Awakatek language

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Awakatek
Qa'yol
Native to	Guatemala
Region	Huehuetenango
Ethnicity	12,500 Awakatek (2019 census)
Native speakers	10,100 in Guatemala (2019 census)[1] 20 in Mexico (2020 census)[2]
Language family	Mayan Quichean–Mamean Greater Mamean Ixilan Awakatek
Official status
Recognised minority language in	Guatemala  Mexico
Regulated by	Academia de Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala
Language codes
ISO 639-3	agu
Glottolog	agua1252
ELP	Awakateko

Awakatek (also known as Aguateco, Awaketec, Coyotin,^[3] and Balamiha, and natively as Qa'yol) is a Mayan language spoken in Guatemala, primarily in Huehuetenango and around Aguacatán.^[4][5] The language only has fewer than 10,000 speakers, and is considered vulnerable by UNESCO. In addition, the language in Mexico is at high risk of endangerment, with fewer than 2,000 speakers in the state of Campeche in 2010^[6] (although the number of speakers was unknown as of 2000^[7][8]).

Awakatek is closely related to Ixil and the two languages together form the sub-branch Ixilean, which together with the Mamean languages, Mam and Tektitek, form a sub-branch Greater-Mamean, which again, together with the Greater-Quichean languages, ten Mayan languages, including Kʼicheʼ, form the branch Quichean–Mamean.

Otto Stoll identified two separate "Awakatek" languages spoken in the same area; the first being the Mayan language which is the subject of this article, and the second being a poorly known language which has been classified as part of the Mixe-Zoque family.^[9][10]

Chalchitek (or Chalchitec) is sometimes considered a dialect of Awakatek. In recent years, however, it has been recognized as a distinct language by the Guatemalan government.^[11] Chalchitek is primarily spoken in the Chalchitán neighborhood of Aguacatán.

The Awakatek people themselves refer to their language as qaʼyol, literally meaning 'our word'. They also call themselves qatanum, which means 'our people' and is distinct from the word Awakatec, which is used in Spanish in reference to the municipality of Aguacatán (which means place of abundant avocados and refers to agricultural production and not specifically to the indigenous people).^[13][14][15]

There are four diphthongs: ay /aj/, ey /ej/, oy /oj/, uy /uj/.

The coronal ejectives may be allophonically pre-voiced.^[16]

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