One way to recognize Maya languages from Spanish without that much familiarity with either is that /ʃ/ (English "sh") is a common sound in all Maya languages bu

One way to recognize Maya languages from Spanish without that much familiarity with either is that /ʃ/ (English "sh") is a common sound in all Maya languages but not present in Spanish (except Rioplatense Spanish). Also Maya languages make a lot of use of ejective consonants like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dental_and_alveolar_ejectives https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dental_and_alveolar_ejectives https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alveolar_ejective_affricate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alveolar_ejective_affricate