Pronunciation [ɪ̆ʃɪ̆l] Region Quiché Department | Native to Guatemala Ethnicity Ixil | |
Native speakers 69,000 (1998)
to 140,000 (2001) Language family Mayan
Division Oriental
Greater Mamean
Ixilan
Ixil | ||
Ixil-Maya is one of the 21 different Mayan languages spoken in Guatemala. According to historical linguistic studies Ixil emerged as a separate language sometime around the year 500AD. It is the primary language of the Ixil Community, which comprises the three towns of San Juan Cotzal, Santa Maria Nebaj, and San Gaspar Chajul in the Guatemalan highlands. There is also an Ixil speaking migrant population in Guatemala City and the United States. Although there are slight differences in vocabulary in the dialects spoken by people in the three different Ixil towns, they are all mutually intelligible and should be considered dialects of a single language.
Contents
Vowels
A notable feature of Ixil is that all short vowels are either central or back vowels and all long vowels are front vowels. This is a unique feature not found in other Mayan languages. As an exception, some speakers do not pronounce ⟨oo⟩ as front [øː] but rather as a back [oː]. Also, some speakers also pronounce ⟨i⟩ as [i] rather than [ɪ]. Short vowels are very short in Ixil, and long ⟨uu⟩ [yː] is extra long and stressed.
Grammar
Ixil pronominals are discerned between ergative ones and absolutive ones. A notable feature of the language's grammar is its ambiguity in discerning reflexive from reciprocal pronouns.