Mazatecan languages: Difference between revisions

The Mazatecan languages are a closely related group of indigenous Mesoamerican languages spoken in the northern part of the state of Oaxaca in southern Mexico, and in some communities in the states of Puebla and Veracruz. They are classified, linguistically, as a division of the Popolocan family of the Oto-Manguean language family. They are called Mazatec in English, Mazatèque in French, Mazateco in Spanish. Under the "Law of Linguistic Rights" they are recognized as "national languages" along with the other indigenous languages of Mexico and Spanish.

Like other Oto-manguean languages, the Mazatecan languages are tonal. Because tone is so important in the phonology of the language, these languages are particularly well suited to be whistled.

The name Mazateco is an exonym and comes from Nahuatl, meaning "deer people". The Mazatec people refer to themselves in their own language(s) as Ha shuta Enima (or other variants), meaning approximately "workers of the mountains, humble people of custom".^[1]

The ISO 639-3 standard enumerates eight Mazatecan languages. They are named after the villages they are spoken in:

• Huautla Mazatec (50,000 speakers. The prestige variety of Mazatec, and what is normally meant by Mazateco.)
• Ayautla Mazatec (3500 speakers in San Bartolome Ayautla. Quite similar to Huautla.)
• Mazatlán Mazatec (13,000 speakers in Mazatlán and surrounding villages. Somewhat similar to Huautla.)
• Eloxochitlán Mazatec (aka Jeronimo Mazatec; 34,000 speakers in San Jerónimo Tecóatl, San Lucas Zoquiapan, Santa Cruz Acatepec, San Antonio Eloxochitlán, and many other villages. Somewhat similar to Huautla.)
• Ixcatlán Mazatec (11,000 speakers in San Pedro Ixcatlan, Chichicazapa, and Nuevo Ixcatlan. Somewhat divergent from Huautla.)
• Jalapa Mazatec (16,000 speakers in San Felipe Jalapa de Díaz. Quite similar to Ixcatlán.)
• Chiquihuitlán Mazatec (2500 speakers in San Juan Chiquihuitlán. Quite divergent from other varieties.)
• Soyaltepec Mazatec (23,000 speakers in San Maria Jacaltepec and San Miguel Soyaltepec. Extremely divergent from other varieties.)

Studies of mutual intelligibility between certain Mazatec-speaking communities revealed that some understand as little as 35% with others,^[2] so that literacy programs must recognize local standards. The Huautla–Ayautla, Mazatlán, and Eloxochitlán varieties are all relatively close, with Jalapa–Ixcatlán being somewhat more distant. Chiquihuitlán is divergent, and Soyaltepec the most distinct Mazatec language of all. In 2005 there were 206,559 speakers of Mazatecan languages according to INEGI. Approximately 80% of these speakers know and use Spanish for some purposes. However, many Mazatec children know little or no Spanish when they enter school.

Mazatecan-language programming is carried by the CDI's radio station XEOJN, based in San Lucas Ojitlán, Oaxaca.

A collection of Bible stories is published in Mazatec by Jehovah's Witnesses and distributed in audio form by internet. [1]

• Mazateco Rosetta Project Entry
• SIL Ethnologue entry for the Mazatecan Languages
• Mazatec Languages - Some notes on two of the Mazatecan dialects plus numbers in three others.
• Eloxochitlán Mazatec ('Én Ngixó)
• Bible Stories in Mazatec
• Bible texts translated into Mazatec in PDF and MP3 (ISO 693-3 maa, maj, maq, vmy)