Guatemalan languages
Diverse languages are spoken in the Republic of Guatemala. Spanish is the official language, and the Mayan languages, in addition to the Garífuna language and the Xinca language, received official recognition after the peace agreements that followed the internal armed conflict. The Spanish language is the most widespread in Guatemala and is understood by almost the entire population; most indigenous speakers are bilingual, and only 2% of the population cannot speak or understand it.
The peace agreements signed in December 1996 reached a state commitment regarding the recognition of the different languages of the country, which is defined as a multilingual country, and it is stated in the Constitution that the Mayan languages must be respected and disseminated.
Efforts have been made to spread the Mayan languages, however, the few remaining speakers make the task difficult, many young people of the new generations do not manage to learn the indigenous language of their parents. Currently the most spoken languages are q'eqchi', k'iche', mam, kaqchikel and Poqomchi', which have some words and grammatical rules in common.
Mayan languages
The Mayan languages of Guatemala are the linguistic varieties that historically derive from the Proto-Mayan. Proto-Mayan is a proto-language hypothetically reconstructed through the comparative method and other techniques of historical linguistics. As this language diversified due to its speakers being separated by great distances, the different varieties became more and more different until they became a set of differentiated speeches, which they lack in many cases mutual intelligibility. Usually these Mayan speeches are classified into 22 languages (the next section gives the names and some additional information about each language.
Linguistic table of Guatemala
According to the census carried out in 2018, mother speakers over 4 years of age of each of the languages are the following:
| Language | Family | Rama | Speakers kill us | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spanish | Indoeuropeo | Iberorromance | 9 488 838 | Data from 2018. Spanish is the official language of the country. 70% of the population learned to speak with this language. |
| K'iche' | Maya | K'iche' | 1 054 818 | Data from 2018. Language spoken in six departments: in five municipalities of Sololá, Totonicapán, Quetzaltenango, El Quiché, Suchitepéquez and Retalhuleu. It is spoken by 7.76 % of the population. |
| Q'eqchi' | Maya | K'iche' | 1 127 387 | Data from 2018. It is spoken in Alta Verapaz, El Petén, Izabal and in El Quiché. It is spoken by 8.31 % of the population. |
| Kaqchikel | Maya | K'iche' | 411 089 | Data from 2018. It is spoken in seven departments: In Guatemala (San Juan Sacatepéquez, San Pedro Sacatepéquez), Sacatepéquez, Chimaltenango, Escuintla, Suchitepéquez, Baja Verapaz and Sololá. It is spoken by 3.03 % of the population. |
| Mam | Maya | Mam | 590 641 | Data from 2018. It is spoken in three departments: Quetzaltenango, in the department of San Marcos and Huehuetenango, for 4.4 % of the country's population. |
| Poqomchi' | Maya | K'iche' | 133 074 | Data from 2018. In Baja Verapaz and Alta Verapaz. It is spoken by 0.98% of the population. |
| Tz'utujil | Maya | K'iche' | 72 436 | Data from 2018. It is spoken in the departments of Sololá and Suchpéquez. It is spoken only by 0.53 % of the population. |
| Achi | Maya | K'iche' | 124 338 | Data from 2018. It is spoken in five municipalities of the department of Baja Verapaz. It is spoken by 0.5 % of the population. |
| Q’anjob’al | Maya | Q'anjob'al | 166 261 | Data from 2018. It is spoken in 4 municipalities of the department of Huehuetenango, for 1.23 % of the country's population. |
| Ixil | Maya | Mam | 114 997 | Data from 2018. Speaking in 3 municipalities of the department of Quiché, also known as the Triangle Ixil: Santa María Nebaj, San Gaspar Chajul, San Juan Cotzal, is spoken by 0.85 % of the country's population. |
| Akateko | Maya | Q'anjob'al | 55 290 | Data from 2018. It is spoken in two municipalities of the department of Huehuetenango: San Miguel Acatán and San Rafael La Independencia, for 0.4 % of the country's population. |
| Jakalteco (or Popti') | Maya | Q'anjob'al | 32 568 | Data from 2018. It is spoken in the department of Huehuetenango, for 0.24% of the country's population. |
| Chuj | Maya | Q'anjob'al | 58 592 | Data from 2018. It is spoken in three municipalities of the department of Huehuetenango, for 0.43 % of the country's population. |
| Poqomam | Maya | K'iche' | 10 787 | Data from 2018. It is spoken in the department of Jalapa and in the department of Escuintla. It is spoken only by 0.08% of the population. |
| Ch'orti' | Maya | Chol | 16 663 | Data from 2018. It is spoken in 2 municipalities of the department of Chiquimula (Jocotan and Camotan). It is also spoken in a part of the municipality of La Unión in Zacapa, for 0.12 % of the country's population. |
| Awakateko | Maya | Mam | 10 145 | Data from 2018. It is spoken mainly in the municipality of Aguacatán in the department of Huehuetenango, for 0.07 % of the country's population. |
| Sakapulteko | Maya | K'iche' | 6528 | Data from 2018. It is spoken in the municipality of Sacapulas in El Quiché. It is spoken only by 0.1 % of the population. |
| Sipakapense | Maya | K'iche' | 4155 | Data from 2018. It speaks only 0.03 %, in the municipality of Sipacapa in the department of San Marcos. |
| Garifuna | Arahuaca | Caribbean | 2856 | Data from 2018. Although it is not a language of the Maya trunk, this language, which belongs to the inhabitants of Izabal, is one of the languages that were sown in Guatemalan lands, after the Garinagu fled St. Vincent being persecuted by the British. It is spoken by 0.02% of the country's population. |
| Uspanteko | Maya | K'iche' | 5125 | Data from 2018. It is spoken in the municipalities of Uspantan and Chicaman in the department of El Quiché. It is spoken only by 0.04% of the population. |
| Tektiteko | Maya | Mam | 3009 | Data from 2018. It is spoken in the municipality of Tectitán in the department of Huehuetenango, for 0.02 % of the country's population. |
| Mopan | Maya | Yucateca | 2011 | Data from 2018. It is spoken in the department of El Petén, for 0.03 % of the country's population. |
| Chalchiteko | Maya | Mam | 21 550 | Data from 2018. It is spoken by the town of Chalchitán, now annexed as a neighborhood to the municipality of Aguacatán in the department of Huehuetenango. It is spoken by 0.16 % of the country's population. |
| Xinca | Insulated | Xinca languages | 2755 | Data from 2018. It is a language not related to the Mayan languages. The xinca is spoken by about 2000 people in the departments of Santa Rosa and Jutiapa and Jalapa (Santa Maria Xalapan) is currently a threatened language of extinction, spoken by 0.02 % of the country's population. |
| Itza' | Maya | Yucateca | 406 | Data from 2018. It is spoken in 6 municipalities of the department of Petén, for 0.003 % of the country's population |