Proto-Mayan is the hypothetical common ancestor of the 30 living

Mayan languages The Mayan languagesIn linguistics, it is conventional to use ''Mayan'' when referring to the languages, or an aspect of a language. In other academic fields, ''Maya'' is the preferred usage, serving as both a singular and plural noun, and as ...

, as well as the

Classic Maya language 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 ...

documented in the Maya inscriptions. While there has been some controversy with Mayan subgrouping, there has been a general agreement that the following are the main five subgroups of the family: Huastecan, Yucatecan, Cholan-Tzeltalan, Kanjobalan-Chujean, and Quichean-Mamean.

Phonology

The Proto-Mayan language is reconstructed (Campbell and Kaufman 1985) as having the following sounds: Five vowels: ''a'', ''e'', ''i'', ''o'' and ''u''. Each of these occurring as short and long: ''aa'', ''ee'', ''ii'', ''oo'' and ''uu'',

Sound rules

The following set of

sound change A sound change, in historical linguistics, is a change in the pronunciation of a language. A sound change can involve the replacement of one speech sound (or, more generally, one phonetic feature value) by a different one (called phonetic chan ...

s from proto-Mayan to the modern languages are used as the basis of the classification of the Mayan languages. Each sound change may be shared by a number of languages; a grey background indicates no change.

Developments

The palatalized plosives and are not carried down into any of the modern families. Instead they are reflected differently in different branches allowing a reconstruction of these phonemes as palatalized plosives. In the western branch (Chujean–Qʼanjobʼalan and Cholan) they are reflected as and . In Mamean they are reflected as and and in Yukatek and Kʼichean as and .England (1994), p.35. The Proto-Mayan liquid is reflected as in the western languages (Chujean–Qʼanjobʼalan and Cholan), Huastecan and Yukatek but as in Mamean and in Kʼichean and Poqom. Proto-Mayan velar nasal is reflected as in the eastern branches (Kʼichean–Mamean), as in Qʼanjobʼalan, Cholan and Yukatekan, and only conserved as in Chuj and Poptí. In Huastecan is reflected as . The changes of Proto-Mayan glottal fricative are many and it has different reflexes according to position. In some positions it has added length to the preceding vowel in languages that preserve a length distinction. In other languages it has the reflexes , , , or a zero-reflex. Only Kʼichean–Mamean and some Qʼanjobʼalan languages have retained Proto-Mayan uvular stops and whereas all other branches have changed these into and respectively. In Mamean a chain shift took place changing into , into , into and into . These retroflex affricates and fricatives later diffused into Qʼanjobʼalan. In

polysyllabic A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants). Syllables are often considered the phonological "b ...

words Kaqchikel and Tzʼutujil have changed a final Proto-Mayan and into and respectively. Huastecan is the only branch to have changed Proto-Mayan into . Wastek also is the only Mayan language to have a phonemic labialized velar phoneme , but this is known to be a postcolonial development. Comparing colonial documents in Wastek to modern Wastek it can be seen that they were originally clusters of and a rounded vowel followed by a glide. For example, the word for "vulture" which in modern Wastek is pronounced was written in colonial Wastek and pronounced . The Yucatecan languages have all shifted Proto-Mayan into in wordfinal position. Several languages particularly Cholan and Yucatecan have changed short into . All Cholan languages have changed long proto-Mayan vowels and into and respectively. Vowel length distinction has been lost in Qʼanjobʼalan-Chujean (except for Mochoʼ and Akateko), Kaqchikel and Cholan. Some languages have reduced the vowel length distinction into a tense lax distinction that was later lost for most vowels, Kaqchikel however retains a centralized lax

schwa In linguistics, specifically phonetics and phonology, schwa (, rarely or ; sometimes spelled shwa) is a vowel sound denoted by the IPA symbol , placed in the central position of the vowel chart. In English and some other languages, it rep ...

-like vowel as a reflex of Proto-Mayan .England (1994), pp.110-111. Two languages, Yukatek and Uspantek and one dialect of Tzotzil have introduced a tone distinction in vowels between high and low tones as reflexes of former vowel length and and .

References

Sources

* England, Nora C., 1994, ''Autonomia de los Idiomas Mayas: Historia e identidad''. (Ukutaʼmil Ramaqʼiil Utzijobʼaal ri Mayaʼ Amaaqʼ.) Cholsamaj. Guatemala. * ''Handbook of Middle American Indians'', 1967, 1969, R. Wauchope (series ed.). Vol 7 (ethnographic sketches of Mayan groups), Volume 5 (linguistic sketches and other useful materials). F 1434, H 3, LAC (ref). * Lyle Campbell and Terrence Kaufman, ''Annual Review of Anthropology''. 1985. "Mayan Linguistics: Where are We Now?"

External links

The Guatemalan Academy of Mayan Languages
- Spanish/Mayan site, the primary authority on Mayan Languages
Yucatec - English Dictionary

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20110520094915/http://maya.hum.sdu.dk/ The Mayan Languages- A Comparative Vocabularycontains more than 40,000 entries for 31 Mayan languages
English Words and their Classic Maya EquivalentsEthnologue Mayan language family tree
{{DEFAULTSORT:Proto-Mayan Language

Mayan 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 ...