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.

www.asociadostrapaga.com

legal@asociadostrapaga.com

+502 55717516