When we first visited the Yucatecan peninsula in the 1980s, we were warned that not many people spoke English, so, we should be prepared to rely on pigeon Spanish and well-honed charade skills.
Unfortunately, we found that reality was worse: if you got away from the hotel desk staff and waiters, many Yucatecans actually spoke Mayan as their first language, and some knew only a little street-Spanish. As we ventured outside of tourist areas, we found that most people in small to medium-ish pueblos had maybe – likely also only learned Spanish informally when they were 14-17 years old, and if they had never lived in a bigger city, they might not know much Spanish at all.
This can be still be surprisingly true, particularly with workers who commute into Merida and Progreso for day-work. We’ve found many of our Mayan-speaking acquaitances actively avoid talking with obvious foreigners, because they’ve had many frustrating past experiences trying to mesh their embarassingly weak street-Spanish with our even cruder NOB Spanish (NOB = North of the Border). As a result, these friends retreat into their shells when in the Big City, and they tend to only exchange brief glances and occasional shy smiles with NOB or white-skinned folk. In our experience, this creates an unnecessary divide.
Want to bridge the gap?
Learn a few Maya phrases.
There’s a dandy Yucatan Living article on the basic pronunciations of Maya with some additional background information and a little vocabulary, that offers a good start: “Mayan for Ts’ul’ob”
The next step? Add the sorts of things we all enjoy talking about:
How are you? Where are you from? What’s your name? Do you have children?
Let’s just jump into the deep end!
Maya speakers absolutely love-it when goofy-gringos attempt to speak Maya. You may find that they initially don’t understand you at all, because they’ve never heard Maya coming out of a light-skinned person’s mouth, and it’s too foreign to be believed.
Our own kinder-gentler versions of Shock and Awe: (Question/Greeting followed by Reply)
- Bix a beel? beesh-uh-bell
- Ma’alob
or Ma’alobi’ Mah ah-loh(b) or Mah ah-lo-bee
(Formal: How are you? ) (I’m good! or Very good!)
or Bax ka’wali Bah-sch kah wah-lee Mix ba Meesh bah
(Informal: How are you?) (I’m good.)
or Bix anikech Beesh ahneekehsh Uts Ooots or Utsil Oootseal
(Informal: How are you?) (I’m good. or Very good!)
Hmmmm…. how can “I’m good” be said three different ways?
And why is that (b) in parenthesis?
For starters, Maya Language is very different from English, and many many times there are not one-for-one word-by-word translations between the two languages, so, it’s best to learn Maya as concepts and phrases rather than rigid translations.
For example, Maya nouns change their endings to include information about that noun:
Na’ (Nah’ with a hard ah sound) = Mother, as in Leti’ na’ = She is a mother (Lehtee She is nah’ a mother), while Teen na’en = I am a Mother: (teehn I am nah-ehn Mother), or Teech na’ech (teehh-ch You are nah ech Mother), or Te’ex na’ex (Teh Ya’wl are nah-esh mothers).
The “b” in parenthesis implies that you don’t actually say the be “b”’s at the ends of Maya words – kind of like the “h” in herb, but if there are other letters after the ending “b”, then you voice the “b”:
Ma’alob = Mah ah-loh, while Ma’alobi’ = Mah ah-loh-bee
How will people also often reply to those Howdy! greetings above?
They will likely also include a: “and how are you?”
Ma’alob, Kux tu’un teech? (Mah ah-loh, Koosh too oohn teeehch?) = Good, and you? (a bit formal) or
Ma’alob, Kux teech? (Mah ah-loh, Koosh teeehch?) = Good, and you? (less formal) or
Mix ba, Kux teech? (Meesh bah, Koosh teeehch?) = Good, and you? (less formal)
Are the lights going “off” or “on”?
Ma’ax a K’ aaba’ (Mah ahsh ah K’ aah-bah!’ where the K’ is “k” without a vowel)
= a formal “What are you called?” or “What’s your name?”
or
Bix a K’ aaba’ (Beesh ah K’ aah-bah!’) = an informal “What’s your name?”
Answer/Reply with:
In K’aaba’e … (Steve/Betty/José). (Eeen K’ aah-bah!’ eh . . . ) = My name is . . . eh-Steve/Vetty/José. .
Are we rolling now?
Tu’ux siijech? (Too oosh seehech) = Where are your from? (a.k.a birthplace)
Siija’anen tu Kaajil THO/Jo’/Ho!. (Seeha anehn too Kaah heel Tho or Ho ) = I’m from Mérida.
Kux teech? (Koosh teeehch?) = and you?
Keep going! You’re doing great!
Yaan wa’a a paalal? (Yaaahn wah’ ah ah paaahlahl) = Do you have children? Replied with:
Bey, yaan in paalal. (Bay, yaaahn eeehn paaahlahl) = Yes, I have children.
Ma’ mina’an in paalal. (Mah! Meenah ahn eeehn paaahlahl) = No, I do not have children.
Tu’ux Ka meyaj? (Too oosh kah may-yah) = Where do you work?
Kin meyaj ti’ . . . THO / JO’. (Keen may-yah ti Toe’ or Hoe) = I work in Mérida.
Ni’bo’olal. (Nee boo ooh lahl) = Thank you.
Ma’ uts tin taan (Mah! ooots teen taahn) = I don’t like that.
Ma’ ts’u’u’uts’ (Mah! ts as in Tzar ooh ooh ooh-ts!) = No Smoking or No Kissing!
(same motion, no?)
Dios bootik or Yu’um bootik !
(Dee-ohs boooteek) = (Christian) God go with you! or (Yoo oohm boooteek) = (Mayan) God go with you!
Ma’alob xi teech yeetel utsil. (Mah! ah low she teehch yeehtehl oootseal) = Bye Bye!
Try it!
You may be rewarded with JUGE grins, laughter, and maybe even some excited rapid-fire unintelligble replies.
The Good Doctor Fry
Interested readers can find more at: Yucalandia: https://yucalandia.wordpress.com/
Plus some Maya Vocabulary at: http://www.mayas.uady.mx/diccionario/index.html , http://www.famsi.org/reports/96072/o/o_oc_nal.htm or http://www.wordgumbo.com/pe/may/ermayeng.htm & http://www.wordgumbo.com/pe/may/erengmay.htm
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Feel free to copy with proper attribution: YucaLandia/Surviving Yucatan.
© Steven M. Fry
Read-on MacDuff . . .
Surviving Yucatan 