[2] Chʼortiʼ is the modern version of the ancient Mayan language Chʼolan (which was actively used and most popular between the years of A.D 250 and 850).

Chʼortiʼ is an important tool for interpreting the contents of Maya glyphic writings, some of which are not yet fully understood.

For several years, many linguists and anthropologists expected to grasp the Chʼortiʼ culture and language by studying its words and expressions.

[3] Chʼortiʼ is spoken mainly in and around Jocotán and Camotán, Chiquimula department, Guatemala, as well as in adjacent areas of parts of western Honduras near the Copán Ruins.

[2] Researchers realized that the ancient language was based more on phonetics than previously thought.

The language of the Mayan Glyphs is described as 'Classic Chʼoltiʼan' by John Robertson, David Stuart, and Stephen Houston.

The Kʼicheʼ Maya however, dominated the Chʼortiʼ dating back to the early fifteenth century.

More recently, 25 percent of the Guatemalan Chʼortiʼ went to the United States during the 1980s to escape political persecution.

[9][10] The consonants of Chʼortiʼ include glottal stop [ʼ], b, bʼ, ch, chʼ, d, g, j, k, kʼ, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, tʼ, tz, tzʼ, w, x, y.

According to historians, long vowels occur in Classical Mayan, but have been lost in modern Chʼortiʼ.

It is worthy of notice that ixkaʼr "wife", chʼurkabʼ "baby" and ar "offspring" take -ob'.

[14] Chʼortiʼ tripartite pronominal system (data from Hull 2005) edefsitzʼboyu-buyi-ØA-3-chop-B-3edefsiʼwoode sitzʼ u-buyi-Ø e siʼdef boy A-3-chop-B-3 def wood'The boy chops the wood (into tiny pieces)'intzajsweetlokʼoy-Øgo.out-B-3edefpeʼychtomatointzaj lokʼoy-Ø e peʼychsweet go.out-B-3 def tomato'The tomato turned out delicious'edefkʼinsuna-lokʼoyC-1-go.outtaprepixnergoingkʼinsune kʼin a-lokʼoy ta ixner kʼindef sun C-1-go.out prep going sun'The sun sets in the west'In the Chʼortiʼ language and other Mayan sentences it always starts with verbs but also there are agents or patients added and in which they are commonly represented by the acronym VOS, meaning verb-object-subject.

[15] EThechijhorsenumuypassedtu'tin.front.ofethemax-takchild-PLE chij numuy tu't e max-takThe horse passed in.front.of the child-PL"The horse passed in front of the children"The following list contains examples of common words in the Chʼortiʼ language: According to "A Dictionary of Chʼortiʼ Maya, Guatemala" by Kerry Hull, some words may be used as nouns (as shown above) or can double as a verb as well.