Ch'olti' language

The Ch'olti' language is an extinct Mayan language which was spoken in the Manche region of eastern Guatemala. It is only known from a single manuscript written between 1685 and 1695 which was first studied by Daniel Garrison Brinton. Ch'olti' belongs to the Cho'lan branch of the Mayan languages and is closely related to Chontal and especially Ch'orti'. The Ch'olti' language has become of particular interest for the study of Mayan Hieroglyphs since it seems that most of the glyphic texts are written in an ancient variety of Ch'olti' called Classic Ch'olti'an by epigraphers [Houston, Robertson, and Stuart (2000).] . and which is thought to have been spoken as a prestige dialect throughout the Maya area in the classic period [Kettunen & Helmke (2006) p. 12.]

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References

: cite book |author=aut|Fought, John |year=1984 |chapter=Choltí Maya: A sketch |pages=pp.43–55 |title=Supplement to Handbook of Middle American Indians, Vol. 2: Linguistics |editor=Munro S Edmonson (Volume ed.) |others=Victoria R. Bricker (General Editor) |publisher=University of Texas Press |location=Austin |isbn=0-292-77577-6 : cite book |author=aut|Kettunen, Harri |coauthors= and aut|Christophe Helmke |year=2005 |title=Introduction to Maya Hieroglyphs |format=PDF |publisher=Wayeb and Leiden University |url=http://www.mesoweb.com/resources/handbook/index.html|accessdate=2006-10-10: cite journal |author=aut|Houston, Stephen D. |authorlink=Stephen D. Houston |coauthors=aut|John Robertson and aut|David Stuart |year=2000 |title=The Language of Classic Maya Inscriptions |journal=Current Anthropology |volume=41 |issue=3 |pages=pp.321–356 |issn=0010-3204