Amerindian Languages for Cavers
The so-called Amerindian Languages are the original languages of the
Indian tribes in the Americas.
Middle America has its own languages based on the Maya and Toltec cultures.
Much of this cultures remained, including religion and languages, or was
revived.
So the area of the Yucatan Peninsula, which is devided between Mexico,
Guatemala, and Belize, is the center of those languages.
It is common practise amongst modern cavers to give the caves Mayan names after
the original explorers.
The Mayan for cave being actun (ac=hollow, tun=stone).
It is hard to find information on these languages, but we will do our best to
collect cave relevant terms on this page.
- Guatemala has a population of 14 Million people, 60% speaking Spanish
and 40% speaking one of the 23 officially recognized Amerindian languages,
including Quiche, Cakchiquel, Kekchi (Q'eqchi), Mam,
Garifuna, and Xinca.
- In Belize English is the official language, but 180,000 citizens
speak Creole, 130,000 speak Spanish, 22,000 speak any one of the Mayan languages
and 3,000 speak German.
- México extends far to the north with all people speaking
Spanish, so the Mayan languages are only spoken by a very small minority, in
the area of the Yucatan peninsula.
| El Zotz | bat | Q'eqchi |
| actun | cave | |
| ac | hollow | |
| tun | stone | |
