At first, it was thought that the Mayas shared one universal language (Mayan), that had a few distinct dialects. Now it has been proved that these about 30 dialects are so distinct that they can be considered different languages all together. This is probably a result of the separation of the settlements of the Mayas and the collapse of the trade networks of the ancient empire. The Mayas are very isolated, many spend their entire lives in small villages only talking with their neighbors, so the differences have widened even more.


The Mayan linguistic family contains a number of related languages. The most common of this languages is the "Yuctec", this is the language in which the three remaining codex's were written, and is very widely spoken in the Yucatán peninsula. But there are also many others, like for example "the lacandon" that is spoken by the Mayas that habituate the rain forests in Chiapas.

As of today, the Mayan language is still widely spoken by the indigenous people of the area, all tough now they have incorporated many spanish words into it.

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Introduction|Mayan Dictionary