teltal

Tzeltal is a Mayan language spoken by the Tzeltal people of the highland region of Chiapas, Mexico. It comprises a number of regional dialects and is part of the broader Tzeltalan branch of the Mayan language family. While most speakers live in Chiapas, there are diaspora communities in other parts of Mexico and in the United States.

Linguistically, Tzeltal is an ergative-absolutive, polysynthetic language with rich verbal morphology. Verbs carry affixes that mark subject, object, aspect, mood, and evidentiality, and sentence structure commonly centers on the verb. Noun phrases rely less on inflection, while numerals and demonstratives interact with the verbal system. The language uses a vigesimal (base-20) numeral system, a characteristic shared with many Mayan languages. Tzeltal features many dialectal variations in phonology, vocabulary, and syntax across communities.

The writing system for Tzeltal uses the Latin alphabet with diacritics to represent tones, vowels, and consonants specific to the language. Orthographies have been standardized in part through linguistic work and education programs, and Tzeltal is used in local schooling and community media in some areas. Documentation includes grammars, dictionaries, and academic descriptions that support language revitalization and teaching efforts.

Status and use vary by community. Tzeltal remains widely spoken in many rural highland communities, though like many indigenous languages, it faces pressures from Spanish and external social changes. Ongoing revitalization efforts include bilingual education, community publishing, radio and media in Tzeltal, and language documentation projects aimed at preserving its linguistic diversity for future generations.