LANGUAGES

In Guatemala there are 22 Mayan languages still actively spoken today by over 6 million people. Here is some information on the more prominent Guatemalan languages for which we provide services.

 

Q’eqchi’ 

 

Q’eqchi’ (pronounced Kek-chee, sometimes also spelled Kekchi), is one of the more prominent Mayan languages spoken in Guatemala. Speakers of this language are located in the central highlands of Alta Verapaz and the forests of Petén.  Q’eqchi’ is a descendant of the K’iche’ language family group, but the languages are very different today. Some speakers also live in Belize. Contact us to get connected with our Q’eqchi’ interpreters!

​

K'iche'

 

K’iche’ (pronounced Kee-chay, also spelled Quiché) is the largest Mayan language still spoken today. Speakers of K’iche’ live predominantly in the western highlands of Quetzaltenango, Quiché, and other areas in Guatemala. After Spanish, K’iche’ in the most predominantly spoken language in Guatemala. K’iche’ is the parent language for many other languages, such as Q’eqchi’, Kaqchikel, Tz’utujil, Achi’, Poqomchi’, and others. 

 

Q'anjob'al

​

Q’anjob’al (pronounced Kan-ho-bal, also spelled Kanjobal) is spoken primarily in Huehuetenango. It is the parent language for the Q’anjob’alan languages, which include Chuj, Akateko, and Popti’ (also known as Jakalteko)

 

Akateko

​

Akateko (pronounced Ah-kah-teh-ko) is closely related to Q’anjob’al. Until the 1970’s it was considered a dialect of Q’anjob’al, until linguists realized that it has a grammar distinct from Q’anjob’al. There are around 55,000 speakers of Akateko today. 

​

Mam

​

Mam is a language spoken by over half a million speakers throughout Guatemala. There are at least three major variants of Mam that are not necessarily mutually intelligible, so it's important for this language to determine a person's area of origin to be able to find the right interpreter. There are large communities of Mam speakers here in the United States.

​

Chuj

​

Chuj (pronounced Choo), is also a member of the Q’anjob’alan branch of languages. There are around 50,000 speakers in Guatemala with growing communities throughout the United States. 

​

Kaqchikel

​

Kaqchikel is closely related to K'iche', but they are not mutually intelligible. It has around half a million native speakers in the areas of Sololá, Chimaltenango, and Sacatepéquez in Guatemala. 

 

Popti' (Jakalteko)

​

Popti’ (pronounced pop-tee), also known as Jakalteko (pronounced ha-kal-teh-ko), is a Q’anjob’alan language spoken by approximately 90,000 people in Guatemala. 

​

Ixil

 

Ixil (pronounced ee-sheel), is spoken by inhabitants of the three towns of San Juan Cotzal, Santa Maria Nebaj, and San Gaspar Chajul in Guatemala. Ixil is the native language of around 120,000 individuals.

​

 

Other Central/ South American Languages We Service:

​

Aché*

Achi*

Aimara*

Akateko

Amuzgo*

Angaité*

Awakateko

Ava*

Ayoreo*

Chalchiteko*

Chinanteco*

Chatino*

Ch’ol*

Chontal*

Ch’orti’*

Chuj

Cora*

Creole (Nicaragua)

Enhlét*

Enxet*

Garifuna

Guarani*

Guatemalan Sign Language

Huasteco*

Huave*

Huichol*

Ishir*

Itza’*

Ixcatec*

Kuna (Guna)*

Lacandon*

Maká*

Manjui*

Maya (Paraguay)*

Mayangna*

Mayo (Yoreme)*

Mazahua*

Mazatec*

Me’phaa (Tlapanec)*

Miskito

Mixteco (All Variants)*

Mopan*

Nahuatl*

Ñañu (Otomí)*

Nivaclé*

Paï Tavyterã*

Popti’ (Jakaleteko)*

Poqomam*

Poqomchi’*

Purepecha (Tarasco)*

Popoluca/Popoloca*

Quechua*

Quichua*

Rarámuni (Tarahumara)*

Sacapulteco*

Sanapaná*

Sipakapense*

Shuar*

Tektiteko*

Tepehuan*

Ticuna**

Tojolab’al

Tomaraho*

Totonac*

Triqui/Trique

Tzeltal (Tseltal)*

Tzotzil (Tsotsil)*

Tz’utujil

Uspanteko*

Xinca*

Yaqui*

Yucatec Maya (Maya T’aan)*

Zapotec*

Zoque*

​

*These languages will often require a Spanish <> English relay interpreter. 

**This language will require a Portuguese <> English relay interpreter.

 

Our Full List of Languages:

​​

Tier 1 Languages - Widely spoken, easy to source

 

Arabic

Cantonese

French

German

Hindi

Italian

Japanese

Korean

Mandarin

Portuguese

Russian

Spanish

Urdu

Vietnamese

 

Tier 2 languages: Less commonly requested, but still widely spoken. 

 

Amharic

American Sign Language

Bengali

Bosnian

Dutch

Farsi

Gujarati

Haitian Creole

Hausa

Indonesian (Bahasa)

Kiswahili

Laotian

Pashto

Polish

Romanian

Serbian

Somali

Swahili

Tagalog

Tamil

Thai

Telugu

Turkish

Ukrainian

 

Tier 3 Languages - Lower diffusion, harder to source

 

Afrikaans

Albanian

Armenian

Assyrian

Azerbaijani

Burmese

Dari

Flemish

Georgian 

Hindko

Hmong (All Variants)

Igbo

Kashmiri (Pakistan)

Karen (All variants)

Khmer (Cambodian)

Kirundi

Kurdish (All Variants)

Kyrgyz

Laotian

Luganda

Luhya

Mongolian

Nepali

Nigerian Pidgin

Oromo

Pennsylvania Dutch

Rohingya

Samoan 

Shona

Tajik

Tongan

Tigrinya

Tumbuka

Turkmen

Uzbek

Visayan/Bisayan (Cebuano)

Sichuanese

Zulu

 

Tier 4 Languages*: Indigenous and very low diffusion, very difficult to source. 

 

Aché*

Achi*

Acholi (Acoli)

Aimara*

Akateko

Alur

Amuzgo*

Angaité*

Ateso (Teso)

Attie (Attié)

Awakateko

Ava*

Ayoreo*

Bambara

Cape Verdean Creole

Cebuano

Chalchiteko*

Chaldean

Chinanteco*

Cham

Chamorro

Chatino*

Chichewa (Chewa)

Ch’ol*

Chontal*

Ch’orti’*

Chuj

Chuukese

Cora*

Creole (Nicaragua)

Dholuo (Luo)

Dioula (Djoula)

Dinka

Ebo

Enhlét*

Enxet*

Ewe

Falam Chin

Filipino Sign Language

Fulani (Pulaar/Pular/Fula/Fule/ Fulfulde)

Garifuna

Garre

Guarani*

Guatemalan Sign Language

Guragigna

Hakha Chin (Laiholh)

Haryanvi

Hassaniya

Hiligaynon (Ilonggo)

Huasteco*

Huave*

Huichol*

Ingush

Ishir*

Itza’*

Ixcatec*

Ixil

Jarai

Juba Arabic (South Sudan)

Kalenjin (Kipsigis)

Karenni (Kayah)

Kaqchikel

Kenyang (Nyang)

K’iche’ (Quiche)

Kikongo

Kikuyu

Kiribati (Gilbertese)

Kinyarwanda

Konkonmbo

Konkani

Kotokoli

Kpelle

Kuna (Guna)*

Kusaal

Lacandon*

Lango

Lingala

Maay Maay

Maká*

Malinke/Malinka

Mandingo/Mandinka

Mam

Manjui*

Marshallese

Maya (Paraguay)*

Mayangna*

Mayo (Yoreme)*

Mazahua*

Mazatec*

Me’phaa (Tlapanec)*

Miskito

Mixteco (All Variants)*

Mizo (Lushai)

Mopan*

Nahuatl*

Ñañu (Otomí)*

Navajo

Neapolitan 

Nivaclé*

Njanja 

Nuer

Ojibwe

Pahari (Pothohari)

Paï Tavyterã*

Pohnpeian

Popti’ (Jakaleteko)*

Poqomam*

Poqomchi’*

Purepecha (Tarasco)*

Popoluca/Popoloca*

Q’anjob’al (Kanjobal)

Q’eqchi’ (Kekchi)

Quechua*

Quichua*

Rakhine (Arakanese)

Rarámuni (Tarahumara)*

Sacapulteco*

Sanapaná*

Sango/Sangho

Sarahule

Sipakapense*

Soninke

Shuar*

Shughni (Pamiri)

Susu/Soso

Tedim

Tektiteko*

Tepehuan*

Ticuna* (Portuguese relay)

Tojolab’al

Tomaraho*

Totonac*

Triqui/Trique

Twi

Tzeltal (Tseltal)*

Tzotzil (Tsotsil)*

Tz’utujil

Uspanteko*

Uyghur

Wolof

Xinca*

Yaqui*

Yoruba

Yucatec Maya (Maya T’aan)*

Yup’ik

Zapotec*

Zomi

Zophei (Zyphe) Chin

Zoque*

​

​