Awakatek language
| Awakatek | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Guatemala |
| Region | Huehuetenango |
| Ethnicity | Awakatek |
Native speakers | (18,000 cited 1998)[1] |
Mayan
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | agu |
| Glottolog | agua1252 |
| ELP | Awakateko |
Awakatek is a Mayan language spoken in Guatemala, primarily in Huehuetenango and around Aguacatán.[2] It is a living language with some 18,000 speakers.[3] [4]
Awakatek is closely related to Ixil and the two languages together form the sub-branch Ixilean, which together with the Mamean languages, Mam and Tektitek, form a sub-branch Greater-Mamean, which again, together with the Greater-Quichean languages, ten Mayan languages, including K'iche', form the branch Quichean–Mamean.
The Awakatek people themselves refer to their language as qa'yol, literally meaning our word.
Phonology
Vowels
| Front | Back | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| short | long | short | long | |
| Close | i /i/ | ii /iː/ | u /u/ | uu /uː/ |
| Mid | e /e/ | ee /eː/ | o /o/ | oo /oː/ |
| Open | a /a/ | aa /aː/ | ||
Diphthongs
There are four diphthongs: ay /aj/, ey /ej/, oy /oj/, uy /uj/.
Consonants
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Postalveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Normal | Palatalized | ||||||||||
| Plosive | Normal | p /pʰ/ | t /tʰ/ | k /kʰ/ | ky /kʰʲ/ | q /qʰ/ | ' /ʲʔ/ | ||||
| Ejective | p' /pʼ/ | t' /tʼ~dʼ/ | k' /kʼ/ | ky'/kʼʲ/ | |||||||
| Implosive | b' /ɓ/ | q' /ʛ/ | |||||||||
| Nasal | m /m/ | n /n/ | nh /ŋ/ | ||||||||
| Fricative | w /v~f/ | s /s/ | xh /ʃ/ | x /ʂ/ | j /χ/ | h /ʜ/ | |||||
| Affricate | Normal | p /ɸʰ/ | tz /t͡sʰ/ | ch /t͡ʃʰ/ | tx /ʈ͡ʂʰ/ | ||||||
| Ejective | tz' /t͡sʼ~dzʼ/ | ch' /t͡ʃʼ~dʒʼ/ | tx' /ʈ͡ʂʼ~ɖʐʼ/ | ||||||||
| Flap | r /ɾ/ | ||||||||||
| Approximant | l /l~ɺ/ | y /j/ | w /ʍ/ | ||||||||
References
- ^ Awakatek at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Cabral, Ernesto Díaz Couder (2001). "Culturas e interculturalidad en Guatemala".
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ Ethnologue
- ^ "Comunidad Lingüística Awakateka" (PDF). Academia de Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala. 2008. Retrieved 2010-02-17.[permanent dead link]
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