Many children also do not learn Spanish until they first go to school at the age of five although more importance is now being placed upon it due to the influx of tourism into the region.
[citation needed][clarification needed] In the charts below each of the Tzʼutujil phonemes is represented by the character or set of characters that denote it in the standard orthography developed by the Guatemalan Academy of Mayan Languages (ALMG) and sanctioned by the Guatemalan government.
Stress is always on the final syllable of native words, except for the adjectival vowel suffix in certain environments.
Velar k, kʼ are palatalized before i, and also usually before a non-back vowel (i, e, a) followed by a post-velar (q, qʼ, j), though the latter dissimilation is not completely productive.
The nasals, m, n, are partially devoiced word-finally: they start off voiced, and end up voiceless.