Annals of the Cakchiquels, written in Kaqchikel, is an important literary work dating from the 16th century that traces the history of the ruling classes of the Kaqchikel people.
Poqom

The Poqom languages are closely related to Core Quichean, with which they constitute a Poqom-K'ichean sub-branch on the Quichean-Mamean node.
Poqomchi' is spoken by 90,000 people in Purulhá, Baja Verapaz, and in the following municipalities of Alta Verapaz: Santa Cruz Verapaz, San Cristóbal Verapaz, Tactic, Tamahú and Tucurú. Poqomam is spoken by around 30,000 people in several small pockets, the largest of which is in the department of Alta Verapaz. Formerly Poqomam was also spoken in El Salvador.

Source: Wikipedia
Adapted by: Roberto Rivas