The Mayan Languages

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This comprehensive survey explores the language family linked to the Classic Mayan civilization (AD 200-900), with languages still spoken by over six million indigenous Maya in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and Honduras. It serves as an essential reference for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students of Mayan languages and linguistics. Authored by experts, it offers in-depth accounts of the linguistic features of thirty-one languages, their historical evolution, and the social contexts in which they are used. The resource includes detailed grammatical sketches of about a third of the languages, covering most branches of the family, and features a section on the historical development of the family, alongside a new grammar sketch of "Classic Maya" as seen in hieroglyphics. It discusses significant advances in grammatical analysis and explores the languages' use in social, conversational, and poetic contexts. With topical chapters on typology, history, sociolinguistics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and language acquisition, this book is invaluable for researchers and readers interested in historical linguistics, linguistic anthropology, and typology.