20 VEGETABLES IN KAQCHIKEL (WITH PRONUNCIATION) - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

In this article I bring you a list of vegetables in Kaqchikel, a language of the Mayan aborigines of the central areas of Guatemala. This language is spoken by a small group of people as a result of the extermination of the Native Americans that took place during the period of conquest and colonization.

Before proceeding to the enumeration, it should be noted that the word "vegetables" is not a precise term and within itself collects seeds, roots, tubers, leaves, bulbs and even some fruits.

In the list presented, the pronunciation of these words will be included. The spelling that will be used to write the terms was developed by the Academia de Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala.

To begin with, "vegetables" in kaqchikel, can be said "ichaj", which is the same word used for edible herbs.

It is necessary to emphasize that the Kaqchikel language recognizes a great variety of words to refer to a single vegetable, as is the case of corn that will be seen below. You may also be interested in seeing 20 fruits in kaqchikel (with pronunciation).

List of 20 vegetables in kaqchikel

1 - Ixin, ajj, ej, och 'or pik

The Kaqchikel words ixin, ajj, ej, och 'and pik are used to mean "corn." The first, ixin, is pronounced "ishín", while the pronunciation of the remaining words is similar to Spanish.

It should be noted that the corn plant is called avën, a word that also refers to the sowing of corn. On the other hand, cooked corn has another name, tz'o, which is the same as that used to refer to corn tortillas.

The ear is jël, while the residues of the corn, that is, the tusa, are called jo'k. Finally, when they harvest the corn they use a single word that includes both terms hech '.

It is possible that the use of different words to refer to corn is due to the fact that this crop has been, since ancient times, one of the most important for the natives of Latin America.

In this sense, corn is the main ingredient of all meals and one of the essential elements of the economy of the aborigines of Central America.

2 - Xnaquët

In kaqchikel, xnaquët means "onion". The initial phoneme of this word does not exist in Spanish. It resembles the sound we make when we ask someone to be silent "shhh."

The ë in xnaquët has two possible pronunciations: the first corresponds to the regular “e” of Spanish. The second is, a sound that does not exist in Spanish; this phoneme is the one used in the English words "handle" and "trouble". In this sense, the pronunciation of xnaquët would be “shnakét”.

3- Paps

Paps is the Kaqchikel word for "papa." The pronunciation of this word does not represent major difficulties for Spanish speakers, since it is read as it is written.

As with corn, when they refer to the potato harvest, as a noun, they use another term that reflects the meaning of these two lexical units. The word in Kaqchikel is c'otoj.

On the other hand, when they want to refer to the action of harvesting potatoes, they use c'ot. These tubers can also be called sëkvëch.

As with corn, the different ways of referring to “potatoes” in Kaqchikel demonstrate the importance of these tubers for the culture of this aboriginal group.

4- Tz'in

Tz'in means “yuca”. The initial sound of this word is difficult for Spanish speakers to pronounce since it is made up of two phonemes that are not combined in Spanish, / t / and / s /.

5- Is

Is is the Kaqchikel word for "sweet potato" or "sweet potato." The sweet potato is a herbaceous plant that produces tubers similar to potatoes; however they differ from potatoes because they are sweet. This word is pronounced as if it were saying in Spanish.

6- Kulix

Kulix means "cabbage" in Kaqchikel. The "k" at the beginning of this word resembles the initial sound of the word "when", however, it is a bit more glottal than the "k" in Spanish. The final sound, as already mentioned, is pronounced "sh" as in the English words "shine", "ashes" and "fish".

7- Ixtan ichaj

Ixtan ichaj means spinach. This word is pronounced "ishtán ichaj."

8- Kaqa'ixin

Kaqa'ixin means red corn. This is a mixture of two words: "ixin", one of the many words to say "corn", and "kaqa", which means color. It is pronounced “kakaishín”.

9- Ic

Ic means "chili". This word is pronounced "ik."

10- Quinëk

Quinëk means "bean". According to the type of bean, this word can present certain variants, which are presented below.

11- Saka quinëk

Saka quinëk means "white bean".

12- Caka quinëk

Caka quinëk is “red bean” in Kaqchikel.

13- K'ek quinëk

K'ek quinëk is "black bean".

14- Ij

The term ij is used to refer to any type of green beans.

15- Tz'et

Tz'et means "pumpkin". This is one of the fruits that is included within the group of vegetables.

16- Ocox

Ocox means "mushroom." It is pronounced "okosh."

17- Kaxlanq'ös

Kaxlanq'ös means "leek" in Kaqchikel. The pronunciation of ö in kaxlanq'ös does not exist in Spanish. This resembles “oo” in English words like “neighborhood” and “code”.

The next three words are written and pronounced the same in both Kaqchikel and Spanish; This is why its pronunciation and learning is not complicated for Spanish speakers.

18 - Carrot

19 - Turnip

20- Beet

References

1. Kaqchikel. Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies Retrieved on March 29, 2017, from latamst.ku.edu.
2. Kaqchikel pronunciation guide. Retrieved on March 29, 2017, from native-languaje.org.
3. Canales, Cristina and Morrissey, Jane. Thanks, Matiox, Thanks, Hermano Pedro. Retrieved on March 29, 2017, from books.google.com.
4. Kaqchikel words. Retrieved on March 29, 2017, from thephoenixprojects.org.
5. Blair, Robert; Robertson, Jonh; Larry, Richman; Sansom, Greg; Salazar, Julio; Yool, Juan; and Choc, Alejandro (1981). Spanish-Cakchiquel-English dictionary. Garland Publishing, Inc. New York & London.
6. Guatemala. Retrieved on March 29, 2017, from everyculture.com.
7. Rosetta Project, Cakchiquel. Retrieved on March 29, 2017, from archive.org.