ABSTRACT

The Yucatecan languages began to diversify perhaps a millennium ago and have had repeated contacts with one another since (Hofling 2006a, 2006b, 2013). The first split in this group was Mopan, followed by Itzaj after 1200, Northern Lacandon and Southern Lacandon after 1700, with Yucatec Maya remaining (Kaufman 1991; Hofling 2006b). Lacandons are refugee groups from the Yucatán Peninsula and Petén, Guatemala, that settled in lowland Chiapas largely after 1700 (Palka 2005; Hofling 2014a).