Origin

The Mayan civilisation lasted from about 500 BC to 1200 AD, with a classical period from 300-900 AD. The earliest known writing in the Mayan script dates from about 250 BC, but the script is thought to have developed at an earlier date. Recent archeological finds indicate that the Mayan civilisation started much earlier: around 3,000 BC.

In about 1566, the first bishop of Yucatan, Diego de Landa, compiled a key to the Mayan syllabary consisting of 27 Spanish letters and the Mayan glyphs with similar sounds. This became known as the Landa Alphabet and helped with the decipherment of the script, even though it was based on the false premise that the script was alphabetic.

For a long time many scholars believed that the script did not represent a language at all, or that it wasn't a complete writing system. The first major breakthrough in decipherment came during the 1950s when a Russian ethnologist, Yuri Valentinovich Knorosov, proposed that the Mayan script was at least partly phonetic and represented the Yucatec Mayan language. His ideas were not welcomed by other Mayanists, but he was eventually proved correct.

Further progress in the decipherment was made during the 1970s and 1980s when more linguistics began to take an interest in the script. Today most Mayan texts can be read, though there are still some unknown glyphs.

A gripping account of the decipherment of the Mayan script can be found in Breaking the Maya Code, by Micheal D. Coe.

The Yucatec Maya continued to use the Mayan script until at least the 16th century. Recently, their descendants have started to learn the script once again from the scholars who have deciphered it.

Notable features

• The Mayan script is logosyllabic combining about 550 logograms (which represent whole words) and 150 syllabograms (which represent syllables). There were also about 100 glyphs representing place names and the names of gods. About 300 glyphs were commonly used.
• Examples of the script have been found carved in stone and written on bark, wood, jade, ceramics, and a few manuscripts in Mexico, Guatemala and northern Belize.
• Many syllables can be represented by more than one glyph
• The script was usually written in paired vertical columns reading from left to right and top to bottom in a zigzag pattern.

The Mayan syllabary

Numerals

Sample texts in some of the modern Mayan languages

Cakchiquel

Konojel ri winaqi' kan kalaxib'en pe ri kolotajïk, ri junan kiq'ij, ri junan kejqalen, junan kich'ojib'al pa kik'aslen, xa achi'el k'a ri kik'ojlen, ri kinojib'al kichajin xa tik'amun k'a chi nimaläj konojel xtikajo' ki'.

Huasteco (Tének)

Patal an inik ani an uxum u wa'tsinal walkadh abal jununúl kin bats'uw an alwa'taláb ani ka pidhan in éy jant'ini' in tomnál; in kwa'al in tsalpádh ani in k'ayá' abal kin k'anidha' in juntal.

Mam

Kyaqiilqe winaq nchi itz'aj tuj kopib'il, juunx kychuwiinqal b'ix kyokleen, kyja'tzan tuj tb'aanal xiinv'il tu'n kyanq'iin tuj b'ank'u'j kyxool.

Tojol-a'b'al

Spetsanal ja swinkil ja lu'um k'inali junxta wax jul schonjel, sok ja sijpanub'ali, ja yuj ojni b'ob' sk'u'luk ja jas sk'ana-i ja b'as lekilali, ja yuj ja ay sk'ujoli sok ay spensari t'ilan oj yilsb'aje lek sok ja smoj jumasa.

Tzeltal

Spisil winiketik te ya xbejk´ajik ta k´inalil ay jrerechotik, mayuk mach´a chukul ya xbejka, ya jnatik stojol te jpisiltik ay snopibal sok sbijil joltik, ja´ me k´ux ya kaibatik ta jujun tul.

Tzotzil

Skotol vinik o ants ta spejel balumile k´olem x-hayan i ko´ol ta sch´ulal i sderechoetik i, skotol k´ux-elan oyike oy srasonik y slekilalik, sventa skuxijik leknóo ta ju jun ju ju vo.

Yucatec (yukatek)

Tuláakal wíinik ku síijil jáalk'ab yetel keet u tsiikul yetel Najmal Sijnalil, beytun xan na'ata'an sijnalil yetel no'oja'anil u tuukulo', k'a'abet u bisikuba bey láaktzilil yetel tuláakal u baatzile'.

Translation (of all the above texts)

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

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