Editing Mayan languages (section)

===Western branch===
The Chʼolan languages were formerly widespread throughout the Maya area, but today the language with most speakers is [[Chʼol language|Chʼol]], spoken by 130,000 in Chiapas.<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005). [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=cti Ethnologue report on Chʼol de Tila], [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ctu Ethnologue report on Chʼol de Tumbalá], both accessed March 07, 2007.</ref> Its closest relative, the [[Chontal Maya language]],<ref group=notes>Chontal Maya is not to be confused with the [[Tequistlatecan]] languages that are referred to as "Chontal of Oaxaca".</ref> is spoken by 55,000<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005). [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=chf Ethnologue report on Chontal de Tabasco], accessed March 07, 2007.</ref> in the state of [[Tabasco]]. Another related language, now endangered, is [[Chʼortiʼ language|Chʼortiʼ]], which is spoken by 30,000 in Guatemala.<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005). [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=caa Chʼortiʼ: A language of Guatemala.] Ethnologue.com, accessed March 07, 2007.</ref> It was previously also spoken in the extreme west of [[Honduras]] and [[El Salvador]], but the Salvadorian variant is now extinct and the Honduran one is considered moribund. [[Chʼoltiʼ language|Chʼoltiʼ]], a sister language of Chʼortiʼ, is also extinct.{{sfn|Campbell|Kaufman|1985}} Chʼolan languages are believed to be the most conservative in vocabulary and phonology, and are closely related to the [[Classic Maya language|language of the Classic-era inscriptions]] found in the Central Lowlands. They may have served as prestige languages, coexisting with other dialects in some areas. This assumption provides a plausible explanation for the geographical distance between the Chʼortiʼ zone and the areas where Chʼol and Chontal are spoken.{{sfn|Kettunen|Helmke|2020|p=13}}

The closest relatives of the Chʼolan languages are the languages of the Tzeltalan branch, [[Tzotzil language|Tzotzil]] and [[Tzeltal language|Tzeltal]], both spoken in Chiapas by large and stable or growing populations (265,000 for Tzotzil and 215,000 for [[Tzeltal people|Tzeltal]]).<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005) [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_family.asp?subid=91318 Family Tree for Tzeltalan] accessed March 26, 2007.</ref> Tzeltal has tens of thousands of monolingual speakers.<ref>Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charl47547es D. Fennig (eds.). "[http://www.ethnologue.com/language/tzh/18 Tzeltal]" ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Eighteenth edition'', (2015). Dallas, Texas: SIL International.</ref>

[[Qʼanjobʼal language|Qʼanjobʼal]] is spoken by 77,700 in Guatemala's [[Huehuetenango]] department,<ref name="Gordon, Raymond G. 2005"/> with small populations elsewhere. The region of Qʼanjobalan speakers in Guatemala, due to genocidal policies during the [[Guatemalan Civil War|Civil War]] and its close proximity to the [[Guatemala–Mexico border|Mexican border]], was the source of a number of refugees. Thus there are now small Qʼanjobʼal, Jakaltek, and Akatek populations in various locations in Mexico, the United States (such as [[Tuscarawas County, Ohio]]{{sfn|Solá|2011}} and Los Angeles, California{{sfn|Popkin|2005}}), and, through postwar resettlement, other parts of Guatemala.{{sfn|Rao|2015}} [[Jakaltek language|Jakaltek]] (also known as Poptiʼ<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005). Gordon (2005) recognizes Eastern and Western dialects of [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_family.asp?subid=92216 Jakaltek], as well as [[Mochoʼ language|Mochoʼ]] (also called Mototzintlec), a language with less than 200 speakers in the Chiapan villages of Tuzantán and Mototzintla.</ref>) is spoken by almost 100,000 in several municipalities<ref>Jakaltek is spoken in the ''[[Municipio (Mexico)|municipios]]'' of [[Jacaltenango]], [[La Democracia, Huehuetenango|La Democracia]], [[Concepción, Mexico|Concepción]], [[San Antonio Huista]] and [[Santa Ana Huista]], and in parts of the [[Nentón]] ''municipio''.</ref> of [[Huehuetenango]]. Another member of this branch is [[Akatek language|Akatek]], with over 50,000 speakers in [[San Miguel Acatán]] and [[San Rafael La Independencia]].<ref>Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig (eds.). "[http://www.ethnologue.com/language/knj/18 Akateko]" ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Eighteenth edition'', (2015). Dallas, Texas: SIL International.</ref>

[[Chuj language|Chuj]] is spoken by 40,000 people in Huehuetenango, and by 9,500 people, primarily refugees, over the border in Mexico, in the municipality of [[La Trinitaria, Mexico|La Trinitaria]], [[Chiapas]], and the villages of Tziscau and Cuauhtémoc. [[Tojolabal language|Tojolabʼal]] is spoken in eastern Chiapas by 36,000 people.<ref>Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), (2005) [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=toj Tojolabal: A language of Mexico.] and [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=cnam Chuj: A language of Guatemala.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001200045/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=cnam |date=2007-10-01 }} both accessed March 19, 2007.</ref>