Writing Standards for the Maya Language
(Maayat’aan)
Interrogative Forms
To ask questions in the Maya language1, question marks are not used as in English. Instead, specific words or combinations indicating a question are used. There are four ways:
First form:
Words that, by themselves, formulate questions:
| Ba’ax | What? | Ba’ax ka beetik | What are you doing? |
| Máax | Who? | Máax le máako’ | Who is that person? |
| Tu’ux | Where? (Regarding location) | Tu’ux kaja’anech | Where do you live? |
| Bix | How? | Bix a wanil | How are you? |
| Bajux | How much? (Cost) | Bajux ta manaj a páawo’ | How much did your backpack cost? |
| Kux | And? | Kux teech | And you? |
| Máakalmáak | What? | Máakalmáak a wotoch | What is your home? |
| Buka’aj | How much? (Dimension, size, intensity) | Buka’aj síis ta wuk’aj | How many sodas did you have? |
| Bajun | How many? (Quantity) | Bajun a waalak’ yaan | How many pets do you have? |
| Ke’ex | Where? (Regarding location) | Ke’ex túun a náajalo’ | Where is your salary? |
Second form:
One of the words that combines with others to generate new interrogative forms is: “Ba’ax“
| Ba’ax K’iin | Ba’axk’iin | When? |
| Ba’ax Ten | Ba’axten | Why? |
| Ba’ax Óok’lal | Ba’ax óok’lal | For what reason? |
| Ba’ax Yéetel | Ba’ax yéetel | With what? |
Similarly, some words combine with pronouns or verbs to make new questions.
Báax + (-en, -ech, Ø, -o’on, -e’ex, -o’ob)
| Ba’ax | -en | Ba’axen | What am I? |
| Ba’ax | -ech | Ba’axech | What are you? |
| Ba’ax | (leti’) | Ba’ax (leti’) | What is he/she? |
| Ba’ax | -o’on | Ba’axo’on | What are we? |
| Ba’ax | e’ex | Ba’axe’ex | What are you all? |
| Ba’ax | o’ob | Ba’axo’ob | What are they? |
Máax + (-en, -ech, Ø, -o’on, -e’ex, -o’ob)
| Máax | -en | Máaxen | Who am I? |
| Máax | -ech | Máaxech | Who are you? |
| Máax | (leti’) | Máax ( leti’) | Who is he/she? |
| Máax | -o’on | Máaxo’on | Who are we? |
| Máax | e’ex | Máaxe’ex | Who are you all? |
| Máax | o’ob | Máaxo’ob | Who are they? |
To know where a person is from, the demonym “-il” is used along with a word that indicates who performs the action.
Tu’ux + -il + (-en, -ech, Ø, -o’on, -e’ex, -o’ob)
| Tu’uxilen | Where am I from? |
| Tu’uxilech | Where are you from? |
| Tu’uxil (leti’) | Where is he/she from? |
| Tu’uxilo’on | Where are we from? |
| Tu’uxile’ex | Where are you all from? |
| Tu’uxilo’ob | Where are they from? |
But if this same word is written within a sentence and its position is neither the first nor the last, it does not indicate a question, such as:
| Il a wil ba’ax tu beetaj le paalo’ | Look at what the child did |
| Ma’ in woojel bajux juntúul tsíimini’ | I don’t know how much a horse costs |
However, if you place this word at the beginning of two dependent clauses instead of asking a question, what you do is emphasize the main message.
| Ba’ax k’a’abet a beetike’, a chital wenel | What you should do is lie down and sleep |
| Tu’ux kan meyaj sáamale’, te’ aktáanila’ | Where you are going to work tomorrow is right here, across the street |
| Máax ma’ táan u bine’, a wíits’in | Who is not going to go is your little brother |
Third form:
Expressions that begin with ‘jay-‘ and combine with other particles describing who performs the action create another way of forming questions.
| Jaykúul | Jaykúul p’aak ts’úukij | How many tomato plants rotted? |
| Jayp’éel | Jayp’éel a báaxal | How many toys do you have? |
| Jaytúul | Jaytúul a paalal | How many children do you have? |
| Jayts’íit | Jayts’íit kib ta manaj | How many candles did you buy? |
| Jaytéen | Jaytéen ta xokaj a áanalte’ | How many times did you read your book? |
| Jaymúuch’ | Jaymúuch’ paalal kun bin k’aay | How many groups of children will go to sing? |
| Jayts’áak | Jayts’áak ta kolaj | How many ropes did you knock down? |
| Jaymáal | Jaymáal ta p’o’aj le nook’o’ | How many times did you wash the clothes? |
| Jaywáal | Jaywáal ju’un k’a’abet ti’ tech | How many sheets of paper do you need? |
| Jaykúuch | Jaykúuch si’ ta ch’akaj | How many thirds of firewood did you cut? |
| Jaywóol | Jaywóol sakan ta manaj | How many dough balls did you buy? |
However, when it appears written within the expression, it doesn’t function as a question.
| Chéen wáa jaytúul kéej tu ts’onaj | He only hunted a few deer. |
| Tin wilaj wa jaytúul baach | I saw a few chachalacas (birds). |
| Il a wil jaykúul paak’áal tu ch’akaj | Look at how many fields he harvested |
| Ma’ in woojel jayts’áak kin in páakti’ | I don’t know how many acres I’m going to weed |
Fourth form:
They are formulated with the particle wáaj, which is always placed within or at the end of the expression, but never appears at the beginning.
| Yaan wáaj a bin ichkool | Are you going to the cornfield? |
| Yaan a bin wáaj ichkool | Are you going to the cornfield? |
| Yaan a bin ichkool wáaj | Are you going to the cornfield? |
| Ma’ wáaj ta wilaj a kiik te’elo’ | Didn’t you see your sister over there? |
| Wi’ijech wáaj paal | Are you hungry, child? |
| In jáal wáaj a wo’och | Shall I serve you some food? |
| Ts’oya’an a walak’ peek’ wáaj | Is your dog skinny? |
| Ichkool wáaj ku bin | Is he/she going to the cornfield? |
| Túumben wáaj a nook’ | Is your clothing new? |
Exclamation Marks
It’s necessary to include exclamation marks (¡!) because there are no additional words indicating where the expression is emphasized: surprise, joy, fear, enthusiasm, encouragement, anger, among others.
| Wáay | ¡Wáay! Ts’o’ok a ja’asik in wóol | Oh no! You scared me already |
| Xeen | ¡Xeen! | Go away! |
| Lep’ a wóoli’ | ¡Lep’ a wóoli’! | Hurry up! |
In addition, there are special words that help others to express something as the best of its kind compared to others. For example: Jach, seten, kalan, máan, píit, seenkech, táaj, wéek’, jeta’an, jéet, patan, báaj, seen, utsil, jolon, and others.
These can denote the emotional state of the subject of the action such as: joy, fear, sadness, elegance, decline, encouragement, disappointment, anger.
| Sáansamal jach ki’imak in wóol | Every day I am very happy |
| ¡Sáansamal jach ki’imak in wóol! | Every day I am very happy! |
| Le xanaba’ jach jats’uts | This shoe looks very nice |
| ¡Le xanaba’ jach jats’uts! | This shoe looks very nice! |
| Jach táaj seten píitmáanja’an u ta’abil le janala’ | The salt in this meal is way too much |
| ¡Jach táaj seten píitmáanja’an u ta’abil le janala’! | The salt in this meal is way too much! |
Excerpt from the Book Rules of Writing for the Maya Language.
- The denomination of the language found in the “Catalog of National Indigenous Languages: Linguistic Variants of Mexico with their self-denominations and geo-statistical references,” published in the Official Gazette of the Federation on January 14, 2008. ↩︎