Editing Mayan languages (section)

===Modern period===
[[File:Idioma Chuj.JPG|right|thumb|Drawing with text written in the [[Chuj language]] from Ixcán, Guatemala.]]
As Maya archaeology advanced during the 20th century and [[nationalist]] and ethnic-pride-based ideologies spread, the Mayan-speaking peoples began to develop a shared [[ethnic]] identity as Maya, the heirs of the [[Maya civilization]].<ref group=notes>{{harvtxt|Choi|2002}} writes: "In the recent Maya cultural activism, maintenance of Mayan languages has been promoted in an attempt to support 'unified Maya identity'. However, there is a complex array of perceptions about Mayan language and identity among Maya who I researched in Momostenango, a highland Maya community in Guatemala. On the one hand, Maya denigrate Kʼicheʼ and have doubts about its potential to continue as a viable language because the command of Spanish is an economic and political necessity. On the other hand, they do recognize the value of Mayan language when they wish to claim the 'authentic Maya identity'. It is this conflation of conflicting and ambivalent ideologies that inform language choice..."</ref>

The word "Maya" was likely derived from the postclassical Yucatán city of [[Mayapan]]; its more restricted meaning in pre-colonial and colonial times points to an origin in a particular region of the Yucatán Peninsula. The broader meaning of "Maya" now current, while defined by linguistic relationships, is also used to refer to ethnic or cultural traits. Most Maya identify first and foremost with a particular ethnic group, e.g. as "Yucatec" or "Kʼicheʼ"; but they also recognize a shared Maya kinship.{{sfn|Choi|2002}}  Language has been fundamental in defining the boundaries of that kinship. Fabri writes: "The term Maya is problematic because Maya peoples do not constitute a homogeneous identity. Maya, rather, has become a strategy of self-representation for the Maya movements and its followers. The Academia de Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala (ALMG) finds twenty-one distinct Mayan languages."{{sfn|Fabri|2003|page=61. n1}}  This pride in unity has led to an insistence on the distinctions of different Mayan languages, some of which are so closely related that they could easily be referred to as [[dialects]] of a single language. But, given that the term "dialect" has been used by some with [[Racism|racialist]] overtones in the past, as scholars made a spurious distinction between Amerindian "dialects" and European "languages", the preferred usage in Mesoamerica in recent years has been to designate the linguistic varieties spoken by different ethnic group as separate languages.<ref group=notes>See {{harvtxt|Suárez|1983}} chapter 2 for a thorough discussion of the usage and meanings of the words "dialect" and "language" in Mesoamerica.</ref>

In Guatemala, matters such as developing standardized orthographies for the Mayan languages are governed by the [[Academia de Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala]] (ALMG; Guatemalan Academy of Mayan Languages), which was founded by Maya organisations in 1986. Following the 1996 [[Guatemalan Civil War|peace accords]], it has been gaining a growing recognition as the regulatory authority on Mayan languages both among Mayan scholars and the Maya peoples.<ref name=French>{{harvtxt|French|2003}}</ref><ref name=England2007>{{harvtxt|England|2007|pages=14, 93}}</ref>