Yucatán represents one of the most significant cases of language shift in Mexico. Although it still has around 800,000 Maya speakers, it has a loss rate of nearly 60 percent, meaning that six out of every ten children of Maya-speaking mothers no longer learn the language as their mother tongue, revealed Violeta Vázquez-Rojas Maldonado, Undersecretary of Science, Humanities, Technology and Innovation of the Mexican government (Secihti).
During the Southeast-Gulf Node Meeting of the National Network for Research on Indigenous Languages (Renili), held at the Gran Museo del Mundo Maya in Yucatán, the official highlighted that, based on the aforementioned figures, the number of Maya speakers in the state has now decreased to more than 500,000.
She said that currently, the use of the language is concentrated mainly among people between 30 and 40 years old or older, while in many rural communities the proportion of children who speak it is minimal.
In their remarks, the participants highlighted several factors that contribute to the gradual loss of Maya speakers, such as the lack of intergenerational transmission and parents choosing not to teach the language to their children to avoid discrimination; discrimination and stigmatization; migration and urbanization, meaning that moving to urbanized areas, such as Mérida, reduces daily use of the language; and finally, low literacy rates. It is estimated that around 30,000 people can write the Maya language correctly.
For her part, the Secretary of Culture and the Arts of Yucatán, Patricia Martín Briceño, emphasized that since the beginning of the current administration, a permanent strategy has been promoted to strengthen the use, teaching, and professionalization of the Maya language.
The state official shared a series of strategies for preserving the Mayan language in Yucatán, including “Alas y Raíces Yucatán” (Wings and Roots Yucatán), which introduces the language to children and young people through creative identity workshops; courses such as Ko’ox Kanik Maaya T’aan (Let’s Learn the Mayan Language), which is expanding its reach through both in-person and online formats; initiatives to promote Indigenous literature by awarding prizes, publishing, and disseminating literary works written directly in Mayan; and exhibitions at the Gran Museo del Mundo Maya (Great Museum of the Mayan World) and other venues of the Ministry of Culture (Sedeculta) featuring displays called U K’i’ixel Kij (Memories of the Mayan Communities Around Henequen), which preserve oral traditions and community knowledge related to the language.
At the event, the National Network of Indigenous Languages (Renili) – with more than 1,600 members – was recognized as a collaborative space that connects individuals, institutions, and communities to generate knowledge, coordinate actions, and develop solutions aimed at strengthening Indigenous languages.
The network has seven nodes in Mexico; the Southeast-Gulf node brings together specialists and stakeholders from this region of the country, characterized by its linguistic and cultural diversity, with languages such as Maya, Tseltal, Tsotsil, Chol, Chontal, Zoque, Totonac, Popoluca, Huastec, and numerous variants that constitute a fundamental national heritage.
Furthermore, reports from 2025 by academic institutions such as the Autonomous University of Yucatán (UADY) and the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) confirmed that the number of Maya speakers is steadily declining, despite constitutional reforms and dissemination and protection programs implemented in recent years.
A recent analysis of the sociolinguistic situation of Maya in the Yucatán Peninsula revealed an intergenerational loss of approximately 65.8 percent, confirming the urgent need for more effective policies to reverse this trend.
In its latest census in 2020, the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) reported that in 2010 there were 537,618 Maya speakers in Yucatán, and 10 years later that number had dropped to 519,167—a decrease of 18,451 Maya speakers.
Although a constitutional reform in Yucatán mandates the teaching of the Maya language in basic education since 2019, only 651 of the 1,612 schools comply with the provision. This gap between the law and its implementation highlights the difficulty of translating legislation into concrete action.
Source: jornada