Awakatek language

Awakatek
Native to	Guatemala
Region	Huehuetenango
Ethnicity	Awakatek
Native speakers	18,000 (1998)[1]
Language family	Mayan Quichean–Mamean Greater Mamean Ixilean Awakatek
Language codes
ISO 639-3	agu
Glottolog	agua1252[2]

Awakatek is a Mayan language spoken in Guatemala, primarily in Huehuetenango and around Aguacatán.^[3] It is a living language with some 18,000 speakers.^{[4] [5]}

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

1. Awakatek at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
2. Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Aguacateco". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
3. Cabral, Ernesto Díaz Couder (2001). "Culturas e interculturalidad en Guatemala".
4. Ethnologue
5. "Comunidad Lingüística Awakateka" (PDF). Academia de Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala. 2008. Retrieved 2010-02-17.