r/Mayan

The video is an instructional lesson on how to conjugate verbs in Oaxacan Zapotec across past, present, and future tenses. The instructor uses the verb "to eat" as the primary example to demonstrate the rules.

*Core Rules of Conjugation:*

* Tense Roots:* In Zapotec, the root of the verb changes to indicate the tense, but this root remains exactly the same regardless of who is performing the action (the pronoun). For example, the root for the verb "to eat" is `guda-` in the past, `ra-` (or `rag-`) in the present, and `ga-` (or `gagu-`) in the future.

* **Person Suffixes:* To indicate the person (I, you, he/she, etc.), specific vowel or syllable endings are added to the tense root. The endings change depending on the subject, but the root stays consistent.

*Exceptions to the Rule:*

* While the `g-` prefix (like *guda-* or *ga-*) is very common, the instructor clarifies that it is not a universal rule for all Zapotec verbs.

* There are about three different ways to construct tenses. For instance, some verbs use a `b-` (like *bu-*) for the past tense, or a `u-` to indicate the future tense.

* Compound verbs (like combining "to go" and "to eat" to mean eating somewhere frequently) also have unique past tense forms.

*Class Practice:*

Towards the end of the lesson, the instructor leads an interactive practice session. He asks students (Oliver, Pamela, Silvana, Brian, and Abi) to read aloud the conjugations for the verb "to eat" across the past, present, and future tenses, covering both singular and plural pronouns.

Hello All,

My family is triethnic, and so I have gotten two other tattoos to connect my body to that of my heritage. On my mom’s side, she is half Honduran ,and half Puerto Rican. This summer I wanted to get a Maya Tattoo in order to finally complete my own internal project before getting other tattoos and i had planned for it to be, on my left upper arm/left shoulder. I know Maya writing is read left to right- up to down and I wanted to follow that concept because I want it to be Maya writing but I’m having trouble finding consistent and accurate Maya Hieroglyphs and their meanings.

Any advice would be helpful, Thank you guys so much

I am a writer, and I am working on a fantasy world that involves lots of real world cultures. In short, the different nations in my stories come from groups of people who were teleported there at different points in history. There’s a region inhabited by people of Mayan descent, from the Yucatec peninsula to be specific. These people were transported a long while before the arrival of European explorers. Because of this, it’s hard to get good information about them, as I’m looking for Mayans, not Mexicans. (if that makes sense).

Anyway, I was wondering if y’all had any answers to some of the questions I have:

I’m not sure how the naming of regions works in the Yucatec Mayan language. I think the name of the country would translate to something like “low land” as it’s surrounded by plateaus and mountains. What name would they use for it?

What holidays or other celebrations would they have? It can be especially hard to find information on this since many of their holidays were fused with Spanish ones.

What would their accents sound like if they learned to speak English? You can’t find audio examples of this since modern day Mayan speakers typically have Mexican accents, which are affected more so by Spanish than Maya.

What would their government and politics be like? Would they have a figurehead, if so who would it be?

How would their culture change if they had to rethink their religious beliefs? This is important as the new world has magic and ours does not.

Those are the only questions I have at the moment, if y’all know anything I’d really appreciate any input.

This video is a live stream of the first session of the Summer 2026 Zapotec Language Basic Course, hosted by instructor Rayo Cruz and organized by the Bëni Xidza collective. The session serves as both a promotional class streamed on YouTube/Facebook and an interactive introductory workshop for students meeting via Zoom. Here is a summary of what is covered in the video:

1. Course Overview & Logistics:

* Instructor's Background: The teacher, Rayo, holds a degree in Communication and have studied an MA in Applied Linguistics from the University of Guadalajara. He has worked for many years in preserving the Zapotec language and culture through media.

* The Project: This marks the 6th year of the collective's project teaching Zapotec as a second language. The course is fully independent and self-sustaining through student registration fees.

* Schedule: The basic summer course features 20 sessions running on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 7:00 PM (Mexico City time), lasting between 1 to 1.5 hours per class.

* Curriculum: Beyond grammar, the 20 classes cover the historical context of the language, culture, and sociolinguistic realities of Zapotec.

2. Introduction to the Variant:

* In response to a student's question, Rayo explains that this specific course teaches the Didza Xidza variant from the Sierra Norte (Northern Highlands) of Oaxaca.

* He notes that Zapotec is immensely diverse, with structural and deep vocabulary changes between the valleys, coast, and highlands—almost every town speaks its own variation, though some are mutually intelligible.

3. Practice Session: Basic Introductions:

The core of the class is an interactive exercise where students practice basic conversational greetings and personal profiles in Zapotec. Key phrases broken down include:

* Padiuxhi / Diuxi: The universal all-day greeting used similarly to "hello," "good morning," or "good evening" in the Sierra Norte and Isthmus regions.

* Bix loo?: "What is your name?".

* Response: Neda laa [Name] ("My name is...").

* Gax bi'i lii?: "Where are you from?"

* Response: Neda naka bi'i [Place] ("I am from...").

Rayo explains that Oaxaca City is traditionally called Lula'a and Mexico City is called Zgita.

* Balax iza yu'u?: "How old are you?".

* Response: Neda yu'a [Number] iza ("I am [X] years old"). Students use Spanish numbers temporarily.

* Gax zuu?: "Where do you live?" (Origin vs. current residence).

* Response: Neda zwaa [Place] ("I live in...").

* Bix dxin runu?: "What do you do for work?" (Literally: "What work do you do?")

* Response: Neda runa dxin... ("I work at... / I do..."). Alternative vocabulary was given for students (Neda naka beskwela / Neda reja unibersida*) and those studying (Neda ruseda...).

I watched a documentary about Aguada Fenix and how archeologists found that it might be the place of origin of the Maya but anyway. While in an archeological dig, archeologists found that there are many layers of soil and one of these layers consisted of white soil and the ancients made cells separated by a low wall of the white sand, and each cell's floor was colored differently. Archeologists think that each cell's floor was colored according to personal preferences of the person that owned it (I guess), but what if it was not just personal preferences and random coloring?

What if it was a coordinated work to make a painting by using each cell like a pixel. Why would people just randomly own cells and color them randomly (if there's a good reason please enlighten me)

Hello, I am attempting to do some research on a specific type of artifacts. I was wondering where and how I can obtain images of these artifacts with reliable provenience. I have been trying to look at reports with similar methodology to look into their references but I am little on the Internet.

For example, I am looking for a specific article by Hendon in 2003 named "In the House: Maya Nobility and their Figurines-Whistles" but after finding it online I am having difficulty actually seeing their artifacts and not reports on them.

Is there something I am missing? I am in school so I do have an institute that I can use to access articles from JSTOR and such.