Ba’ax ka wa’alik
Hello
Say it · approx.
bah’ahsh kah wah’ah-leek
The sh sounds like sh in “ship”.
Used as a greeting; its words ask “What do you say?”
Mayan Translator
THE VOICE OF THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGE • EST. 1000 BC
Voice of the Original Language
THE VOICE OF THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGE • EST. 1000 BC
YUCATEC MAYA · FIRST WORDS
A greeting, a question, and words for everyday life.
Hello
Say it · approx.
bah’ahsh kah wah’ah-leek
The sh sounds like sh in “ship”.
Used as a greeting; its words ask “What do you say?”
Good morning
Say it · approx.
mah’ah-lohb k’een
Give k’ a small pop; hold the ee sound.
Ma’alob = good. K’iin can mean day or sun.
How are you?
Say it · approx.
beesh ah behl
Hold the eh sound in beel a little longer.
Beel means path: “How is your path going?”
Water
Say it · approx.
hah’
Breathe out the h, then end with a tiny catch.
The apostrophe is part of the sound, too.
I’m hungry
Say it · approx.
wee’ee-hen
The h is a soft breath, as in “hello”.
Wi’ij means hunger. Here, one word says how you feel.
Thank you very much
Say it · approx.
yoom boh’oh-teek
Hold the oo in yuum; keep the o sounds steady.
Two words to thank someone for their help or kindness.
These are approximate sound guides. A vowel apostrophe marks a tiny catch in your voice, like the break in “uh-oh”.
Habla Maya exists because we don’t want to lose this language. We want more people to discover Yucatec Maya and use it in everyday life. Learning a few words, sharing them, and talking with its speakers is one way to help keep it alive.
Yucatec Maya isn’t listed in Duolingo’s current course catalog.
Before the pyramids of the West touched the sky, the Maya built a civilization of celestial architects and time-keepers. For over a century, their sacred tongue was silenced—forbidden in schools and sidelined by history in the very lands where it was born. We are reclaiming it.
Linguistic science suggests that the structure of a language actively shapes how its speakers perceive the world. Habla Maya is not just the preservation of words; it is the recovery of a cognitive technology. The language operates on a completely different frequency than Western tongues.
Learning to speak Maya rewires the mind. It is a communication tool that shifts perspective from a linear, stressful struggle to a circular, interconnected sync with the universe. The ruins around us are not just stone; they are the blueprints of an ancient future.
We are building more than a translator; our vision is a comprehensive, interactive learning sanctuary. Soon, Habla Maya will evolve into a full educational platform featuring guided lessons, pronunciation tutors, and real-time conversational AI. Imagine stepping into a portal where you practice spoken Yucatec Maya in live, flowing conversations with a holographic guide.