The Yucatecan languages form a branch of the Mayan family of languages, comprising four languages, namely, Itzaj, Lacandon, Mopan, and Yucatec. The languages are presently extant in the Yucatán Peninsula, encompassing Belize, northern Guatemala, and southeastern Mexico.
Classification
The Yucatecan languages are split into two branches, namely, Mopan–Itzaj and Yucatec–Lacandon.[1] This subdivision, and the inclusion of the Yucatecan languages within the Core Mayan family, is ‘the most widely accepted classification’ as of 2017.[1] However, some linguists formerly grouped Huastecan, Cholan–Tseltalan, and Yucatecan languages together, but this is now deemed erroneous.[2][note 1]
History
Yucatecan speakers are thought to have first settled the Maya Lowlands some 400 years after the diversification of Core Mayan, which has been glottochronologically dated to around 1900 BC.[3][note 2] There, they were joined by Ch’olan–Tseltan speakers sometime during 1000–800 BC, though only Ch’olan speakers remained after about 200 BC.[4] By the third century AD, Yucatecan speakers would form part of an area of heightened language contact, centred on the Lowlands, which saw significant linguistic diffusion across Mayan and non-Mayan languages.[5] By the ninth century AD, their language would start appearing in Classic Mayan hieroglyphic texts.[6]
The Yucatecan languages began to diversify perhaps a millennium ago and have had repeated contacts with one another since. The first split in this group was Mopan, followed by Itzaj after 1200, Northern Lacandon and Southern Lacandon after 1700, with Yucatec Maya remaining.
Presently, Itzaj is spoken in Peten (Guatemala), Lacandon in Chiapas (Mexico), Mopan in Cayo, Stann Creek, Toledo (Belize) and Peten (Guatemala), and Yucatec in Corozal, Orange Walk (Belize) and Campeche, Yucatán, Quintana Roo (Mexico).[8]
^The grouping was proposed ‘because Huastecan shares several sound changes with Ch’olan–Tseltalan and with Yucatecan,’ but this is now thought to have been due to language contact rather than shared innovation (Aissen, England & Zavala Maldonado 2017, p. 45).
Aissen J, England NC, Zavala Maldonado R, eds. (2017). The Mayan Languages. Routledge Language Family Series. London and New York: Routledge. ISBN9781315192345. LCCN2016049735.
Lewis MP, ed. (2009) [first published 1951 by SIL]. Ethnologue: Languages of the World (16 ed.). Dallas: SIL International. ISBN9781556712166. OL19636399W.
