Awakatek is a Mayan language spoken in Guatemala, primarily in Huehuetenango and around Aguacatán. It is a living language with some 18,000 speakers. Awakatek is closely related to Ixil and the two languages together form the sub-branch Ixilean, which together with the Mamean languages, Mam and Tektitek, form a sub-branch Greater-Mamean, which again, together with the Greater-Quichean languages, ten Mayan languages, including K'iche', form the branch Quichean–Mamean. The Awakatek people themselves refer to their language as qa'yol, literally meaning our word.