Mayan Languages Preservation and Digitization Project

What Mayan Languages Preservation and Digitization Project does

The Mayan Languages Preservation and Digitization Project is a community-driven, open-source nonprofit initiative launched in May 2023 to preserve and digitize 30 Mayan languages spoken by more than 7 million people across Mesoamerica. The project operates under the in-kind sponsorship of MasterWord Services, Inc., a Houston-based language services company and UNESCO partner organization, and is led by Director Dr. Winston Scott with an advisory board including Baldomero Cuma Chavez. Its product portfolio centers on a wiki-based open-source glossary (mayanlanguages.wiki), seven language-specific Android keyboards plus a Universal Mayan Keyboard for Microsoft Windows, CTB eBooks with audio pronunciation developed with Centro Tecnológico Bilingüe in Guatemala, a Practical Roadmap for Indigenous Language Digitization, a Language Identification Tool, and supporting resources such as the Linguistic Map of Guatemala and codices. Underlying technology is open-source and primarily web/mobile (PHP, WordPress, MediaWiki per team profiles), with a Neural Machine Translation capability for Mayan languages stated to be in development. The organization serves Mayan language speakers, bilingual schools, and Indigenous language preservation activists across the USA, Guatemala, and Canada, relying on 100+ community contributors and student interns rather than paid staff, and distributes all tools free through Google Play Store, Microsoft Store, and the project website with no disclosed commercial revenue stream.

Name

Mayan Languages Preservation and Digitization Project

Legal name

Mayan Languages Preservation and Digitization Project

Website

https://mayanlanguagespreservation.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Mayan Languages Preservation and Digitization Project is a community-driven nonprofit initiative building free, open-source digital tools, including keyboards, glossaries, eBooks, and a digitization roadmap, to preserve 30 Mayan languages for over 7 million speakers across Mesoamerica.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Indigenous Language Preservation Software

NAICS

Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (5192)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Translation, Language Accessibility & Reading Support Tools (e.g., TTS, Captions, Immersive Reader) (EDAFAOAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Assistive Reading & Writing Tools (Text-to-Speech, Speech-to-Text, OCR, Dyslexia Support) (EDAFAKAA), Language Content Libraries & Digital Readers (Leveled Readers, Graded Content) (EDAFAOAM), Classroom & Institutional Language Learning Platforms (Schools/Universities) (EDAFAOAI), Localization, Translation & Multilingual Publishing Tools (EDAFAHAJ)

Keywords

• Language preservation technology
• Indigenous language digitization
• Open-source language tools
• Mayan language keyboards
• Cultural heritage preservation

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Project Funding and Sponsorship: The project is sponsored and supported with technology and expertise by MasterWord Services, Inc., a language services company and partner organization of UNESCO's International Decade of Indigenous Languages. The project does not appear to generate commercial revenue.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Mayan Languages Preservation and Digitization Project develops and distributes free, open-source digital tools to preserve and revitalize Mayan languages. Its core offerings include language keyboards for Android and Windows, a community wiki-based glossary with audio pronunciation, bilingual educational eBooks, and a Practical Roadmap for Indigenous Language Digitization. The project is sponsored by MasterWord Services, Inc. and operates as a nonprofit initiative under UNESCO's International Decade of Indigenous Languages.

Product overview

The Mayan Languages Preservation and Digitization Project is a community-driven, open-source initiative that creates digital tools to preserve and revitalize Mayan languages. The core product portfolio includes the Open Source Glossary (mayanlanguages.wiki) as the central knowledge repository, supplemented by a suite of language-specific keyboards for Android and Windows supporting seven Mayan languages (Akateko, Kaqchikel, K'iche', Mam, Q'anjob'al, Q'eqchi'), CTB eBooks with audio content for bilingual education, and the Practical Roadmap providing step-by-step guidance for other communities. The project also offers a Language Identification Tool, Linguistic Map of Guatemala, and Codices resources. All software is developed as open-source to ensure sustainable long-term support and community-driven improvements.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• mayanlanguages.wiki: Open-source glossary platform for Mayan languages

Products and services

• Universal Mayan Keyboard for Microsoft Windows A free Windows keyboard application that enables Mayan language speakers to type in their native languages across Microsoft Office and other desktop applications. The layout preserves familiar Spanish keyboard elements while adding special Mayan characters. Available for download from the Microsoft Store.
• Mayan Language Keyboards for Android A suite of mobile keyboard applications for Android devices supporting seven Mayan languages: Akateko, Kaqchikel, K'iche', Mam, Q'anjob'al, Q'eqchi', and a Universal Mayan Keyboard. Enables native speakers to write in their languages on mobile devices.
• Open Source Glossary (mayanlanguages.wiki) A wiki-based open-source glossary platform where community members contribute and access Mayan language terms, definitions, and translations with audio pronunciation. Supports multiple Mayan languages including K'iche', Kaqchikel, Mam, Q'eqchi', and Q'anjob'al.
• CTB eBooks Digital educational books created for the Centro Tecnológico Bilingüe (CTB) school in Tucurú, Guatemala. The eBooks include stories, poems, and fables written by Q'eqchi' language students, featuring illustrated audio content and text in Q'eqchi'.
• Practical Roadmap for Indigenous Language Digitization A practical, checklist-driven guide providing step-by-step instructions for communities building digital language tools with limited resources. Centers on ethics and data sovereignty as core principles and serves as the foundation for a self-serve portal under UNESCO's International Decade of Indigenous Languages.
• Language Identification Tool A tool that helps identify which Mayan language a user is working with or attempting to translate, developed in partnership with MasterWord Services.

Quantifiable outcome

• First native Kaqchikel speaker addressed UNESCO conference entirely in ancestral language (February 2025)
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• MasterWord Services, Inc.coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary sponsor and supporter providing technology and expertise. Language services company and partner organization of UNESCO's International Decade of Indigenous Languages. Facilitates the project through MasterWord Institute, providing the platform and resources for the open-source initiative.
• UNESCO (International Decade of Indigenous Languages)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProject launched in alignment with UNESCO's International Decade of Indigenous Languages (IDIL 2022-2032). Creation of self-service portal under UNESCO framework to unify global efforts. Partner organization status supporting the roadmap as a resource for all communities.
• Editorial CholsamajcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPublisher in Guatemala since 1990 dedicated to preserving Maya culture. Community partner providing materials in Kaqchikel language. Name means 'coming together to work' in Kaqchikel, reflecting commitment to collective language preservation efforts.
• Centro Tecnológico Bilingüe (CTB)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBilingual school in San Miguel, Tucurú, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala providing education in Q'eqchi' and Spanish. Implemented Mayan language digital tools and eBooks with audio pronunciation. Student-created content in Q'eqchi' language demonstrating practical application of project resources.
• Xnaq'tzb'il Maya PoqomamminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFacebook-based community learning Maya Poqomam language since 2014. Partner providing digital language learning materials and resources in Poqomam language for community members.
• LT4All (Language Technologies for All)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerConference where project advisory board member Baldomero Cuma Chavez delivered the first Kaqchikel language presentation at a UNESCO global conference in Paris, France (February 2025).
• University of Utah - Kahlert School of ComputingminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvides student interns from its Computing program who contribute to software development for the project. First intern cohort joined June 7, 2024.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Mozilla Common Voice: Mozilla Common Voice is an open-source initiative crowdsourcing voice data across languages to power speech recognition. It overlaps with MLPP in open-source methodology and in building community-contributed language data assets (the kind of audio corpora that MLPP's talking glossaries begin to seed).
• Masakhane: Masakhane is a community-driven open-source NLP initiative building machine translation and language technologies for African languages. It is directly comparable in open-source, volunteer/community-led philosophy and in developing low-resource language MT, making it the closest methodological and structural peer to MLPP's emerging NMT work.
• Endangered Languages Project: The Endangered Languages Project is a Google-hosted collaborative platform cataloguing endangered languages and connecting communities with resources for revitalization. It directly competes in the Indigenous/endangered-language information space and shares MLPP's mission of supporting community-led documentation, though it lacks MLPP's specific keyboard/tool output.
• FirstVoices: FirstVoices is an Indigenous-led language technology platform that provides keyboards, dictionaries, and learning resources for over 60 Indigenous languages in Canada and beyond. It is the closest direct peer to MLPP in mission, product category (keyboards + glossary apps), and community-led Indigenous-language preservation approach.

Broad incumbents

• Babbel: Babbel is a major commercial language-learning subscription platform. It is comparable as a digital language-learning incumbent, though it does not address endangered Indigenous languages and operates on a paid consumer model opposite to MLPP's free, community-led approach.
• Google Translate: Google Translate is the dominant machine-translation platform globally and the primary incumbent that MLPP's forthcoming Mayan-language NMT effort would compete against. It is comparable as a digital translation infrastructure provider, though it does not currently serve Mayan languages at production quality.
• Duolingo: Duolingo is the largest consumer language-learning platform globally. It operates in the broader language-learning and digital-accessibility space that overlaps with MLPP's mission, but serves mass-market European and major global languages rather than endangered Indigenous languages.
• MasterWord Services, Inc. MasterWord Services is a Houston-based commercial language services company that sponsors and hosts the Mayan Languages Preservation Project. It is comparable as a language-services operating company with Indigenous-language capabilities and provides the institutional platform behind MLPP, while operating much more broadly in translation, interpretation, and localization services.

Others

• Transparent Language: Transparent Language provides commercial language-learning software and Critical Languages content for governments and institutions. It is comparable as an adjacent commercial language-technology provider with some Indigenous and critical-language content, but is not community-led and operates primarily in paid enterprise/government channels.
• Ethnologue: Ethnologue is the leading reference catalogue of the world's languages, providing authoritative data on speaker populations and language status. It is comparable as adjacent infrastructure that informs Indigenous-language initiatives like MLPP, but does not produce keyboard, MT, or community-collaboration tools itself.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/Mayan-Languages-Preservation-Project-61564019233483
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mayan-languages-preservation-project
• Instagraminstagram.com/mayanlanguages

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Mayan Languages Preservation and Digitization Project