Maya languages

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Maya languages

Family of about 30 American Indian languages and language complexes, spoken by more than three million people, mainly in southern Mexico and Guatemala. While some have few remaining speakers, Yucatec in Mexico and K'iche (Quiché), Kaqchikel (Cakchiquel), Mam, and Q'eqchi' (Kekchí) in Guatemala count speakers in the hundreds of thousands. Maya languages were recorded in an indigenous script (see Maya Codices; Mayan hieroglyphic writing), as well as in colonial documents in a Spanish-based orthography, including the Popol Vuh and the Yucatec prophetic texts known as the Books of Chilam Balam.

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