Data collected by UNICEF and the DoBes program

Data on the Lakantun language

Alternative names: Jach-t’aan, Lacandon

Note: Lakantun refers to the « Mayan » spelling, Lacandon (or Lacandón) refers to the « western » form; the latter is probably the most common in literature. Jach t’aan refers to the self-designation of the language (which may be translated by « the real language »).

Main dialects: There’s a difference between the dialect spoken by the North group and that spoken by the South group, according to traditional representations. These two variants are relatively close, however.

Classification: Mayan language family, Yukatekan branch.

Geographic area: Mexico, State of Chiapas. Both groups live in the selva lacandonia, a rainforest located near the boarder with Guatemala, on the banks of the Usumacinta and its tributaries. The North group resides on the northeastern bank of the river, near Palenque, while the South group lives southeast, near the Bonampak ruins.

Number of speakers: According to DoBes, the total number of the Lakantun population does not exceed 600 people, most of which do speak the language. According to INALI, there were only 563 speakers of Lacandon in 2000.

Language status: In Mexico, Spanish is the official language de facto, although just like the other indigenous languages of the country, Lakantun has a status of « national language », which in theory grants the language generic protection.

According to Linguamón:

« The country has established highly extensive legislation on its indigenous languages. The most noteworthy text in that respect is the General Law on the Language Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Ley General de Derechos Lingüísticos de los Pueblos Indígenas). In force since 2002, the law in question is geared to recognising and protecting the individual and collective language rights of Mexico’s native communities, and to nurturing the promotion, use and development of the country’s indigenous tongues, which enjoy the status of ‘national languages’. In reality, however, Mexico’s language policy tends more towards assimilation than the promotion of native tongues and cultures. »

In the case of Lakantun, the low number of speakers makes this protection particularly inefficient.

Vitality & Transmission: Lakantun is « critically endangered », according to UNESCO. While the population still counts a few monolinguals, and while the language is still in use within the communities, the low number of speakers, damage to their environment, Spanish schooling of youngsters and precarious living conditions strongly jeopardize the long term survival of the language.

Lakantun stands among the lesser-known and documented Mayan and indigenous languages of Mexico. A video documentation and revitalization project has been launched by the University of Victoria (Canada), within the DoBes program. For further information, please visit :

The DoBes website

The Lacandon Cultural Heritage project website

And the University of Victoria website, including a whole page devoted to the documentation of Lakantun (here, Lacandon)

Historical & ethnographic observations

The Lakantun are believed to be the descendants of a portion of the Yukateko population, which fled the Spanish colonization and took refuge in the forests of Chiapas around the 17th or 18 century. They remained isolated from the colonial society and the other Mayan groups for a long time.

They do not form an ethnic group. Two main groups are traditionally recognized, the North and the South.

They differ, among others, by their degree of cultural conservatism. Thus unlike the South group, the North group was not Christianized until recently. It had preserved ancient religious practices over a long period of time. Religious practices and cultural traditions of the Lakantun are closely linked to their natural environment. Growing deforestation and the settling of migrants in the region are among are causing decline of the Lakantun culture.

The death of the South group political and cultural leader Chan K’in Viejo in the 90s unhinged the resistance of the North group to assimilation and colonization ; rapid deculturation is in process.

Only from the 70s did the Mexican government begin to increase contact with the Lakantun, granting them rights of exploitation for the forest, and relocating Ch’ol and Tzeltal villages – more « westernized » than the Lakantun – closer to their territory. The exploitation of the forest and contact with the Mexican national society caused a dramatic deforestation and an exposure to viruses, leading to the drastic drop of the Lakantun population, and the rapid decline of their traditional cultural and economic practices.

The language they speak is relatively clear from Spanish loan words, unlike other close Mayan languages. It is believed to be one of the most archaic Mayan languages.

Please visit the DoBes website for further information on the Lakantun language and its speakers.

Sources

Díaz Couder Ernesto (2010). « México » In « Atlas sociolingüístico de pueblos indígenas en América Latina », UNICEF. Tome 2, pp 889- 916.

Online sources

Specific pages on the DoBes website

Lacandon Cultural Heritage 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.