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{{Short description|Mayan language spoken in Mexico and Guatemala}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Akatek
| altname          = Acateco
| states           = [[Guatemala]]<br />[[Mexico]]
| region           = [[Huehuetenango]]<br />[[Chiapas]]
| ethnicity        = 66,000 [[Akateko people|Akateko]] in Guatemala (2019 census)
| speakers         = {{sigfig|64,930|2}} in Guatemala
| date             = 2011 &ndash; 2019 census
| ref              = e24
| speakers2        = {{sigfig|2894|2}} in Mexico (2020 census)<ref>[http://cuentame.inegi.org.mx/hipertexto/todas_lenguas.htm Lenguas indígenas y hablantes de 3 años y más, 2020] INEGI. Censo de Población y Vivienda 2020.</ref>
| familycolor      = Mayan
| fam1             = [[Mayan languages|Mayan]]
| fam2             = [[Qʼanjobalan languages|Qʼanjobalan–Chujean]]
| fam3             = Qʼanjobalan
| fam4             = Kanjobal–Jacaltec
| minority         = {{flag|Mexico}}<br>{{flag|Guatemala}}
| iso3             = knj
| glotto           = west2635
| glottorefname    = Akateko
| notice           = IPA
| nativename       = {{lang|knj|Kuti', q'anub'al'}}
| agency           = [[Instituto Nacional de Lenguas Indígenas]]<br>
[[Academia de Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala]]
| script           = Latin
}}

'''Akatek''' is a [[Mayan language]] spoken by the [[Akateko people]] primarily in the [[Huehuetenango Department]], [[Guatemala]] in and around the municipalities of [[Concepción Huista]], [[Nentón]], [[San Miguel Acatán]], [[San Rafael La Independencia]] and [[San Sebastián Coatán]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Cabral |first=Ernesto Díaz Couder |year=2001 |title=Culturas e interculturalidad en Guatemala |url=http://www.relint.deusto.es/ALFA_EPI/documentos/Culturas%20e%20interculturalidad%20en%20Guatemala%5B1%5D.16-5-02.doc |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100215201714/http://www.relint.deusto.es/ALFA_EPI/documentos/Culturas%20e%20interculturalidad%20en%20Guatemala%5B1%5D.16-5-02.doc |archive-date=2010-02-15 }}</ref> A number of speakers also live in [[Chiapas]], [[Mexico]]. It is a living language with 58,600 speakers in 1998, of which 48,500 live in [[Guatemala]] and the remaining in [[Mexico]].<ref name="ethnologue">[http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=knj Ethnologue]</ref> Alternate spellings for the language include '''Akatec''', '''Akateko''', and '''Akateco'''.
[[File:Huehuetenango in Guatemala.svg|thumb|[[Huehuetenango Department]] highlighted in red on a map of Guatemala]]
Akateko stems from the Q'anjob'alan branch, making it closely related to [[Qʼanjobʼal language|Q’anjob’al]] and [[Chuj language|Chuj]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Law |first=Danny |title=Pattern borrowing, linguistic similarity, and new categories: Numeral classifiers in Mayan |publisher=Spring Nature |year=2020 |pages=351–354}}</ref>

== History ==
Akateko was regarded as a dialect of the [[Qʼanjobʼal language]] until the 1970s, when [[Linguistics|linguists]] realized that it has a distinct [[grammar]] from that of Qʼanjobʼal.<ref>{{cite book |last=Maldonado |first=Roberto Zavala |url=http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/detail?accno=ED378803 |title=Acateco de la frontera sur |year=1992}}</ref> That it has been thought a dialect of Qʼanjobʼal is reflected in the many names Akateko has had through time. One of its primary names before it was named Akateko was ''Ti'' ''Western Qʼanjobʼal'', but it has also been called ''Conob'' and various names including ''Qʼanjobʼal'' and the municipality where it is spoken.

Akateko is closely related to the two [[List of Mayan languages|Mayan languages]], [[Qʼanjobʼal language|Qʼanjobʼal]] and [[Jakaltek language|Jakaltek]]. The three languages together form the Qʼanjobʼal-Jakaltek sub-branch, which together with the [[Mochoʼ language]] form the Qʼanjobʼalan sub-branch, which again, together with the Chujean languages, [[Chuj language|Chuj]] and [[Tojolabʼal language|Tojolabʼal]], form the branch Qʼanjobalan–Chujean. It is believed that Qʼanjobʼal–Jakaltek split into Akateko, Qʼanjobʼal and Jakaltek some 500 to 1,500 years ago.{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}}
== Classifiers in Akatek ==
Akateko, Q’anjob’al and Chuj all utilize similar classifiers to organize [[Noun|nouns]]. Nouns are divided into three categories: humans, animals and inanimate objects and there is no generic classifier. <ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Zavala |first=Roberto |title=Systems of Nominal Classifiers: Multiple classifier systems in Akatek (Mayan). |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2000 |edition=Gunter Seft |pages=118}}</ref>

Akatek has 14 nominal classifiers. <ref name=":0" />

== Grammar ==
An interesting aspect of Akateko [[grammar]], which is also present in most other Qʼanjobalan languages, is the use of [[morpheme|directional morphemes]], which appear as [[Clitic#Classification|enclitics]]. These morphemes make it possible for the speaker to talk about movement and direction in space without pointing or using other gestures. Consider the [[stative verb]] {{IPA|[ʔej]}} ''to be'', which can appear as {{IPA|[ʔejʔok]}} ''existing inwards'', {{IPA|[ʔejtok]}} ''existing towards there, away from the speaker and listener'' and {{IPA|[ʔeːltox]}} ''existing from the inside out'', using different enclitics.

Standard verb roots are classified in multiple categories at once.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Henderson |first=Robert |date=2016 |title=Mayan Semantics |journal=Language and Linguistics Compass |volume=10 |issue=10 |pages=551–588|doi=10.1111/lnc3.12187 }}</ref>

== Phonology ==
=== Vowels ===
Akatek has 5 [[vowel]]s:

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! rowspan="2" |
! [[Front vowel|Front]]
! [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! <small>Unrounded</small>
! <small>Rounded</small>
|-
! [[Close vowel|Close]]
| {{IPA link|i}}
| {{IPA link|u}}
|-
! [[Close-mid vowel|Close-mid]]
| {{IPA link|e}}
| {{IPA link|o}}
|-
! [[Open vowel|Open]]
| colspan="2" | {{IPA link|a}}
|}

[[Vowel length]] is distinctive, so one can say that the total number of vowels is 10. These long vowels are a unique and recent sound change from Q'anjob'al.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bennett |first=Ryan |date=2016 |title=Mayan phonology |journal=Language and Linguistics Compass |volume=10 |issue=10 |pages=469–514|doi=10.1111/lnc3.12148 }}</ref>

=== Consonants ===
Akatek has 24 [[consonant]]s, including the [[glottal stop]]:

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! colspan="2" |
! [[Bilabial consonant|Bilabial]]
! [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! [[Postalveolar consonant|Postalveolar]]
! [[Retroflex consonant|Retroflex]]
! [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! [[Uvular consonant|Uvular]]
! [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Nasal stop|Nasal]]
| {{IPA link|m}} {{grapheme|m}}
| {{IPA link|n}} {{grapheme|n}}
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! rowspan="3" | [[Plosive]]
! <small>Plain</small>
| {{IPA link|p}} {{grapheme|p}}
| {{IPA link|t}} {{grapheme|t}}
|
|
|
| {{IPA link|k}} {{grapheme|k}}
| {{IPA link|q}} {{grapheme|q}}
| {{IPA link|ʔ}} {{grapheme|’}}
|-
! <small>[[Ejective consonant|Ejective]]</small>
|
| {{IPA link|tʼ}} {{grapheme|tʼ}}
|
|
|
| {{IPA link|kʼ}} {{grapheme|kʼ}}
| {{IPA link|qʼ}} {{grapheme|qʼ}}
|
|-
!<small>[[Implosive consonant|Implosive]]</small>
|{{IPA link|ɓ}} {{grapheme|bʼ}}
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Affricate]]
! <small>Plain</small>
|
| {{IPA link|t͡s}} {{grapheme|tz}}
| {{IPA link|t͡ʃ}} {{grapheme|ch}}
| {{IPA link|ʈ͡ʂ}} {{grapheme|tx}}
|
|
|
|
|-
! [[Ejective consonant|<small>Ejective</small>]]
|
| {{IPA link|t͡sʼ}} {{grapheme|tzʼ}}
| {{IPA link|t͡ʃʼ}} {{grapheme|chʼ}}
| {{IPA link|ʈ͡ʂʼ}} {{grapheme|txʼ}}
|
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Fricative]]
|
| {{IPA link|s}} {{grapheme|s}}
| {{IPA link|ʃ}} {{grapheme|xh}}
| {{IPA link|ʂ}} {{grapheme|x}}
|
| {{IPA link|x}} {{grapheme|j}}
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Tap consonant|Tap]]
|
| {{IPA link|ɾ}} {{grapheme|r}}
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Approximant]]
|{{IPA link|w}} {{grapheme|w}}
| {{IPA link|l}} {{grapheme|l}}
|
|
| {{IPA link|j}} {{grapheme|y}}
|
|
|
|}

{{IPA|/p/}} is realized as {{IPA|[pʰ]}} word-finally, {{IPA|[p]}} everywhere else.
: Examples: '''pom''' {{IPA|[pom]}} ''copal'', '''xopan''' {{IPA|[ʃopan]}} ''hollow'', '''sip''' {{IPA|[sipʰ]}} ''tick''

{{IPA|/k/}} is realized as {{IPA|[kʰ]}} word-finally, {{IPA|[k]}} everywhere else.
: Examples: '''kaapʼ''' {{IPA|[kaːɓ̥]}} ''two'', '''mooke''' {{IPA|[moːke]}} ''tinaja'', '''chʼok''' {{IPA|[t͡ʃʼokʰ]}} ''zanate''

{{IPA|/t/}} is realized as {{IPA|[tʰ]}} before [[plosive consonant]]s, {{IPA|[t]}} everywhere else.
: Examples: '''teʼ''' {{IPA|[teʔ]}} ''tree'', '''satkan''' {{IPA|[satʰkan]}} ''sky'', '''pʼit''' {{IPA|[ɓit]}} ''song''

{{IPA|/ɓ/}} is realized as {{IPA|[ɓ̥]}} word-finally, {{IPA|[ɓ]}} everywhere else.
: Examples: '''kaapʼ''' {{IPA|[kaːɓ̥]}} ''two'', '''pʼeyʼpʼal''' {{IPA|[ɓejɓal]}} ''the walking (thing)''

{{IPA|/x/}} is realized as {{IPA|[h]}} word-initially, {{IPA|[x]}} everywhere else.
: Examples: '''xos''' {{IPA|[hos]}} ''egg'', '''ajane''' {{IPA|[ʔaxane]}} ''foot''

{{IPA|/n/}} is realized as {{IPA|[m]}} before {{IPA|/p/}} and {{IPA|/ɓ/}}, but {{IPA|[ŋ]}} before [[alveolar consonant|alveolar]] and [[velar consonant]]s, {{IPA|[n]}} everywhere else.
: Examples: Examples: '''inpʼit''' {{IPA|[imɓit]}} ''my song'', '''ante''' {{IPA|[ʔaŋte]}} ''to cure'', '''naa''' {{IPA|[naː]}} ''house''

== References ==
{{reflist}}{{Languages of Mexico}}{{Languages of Guatemala}}
{{Mayan languages}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akateko Language}}
[[Category:Mayan languages]]
[[Category:Agglutinative languages]]
[[Category:Verb–object–subject languages]]
[[Category:Indigenous languages of Central America]]
[[Category:Languages of Guatemala]]
[[Category:Huehuetenango Department]]
[[Category:Languages of Mexico]]
[[Category:Indigenous languages of Mexico]]