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It should be noted that the pronunciation of all Maya words is as in Spanish, with the following exceptions: c is always hard; x is sounded like sh in English, Xiu being like Shu. The letter k and the stop consonants p t ch and tz, when marked by an apostrophe, as p’ t’ ch’ tz’, are preceded by a muscular tension and then sounded explosively, the usual technical term being 'glottal stop.' Thus tz’ sounds to the English ear as if it were dz, and is usually so written in Yucatan, as in the town Dzitás, near Chichén Itzá. The Mayance languages lack our 'sonants' d, hard g, j, z, as also f; Yucatecan Maya also lacks the r. Double vowels are to be sounded as such, with accent on the first.
