Documentation of Two Mayan Languages of Guatemala: Uspanteko, Sakapulteko

Nora England, OKMA

Project Details:

Major Documentation Project. Duration: 2003-2006. £127,341

Project Summary:

This project seeks to document two of the most severely threatened Mayan languages for which inadequate documentation exists: Uspanteko and Sakapulteko, both of the K’ichee’ branch. A reference grammar, bilingual dictionary, and substantial text collection for each language will be produced. Audio recordings will be used to document natural speech. Spanish will be used as the explanatory language in the grammars, and as the translation language for dictionaries and texts. The project will be supervised by Nora C. England (University of Texas, Austin) and undertaken by Telma Can Pixabaj and Romelia Mó Isém, linguists at Oxlajuuj Keej Maya’ Ajtz’iib’ (OKMA), a Guatemalan Maya linguistic research institution. They will be assisted by two researchers from each language community, and will be further assisted by community consultants for text and specialized vocabulary collection. Community researchers will receive training in literacy, grammar, field collection methods and dictionary making procedures.