K’iche’

Also known as Qatzijobʼal lit. 'our language' among its speakers, or Quiché, is a Mayan language of Guatemala, spoken by the Kʼicheʼ people of the central highlands. With over a million speakers (some 7% of Guatemala's population), Kʼicheʼ is the second most widely-spoken language in the country, after Spanish. It is also the most widely-spoken indigenous American language in Mesoamerica.

The Central dialect is the most commonly used in media and education. Despite a low literacy rate, Kʼicheʼ is increasingly taught in schools and used on the radio. The most famous work in the Classical Kʼicheʼ language is the Popol Vuh (Popol Wuʼuj in modern spelling).

Mayan K'iche' is one of the most common indigenous languages in Latin America, spoken by about 1 million Maya K’iche’ in the western Highlands of Guatemala, the heartland of Maya Culture. Also known as “Quiché”, it is a Mayan language, the origin of this language is believed to be over 4,000 years ago, the status of this language is actually that K’iche’ is spoken by 2.3 million people, as a first or second language. 300,000 of them are monolingual speakers of the language (Ethnologue). It is the second most widely spoken language in Guatemala after Spanish. It has played an important role in the Mayan cultural revitalization movement. Although it has no official status in Guatemala, and although the first-language literacy rate is only about 1%, K’iche’ is being increasingly taught in schools and used on the radio.

K’iche’ from an ancestral Proto-Mayan language that was spoken by the people who inhabited what are today Guatemala, Honduras, and the Yucatán peninsula. The language underwent a spelling change as a result of the 1987 Guatemalan Government Decree which regularized Mayan orthographies that were previously based on Spanish traditions. K’iche’ has a long literary tradition, e.g., Popol Vuh, the sacred book of the Mayas, representing an account of Maya history and mythology, beginning with the creation of the world and written in Classical K’iche’. The K’iche’ culture reached its pinnacle at the time of the Spanish conquest.

Currently, the following software platforms can be found in K’iche’: Microsoft Office, Skype, Xbox, Facebook, and more!

 

At Trápaga Asociados – Interpretation & Translation Agency, we work with all Mayan languages including K’iche’.

Please contact us with any job or project inquiries.

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