Data collected by UNICEF

Data on the Mopan language

Alternative names: Mopàn Maya

Main dialects: We have no data regarding possible Mopan variants.

Classification: Mayan language family, Yukatekan branch

Geographic area:

Belize: in the districts of Cayo, Stann Creek and especially Toledo; in the southern half of the country.

Guatemala: in the department of Petén, municipalities of Dolores, San Luis, Melchor de Mencos, and Poptún.

Number of speakers:

In Belize, the 2000 census accounts for a Mopan population of 8,980, a very large majority of which was believed to speak the language. According to the same census, 6,676 people declared Mopan was their mother tongue.

In Guatemala, the 2002 census accounts for a Mopan population of 2,891. The number of Mopan mother tongue speakers reached 2,455, according to the same census.

Language status:

The language has no official status in Belize.

According to Linguamón:

« Legally recognised in Guatemala.Guatemala’s constitution identifies Spanish as the country’s official language and states that its ‘vernaculars’ are part of its cultural heritage. A number of initiatives have been carried out in recent years (such as the introduction of the Ley de Idiomas Nacionales or National Language Law in 2003) to protect and promote the use of the languages of the Maya, Garifuna and Xinca peoples. »

Mopan figures among languages that are being standardized, protected and promoted by the Academy of Mayan Languages of Guatemala, an independent state organization created in 1990.

Vitality & Transmission:

UNESCO considers Mopan to be « severely endangered » (3rd level on a scale of 5), both in Belize and in Guatemala.

In Guatemala, the language is losing momentum in the younger generations who tend to give it up for Spanish. The chances are that they will not ensure transmission of the language.

As for Belize, sociolinguistic data on the language is scarce. Two thirds of the speakers still use it in the family circle, but the unusual sociolinguistic context of Belize has made all speakers at least bilingual, and most of them tri or quadrilingual (English, Belizean Creole, Spanish). Mopan does not have a positive representation in Belize, and unlike in Guatemala, nothing is done to promote the language.

Sources

Díaz Couder Ernesto (2010). « Belice » In « Atlas sociolingüístico de pueblos indígenas en América Latina », UNICEF. Tome 2, pp 875-888.

Verdugo, Lucía. 2010. « Guatemala ». In « Atlas sociolingüístico de pueblos indígenas en América Latina », UNICEF. Tome 2, pp 852- 888.

Online sources

Page devoted to Mopan on the Linguamón website

Additional bibliography

GRINEVALD, C. 2007 «Endangered Languages of Mexico and Central America», in Brenzinger, M. (éd.), Language Diversity Endangered, Trends in Linguistics, Mouton de Gruyter, Berlin-New York.

Please visit the Atlas sociolingüístico de pueblos indígenas en América Latina for a more comprehensive bibliography.