In a previous post about the Mayan hammock, I mentioned that the authentic hammocks are made and can be purchased in the Yucatan peninsula and nearby states. I even encouraged my readers to visit these places of rich culture, history, and art of the ancient Maya civilization. Today, the remnants of this ancient civilization have become the grounds of present-day northern Belize, southern Mexico, western Honduras, Chiapas, and Guatemala, which in fact have preserved and adapted the arts and culture of the primordial empire. The Mayan descendants divided into regional groups, who are actually increasing in population since the collapse and colonization over 3000 years ago, have managed to carry out Mayan traditional rituals, agricultural practices, and trade industry until now. Aside from these aspects, the one ancient element that has been observed and practiced at large by present-day Mayan population is the Mayan language.

The Mayan language groups are so diverse. During the Classic Period, there might had been a single dialect throughout the Mayan land, according to historian linguistics, but as the city states evolved and got divided to highlands and lowlands, followed by foreign invasions, their language were modified into numerous dialects. Linguistics believed that the Mayan language rooted from a photo-language called Proto-Mayan or the old Maya language. Then, the civilization split down to two large groups, the Proto-Yucatecan and Proto-Ch’olan, until such time that there had been many independent divisions.

Today, across the regions of Mexico, Belize, Yucatan Peninsula, and Guatemala, the most spoken Mayan dialect is the Yucatec Maya. This language has already adapted some of the Spanish language but one can still find the distinction. So, if you are planning to push through to your trip in the Yucatan peninsula to avail yourself of the authentic Mayan hammock and be enamored with the rich culture of the Mayans, learning the Mayan language will make your life easier as you partake in this journey. So, to begin with, one must at least know how to say hello in Mayan language. Actually, there is no single word in the Mayan language that corresponds to the English word concept of “hello.” For the Mayans, “hello” simply means “what do you say?” So, “hello” is translated to “Ba’ax ka wa’alik?” Pronounced as BAH-ah shko-WAH ah-LEEK.

If you want to say “how are you?” say “Bix yanilech?” In the Mayan language, you’ll notice constant apostrophe in some words like in “Ba’ax ka wa’alik?” The apostrophe means glottal pause, quite similar to how Arabic language is pronounced, like shutting the pause off with your windpipe.

In case you want to learn more about the Mayan language, English-Mayan phrase book is always the best independent language tutor.