Table Of Content/nava
1ictionary
&
cPhrasebook
M aya-E nglish
English-M aya
John M ontgom
D ictionary & Phrasebooks
Albanian Lao Romanized
Arabic Latvian
Arabic (Eastern) Romanized Lithuanian
Armenian (Eastern) Malagasy
Armenian (Western) Maltese M AYA-EN GLISH
Australian Mongolian
Azerbaijani Nepali Romanized ENGLISH-MAYA
Basque Norwegian
Bosnian Pashto Romanized (Yucatec)
Breton Pilipino (Tagalog)
British Portuguese (Brazilian) Dictionary & Phrasebook
Cajun French Punjabi
Chechen Québécois
Croatian Romanian
Czech Romansch
Danish Russian
Dari Romanized Serbian Romanized
Esperanto Shona John Montgomery
Estonian Sicilian
Finnish Slovak
French Slovene
Georgian Somali
German Spanish (Latin American)
Greek Swahili
Hebrew Swedish
Hindi Tajik
Hungarian Tamil Romanized
Igbo Thai Romanized
Ilocano Turkish
Irish Ukrainian
Italian Urdu Romanized
Japanese Romanized Uzbek
Korean Vietnamese Hippocrene Boors, Inc.
New York
Overview of Maya Grammar 23
Sentence Structure 23 INTRODUCTION
Verb Forms 24
Aspect 24
Pronominal Affixes 25
Set A 25
Set B 26
Set C 27
Incompletive Intransitives 27
Incompletive Transitives 30 When I lecture on Maya culture and Pre
Completive Intransitives 32 columbian civilization someone almost always
Completive lYansitives 34 asks me what happened to the Maya people.
Subjunctive Verbs 36 There seems to be a notion among segments of
Passive Verbs 37 the public that when the civilization vanished, so
“Irregular” Verbs 37 did the Maya, erased along with their lost world
Auxiliaries 38 of jungle-shrouded pyramids.
Stative Verbs 40 Nothing could be farther from the truth.
“Have” Verbs 41 Approximately ten million Native Americans still
Noun Phrases 41 speak Mayan, one of the largest continuous blocks
Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases 42 of indigenous people on the American continents.
Plurals 43 Some thirty to thirty-four separate “versions” of
Demonstratives 43 Mayan are still spoken over large areas of Mexico,
Possessives 44 including the modern states of Chiapas, Tabasco,
Requests 45 Vera Cruz, Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatán.
Questions 45 Mayan is also spoken in the Central American
Phrase Markers 46 countries of Guatemala, Belize, and Honduras.
Discourse Markers 46 The present dictionary and phrasebook offer
Quantifiers 47 a selection of the most common words and
Numerical Classifiers 47 useful phrases in what linguists generally call
Yucatec Maya, probably the largest group of
Maya-English Dictionary 49 Mayan speakers. The book also includes a broad
range of items of interest to travelers, students,
English-Maya Dictionary 87 and scholars. Spoken over virtually the entirety
of Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatán—that
Phrasebook 137 is, the Yucatán Peninsula—and isolated areas
of Belize, as well as neighboring El Petén in
1
VI Maya-English/English-Maya (Yucatec) Dictionary & Phrasebook
Guatemala, Yucatec Maya constitutes the lan and most useful way possible. While a complete
guage generally referred to as “Maya” for histor explanation of grammar lies outside the scope of
ical reasons. Actually “Maya,” both culturally and the presentation, I do discuss the basic rules—
linguistically, derives from a sixteenth-century offering something of a “refresher” for those
application of “Mayathan” or “Mayat’aan,” who have experience with the language, making
meaning literally, “Maya language” (maya + intelligible why the language works the way it
t’aan “language”). What early Europeans failed does for beginners, and as a quick reference.
to understand was that “Maya” referred to the However, a number of complicated issues have
language spoken by the group of people with been omitted or greatly simplified in the interest
whom they were then in contact, and that it bore of ease of use.
only an affinity with other languages spoken in Each Maya word or phrase includes its pho
nearby areas. Each of these languages identifies netic pronunciation, plus the Spanish equivalent,
itself by its own singular name: Quiche, Tzotsil, since most communication in Mexico and Central
Tzeltal, and so on. It was linguists who perpetu America takes place in that language. This book
ated the name “Mayan” in reference to all of assumes some prior knowledge of Spanish, so
these related groups. these entries lack pronunciation guides.
Strictly speaking, then, “Maya” refers only to Maya arises out of an incredibly rich cultural
“Mayat’aan,” the language linguists call Yucatec. tradition, one that holds a great deal of interest
For clarity, this book will use “Maya” only for for people from outside the Maya world. From
that branch, while identifying others as “Quiche ancient pyramids to unique cuisine to personal
Maya,” “Cakchiquel Maya,” and so on, with the relationships, many different experiences make
understanding that “Mayan” refers to the larger this area one of the most interesting in Latin
language group. The main thing to remember is America. It is hoped that the present dictionary
that Maya means Yucatec, Mayan the language and phrasebook will help facilitate those experi
group as a whole. ences, and promote a more lasting appreciation
To my knowledge, this is the first combination of Mayat’aan—the Maya language.
dictionary/phrasebook in Maya/English and Eng
lish/Maya ever published. (See Methods of
Learning Maya.) As such, it allows for the use of
Maya in most contexts where Spanish would nor
mally be used, although such opportunities are
rare for most travelers. Essentially, this book
offers “Maya in a nutshell,” distilling the essence
of the language and focusing on areas of general
interest. The goal is to present essential informa
tion about the language in the simplest, clearest,
Introduction 3
2 Maya-English/English-Maya (Yucatec) Dictionary & Phrasebook
A BRIEF HISTORY
OF THE
MAYAN LANGUAGE GROUP
Ancient and W ritten Mayan
Archaeologists have found evidence of farming
villages on the Yucatán Peninsula dating back to
at least 1200 b.c., and we know that even before
that date primitive hunter-gatherers foraged for
jungle and coastal resources. Whether these were
Mayan speakers remains uncertain. Linguists
argue that, based on sound changes among the
various branches of Mayan, there was a single
dominant language as early as 2000 B.C., called
Proto-Mayan, which began to evolve into several
major divisions not long afterwards. Yucatec, or
“Maya,” emerged as a separate branch of this
larger language family by around 1000 b.c. Today
the “Yucatecan” branch includes Yucatec proper,
or Maya, as well as Lacandon, Itzá, and Mopan.
Certainly Yucatec Maya has a continuous history
of at least three thousand years.
Mayan speakers created the high Precolumbian
civilization of the Classic Period, which flourished
from about a.d. 250 to 900. Whatever dialect they
spoke, they were responsible for perhaps the
greatest intellectual achievement of Native Amer
ican history—the invention of a fully developed
written script, or Maya hieroglyphic writing. While
scholars long have believed the glyphs record
5
predominantly a Cholan Maya language, speakers various social changes and introduced features of
of Yucatec Maya were writing in books made from material culture.
bark paper when Cortés and his Spanish conquis Even before this a variety of peoples had
tadors arrived in the early sixteenth century, and penetrated the Maya area from central Mexico
the closely related Itzá Maya were still main and elsewhere, establishing political control in
taining books as late as 1697. Clearly, Mayan— some cases over local populations. Overall, what
written in its own native system—has a longer resulted were sundry “borrowings” from the
Mexican Nahuatl language (or one of its variants),
history than either written English (eighth century
as well as intermarriage between these distinct
a.d.) or Spanish (eleventh century a.d.).
groups of people.
Following the Spanish conquest, a few Mayan
Through Nahuatl new personal names were
speakers wrote their language with European
introduced to the Maya, as well as words for
characters, producing works of epic literature
things and places (for example, máasewáal
and “chronicles.” The manuscripts known as
“Indian, Maya,” from Nahuatl macehuali, “free
the books of Chilam Balam constitute some of the
commoner”).
best-known literature of the latter type, detailing
Spain’s conquest of the New World in the six
great epochs in Maya history. This series of doc
teenth century inevitably destroyed much of
uments was widely published in both Spanish
Native American civilization, and although fero
and English translations. In more recent years,
ciously resistant, the Maya also succumbed. With
epigraphers, or decipherers of hieroglyphs, have
the wholesale introduction by the conquerors
reintroduced to native speakers the original
of new foods, methods of cooking, clothing,
hieroglyphic system, a renaissance taken up with
weapons, and social and political institutions, the
alacrity by speakers of different branches of the
Maya were forced to adapt in different ways. They
Mayan language group.
did so not least by employing Spanish words for
things of which they had no experience, and even
for some familiar things. Examples include
N ahuatl and Spanish Loanwords asukaar, from the Spanish azúcar “sugar,”
áamigoh from the Spanish amigo “friend,” and
With the collapse of Classic Maya civilization in paapah, from the Spanish papá “father.”
the ninth and tenth centuries a.d., widespread Spanish continues to encroach on the Maya
cultural change took place throughout Pre world (and almost as importantly, English now
columbian America. Eventually the Aztec empire does so as well). Most Maya men have to be bilin
emerged as the most powerful civilization in gual because of contacts beyond their villages,
Precolumbian history. Speakers of the Aztec and they can switch back and forth between
language, which is called Nahuatl, ranged far Spanish and their own language in the middle of
down the coasts of Honduras and Panama. They conversation, a process called code-shifting.
were mostly traders and merchants who brought However, pronunciation of Spanish tends to be
6 Maya-English/Engush-Maya (Yicatec) Dictionary & Phrasebook A Brief History of the Mayan Language Group 7
“Mayanized” by lengthening the vowels, changing
the location of accents, adding the characteristic
METHODS OF
Maya singsong tonality and pitch, and substi
tuting Maya sounds for Spanish ones not found LEARNING MAYA
in Maya. At the same time Maya speakers retain
traditional Spanish pronunciation for technical
terms. In particular, Spanish proper and personal
names remain a prominent feature of today’s
spoken Maya.
As with any language, the process of learning
M odern Maya Maya may seem at first overwhelming. Unfa
miliar sounds can strike the ear of the beginner as
Ancient Maya and Colonial Maya from the six impossibly complex, especially when spoken
teenth and seventeenth centuries differ consider rapidly. Difficulty in distinguishing where one
ably from Modern Maya, and many terms and word begins and another ends can hopelessly
conventions regularly used in the past have fallen confuse the student, even a vigilant one.
away. Moreover, because modem Maya for the In contrast, like languages everywhere around
most part remains a spoken language as opposed the world, Maya becomes far easier to learn when
to a written one, and because speech constantly the student listens and familiarizes his- or herself
changes and adapts, Maya lacks uniformity with the sound of the language. Familiarity
among its several million speakers. There really breeds affinity, even endearment, with the spoken
is no such thing as “pure Maya” or “standard language, while the mind’s inner ear and subcon
Maya.” The historical tendency of the Maya to scious quietly absorb what we learn, often with
seek isolation and independence led to numerous much greater depth than the conscious mind real
“sub-dialects,” and just about every Maya has his izes. The true seat of language belongs to the sub
or her own way of speaking. Regional variations conscious, which stores information about
exist as well. Speakers of Maya can readily under language very much like an automated dictionary
stand each other (although not necessarily other and grammar.
branches of Mayan such as Quiche or Tzotsil), but Anyone interested in learning Maya can choose
the situation poses some difficulty for speakers from several approaches, depending on what goal
of Maya as a foreign language. Changes in the he or she has in mind. An informal conversational
language from one village to another and from
command of Maya for personal reasons probably
one area to the next can be very confusing for
can best be achieved through “total immersion.”
the beginner.
On the other hand, a more scholarly interest
might require formal classroom instruction or
the use of language tapes. Certainly all serious
8 Maya-English/English-Maya (Ylcatec) Dictionary & Phrasebook 9
students will master spoken Maya most thor Fobmal Classroom Instruction
oughly by availing themselves of every resource
that time and money allow. Highly efficient but more formally organized and
structured than either total immersion or one-on-
one contact with an instructor, formal classroom
T otal Immersion instruction offers an extremely valuable resource,
especially when conducted by native speakers
To totally absorb the language, the student should or where native speakers serve as teacher assis
visit the Yucatán Peninsula and live among the tants. A main disadvantage is that students may
Maya for as extended a period as possible. Total not receive enough personal attention or may fail
immersion involves living, eating, and sleeping to keep up with the classroom pace. Duke Uni
with a Maya family. Daily routine and habitual versity provides the best-known program, con
exposure to the language “immerses” the student ducted for four weeks during the summer months
in all things Maya. Such an approach probably through the Institute of Latin American Studies.
offers the quickest and most surefire way to learn The program offers an optional two-week field
school with one-on-one instruction and total
the language, but will probably cost more than
immersion, conducted on the Yucatán Peninsula.
other methods. Generally students can simply
approach individual Maya or their families and
hire them as teachers. Language schools, usually
Language Tapes/C D s
operated out of Mérida, often place students with
Maya families to supplement one-on-one instruc
Language tapes offer a key tool for anyone wanting
tion through trained teachers.
to learn Maya. They allow students to listen to and
learn Maya outside the classroom and without
live native speakers. With this method, personal
One-on-O ne Formal Education
ized learning can take place in a variety of set
tings, for example, while driving an automobile or
Probably the second quickest (and second most
in the privacy of the home. Currently only one
reliable) method involves the pairing of students
complete audio language course exists, Spoken
with a native Maya speaker who acts either as an
(Yucatec) Maya by Robert Blair and Refugio Ver-
informal teacher or trained instructor. Usually mont-Salas, which was produced in the 1960s. A
language academies offer this kind of instruction, xeroxed transcription of the tapes can be ordered
generally in Mérida but also elsewhere on the separately from the University of Chicago Library
peninsula. Virtually any Maya speaker willing to (Microfilm Collection of Manuscripts on Amer
teach will suffice, although professionally trained ican Indian Cultural Anthropology, numbers
teachers often prove more valuable for students 65-66, Series X). The tapes are available from the
seeking academic knowledge of the language. University’s language library.
10 Maya-English/English-Maya (Yucatec) Dictionary & Phrasebook Methods of Learning Maya 11
I >l< TIO NIA NIKS
PRONUNCIATION AND
Dictionaries and grammars provide crucial
SPELLING GUIDE
resources for any student, and students should
develop a reference library with as many pub
lished and privately printed resources as pos
sible. Gary Bevington’s Maya For Travelers and
Students: A Guide to Language and Culture in
Yucatan (University of Texas Press, Austin, 1995)
provides the most valuable and accessible com IVlaya and other members of the Mayan language
pendium of modern Maya, including Maya-to- family use letters from the Spanish alphabet, omit
English and English-to-Maya dictionaries. ting ones for which Mayan has no sounds and
Bevington’s volume also comes with a separate adding combinations of letters for the Mayan
language tape that provides introductory mate sounds that Spanish lacks. However, at the time
rial, although the tape and dictionary are some of the Spanish conquest Spanish itself lacked
times packaged together. A Dictionary of the consistency or even rules for basic punctuation,
Maya Language As Spoken in Hocabá, Yucatan, and a large degree of variation resulted. Modem
compiled by Victoria Bricker, Eleuterio Po’ot linguists transcribing Maya into English com
Yah, and Ofelia Dzul de Po’ot, offers another pounded the problem.
extensive if academic resource (University of Worse, today’s spelling conventions among
Utah Press, Salt Lake City, 1998). Many addi speakers of both Maya and Spanish vary tre
tional locally published dictionaries can be mendously. Spanish alone presents something
found in bookstores in Mérida and other towns of a nightmare; consider alternative spellings of
on the peninsula, although these usually pro “cow”—vaca versus baca—or Jiménez versus
vide Maya-to-Spanish entries. Ximénes. (Even English includes similar and
confusing spellings or pronunciations, as for
The best approach that any student can take is example “cock,” meaning “rooster,” versus the
to combine the above resources into one system appelative “Coch” or “Koch”).
atic course of study. Accordingly, anyone seriously The problem increases exponentially with
interested in learning Maya should live with Maya, because certain sounds have no equivalent
native speakers while undertaking one-on-one either in Spanish or English. A survey of dictio
instruction, and then should follow with formal naries and maps turns up a confused array of
classroom instruction and the regular use of lan spellings, as in ts’ib, tz’ib, and dzib for the word
guage tapes. “writing.”
Recently, native language academies have
introduced a uniform alphabet, a system taken up
13
12 Maya-English/Engush-Maya (Yucatec) Dictionary & Phraserook
by decipherers of Maya hieroglyphs and exem linguists sometimes glottalize other consonants,
plified in the massive Maya/Spanish dictionary for example b’, but these make no difference
published in Mexico, known as the Cordemex. in meaning. The present dictionary ignores the
Although often used inconsistently, the system glottalization of consonants except the frve listed
has an advantage of fairly wide acceptance. The above.
present dictionary follows the Cordemex with the
exception that it retains traditional spellings for
personal and place names used in the Maya area
Vowels
and on maps (for example, Dzibalchaltun instead
of Tz’ibalchaltun), and it distinguishes long and
Maya uses the same vowels as Spanish, but dis
short vowels.
tinguishes between long and short ones. Length
ening the vowel changes the meaning of a word.
The present book doubles long vowels when these
Glottal Stops
make a difference in meaning, for example ka’
“two” versus kaa ’ “again.” Short vowels should be
Like the click sounds made in certain African
languages, the “glottal stop” poses a distinct pronounced as follows:
problem for non-native speakers. In the alphabet
used to write Maya, ’ represents the sound made A The sound of a in “father”
in stopping the breath which is similar to the E The sound of a in “fate”
stoppage of air in English uh-oh or in button I The sound of ee in “feet”
when spoken rapidly. Pronounced simultaneously 0 The sound of o in “go”
with the vowel or consonant that it accompanies, U The sound of o in “who”
the glottal stop gives a characteristic “pop” to the
sound.
Long vowels incorporate a system of tonality
Glottal stops might pose little problem if they
that differentiates meaning. The present dictio
carried no meaning, but the distinction between
nary renders high-toned long vowels by adding an
kab (without the stop) and k’ab (with the stop)
accent over the first vowel, while it leaves low-
represents an important difference. The one
toned long vowels unmarked—for example, áa
means “bee,” the other “manual labor.” This is
(“high” tone) and aa (“low” tone).
simüar to the difference between sweet and sweat
in English. The glottal stop changes everything.
Any vowel can be glottalized, but Maya includes
only five glottalized consonants where the glottal Consonants
stop changes the meaning.
Maya employs nineteen consonants, with all but
ch’ k’ p’ t’ tz’ six consonants pronounced like their Spanish
14 Maya-English/English-Maya (Yucatec) Dictionary & Phrasebook Pronunciation and Spelling Guide 15
