Mam language

Mam
Qyol Mam
Native to	Guatemala
Region	Western Highlands
Native speakers	approx. 500,000
Language family	Mayan Quichean-Mamean Greater Mamean Mamean Mam
Language codes
ISO 639-2	myn
ISO 639-3	Variously: mam – Northern mms – Southern mvc – Central mvj – Todos Santos Cuchumatán mpf – Tajumulco mtz – Tacanec
ELP	Mam

The Mam language is a member of the Mamean branch of the Mayan language family. It is spoken by the Mam people of the highlands of western Guatemala.

There are at least three major divisions in the language: Northern Mam spoken in the department of Huehuetenango, Southern Mam spoken in and around Quetzaltenango and Central Mam spoken in and around San Marcos. Because of a lack of literacy skills and interaction, the language can vary widely from village to village, even though the villages may be separated by just a few miles. Nonetheless, all native speakers of the Mam language are typically able to understand one another, though perhaps with some difficulty.

Phonology

In the charts below each of the Mam phonemes is represented by the character or set of characters that denote it in the practical orthography developed by the Guatemalan Academy of Mayan Languages (ALMG) and sanctioned by the Guatemalan government. Where different, the corresponding symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet appears in brackets.

Vowels

Mam has five short and five long vowels. Although vowel length is normally indicated in linguistic studies on the language, by doubling the vowel letter, the current version of the practical orthography does not distinguish long and short vowels.

Short	Long
i	ii	close front unrounded vowel
e	ee	mid front unrounded vowel
a	aa	open central unrounded vowel
u	uu	close back rounded vowel
o	oo	mid back rounded vowel

Consonants

Like other Mayan languages, Mam does not distinguish voiced and voiceless stops and affricates but instead distinguishes plain and glottalized stops and affricates. The plain stops and affricates (technically "pulmonic egressive") are usually voiceless and are aspirated at the ends of words and unaspirated elsewhere. The glottalized stops and affricates are usually ejective in the case of k', tz', ch', tx', and ky' and implosive in the case of b' and q'; either is possible for t'.

	Bilabial		Alveolar		Postalveolar		Retroflex		Palatal		Velar		Uvular		Glottal
	plain	glottalized	plain	glottalized	plain	glottalized	plain	glottalized	plain	glottalized	plain	glottalized	plain	glottalized	plain
Nasal	m		n
Stop	p	b'  [ɓ]	t	t'  [tʼ]/[ɗ]					ky  [kʲ]	ky'  [kʲʼ]	k	k'	q	q'  [ʛ]	'   [ʔ]
Affricate			tz  [ʦ]	tz'  [ʦʼ]	ch  [ʧ]	ch'  [ʧʼ]	tx  [ʈʂ]	tx'  [ʈʂʼ]
Fricative			s		xh  [ʃ]		x  [ʂ]								j  [X]
Rhotic			r
Approximant			l						y  [j]		w

Bibliography

• Academia de Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala (2003). Pujb'il Yol Mam: Vocabulario Mam. Guatemala City, Guatemala: ALMG.

• England, Nora C. (1983). A grammar of Mam, a Mayan language. Austin: University of Texas Press.

• Perez, Eduardo B'aayil y Jiménez O. Ajb'ee (1997) Ttxoolil Qyool Mam: Gramática de Referencia Mam. Guatemala: Editorial CHOLSAMAJ.

Links

• Simple Mam-Spanish dictionary