Kaqchikel Maya Hearts
Throughout history, the heart has long captivated attention. From heartbreak to heart attacks, there is a range of conditions deriving from the heart, encompassing a wide array of physiological and emotional states. Turning our attention to language, the heart is often used in emotional health expressions. However, moving beyond Western contexts, the heart can also provide a framework to situate and understand the human experience in the world, and express mental and emotional health.
In English, it is perhaps not surprising that the heart linguistically finds its way into a number of idiomatic expressions. As Kenneth Beare explains in his work with ESL (English as a Second Language) learners, some key examples in English that come to mind include:
- Eat your heart out = To be jealous or envious of someone else
- Follow your heart = To do what you believe is right.
- Get at the heart of the matter = To discuss the main issue or concern
- Pour one’s heart out = To confess or confide in someone
- Know something by heart = To have something memorized
- Take heart = To have courage
Thinking beyond Anglophone contexts, the heart also plays a prominent role linguistically and culturally in a variety of other languages.
Turning our attention to the Kaqchikel Maya language, one of 24 Indigenous languages still spoken in Guatemala today, its speakers weave expressions of the heart, the “k’uxaj,” into their ceremonial and informal speech. With more than 500,000 speakers of this Indigenous language in the Highlands of this Central American country, there is a diverse array of idiomatic expressions of the heart.
The prevalence of the heart in Kaqchikel can be attributed to the fact that Maya languages feature anthropomorphism, which occurs when objects are attributed with human characteristics. For instance, a common metaphor in ceremonial language is “ruk’u’x kaj, ruk’u’x ulew,” which literally translates as “the heart of the sky, the heart of the land.” A dualism used to holistically invoke the universe, this expression frequently appears in the poetic verse of the Popol Wuj, the foundational text of the Maya K’iche’ that details Maya creation and their genealogy. Consequently, the expression in Kaqchikel that refers to Kaqchikel spirituality, and its practices surrounding the 260-day calendar (Cholq’ij) and the ancestors is known as Nimab’äl K’u’x.
In addition to ceremonial speech, the heart is also used to signal location, denoting that something or someone is at the center. For example, a common, colloquial expression is “ruk’u’x tinamït.” Though it literally translates as “the heart of town,” speakers understand that this phrase refers to the center of town, or downtown.
And of course, there are also a number of expressions relating to the heart that describe affective, emotional states. To communicate that one is bored, a speaker could say, “nik’o nuk’u’x” or “nq’ax nuk’u’x.” Both expressions literally translate as “my heart passes, or crosses over,” colloquially signaling boredom.
In Maya cultural contexts of the Guatemalan Highlands, mental health is also associated with the heart. This is an altogether different approach from Western traditions, which generally posits mental health as a science of the mind. Following that logic, in Kaqchikel, when one is happy, literally speaking, their heart is happy: “Nkikot ruk’u’x.” And in times of sadness, their heart is sad: “Nb’ison ruk’u’x.”
To speak of depression, Kaqchikels do not conceptualize this as mental health, but rather as extreme sadness in the heart: “K’o b’is pa ruk’u’x” (There is sadness in his/her heart). Another way to express this serious melancholy is to say, “K’o q’axomal pa ruk’u’x” (There is pain in his/her heart). To combat this, in difficult times it is common to use the command form to encourage someone to “Taqukub’a ak’u’x,” or to console your heart, making their heart more tranquil or peaceful.
As we reflect on the human experience, let us not forget the myriad ways that distinct cultures understand their hearts. In this context, languages like Kaqchikel Maya offer us with powerful tools to convey the cultural significance of hearts, as gateways to understanding and melding our emotional and mental health.
Featured Image by Albarubescens, 7 February 2018, Wikimedia Commons
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