Akatek language

Akatek (Acateco) is a Mayan language spoken by the Akatek 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. A number of speakers also live in Chiapas, Mexico. It is a living language with 58,600 speakers in 1998, of which 48,500 lived in Guatemala and the remaining in Mexico.

Akatek is closely related to the two Mayan languages, Q'anjob'al and Jakaltek. The three languages together form the Q'anjob'al-Jakaltek sub-branch, which together with the Mocho' language form the Q'anjob'alan sub-branch, which again, together with the Chujean languages, Chuj and Tojolab'al, form the branch Q'anjobalan–Chujean. It is believed that Q'anjob'al–Jakaltek split into Akatek, Q'anjob'al and Jakaltek some 500 to 1,500 years ago.

Akatek was regarded as a dialect of the Q'anjob'al language until the 1970s, when linguists realized that it has a distinct grammar from that of Q'anjob'al. That it has been thought a dialect of Q'anjob'al is reflected in the many names Akatek has had through time. One of its primary names before it was named Akatek was Western Q'anjob'al, but it has also been called Conob and various names including Q'anjob'al and the municipality where it is spoken.