Editing Classic Maya language (section)

== Phonology ==
The classical Maya consonant system can be represented as follows:<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Law |first1=Danny |title=Classic Mayan: An overview of language in ancient hieroglyphic script |last2=Stuart |first2=David |publisher=Routledge: London and New York |year=2017 |location=In Judith Aissen, Nora C. England, and Roberto Zavala Maldonado, The Mayan Languages |pages=128–172}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.mesoweb.com/resources/vocabulary/Vocabulary-2009.01.pdf|title=The Updated Preliminary Classic Maya-English/English-Classic Maya Vocabulary of Hieroglyphic Readings}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Consonants
! colspan="2" |
![[Labial consonant|Labial]]
![[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
![[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
![[Velar consonant|Velar]]
![[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Nasal consonant|Nasals]]
| {{IPA link|m}}
| {{IPA link|n}}
|
|
|
|-
! rowspan="3" | [[Plosive]]s
! <small>voiceless</small>
| {{IPA link|p}}
| {{IPA link|t}}
|
| {{IPA link|k}}
| rowspan="2" | {{IPA link|ʔ}} {{angbr|’}}
|-
! <small>[[Ejective consonant|ejective]]</small>
|
| {{IPA link|t’}}
|
| {{IPA link|k’}}
|-
!<small>[[Implosive consonant|implosive]]</small>
|{{IPA link|ɓ}} {{angbr|b}}
|
|
|
|
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Affricate]]s
! <small>voiceless</small>
|
| {{IPA link|t͡s}} {{angbr|tz}}
| {{IPA link|t͡ʃ}} {{angbr|ch}}
|
|
|-
! <small>ejective</small>
|
| {{IPA link|t͡s’}} {{angbr|tz’}}
| {{IPA link|t͡ʃ’}} {{angbr|ch’}}
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Fricative]]s
|
| {{IPA link|s}}
| {{IPA link|ʃ}} {{angbr|x}}
| {{IPA link|x}} {{angbr|j}}
| {{IPA link|h}}
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Approximant]]s
|
| {{IPA link|l}}
| {{IPA link|j}} {{angbr|y}}
| {{IPA link|w}}
|
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Vowels
!
! [[Front vowel|Front]]
! [[Central vowel|Central]]
! [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! [[Close vowel|Close]]
| {{IPA link|i}} {{IPA link|iː}}|| || {{IPA link|u}} {{IPA link|uː}}
|-
! [[Mid vowel|Mid]]
| {{IPA link|e}} {{IPA link|eː}}|| || {{IPA link|o}} {{IPA link|oː}}
|-
! [[Open vowel|Open]]
| || {{IPA link|a}} {{IPA link|aː}}||
|}

The Latin alphabet of the classical Maya transliteration is: ’, a, b, ch, ch’, e, h, i, k, k’, l, m, n, o, p, p’, s, t, t’, tz, tz’, u, w, x, y. It is the romanization system currently used by epigraphers to transcribe the language. However, the first alphabet was developed by Fray Francisco Morán in his ''Vocabulario en lengua choltí'', whose most notable difference is the transcription of /k’/ as ⟨ꜫ⟩ and /t͡ʃ’/ as ⟨ꜫh⟩.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2024-11-19 |language=es |title=Arte en lengua Cholti |url=https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/p15999coll16/id/52754 |website=contentdm.lib.byu.edu}}<!-- auto-translated from Spanish by Module:CS1 translator --></ref>

In Classic Maya, there are five vowels: a, e, i, o, u. Long vowels are written double: aa, ee, ii, oo, uu. Furthermore, no word begins with a vowel; these actually begin with a [[glottal stop]].<ref name=":0" /> Because of this, the initial [[Saltillo (linguistics)|letter ’]] is often omitted to facilitate transcription and alphabetic structuring.

The most widespread phonological process attested in Maya glyphs is the elimination of the underlying vowels in a trisyllabic word. When a sequence of the form CVCVCVC appears as a single word, the second vowel (the nucleus of the second syllable) is elided to form two CVC syllables. Examples: ''CHUM(mu)-la-ja'' 'he sits' is transcribed ''chumlaj''. ''AJAW-le-le'' 'lordship' is transliterated [[Ajaw|''ajawlel'']]. ''Tu-’u-B’AAH'' 'in itself' is transcribed ''tu’b’aah''. ''Sa-ku-WINIK-ki'' 'elder brother' is transliterated ''saku(n) winik''.