Ixil (''Ixhil'') is a

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 ...

spoken in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and

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 ...

. It is the primary language of the

Ixil people The Ixil (pronounced ) are a Maya people indigenous to Guatemala. The Ixil live in three municipalities in the Cuchumatanes mountains in the northern part of the department El Quiché. These municipalities, also known as the Ixil Triangle, are Sa ...

, which mainly comprises the three towns of

San Juan Cotzal San Juan Cotzal () is a town and municipality in the Guatemalan department of El Quiché. San Juan Cotzal is part of the Ixil Community, along with Santa Maria Nebaj and San Gaspar Chajul. History Pre-Hispanic era Worried about the defec ...

Santa Maria Nebaj Santa Maria Nebaj (; usually abbreviated to Nebaj) is a town and municipality in the Guatemalan department of El Quiché. Santa Maria Nebaj is part of the Ixil Community, along with San Juan Cotzal and San Gaspar Chajul. Native residents spe ...

, and San Gaspar Chajul in the

n highlands and numerous towns in the states of

Campeche Campeche (; yua, Kaampech ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Campeche ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Campeche), is one of the 31 states which make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. Located in southeast Mexico, it is bordered by ...

and

Quintana Roo Quintana Roo ( , ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Quintana Roo ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Quintana Roo), is one of the 31 states which, with Mexico City, constitute the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into 11 mu ...

in southeast

México Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. There is also an Ixil speaking migrant population in Guatemala City, Mexico City and the United States. Although there are slight differences in vocabulary in the dialects spoken by people in the three main guatemalan Ixil towns, they are all mutually intelligible and should be considered dialects of a single language. According to historical linguistic studies Ixil emerged as a separate language sometime around the year 500AD.

Distribution

Ixil language is spoken in Mexico in some municipalities of the states of

and

. In the state of Campeche is spoken in the communities of Los Laureles and Quetzal-Edzná from the

Campeche municipality Campeche is one of the 13 Municipalities of Campeche, municipalities in the Mexico, Mexican mexican state, state of Campeche. The municipal seat, and largest settlement, is the city of San Francisco de Campeche (often shortened to Campeche). Demo ...

and in Maya Tecún in

Champotón municipality Champotón Municipality is a municipalities of Mexico, municipality within the state of Campeche, including the city of Champotón, Campeche, Champotón and the surrounding area. In 2010 the municipality of Champotón had a population of 83,021 i ...

, while in Quintana Roo is spoken in the towns of Maya Balam and Kuchumatán,

Bacalar municipality Bacalar is one of the ten municipalities of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. The municipal seat and most populous town is the eponymous Bacalar Bacalar () is the municipal seat and largest city in Bacalar Municipality (until 2011 a part of ...

. In Guatemala, the municipalities where Ixil is spoken the most are San Gaspar Chajul, San Juan Cotzal and Santa María Nebaj,

Quiché department Quiché () is a department of Guatemala. It is in the heartland of the K'iche' (Quiché) people, to the north-west of Guatemala City. The capital is Santa Cruz del Quiché. The word K'iche comes from the language of the same name, which means " ...

Phonology

Grammar

Ixil

pronominal In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun (abbreviated ) is a word or a group of words that one may substitute for a noun or noun phrase. Pronouns have traditionally been regarded as one of the parts of speech, but some modern theorists would not c ...

s are discerned between ergative ones and

absolutive In grammar, the absolutive case (abbreviated ) is the case of nouns in ergative–absolutive languages that would generally be the subjects of intransitive verbs or the objects of transitive verbs in the translational equivalents of nominative– ...

ones. A notable feature of the language's grammar is its ambiguity in discerning reflexive from

reciprocal pronoun A reciprocal pronoun is a pronoun that indicates a reciprocal relationship. A reciprocal pronoun can be used for one of the participants of a reciprocal construction, i.e. a clause in which two participants are in a mutual relationship. The recipr ...

s."Reflexive and Reciprocal Elements in Ixil",

ERIC The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...

ED353802
Glenn Ayres, 1990.

Notes

Bibliography

*Asicona Ramírez, Lucas, Domingo Méndez Rivera, Rodrigo Domingo Xinic Bop. 1998. ''Diccionario Ixil de San Gaspar Chajul''. La Antigua Guatemala: Proyecto Linguistico Francisco Marroquín. * *Cedillo Chel, Antonio, Juan Ramírez. 1999. ''Diccionario del idioma ixil de Santa María Nebaj''. La Antigua Guatemala: Proyecto Linguistico Francisco Marroquín. *England, Nora C. 1994. ''Ukutaʼmiil Ramaqʼiil Utzijobʼaal ri Mayaʼ Amaaqʼ: Autonomia de los Idiomas Mayas: Historia e identidad. (2nd ed.)''. Guatemala City: Cholsamaj. *Maximiliano Poma S., Tabita J.T. de la Cruz, Manuel Caba Caba et al. 1996. ''Gramática del Idioma Ixil''. La Antigua Guatemala: Proyecto Linguistico Francisco Marroquín. *Oxlajuuj Keej Mayaʼ Ajtzʼiibʼ (OKMA). 1993. ''Mayaʼ chiiʼ. Los idiomas Mayas de Guatemala.'' Guatemala City: Cholsamaj. *Programa de Rescate Cultural Maya-Ixil. 1995. ''Aqʼbʼal Eluʼl Yol Vatzsaj: Diccionario Ixil''. Guatemala City: Cholsamaj.

External links

Doctrina y Confesionario en lengua IxilOLAC resources in and about the Ixil language
*ELAR archive o
Ixil Maya language documentation materials
at the

Archive of the Indigenous Languages of Latin America The Archive of the Indigenous Languages of Latin America (AILLA) is a digital repository housed in LLILAS Benson Latin American Studies and Collections at the University of Texas at Austin. AILLA is a digital language archive dedicated to the digi ...