Language quiz

Here’s a recording in a mystery language, which features someone reading part of a story.

Can you identify the language, and do you know where it’s spoken?

September 18th, 2011 in Language, Quiz questions

Comments (5)

clSeptember 18th, 2011 at 10:42 am

Do I hear click consonants (which are characteristic of some African languages)?

Chris MillerSeptember 18th, 2011 at 2:30 pm

It sounds like a Mayan language to me. Which one, no idea. Lots of ejectives, and the typical consonant-vowel-consonant syllable structure as well as “sh”+stop consonant initials.

praseSeptember 18th, 2011 at 7:08 pm

Vaguely sounds like something between Hungarian and Mongolian. Wild guess: Mari language.

SimonSeptember 19th, 2011 at 2:02 pm

Chris is closest so far. It is a Mayan language.

SimonSeptember 19th, 2011 at 5:20 pm

The answer is Yucatec Maya (Màaya t’àan), a Mayan language spoken on the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico and in northern Belize.

The recording comes from the YouTube.