The Mayan language family consists of approximately 30 indigenous languages spoken throughout Guatemala, southern Mexico and Belize. An important part of my research involves studying these speech communities and describing and analyzing aspects of both the Mayan languages and varieties of Spanish they speak.
with Don Humberto Bonilla (Santa Elena, Yucatán)
with Don Ernesto Díaz, Don Miguel Silvestre, Don Amadeo Silvestre, Don Caralampio Silvestre, José Silvestre and Francisco Silvestre (Guadalupe Victoria, Chiapas)
Yucatec Maya
Yucatec Maya is the Mayan language spoken throughout the Yucatan peninsula. It is one of the most widely spoken indigenous languages in the Americas (approximately 750,000 speakers).
I worked with the Yucatec Maya Summer Institute (UNC-Chapel Hill) from 2010-2015. While there, I collaborated with other professors and native speaker instructors to develop teaching materials for English-speaking students interested in learning the language.
Jakalteko-Popti'
I began work in 2020 on documenting the language Jakalteko (also known as Popti') in the ejido of Guadalupe Victoria, Chiapas, Mexico. While more widely spoken in Jacaltenango and surrounding towns in Guatemala, it is estimated that there are only 300-400 speakers of Jakalteko-Popti' remaining in Mexico. Most of these speakers reside in Guadalupe Victoria and are direct descendants of a diaspora community of Jakalteko-Popti' speakers who arrived in Mexico from the Jacaltenango region of Guatemala in the late 19th century. I plan to record as many speakers as possible over the next few years. The recordings will be archived for future linguistic study and shared with community members so they may develop educational materials with them.