Chiquimulilla Xinka

The Chiquimulilla Xinka is one of four Xinkan languages, a small language family from southeastern Guatemala. The Xinkan languages are distinct from the neighboring Mayan languages.1

Chiquimulilla Xinka is now extinct, with its last speaker passing away in the late 1970s. While there are efforts to revitalize the Xinka language, these are primarily based on other Xinkan languages like Guazacapán Xinka. Evidence suggests that Xinkan languages were not originally agriculturalist, likely adopting farming knowledge from Mayan neighbors. The Xinca people themselves were indigenous to southeastern Guatemala and had a less centralized social organization compared to the Maya before Spanish colonization.12