Ixil language

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Mayan language of Mexico and Guatemala

title: "Ixil language" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["mayan-languages", "indigenous-languages-of-central-america", "mesoamerican-languages", "verb–subject–object-languages", "agglutinative-languages", "languages-of-guatemala", "quiché-department", "languages-of-mexico", "indigenous-languages-of-mexico", "ixil"] description: "Mayan language of Mexico and Guatemala" topic_path: "linguistics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ixil_language" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Mayan language of Mexico and Guatemala ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox language"]

Field	Value
name	Ixil
nativename	Ixhil
pronunciation
states	Guatemala, Mexico
region	Quiché Department

Ixil (Ixhil) is a Mayan language spoken in Mexico and Guatemala. It is the primary language of the Ixil people, which mainly comprises the three towns of San Juan Cotzal, Santa María Nebaj, and San Gaspar Chajul in the Guatemalan highlands and numerous towns in the states of Campeche and Quintana Roo in southeast México. There is also an Ixil speaking migrant population in Guatemala City, Mexico City and the United States. Although there are slight differences in vocabulary in the dialects spoken by people in the three main Guatemalan Ixil towns, they are all mutually intelligible and should be considered dialects of a single language. According to historical linguistic studies Ixil emerged as a separate language sometime around the year 500 AD.

Distribution

Ixil language is spoken in Mexico in some municipalities of the states of Campeche and Quintana Roo. In the state of Campeche is spoken in the communities of Los Laureles and Quetzal-Edzná from the Campeche municipality and in Maya Tecún in Champotón municipality, while in Quintana Roo is spoken in the towns of Maya Balam and Kuchumatán, Bacalar municipality.

In Guatemala, the municipalities where Ixil is spoken the most are San Gaspar Chajul, San Juan Cotzal and Santa María Nebaj, Quiché department.

Phonology

::data[format=table title="Ixil vowels{{sfnp|Ayres|1991|p=1}}"]

Front	Central	Back	High	Close-mid	Open



::

::data[format=table title="Ixil consonants (Nebaj dialect){{sfnp|Ayres|1991|p=2–7}}"] | Labial | Alveolar | Post- alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | Nasal | Plosive/ Affricate | plain | glottalized | Fricative | Flap | Approximant | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ~ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ( ) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ::

Sample Words

Source:

::data[format=table title="English Ixil"]

Blue	Cha'x
::

Grammar

Ixil pronominals are discerned between ergative ones and absolutive ones. A notable feature of the language's grammar is its ambiguity in discerning reflexive from reciprocal pronouns.

Lexicon

Ixil has some loanwords from Chʼolan and Qʼanjobalan languages.

Notes

Bibliography

Asicona Ramírez, Lucas, Domingo Méndez Rivera, Rodrigo Domingo Xinic Bop. 1998. Diccionario Ixil de San Gaspar Chajul. La Antigua Guatemala: Proyecto Linguistico Francisco Marroquín.
Cedillo Chel, Antonio, Juan Ramírez. 1999. Diccionario del idioma ixil de Santa María Nebaj. La Antigua Guatemala: Proyecto Linguistico Francisco Marroquín.
England, Nora C. 1994. Ukutaʼmiil Ramaqʼiil Utzijobʼaal ri Mayaʼ Amaaqʼ: Autonomia de los Idiomas Mayas: Historia e identidad. (2nd ed.). Guatemala City: Cholsamaj.
Maximiliano Poma S., Tabita J.T. de la Cruz, Manuel Caba Caba et al. 1996. Gramática del Idioma Ixil. La Antigua Guatemala: Proyecto Linguistico Francisco Marroquín.
Oxlajuuj Keej Mayaʼ Ajtzʼiibʼ (OKMA). 1993. Mayaʼ chiiʼ. Los idiomas Mayas de Guatemala. Guatemala City: Cholsamaj.
Programa de Rescate Cultural Maya-Ixil. 1995. Aqʼbʼal Eluʼl Yol Vatzsaj: Diccionario Ixil. Guatemala City: Cholsamaj.

References

Colby, Benjamin N., Pierre L. van den Berghe. 1977. Ixiles y Ladinos: El Pluralism Social en el Altiplano de Guatemala. Guatemala: Editorial "Jose de Pineda Ibarra". p. 57.
"Catálogo de las lenguas indígenas nacionales: Ixil".
"Ixil Words".
[https://www.jstor.org/pss/3519723 "Toward a Dialectology of Ixil Maya: Variation across Communities and Individuals" Thomas E. Lengyel]
"Reflexive and Reciprocal Elements in Ixil", [[Education Resources Information Center
Wichmann, Søren, and Cecil H. Brown. “Contact among Some Mayan Languages: Inferences from Loanwords.” Anthropological Linguistics, vol. 45, no. 1, 2003, pp. 57–93. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/30028873. Accessed 26 Jan. 2026.

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