Poqomam is a

Mayan language Mayan most commonly refers to: * Maya peoples, various indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Maya civilization, pre-Columbian culture of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Mayan languages, language family spoken ...

, closely related to Poqomchiʼ. It is spoken by 50,000 or so people in several small pockets in

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by Hon ...

, the largest of which is in

Jalapa department Jalapa is a department of Guatemala, in the south east-of the republic. The capital is the city of Jalapa. In 2018 the department of Jalapa had a population of 342,923. The majority is ladino, of predominantly European descent, with sizeable mi ...

Distribution

Poqomam is spoken in the following municipalities of Escuintla,

Jalapa Xalapa or Jalapa (, ), officially Xalapa-Enríquez (), is the capital city of the Mexican state of Veracruz and the name of the surrounding municipality. In the 2005 census the city reported a population of 387,879 and the municipality of which ...

, and

departments (''Variación Dialectal en Poqom, 2000''). *

** Chinautla ** Mixco *

** San Luis Jilotepeque ** San Pedro Pinula **

San Carlos Alzatate San Carlos Alzatate is a municipality in the Jalapa department of Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and we ...

* Escuintla ** Palín

Linguistic Format

In the journal Natural Language & Linguistic Theory it is noted that if subjects are realized as negative indefinite pronouns, they may also trigger agent focus. The Mayan languages differ with respect to the degree of how obligation for agent focus. In this case Poqomam's agent focus is optional in all relevant contexts. *An Example of Negative Indefinite Pronouns:

Translations

These are every day greetings from Poqomam, which is one of the

Mayan languages The Mayan languagesIn linguistics, it is conventional to use ''Mayan'' when referring to the languages, or an aspect of a language. In other academic fields, ''Maya'' is the preferred usage, serving as both a singular and plural noun, and as ...

of Guatemala. The translations are provided by the

International Journal of American Linguistics The ''International Journal of American Linguistics'' (''IJAL'') is an academic journal devoted to the study of the indigenous languages of the Americas. ''IJAL'' focuses on the investigation of linguistic data and the presentation of grammatical ...

: *Hello - Nqakʼul ta awach *Good Morning - Saqʼwa *Good Afternoon - Sanaqʼiij *Good Night - Qawaqʼaabʼ *How are you? - Qanke jat wilkaat *How did you wake up? - Qanke xtisaqʼwa *Thank you - Tiyoox tii *Bye - Xahʼoo

Language Revitalization

According to

American Anthropologist ''American Anthropologist'' is the flagship journal of the American Anthropological Association (AAA), published quarterly by Wiley. The "New Series" began in 1899 under an editorial board that included Franz Boas, Daniel G. Brinton, and John ...

, the revitalization of Mayan languages in Guatemala has increased in importance. In the 1996 Peace Accords the idea of officializing or co-officializing Mayan languages was introduced. Unfortunately in the 1999 referendum of the constitutional changes it was turned down. In May 2003, the Guatemala congress passed the " Law of National Languages" that, while it states that Spanish is the official language of Guatemala, the Law recognizes that indigenous languages are essential parts of the national identity which must be promoted. This is a considerable change from the Guatemalan Constitution, which only recognizes indigenous languages as a part of the "national patrimony." The Mayans have taken a number of actions that are intended, in part, to address the problem of language status and language shift: # The establishment of the Academia de Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala is an autonomous state institution directed by Mayas. # The Academia's establishment of linguistic communities corresponds to the 21 Guatemalan

. # The finding of several NGOs will be devoted to linguistic research by Mayas. # There will be an establishment of at least one foundation that addresses the community for language promotion. # There will be an increment of numbers of Mayas who are involved in the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

bilingual education programs. # There will be an establishment of private "Maya schools" that will be intended to deliver appropriate education for Maya children. # There will be an organization of nongovernmental associations to support the Maya schools. # There will be an establishment of several Maya presses that promote publication in and about Mayan languages as well as other issues of concern.

References

External links

Vocabulario de la lengua Pocomam de Mita
includes Pokonchi of San Cristobal Cajcaj
La Realidad Lingüística en Guatemala
History in the Mayan languages
The Making of a Collection: Mesoamerican Manuscripts at Princeton UniversityA Tale of One City, Two Languages: Palín, Guatemala
{{DEFAULTSORT:Poqomam Language Articles in class projects/Rutgers Agglutinative languages Mayan languages Indigenous languages of Central America Mesoamerican languages Languages of Guatemala