Our long-range goal is to produce a special dictionary of Q’eqchi’ Mayan language, focused on Mayan ethnozoology and ethnobotany, as well as terms for Mayan house architecture, native food plants, etc. In other words, a dictionary of utilitarian plants and animals: the flora and fauna of the Mayan people of Guatemala and adjacent lands.

Since this is a long-range interest, we need to start at ground level, so we are doing one theme at a time. Each theme will grow as funding makes it possible to hire an additional Q’eqchi’ translator, hire an additional graphic designer to put this into book format, and cover the costs of posting all this on the Internet (it takes a team of two full-time people to maintain our FLAAR web sites).

As we move forward we will add the zoological name (genus and species), though many of these words are generic for a kind of fish or kind of shell.

This list also includes water related reptiles and amphibians.

 

Q´EQCHI´

ESPAÑOL

ENGLISH

AMOCH

Rana

Frog

AYIN

Lagarto

Alligator

AYIN KAR

Tiburón

Shark

AYINKAAQ

Dinosaurio

Dinosaur

CHAKTI'

Mojarra

Mojarra 

JUTZ'KAR

Pez Espada

Swordfish

KAR

Pescado

Fish, generic fish

K'IX PUR

Caracol

Shell

KOK

Tortuga

Tortoise

K'OOPOPO

Sapo

Frog

K'OX

Camarón

Shrimp

MAMA'AYIN

Cocodrilo

Crocodile

PUR

Jute

Snail (land snail)

PUR KAAQ

Caracol de Tierra

Land Snail

Q'OLXUL KAR

Delfín

Dolphin

SOCH

Caracol de Mar

Seashell (of the sea)

TAP

Cangrejo

Crab

XNA'KAR

Ballena

Whale

XULUPIK

Mejillón Concha

Mussel Shell

Our Q’eqchi’ team also had the word MULUQ´UT, Tepocate, which is translated on the Internet as stone or pebble. So I will need to ask the Q’eqchi’ speaking Maya workers what this has to do with water-related fauna.

 

We have a bibliography on Q'eqchi' diccionaries and vocabularies

We have a separate web site in the FLAAR network where we show all our bibliographies, www.maya-art-books.org. In this web site we have a page listing the best known diccionaries and vocabularios of Q'eqchi' (K'ekchi') Mayan language.

Naturally we utilize these dictionaries to make our word lists, but this work is done by native Q’eqchi’ Mayan speakers who work in our office. We have noticed that the spelling of words varies by region, since Q’eqchi’ is spoken all the way from Alta Verapaz, to Izabal, into Belize and Peten.

Nicholas edited the translations since, having lived in Guatemala for over 50 years, he is well aware that the word tigre and leon can also mean jaguar and mountain lion (if the Spanish is local lingo).

 

 First posted late November 2015.

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If you wish to donate your library on pre-Columbian Mesoamerica and related topics, FLAAR will be glad to receive your library and find a good home for it. Contact:

ReaderService@FLAAR.org

MAYA EPIGRAPHY

MAYAN SOCIETIES, ORGANIZATIONS

FOODS OF THE MAYA ROOT CROPS

Q’eqchi’-Spanish-English Dictionary Segments

2012 Prophecies of the end Mayan calendar

3D Scanning Equipment Reviews For Field Work

Bibliography Mayan dye colorants

GigaPan Epic Pro System

Municipio de Livingston Izabal: places to visit

TECHNOLOGY, BOOK REVIEWS on Digital Imaging, especially 3D

Private Museums of Mayan Archaeology

Ixchel

Suchitepequez

Agriculture, diet, food

Maya Vase Rollouts

Trees of Mesoamerica

Mayan languages of Guatemala

Museums of Mayan Archaeology

Carlos Pellicer, Tabasco

Lectures on Maya topics Now available

Travel / Hotels

Guatemala City

Chichicastenango

Baja Verapaz

Archaeology of Iran

Visit other FLAAR sites

Flora and fauna

Educational Books