Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🏺 An indigenous people 🗣️ Indigenous languages
Maya

Maya

6.0
A group of related native languages that people speak in Mexico and Central America
  • noun
  • /ˈmaɪə/
  • Specialized
translation icon : idioma maya
  • Linguists study the grammar differences among the various Maya languages spoken in Central America.

There are millions of Maya people who are speaking a version of Maya.

Examples

  • Many scholars focus on preserving the Maya languages to ensure they are not lost.

  • The Maya languages have rich phonetic characteristics that vary between regions.

  • There are millions of Maya people who are speaking a version of Maya.

    Lex Fridman

  • Best we can reckon, and what the Maya themselves today continue to say is that it's the gestation period of human it's nine months.

  • OK, one codex, the Dresden Codex, added context to every single Maya city that was ever created.

Synonyms

Mayan language
vsMaya
  • Specialized
6.7

Languages the Maya people speak in southern Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize

is broader covering related languages across Mexico and Central America
Mayan
vsMaya
  • Specialized
7.4

One of the related languages spoken by people in parts of Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize

is the broader term used for related languages across Mexico and Central America

Surface Forms

Maya singular
Mayas plural

Etymology

Maya for the languages comes from the name of the people who speak them, much like 'French' or 'Spanish' name both a people and a language. So Maya is the name for a family of related languages still spoken in Central America.