The Chʼoltiʼ language is an
extinct
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
Mayan language
Mayan most commonly refers to:
* Maya peoples, various indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica and northern Central America
* Maya civilization, pre-Columbian culture of Mesoamerica and northern Central America
* Mayan languages, language family spoken ...
which was spoken by the
Manche Chʼol
The Manche Chʼol were a former Chʼol-speaking Maya people inhabiting the extreme south of what is now the Petén Department of modern Guatemala, the area around Lake Izabal (also known as the ''Golfo Dulce''), and southern Belize. The Manche C ...
people of eastern
Guatemala
Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...
and southern
Belize
Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...
. The post-colonial stage of the language is only known from a single manuscript written between 1685 and 1695 which was first studied by
Daniel Garrison Brinton
Daniel Garrison Brinton (May 13, 1837July 31, 1899) was an American surgeon, historian, archaeologist and ethnologist.
Biography
Brinton was born in Thornbury Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. After graduating from Yale University in 1858, ...
. Chʼoltiʼ belongs to the Choʼlan branch of the Mayan languages and is closely related to
Chontal and especially
Chʼortiʼ. The Chʼoltiʼ language has become of particular interest for the study of
Mayan Hieroglyphs
Maya script, also known as Maya glyphs, is historically the native writing system of the Maya civilization of Mesoamerica and is the only Mesoamerican writing system that has been substantially deciphered. The earliest inscriptions found which ...
since it seems that most of the glyphic texts are written in an ancient variety of Chʼoltiʼ called Classic Chʼoltiʼan or
Classic Maya
A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or highest quality, class, or rank – something that exemplifies its class. The word can be an adjective (a ''c ...
by epigraphers and which is thought to have been spoken as a prestige dialect throughout the Maya area in the
Classic Era.
[Kettunen & Helmke (2006) p. 12.]
Notes
References
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Mesoamerican languages
Extinct languages of North America
Mayan languages
Languages extinct in the 18th century
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