Itzaʼ
Itzaʼ is also known as
Icaiche Maya, Itz, Itzaj, Itzaj Maya, Itzaʼ Maya, Maya or Petén Itza’ Maya. It
is an officially recognized language in Guatemala.
Itzaʼ is a Yucatecan Mayan language spoken by the Itza
people mainly in the village of San José on the north shore of Lake Petén Itzaʼ
in Petén department in northern Guatemala. It also used to be spoken in parts
of Belize. In 2019 there were 410 native speakers of Itzaʼ, all of whom were
older adults. Younger people have shifted to Spanish.
When the Yucatan Peninsula was governed from Chichen
Itza between about 600 AD and 1697, Itzaʼ was the main language of
administration in the area, and this was the last independent Maya nation in
Mesoamerica.
Speaking Itzaʼ was banned by the government of
Guatemala in the 1930s. In the 1980s the Maya people started to become
increasingly interested in their culture and languages, and the Academia de
Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala (ALMG), or Guatemalan Academy of Mayan Languages,
which was set up in 1990 to promote and revitalize Itzaʼ and other Mayan
languages.
Itzaʼ is also known as Icaiche Maya, Itz, Itzaj, Itzaj
Maya, Itzaʼ Maya, Maya or Petén Itza’ Maya. It is an officially recognized
language in Guatemala.
Itzaʼ can be written with the Latin alphabet using an
orthography created by the ALMG. There are some publications in the language,
including a dictionary, grammar and other texts.
Itzaʼ was the language of administration across much
of the Yucatán Peninsula during the supremacy of Chichen Itza. Later, the Itza
people had the last independent Maya nation in Mesoamerica until 1697. During
this time, the Itza people resettled their ancestral home in the Petén Basin.
The subjugation of the Itza capital by the Spanish forced the Itza people to
flee or live amongst the Spaniards, such as in San Jose, Guatemala, where the
only modern speakers of the language live.
The modern Itza people are the last of the Lowland
Maya to be able to directly trace their heritage back to the pre-Columbian era.
The Itzaʼ language reflects this history in its nomenclature for the natural
world: Itzaʼ words referring to agriculture and agricultural practices remain
unchanged since first being recorded. Additionally, Itzaʼ possesses a rich
vocabulary for crops and animals that encodes specific information about
different varietals and individuals of the species.
At
Trápaga Asociados – Interpretation & Translation
Agency, we work with all Mayan
languages including Itzaʼ.
Please
contact us with any job or project inquiries.
https://asociadostrapaga.com/home/
+502
55717516
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