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After the Spanish Conquest in the early sixteenth century, Franciscan monks, with the help of Mayan natives, developed writing systems for the Mayan languages based on the Latin alphabet. Unfortunately, there were several. In 1989, after consulting with Mayan linguists, the Guatemalan Ministry of Culture adopted a standard orthography system for all Mayan languages. This system is now generally used by the Maya and linguists, but the old orthography will no doubt continued to be used on maps and in books for a long time to come.
Sometimes the new spelling of a Mayan word or name is quite different from the traditional. For example, the ruins known as Uaxactún have become Waxaktun in the new system. The following points concern the new system.
The vowels are: 'a' as in 'father'; 'e' as in 'get'; 'i' as in 'ski'; 'o' as in 'cold'; 'u' as in 'rule'.
Double vowels, 'aa', 'ee' etc., represent a longer vowel length. Be careful not to confuse the Mayan 'oo' and 'ee' with the English digraphs. For example, the Yucatec word 'peek' (which means 'movement') is pronounced like 'peck', with a longer 'e'. It is not pronounced like the English word 'peek'.
The consonants are similar to English, except that 'x' is pronounced as 'sh', and 'j' is a gutteral consonant, like the 'ch' in 'Bach'. When speaking English, a simple 'h' is close enough. 'Tz' is similar to 'z', but the tongue starts from the 't' position.
The new orthography marks glottal consonants with an apostrophe: k', ch' etc., and an apostrophe between vowels represents a glottal stop. The apostrophes can be ignored when speaking English.
Examples: Haab > hab, Tzolk'in > zolkeen, Ajaw > ahaw, Yaxk'in > yashkeen.
In Mayan words, the accent is usually on the last syllable. For example, Chich'En ItzA.
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| Books: | ||||
| Michael D. Coe | ||||
| 1999 | The Maya, 6th edition, Thames & Hudson, ISBN 0-500-28066-5 | |||
| Michael D. Coe, Mark Van Stone | ||||
| 2005 | Reading the Maya Glyphs, 2th edition, Thames & Hudson,
ISBN 0-500-28553-5 | |||
