Accent in Uspanteko

• As you might expect, the linguistic situation varies widely between these 30 languages. • Some are large and robust, like K’ichee’, which is spoken by more than a million people all over the western highlands of Guatemala (Richards 2003). • Others, like Uspanteko, are in a much more precarious situation. • Richards (2003) claims that there are 1231 speakers, and while this estimate is probably on the low end, there are likely no more than 2000 speakers. • It is spoken in and around the municipality of Uspantán (Tz’unun Kaab’), which is surrounded by K’ichee’ territory. • Most Uspanteko speakers also speak K’ichee’ and many children in the Uspantán area speak only K’ichee’. • There are only a couple of villages, in an area called Las Pacayas, where everyone including the children still speak the language (Juan Us, p.c.). • Documenting the phonology of Uspanteko is important, not just because the language is severely endangered, but because it is the only Mayan language in Guatemala to have lexical tone.