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xxv Q’eqchi’ Language and Orthography Linguistically, the Q’eqchi’ language is more closely related to nearby highland Maya languages such as K’iche’, Kaqchikel, and Mam than to other lowland languages like Itza or Mopan. The 2002 population census revealed that Q’eqchi’ had become the second most popular Maya language in Guatemala (up from fourth place in the 1994 census). Of the four major ethnic groups (K’iche’, Q’eqchi’, Kaqchikel, Mam), those who identified themselves as Q’eqchi’ also had the highest proportion of native speakers, at 84 percent (INE 2002). While often spelled as “Kekchí” in Spanish texts, “K’ekchi’” in Protestant missionary materials, and “Ketchi” in the British/Belizean context, this book uses the Q’eqchi’ orthography endorsed by the Academy of Maya Languages of Guatemala based on a thirty-two-letter alphabet: A, aa, b’, ch, ch’, e, ee, h, i, ii, j, k, k’, l, m, n, o, oo, p, q, q’, r, s, t, t’, tz, tz’, u, uu, w, x, y. All vowels (a’, e’, i’, o’, u’) can also be accompanied by a glottal stop (’), which some linguists consider the thirty-third letter. Pronunciation is similar to English except for the letters x and w, which sound like “sh” and “kw” respectively. Q’eqchi’ has no accent marks, as words are always stressed on the last syllable. Although Q’eqchi’ pluralizes words only with eb’ used as an article or a suffix, I have made some Q’eqchi’ words plural by adding s to the end for the ease of English-speaking readers. All Spanish terms are enclosed in quotation marks, and Q’eqchi’ words are in italics. While I tend to favor the more neutral words “farmer” and “settler” in order to avoid the pejorative connotations sometimes associated with the word “peasant ,” Q’eqchi’ people also refer to themselves as “indigenous” (ralal ch’och’), “Q’eqchi’” (aj Q’eqchi’), “countrymen” (aj komon), “farmers” (aj awinel), and “peasants” (technically, aj k’aleb’aal, but normally expressed in Q’eqchi’-fied Spanish as aj kampesiin) or merely as “poor” (neb’a). I substitute the Q’eqchi’ term of respect for men and women (Qawa’ and Qana’) with the better-known Spanish “Don” and “Doña.” ...

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