Oto-Manguean languages

{{Short description|Language family of Mesoamerica}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}} {{Infobox language family | name = Oto-Manguean | region = Currently [[Mexico]]; previously [[Mesoamerica]] and [[Central America]] | familycolor = oto-manguean | family = One of the world's primary [[language family|language families]] | child1 = [[Oto-Pamean languages|Oto-Pamean]] | child2 = [[Chinantecan languages|Chinantecan]] | child3 = [[Supanecan languages|Tlapanecan]] | child4 = [[Manguean languages|Manguean]] † | child5 = [[Popolocan languages|Popolocan]] | child6 = [[Zapotecan languages|Zapotecan]] | child7 = ''[[Amuzgo language|Amuzgo]]'' | child8 = [[Mixtecan languages|Mixtecan]] | iso5 = omq | glotto = otom1299 | glottorefname = Otomanguean | map = Precontact Otomanguean.svg | mapcaption = Pre-contact distribution of the Oto-Manguean languages in Mexico and Central America | ancestor = | glottoname = | notes = | map2 = Otomanguean Languages.png | mapcaption2 = The Oto-Manguean languages within Mexico. }} The '''Oto-Manguean''' or '''Otomanguean''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|oʊ|t|oʊ|ˈ|m|æ|ŋ|ɡ|iː|ən}} {{respell|OH|to|MANG|ghee|ən}}) languages are a large family comprising several subfamilies of [[indigenous languages of the Americas]]. All of the Oto-Manguean languages that are now spoken are indigenous to [[Mexico]], but the [[Manguean languages|Manguean]] branch of the family, which is now [[extinct language|extinct]], was spoken as far south as [[Nicaragua]] and [[Costa Rica]]. Oto-Manguean is widely viewed as a proven [[language family]].

The highest number of speakers of Oto-Manguean languages today is in the [[Mexican state]] of [[Oaxaca]], where the two largest branches, the [[Zapotecan languages|Zapotecan]] and the [[Mixtecan languages]], are spoken by almost 1.5 million people combined. In central Mexico, particularly in the states of [[Mexico (state)|Mexico]], [[Hidalgo (Mexico)|Hidalgo]], and [[Querétaro]], the languages of the Oto-Pamean branch are spoken: the [[Otomi language|Otomi]] and the closely-related [[Mazahua language|Mazahua]] have over 500,000 speakers combined. In the linguistic world of [[Mesoamerica]], the Otomanguean family stands out as the most diverse and extensively distributed.

Some Oto-Manguean languages are moribund or highly endangered; for example, both [[Ixcatec language|Ixcatec]] and [[Matlatzinca language|Matlatzinca]] have fewer than 250 speakers, most of whom are elderly. Other languages, particularly of the Manguean branch, which was spoken outside Mexico, have become [[extinct language|extinct]]; they included the [[Chiapanec language]], which was declared extinct after 1990. Others, such as [[Subtiaba language|Subtiaba]], which was most closely related to [[Tlapanec language|Me'phaa]] (Tlapanec), have been extinct longer and are known only from early-20th-century descriptions.

The Oto-Manguean language family is the most diverse and most geographically-widespread language family that is represented in [[Mesoamerican languages|Mesoamerica]]. The internal diversity is comparable with that of [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]], and the Proto-Oto-Manguean language is estimated to have been spoken sometime before 2000 BCE.<ref name="Kaufman & Justeson 2009:227">Kaufman & Justeson 2009:227</ref> That means that at least for the past 4,000 years, Oto-Manguean languages have co-existed with the other languages of [[Mesoamerica]] and have developed so many traits in common with them that they are now seen as part of a [[Sprachbund]], called the [[Mesoamerican Linguistic Area]].

However, Oto-Manguean also stands out from the other language families of Mesoamerica in several features. It is the only language family in [[North America]], Mesoamerica, and [[Central America]] whose members are all [[tonal languages]]. It also stands out by having a much more [[analytic language|analytic]] structure than other Mesoamerican languages. Another typical trait of Oto-Manguean is that its members almost all show VSO ([[verb–subject–object]]) basic order of clausal constituents.

==Overview== {{Further|List of Oto-Manguean languages}} <div align=center> {| class="wikitable toc" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=2 width=100% style="float:center; margin: 0.5em 0.5em 0.5em 1em; padding: 0.5e text-align:left;clear:all; margin-left:3px; font-size:90%" |colspan=6 style="background:#black; color:white; font-size:120%" align=center bgcolor="black"|''' Genealogical classification of Oto-Manguean languages''' |- | style="background:#CFCFCF;color:black;" align=center width=20% | '''Family''' | colspan=3 style="background:#CFCFCF;color:black;" align=center width=35% | '''Groups''' | style="background:#CFCFCF;color:black;" align=center width=15% | '''Languages''' | style="background:#CFCFCF;color:black;" align=center width=30% | '''Where spoken and approximate number of speakers''' |- | rowspan=21 style="background:#e9e9e9;color:black;" | '''Oto-Manguean languages''' | rowspan=10 style="background:#EFEFEF;color:black;" | '''Western Oto-Mangue ''' | rowspan=6 style="background:#EFEFEF;color:black;" | '''Oto-Pame–Chinantecan''' | rowspan=5 style="background:#EFEFEF;color:black;" | '''[[Oto-Pamean languages|Oto-Pamean]]''' | style="background:white;color:black;" | [[Otomi language|Otomi]] (Hñähñu) (several varieties) | style="background:white;color:black;" | Central Mexico (c. 212,000) |- | style="background:white;color:black;" | [[Mazahua language|Mazahua]] (Hñatho) | style="background:white;color:black;" | [[Mexico (state)]] (c. 150,000) |- | style="background:white;color:black;" | [[Matlatzinca languages|Matlatzincan]] | style="background:white;color:black;" | [[Mexico (state)]]. Two varieties: [[Ocuiltec language|Ocuiltec–Tlahuica]] (c. 450) and [[Matlatzinca language|Matlatzinca de San Francisco]] (c. 1,200) |- | style="background:white;color:black;" | [[Pame language|Pame]] | style="background:white;color:black;" | [[San Luis Potosí]]. Three varieties: Southern Pame (no speakers), Central Pame (c. 5,000), Northern Pame (c. 5,000). |- | style="background:white;color:black;" | [[Chichimeca Jonaz language|Chichimeca Jonaz]] | style="background:white;color:black;" | [[Guanajuato]], [[San Luis Potosí]] (c. 1,500) |- |style="background:#EFEFEF;color:black;" | '''[[Chinantecan languages|Chinantecan]]''' | style="background:white;color:black;" | [[Chinantec]] (around 10 variants) | style="background:white;color:black;" | northern [[Oaxaca]] and southern [[Veracruz]], (c. 224,000) |- | rowspan=4 style="background:#EFEFEF;color:black;" | '''Tlapanec–Mangue''' | rowspan=2 style="background:#EFEFEF;color:black;" |'''[[Supanecan languages|Tlapanecan]]''' | style="background:white;color:black;" | [[Tlapanec language|Tlapanec]] (Me'phaa) | style="background:white;color:black;" | [[Guerrero]] (c. 75,000) |- | style="background:white;color:black;" | [[Subtiaba language|Subtiaba]] '''(†)''' | style="background:white;color:black;" | [[Nicaragua]] |- | rowspan=2 style="background:#EFEFEF;color:black;" | '''[[Manguean languages|Manguean]]''' | style="background:white;color:black;" | [[Chiapanec language|Chiapanec]] '''(†)''' | style="background:white;color:black;" | [[Chiapas]] |- | style="background:white;color:black;" | [[Mangue language|Mangue]] '''(†)''' | style="background:white;color:black;" | [[Nicaragua]] |- | rowspan=10 style="background:#EFEFEF;color:black;" | '''Eastern Oto-Mangue''' | rowspan=6 style="background:#EFEFEF;color:black;" | '''Popolocan–Zapotecan''' | rowspan=4 style="background:#EFEFEF;color:black;" | '''[[Popolocan languages|Popolocan]]''' | style="background:white;color:black;" | [[Mazatecan languages|Mazatec]] | style="background:white;color:black;" | north-eastern [[Oaxaca]] and [[Veracruz]] (c. 206,000) |- | style="background:white;color:black;" | [[Ixcatec language|Ixcatec]] | style="background:white;color:black;" | northern [[Oaxaca]] (2) |- | style="background:white;color:black;" | [[Chocho language|Chocho]] | style="background:white;color:black;" | northern [[Oaxaca]] (< 850) |- | style="background:white;color:black;" | [[Popoloca languages|Popoloca]] | style="background:white;color:black;" | Southern [[Puebla]], (c. 17,000) |- | rowspan=2 style="background:#EFEFEF;color:black;" | '''[[Zapotecan languages|Zapotecan]]''' | style="background:white;color:black;" | [[Zapotec languages|Zapotec]] (around 50 variants) | style="background:white;color:black;" | Central and eastern Oaxaca (c. 490,000) |- | style="background:white;color:black;" | [[Chatino language|Chatino]] (around 5 variants) | style="background:white;color:black;" | Oaxaca (c. 23,000) |- | rowspan=4 style="background:#EFEFEF;color:black;" | '''Amuzgo–Mixtecan'''<ref>Evidence for this grouping has never been published.</ref> | style="background:#EFEFEF;color:black;" | '''[[Amuzgoan languages|Amuzgoan]]''' | style="background:white;color:black;" |[[Amuzgo language|Amuzgo]] (around 4 variants) | style="background:white;color:black;" | Oaxaca and Guerrero (c. 44,000) |- | rowspan=3 style="background:#EFEFEF;color:black;" | '''[[Mixtecan languages|Mixtecan]]''' | style="background:white;color:black;" | [[Mixtec language|Mixtec]] (around 30 variants) | style="background:white;color:black;" | central, southern and western [[Oaxaca]]; southern [[Puebla]] and eastern [[Guerrero]] (c. 511,000) |- | style="background:white;color:black;" | [[Cuicatec language|Cuicatec]] | style="background:white;color:black;" | Cuicatlán, [[Oaxaca]], (c. 13,000) |- | style="background:white;color:black;" | [[Trique language|Trique]] (also called Triqui) | style="background:white;color:black;" | western [[Oaxaca]] (c. 30,000) |} </div>

==History of classification== ===Internal classification and reconstruction=== A genetic relationship between Zapotecan and Mixtecan was first proposed by [[Manuel Orozco y Berra]] in 1864; he also included Cuicatec, Chocho, and Amuzgo in his grouping. In 1865, Pimentel added Mazatec, Popoloca, Chatino, and Chinantec and also posed a separate group of Pame, Otomi and Mazahua, the beginning of the Oto-Pamean sub-branch. [[Daniel Brinton]]'s classification of 1891 added Matlatzinca and Chichimeca Jonaz to Pimentel's Oto-Pamean group, which had not yet become known by that name, and he reclassified some languages of the previously-included languages of the Oaxacan group.{{Clarify|date=March 2011}} In 1920, Walther Lehmann included the Chiapanec–Mangue languages and correctly established the major subgroupings of the Oaxacan group. In 1926, Schmidt coined the name "Otomi–Mangue" for a group consisting of the Oto-Pamean and the Chiapanec–Mangue languages. The Oto-Pamean and the Main Oaxacan groups were not joined into one family until [[Edward Sapir]]'s classification in 1929, which included them in the [[Hokan languages]].

In the 1950s, reconstructive work began to be done on individual Oto-Manguean language groups. Proto-Oto-Pamean was reconstructed by [[Doris Bartholomew]], Proto-Zapotecan by [[Morris Swadesh]], and Proto-Chiapanec–Mangue by Fernández de Miranda and Roberto Weitlaner. The classification by Campbell (1997) was the first to present a unified view of the Oto-Manguean languages. In 1981, William Merrifield published a reconstruction of the [[kinship terminology|kinship terminologies]] of each of the Oto-Manguean branches and of Proto-Oto-Manguean. Unpublished reconstructions of Proto-Oto-Manguean grammar have also been made by [[Terrence Kaufman]].<ref>Kaufman & Justeson 2009. (<br />Kaufman, Terrence, 1983 New Perspectives on Comparative Otomanguean Phonology. Excerpts presented at the 82nd Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Chicago, 1983. Complete manuscript on file, Department of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh. <br />1988 Otomangean Tense/Aspect/Mood, Voice, and Nominalization Markers. Manuscript on file, Department of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh.)</ref>

In spite of the lack of a full published reconstruction of Proto-Oto-Manguean, the language family has now been widely accepted by specialists, including [[Lyle Campbell]], Terrence Kaufman, and [[William Poser]]. Campbell and Poser, writing in 2008, concluded, "Tlapanec-Subtiaba proved not to belong to 'Hokan' as postulated by Sapir (1925a), but to be a branch of Otomanguean...." Nonetheless, a few studies have retained the inclusion in Hokan, particularly [[Joseph Greenberg]]'s widely-rejected 1987 classification,<ref>Greenberg 1987</ref> as well as its derivative works by [[Merritt Ruhlen]].<ref>Greenberg & Ruhlen 2008</ref> Writing in 1988, Leonardo Manrique still listed Tlapanec-Mangue as an isolated family.<ref>[http://www-01.sil.org/MEXICO/workpapers/WP013-PDF/MephaaBibliografia_Public.pdf Marlett, Stephen. 2013. "Bibliografia del Me'phaa", SIL]{{Dead link|date=April 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

The status of the [[Amuzgo language]] as part of the Mixtecan group or as forming its own branch from the Proto-Oto-Manguean node has been discussed by Longacre, who argued for the latter,<ref>Longacre 1966</ref> but the most currently-accepted classification by [[Lyle Campbell]] (1997) follows Kaufman in considering Amuzgo to be a branch of Mixtecan. Swadesh (1960) and Rensch included the [[Huave language]] as a separate branch within Oto-Manguean, but the inclusion has proved to be untenable, as most of the cognates were loanwords from Zapotec. Huave is now considered a [[language isolate]].<ref>Campbell 1997:161</ref>

Longacre (1968) considered Oto-Manguean to be among the most extensively-studied language families of the world, with a level of reconstruction rivaling the [[Indo-European family]] in completeness, but Kaufman and Justeson (2009) reject that and lament the rudimentary reconstruction of Proto-Oto-Manguean lexicon (only c. 350 items have been reconstructed) and grammar. They call for a redoubling of the effort to document and reconstruct several important branches that have received little attention: principally Mixtecan, Popolocan, and Oto-Pamean.

Brown (2015) evaluated the evidence that has been assembled in support of Oto-Manguean. He points out that vocabulary reconstructed for Proto-Oto-Manguean is not supported by regular sound correspondences. While scholars, including Swadesh, Rensch, and Kaufman, have all reconstructed Proto-Oto-Manguean words, none has done so with the benefit of detailed sound correspondences, which makes Brown argue that their reconstructions, as well as Oto-Manguean itself, are called into question. Nevertheless, he suggests that Oto-Manguean as a Sprachbund (language diffusion area) is a reasonable alternative hypothesis to the proposal of Oto-Manguean as a language family.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Campbell|first=Eric W.|title=Otomanguean historical linguistics: Past, present, and prospects for the future'|journal=Language and Linguistics Compass|volume= 11|issue=4|article-number=e12240|doi=10.1111/lnc3.12240 |year=2017|url=https://zenodo.org/record/895779}}</ref>

{{clade |label1=Oto-Manguean |1={{clade |label1=Western OM |label2=Eastern OM |1={{clade |label1=[[Oto-Pamean languages|Oto-Pamean]] |label2=Tlapanec–Mangue |1={{clade |1={{clade |label1=[[Otomian languages|Otomian]] |1={{clade |1=[[Otomi language|Otomi]] |2=[[Mazahua language|Mazahua]] }} |2=[[Matlatzinca language|Matlatzinca]] |3=[[Chichimeca language|Chichimeca]] (Jonaz) |4=[[Pame language|Pamean]] }} |2=[[Chinantecan languages|Chinantec]] }} |2={{clade |label1=[[Supanecan languages|Tlapanecan]] |1={{clade |1=[[Tlapanec language|Tlapanec]] |2=[[Subtiaba language|Subtiaba]] }} |2=[[Manguean languages|Manguean]] }} }} |2={{clade |1={{clade |label1=[[Popolocan languages|Popolocan]] |1={{clade |1={{clade |1=[[Chochotec|Chocho]] |2=[[Popoloca languages|Popoloca]] }} |2=[[Ixcatec language|Ixcatec]] |3=[[Mazatecan languages|Mazatecan]] }} |2=[[Zapotecan languages|Zapotecan]] }} |label2=? |2={{clade |1=[[Amuzgo language|Amuzgo]] |label2=[[Mixtecan languages|Mixtecan]] |2={{clade |1=[[Mixtec languages|Mixtec]] |2=[[Trique languages|Trique]] |3=[[Cuicatec languages|Cuicatec]] }} }} }} }} }}

===Inclusion in macro-family hypotheses=== Some early classifications, such as that by Brinton, considered that Oto-Manguean languages might be related to [[Chinese language|Chinese]] because its languages, like Chinese, were tonal and mostly monosyllabic. That idea was quickly abandoned as it was discovered that tonal languages are common, and advances in the historical study of Chinese were made, including the discovery that [[Old Chinese]] was non-tonal.<ref>Campbell 1997:157</ref>

Edward Sapir included Subtiaba–Tlapanec in his [[Hokan languages|Hokan]] phylum but did not classify the other Oto-Manguean languages in his famous 1929 classification. In his 1960 classification, [[Joseph Greenberg]] considered Oto-Manguean so aberrant from other Native American languages that it was the only accepted family (aside from the [[Purépecha language|Purépecha]] isolate), which he made a primary branch of his [[Amerind languages|Amerind]] family. However, in his 1987 revision, Greenberg linked it with [[Aztec-Tanoan]] in a "Central Amerind" branch, apart from Tlapanec, which, although it had been unequivocally linked to Oto-Manguean, he continued to classify as Hokan.<ref>Campbell 1997:211</ref>

No hypothesis including Oto-Manguean in any higher-level unit has been able to withstand scrutiny.

==Prehistory== The Oto-Manguean family has existed in southern Mexico at least since 2000 BCE and probably several thousand years earlier,<ref>Kaufman & Justeson 2009</ref> and some estimates using the controversial method of [[glottochronology]] suggest an approximate splitting date of Proto-Otomanguean at c. 4400 BCE.<ref name="Campbell 1997, p.159">Campbell (1997, p. 159)</ref> That makes the Oto-Manguean family the language family of the Americas with the deepest time depth, as well as the oldest language family with evidence of tonal contrast in the proto-language.{{sfn|Sicoli|2005|p=797}}

The Oto-Manguean [[Urheimat]] has been thought to be in the [[Tehuacán]] [[Tehuacán Valley matorral|Valley]] in connection with one of the earliest neolithic cultures of [[Mesoamerica]], and although it is now unsure whether Tehuacán was the original home of the Proto-Otomanguean people, it is agreed that the Tehuacán culture (5000 BCE–2300 BCE) was likely made up of Oto-Mangue speakers.<ref name="Campbell 1997, p.159"/>

The long history of the Oto-Manguean family has resulted in considerable linguistic diversity between the branches of the family. [[Terrence Kaufman]] compares the diversity between the main branches of Oto-Manguean with that between the main branches of [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]].<ref name="Kaufman & Justeson 2009:227"/> Kaufman also proposes that Oto-Manguean languages are an important candidate for being the source of many of the traits that have diffused into the other [[Mesoamerican languages|languages]] in the [[Mesoamerican linguistic area]].

Oto-Mangue-speakers have been among the earliest to form highly complex cultures of [[Mesoamerica]]. The archeological site of [[Monte Albán]], with remains dated as early as 1000 BCE, is believed to have been in continuous use by [[Zapotec civilization|Zapotecs]]. The undeciphered [[Zapotec script]] is one of the earliest forms of Mesoamerican writing.

Other Mesoamerican cultural centers that may have been wholly or partly Oto-Manguean include the late classical sites of [[Xochicalco]], which may have been built by [[Matlatzinca people|Matlatzincas]], and [[Cholula (Mesoamerican site)|Cholula]], which may have been inhabited by Manguean peoples. Some akso propose an Oto-Pamean presence in [[Teotihuacán]]. The Zapotecs are among the candidates to have invented the first [[Mesoamerican writing systems|writing system of Mesoamerica]], and during the Post-Classic period, the Mixtecs were prolific artisans and codex painters. During the Post-Classic period, the Oto-Manguean cultures of Central Mexico became marginalized by the intruding [[Nahua peoples|Nahuas]], and some like the Chiapanec–Mangue speakers, went south into Guerrero, Chiapas and Central America, and others such as the [[Otomi people|Otomi]] relocated from their ancient homes in the Valley of Mexico to the less fertile highlands on the rim of the valleys.

==Geography and demographics== {{See also|List of Oto-Manguean languages}}

===Western branch=== ====Oto-Pamean==== {{Main|Oto-Pamean languages}} [[File:Otomi speakers.png|250px|right|thumb|Map of the different dialect areas of Otomí in central Mexico]] The languages of the [[Oto-Pamean languages|Oto-Pamean]] branch are spoken in central and western Mexico. The group includes the Otomian languages: [[Otomi language|Otomi]], which is spoken primarily in the states of [[Estado de México|Mexico]], [[Hidalgo (state)|Hidalgo]], [[Puebla]], and [[Veracruz]] (c. 293,000 speakers); [[Mazahua language|Mazahua]], which is spoken in the western part of the State of Mexico (c. 350,000 speakers); and the endangered [[Matlatzincan languages]] including [[Matlatzinca language|Matlatzinca]] (c. 1000 speakers in the town of [[San Francisco Oxtotilpan]]) and [[Tlahuica]] (also called Ocuilteco) (c. 400 speakers in the municipio of [[Ocuilan]]) both spoken in the State of Mexico; And the Pamean group composed of the two living [[Pame languages]] of [[San Luís Potosí]], Northern Pame being spoken in communities from the north of [[Río Verde (San Luis Potosi)|Río Verde]] on the border with [[Tamaulipas]] (c. 5500 speakers),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=pmq |title=Northern Pame |website=Ethnologue.com |access-date=21 February 2026}}</ref> and Central Pame spoken in the town of Santa María Acapulco (c. 4000 speakers),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=pbs |title=Central Pame |website=Ethnologue.com |access-date=21 February 2026}}</ref> the extinct Southern Pame language, and the [[Chichimeca Jonaz language]] spoken in Misión de Chichimecas near [[San Luis de la Paz]], in the state of [[Guanajuato]] (c. 200 speakers).

Otomi is traditionally described as a single language although not all of its many dialects are mutually intelligible. The language classification of the SIL International's ''[[Ethnologue]]'' considers Otomi to be a cover term for nine separate Otomi languages and assigns a different [[International Organization for Standardization|ISO]] code to each of these nine varieties. Currently, Otomi varieties are spoken collectively by c. 239,000 speakers, some 5 to 6 percent of whom are [[monolingual]]. Because of recent migratory patterns, small populations of Otomi speakers can be found in new locations throughout Mexico and in the United States.

The Otomi languages are vigorous in some areas, and children acquire the language through natural transmission (e.g. in the [[Mezquital Valley]] of Hidalgo and in the Highlands). However, three varieties are now considered [[moribund language|moribund]]: those of Ixtenco ([[Tlaxcala]] state), Santiago Tilapa and Acazulco ([[Mexico state]]), and Cruz del Palmar ([[Guanajuato]] state).<ref name=lastra1925>Lastra, ''Unidad y diversidad de la lengua'', pp. 19–25.</ref> In some municipalities, the level of monolingualism in Otomi is as high as 22.3% ([[Huehuetla Municipality, Hidalgo|Huehuetla]], Hidalgo) or 13.1% ([[Texcatepec]], Veracruz). Monolingualism is normally significantly more frequent for women than for men.<ref>INEGI, ''Perfil sociodemográfico'', p. 70.</ref>

====Chinantecan==== The [[Chinantecan languages]] are spoken by c. 93,000 people in Northern Oaxaca and Southern Veracruz in the districts of Cuicatlán, [[Ixtlán de Juárez]], Tuxtepec and Choapan. ''Ethnologue'' recognizes 14 separate varieties, with separate ISO codes.

====Tlapanec–Mangue==== The [[Tlapanec language]] is spoken by c. 75,000 people in [[Guerrero]]. There are four principal varieties, which are named after the communities in which they are spoken: Acatepec, Azoyú, Malinaltepec and Tlacoapa. Recent labor migrations have introduced Tlapanec speaking communities to the state of [[Morelos]]. It was closely related to the [[Subtiaba language]], which was spoken in [[Nicaragua]] but is now extinct.

All [[Manguean languages]] are extinct. They included the [[Mangue language|Mangue]] and [[Chorotega language|Chorotega]] languages, which were spoken in Nicaragua and [[Costa Rica]] in the early 20th century, and the [[Chiapanec language]], which was spoken in [[Chiapas]], [[Mexico]], by a handful of speakers in the 1990s.

===Eastern branch=== ====Popolocan==== The Popolocan language group includes the seven different varieties of [[Popoloca languages|Popoloca]] that are spoken in southern [[Puebla]], near [[Tehuacán, Puebla|Tehuacán]] and [[Tepexi de Rodríguez]] (c. 30,000 speakers), and the closely related [[Chocho language]] (c. 700 speakers) spoken in Northern Oaxaca state, and the 8 different [[Mazatecan languages]] spoken in northern Oaxaca (c. 120,000 speakers), and the nearly extinct [[Ixcatec language]] spoken in [[Santa María Ixcatlán]] (< 8 speakers). The Popolocan languages should not be confused with the languages called [[Popoluca]], which are spoken in [[Veracruz]] and belong to the unrelated [[Mixe–Zoquean languages|Mixe–Zoquean]] language family. The Mazatecan languages are known for their prolific use of [[whistled speech]].

====Zapotecan==== {{Main|Zapotecan languages}} [[File:Zapotecan Languages.png|right|250px|thumb|The location of Zapotec dialect groups within the state of Oaxaca.]] The [[Zapotecan languages|Zapotecan]] subgroup is formed by the [[Zapotec languages]] (c. 785,000 speakers of all varieties) and the related [[Chatino language|Chatino language]] (c. 23,000 speakers). All are traditionally spoken in central and southern Oaxaca, but they have been spread throughout Mexico and even into the United States through recent labor-related migrations.

Zapotec languages and dialects fall into four broad geographic divisions: Zapoteco de la Sierra Norte (Northern Zapotec), Valley Zapotec, Zapoteco de la Sierra Sur (Southern Zapotec), and [[Isthmus Zapotec]]. Northern Zapotec languages are spoken in the mountainous region of [[Oaxaca]], in the Northern Sierra Madre mountain ranges. Southern Zapotec languages and are spoken in the mountainous region of [[Oaxaca]], in the Southern Sierra Madre mountain ranges. Valley Zapotec languages are spoken in the Valley of Oaxaca. Isthmus Zapotec languages are spoken in the [[Isthmus of Tehuantepec]]. ''Ethnologue'' recognizes 57 varieties of Zapotec and 6 varieties of Chatino by distinct ISO codes.

====Mixtecan–Amuzgoan==== {{Main|Mixtecan languages}} [[File:Mixteco y idiomas circundantes.svg|250px|thumb|right|Mixtec languages (in green) and its surrounding languages including Triqui, Cuicatec and Amuzgo within the state of Oaxaca.]] The Mixtecan branch includes the many different mutually-unintelligible varieties of Mixtec, spoken by about 511,000 people, as well as the [[Trique language|Trique]] (or Triqui) languages, spoken by about 24,500 people, and [[Cuicatec language|Cuicatec]], spoken by about 15,000 people.<ref>2000 census; the numbers are based on the number of total population for each group and the percentages of speakers given on the website of the Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indígenas, http://www.cdi.gob.mx/index.php?id_seccion=660 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190915035252/http://www.cdi.gob.mx/index.php?id_seccion=660 |date=15 September 2019}}, accessed 28 July 2008).</ref> The Mixtecan languages are traditionally spoken in the region known as [[La Mixteca]], which is shared by the [[Mexican states]] of [[Oaxaca]], [[Puebla]] and [[Guerrero]]. Because of migration from that region, the Mixtecan languages have expanded to Mexico's main urban areas, particularly the [[State of México]] and the [[Mexican Federal District|Federal District]], to certain agricultural areas such as the [[San Quintín, Baja California|San Quintín]] valley in [[Baja California]] and parts of [[Morelos]] and [[Sonora]], and even into the [[United States]].

The Mixtec language is a complex set of regional varieties, many of which are not mutually intelligible. The varieties are sometimes grouped by geographic area by using designations such as those of the [[Mixteca Alta]], the [[Mixteca Baja]], and the [[Mixteca de la Costa]]. However, the dialects do not actually follow the geographic areas, and the precise historical relationships between the different varieties have not been worked out.<ref>See Josserand (1983) for one important attempt. Adaptations of Josserand's dialect maps are published in Macaulay 1996.</ref> The number of varieties of Mixtec depends in part on what the criteria are for grouping them, of course; at one extreme, government agencies once recognized no dialectal diversity. Mutual intelligibility surveys and local literacy programs have led [[SIL International]] to identify more than [[List of Mixtecan languages|50 varieties]], which have been assigned distinct ISO codes.<ref>[http://www.ethnologue.com/language_index.asp?letter=M "Ethnologue name language index"], ''Ethnologue'' web site, accessed 28 July 2008.</ref>

Four [[Amuzgo language|Amuzgo]] varieties are spoken in the [[Costa Chica of Guerrero|Costa Chica]] region of [[Guerrero]] and [[Oaxaca]] by about 44,000 speakers.<ref>2005 census; {{cite web |url=http://www.inegi.org.mx/est/contenidos/espanol/rutinas/ept.asp?t=mlen10&c=3337 |website=www.inegi.org.mx |title=Estadísticas por tema |lang=es-mx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110809184141/http://www.inegi.org.mx/sistemas/sisept/default.aspx?t=mlen10&c=3337&e= |archive-date=9 Aug 2011 |access-date=2010-07-21 }}</ref> The four varieties recognized by the Mexican government are [[Northern Amuzgo]] (''amuzgo del norte'', commonly known as Guerrero or (from its major town) Xochistlahuaca Amuzgo), Southern Amuzgo (''amuzgo del sur'', heretofore classified as a subdialect of Northern Amuzgo); Upper Eastern Amuzgo (''amuzgo alto del este'', commonly known as Oaxaca Amuzgo or San Pedro Amuzgos Amuzgo); Lower Eastern Amuzgo (''amuzgo bajo del este'', commonly known as Ipalapa Amuzgo). Those varieties are very similar, but there is a significant difference between the western varieties (Northern and Southern) and the eastern varieties (Upper Eastern and Lower Eastern), as revealed by recorded text testing done in the 1970s.<ref>Egland, Bartholomew & Cruz Ramos, 1983:8.</ref>

==Phonology== ===Common phonological traits === All Oto-Manguean languages have [[tone (linguistics)|tone]]: some have only two [[Tone (linguistics)#Register tones and contour tones|level tones]] and others up to five. Many languages also have a number of [[Tone (linguistics)#Register tones and contour tones|contour tones]].

Many Oto-Manguean languages have phonemic vowel [[nasalization]]. Many languages lack [[labial consonants]], particularly stops, and those that have [[labial stops]] normally have them as a reflex of Proto-Oto-Manguean {{IPA|*/kʷ/}}.{{sfn|Sicoli|2005|p=798}}

===Tone systems=== The Oto-Manguean languages have a wide range of tonal systems; some have as many as 10 tone contrasts and others only two. Some languages have a register system that distinguishes tones only by relative pitch. Others have a contour system that also distinguishes tones with gliding pitch. Most, however, are combinations of the register and the contour systems. Tone as a distinguishing feature is entrenched in the structure of the Oto-Manguean languages and is in no way the peripheral phenomenon that it is in other languages that have acquired tone recently or are in a process of losing it.

In most Oto-Manguean languages, tone serves both to distinguish between the meanings of roots and to indicate different grammatical categories. In Chiquihuitlan [[Mazatecan languages|Mazatec]], which has four tones, the following minimal pairs occur: ''cha<sup>1</sup>'' {{IPA|/tʃa˥/}} "I talk", ''cha<sup>2</sup>'' {{IPA|/tʃa˦/}} "difficult", ''cha<sup>3</sup>'' {{IPA|/tʃa˧/}} "his hand" ''cha<sup>4</sup>'' {{IPA|/tʃa˩/}} "he talks".<ref name="Suaréz 1983, p.51">Suaréz (1983, p. 51)</ref>

The language with the most level tones is [[Usila Chinantec]], which has five. [[Trique languages|Chicahuaxtla Trique]] has a similar system.<ref name="Suaréz 1983, p.51"/> [[File:Chinantec.png|250px|center]]

In [[Copala Triqui]], which has a mixed system, only three level tones but five tonal registers are distinguished within the contour tones. [[File:Triquetones.png|350px|center]]

Particularly common in the [[Oto-Pamean languages|Oto-Pamean branch]] are small tonal systems with only two level tones and one contour tone, such as in [[Pame language|Pame]] and [[Otomi language|Otomi]]. Some others like [[Matlatzinca language|Matlatzinca]] and [[Chichimeca Jonaz language|Chichimeca Jonaz]] have only the level tones and no contour. [[File:Twotoneotomangue.png|500px|center]]

In some languages, stress influences tone. For example, in Pame, only stressed syllables have a tonal contrast. In Mazahua, the opposite occurs, and all syllables except the final stressed one distinguish tone. In Tlapanec, stress is determined by the tonal contour of the words. Most languages have systems of [[tone sandhi]] in which the tones of a word or syllable are influenced by other tones in other syllables or words. Chinantec has no sandhi rules, but Mixtec and Zapotec have elaborate systems. For Mazatec, some dialects such as Soyaltepec have elaborate sandhi systems, and others such as Huautla Mazatec do not. Some languages, particularly Mixtecan, also have [[tone terracing]] in which some tones "[[upstep]]" or "[[downstep]]," which causes a rise or drop in pitch level for the entire tonal register in subsequent syllables.

===Whistled speech=== Several Oto-Manguean languages have systems of [[whistled language|whistled speech]] in which whistling the tonal combinations of words and phrases allows information to be transmitted over distances without words being used. Whistled speech is particularly common in Chinantec, Mazatec, and Zapotecan languages.

==Proto-language== {{Infobox proto-language | name = Proto-Oto-Manguean | familycolor = oto-manguean | ancestor = | target = Oto-Manguean languages }}

===Syllable structure=== Proto-Oto-Manguean allowed only open syllables of the structure CV (or {{IPA|CVʔ}}). Syllable-initial consonant clusters were very limited, and only sibilant-CV, CyV, CwV, nasal-CV, ChV, or {{IPA|CʔV}} were usually allowed. Many modern Oto-Manguean languages keep those restrictions in syllable structure, but others, most notably the Oto-Pamean languages, allow both final clusters and long syllable-initial clusters, as in this example, with three initial and three final consonants, from [[Pame language|Northern Pame]]: {{IPA|/nlʔo<sup>2</sup>spt/}} "their houses."<ref>Suárez (1983, p. 41)</ref>

===Phonemes=== The following phonemes are reconstructed for Proto-Oto-Manguean:<ref>Reconstruction follows that given by Kaufman as quoted from Campbell (1997).</ref>

<div style="float:center; margin:0 0 0.5em 1em"> {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" |+ Reconstructed consonant phonemes<br /> of Proto-Oto-Manguean |- ! ! [[Bilabial consonant|Bilabial]] ! [[Dental consonant|Dental]] ! [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]] ! [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]] ! [[Velar consonant|Velar]] ! [[Labialized velar consonant|Labiovelar]] ! [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]] |- ! [[Nasal stop|Nasals]] | *{{IPAlink|m}} | style="background:#e9e9e9;color:black;"| | *{{IPAlink|n}} | style="background:#e9e9e9;color:black;"| | style="background:#e9e9e9;color:black;"| | style="background:#e9e9e9;color:black;"| | style="background:#e9e9e9;color:black;"| |- ! [[Stop consonant|Stop]]s | style="background:#e9e9e9;color:black;"| | style="background:#e9e9e9;color:black;"| | *{{IPAlink|t}} | style="background:#e9e9e9;color:black;"| | *{{IPAlink|k}} | *{{IPAlink|kʷ}} | *{{IPAlink|ʔ}} |- ! [[Affricate]] | style="background:#e9e9e9;color:black;"| | style="background:#e9e9e9;color:black;"| | *{{IPAlink|ts}} | style="background:#e9e9e9;color:black;"| | style="background:#e9e9e9;color:black;"| | style="background:#e9e9e9;color:black;"| | style="background:#e9e9e9;color:black;"| |- ! [[Fricative]]s | style="background:#e9e9e9;color:black;"| | *{{IPAlink|θ}} | *{{IPAlink|s}} | style="background:#e9e9e9;color:black;"| | *{{IPAlink|x}} | *{{IPAlink|xʷ}} | style="background:#e9e9e9;color:black;"| |- ! [[Rhotic consonant|Rhotic]] | style="background:#e9e9e9;color:black;"| | style="background:#e9e9e9;color:black;"| | *{{IPAlink|r}} | style="background:#e9e9e9;color:black;"| | style="background:#e9e9e9;color:black;"| | style="background:#e9e9e9;color:black;"| | style="background:#e9e9e9;color:black;"| |- ! Glides | style="background:#e9e9e9;color:black;"| | style="background:#e9e9e9;color:black;"| | *{{IPAlink|l}} | *{{IPAlink|j}} | style="background:#e9e9e9;color:black;"| | *{{IPAlink|w}} | style="background:#e9e9e9;color:black;"| |} </div> <div style="float:center; margin:0 0 0.5em 1em"> {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" |+ Reconstructed vowel phonemes of Proto–Oto-Manguean |- ! [[Front vowel|Front]] ! [[Central vowel|Central]] ! [[Back vowel|Back]] |- | *{{IPAlink|i}} | style="background:#e9e9e9;color:black;"| | *{{IPAlink|u}} |- | *{{IPAlink|e}} | style="background:#e9e9e9;color:black;"| | *{{IPAlink|o}} |- | style="background:#e9e9e9;color:black;"| | *{{IPAlink|a}} | style="background:#e9e9e9;color:black;"| |} </div>

A reconstruction from Calvin Rensch proposes four tones for Proto-Oto-Manguean.<ref>Rensch (1977, p. 68)</ref> The later, revised reconstruction by [[Terrence Kaufman]]<ref>Quoted from Campbell (1997, p. 157)</ref> contains the following proto-phonemes, which are not included in Rensch's reconstruction: */'''ts'''/, */'''{{IPA|θ}}'''/, */'''{{IPA|x}}'''/, */'''{{IPA|xʷ}}'''/, */'''{{IPA|l}}'''/, */'''{{IPA|r}}'''/, */'''{{IPA|m}}'''/ and */'''{{IPA|o}}'''/. Kaufman also posits the vowel combinations */'''ia'''/, */'''ai'''/, */'''ea'''/, and */'''au'''/.

The Oto-Manguean languages have changed quite a lot from the very spartan phonemic inventory of Proto-Oto-Manguean. Many languages have rich inventories of both vowels and consonants. Many have a full series of fricatives, and some branches (particularly Zapotecan and Chinantecan) distinguish voicing in both stops and fricatives. The voiced series of the Oto-Pamean languages have both fricative and stop allophones. Otomian languages also have a full series of front, central, and back vowels. Some analyses of Mixtecan include a series of voiced prenasalised stops and affricates, which can also be analysed as consonant sequences, but they would be the only consonant clusters known in those languages.

Here are some of the simplest sound changes, which have served to divide the Oto-Manguean languages into sub-branches: :{{IPA|*/t/}} to {{IPA|/tʃ/}} in [[Chatino language|Chatino]] :{{IPA|*/kʷ/}} to {{IPA|/p/}} in [[Manguean languages|Manguean]], [[Oto-Pamean languages|Oto-Pame]], and [[Isthmus Zapotec]] :{{IPA|*/s/}} to {{IPA|/θ/}} in [[Mixtecan languages|Mixtecan]] :{{IPA|*/s/}} to {{IPA|/t/}} in [[Chatino language|Chatino]] :{{IPA|*/w/}} to {{IPA|/o/}} before vowels in [[Oto-Pamean languages|Oto-Pame]] :{{IPA|*/j/}} to {{IPA|/i/}} before vowels in [[Oto-Pamean languages|Oto-Pame]] and [[Amuzgo]]

==Notes== {{Reflist|30em}}

==References== {{Refbegin|indent=yes}} * {{cite journal |last=Bartholomew|first=Doris|author-link=Doris Bartholomew |date=October 1960 |title=Some revisions of Proto-Otomi consonants |journal=International Journal of American Linguistics |volume=26 |issue=4 |pages=317–329 |jstor=1263552|doi=10.1086/464591|s2cid=144874022 }} * {{cite journal|last=Brinton |first=Daniel G.|author-link=Daniel Garrison Brinton|title=Notes on the Mangue; An Extinct Dialect Formerly Spoken in Nicaragua|journal=Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society|volume=23|issue=122|year=1886|pages=238–257}} * {{cite journal |last=Brown |first=Cecil H. |date=2015 |title=Paleobiolinguistics of New World Crops and the Otomanguean Language Family|journal=Ethnobiology Letters|volume=6|issue=1|pages=189–191|doi=10.14237/ebl.6.1.2015.436 |doi-access=free}} * {{cite book |last=Campbell|first=Lyle|author-link=Lyle Campbell |year=1997 |title=American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America (Oxford Studies in Anthropological Linguistics, 4) |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|location= New York |isbn=978-0-19-509427-5}} * {{cite journal|last=Fernández de Miranda|first=Mariá Teresa|author2=Roberto J. Weitlaner|title=Sobre Algunas Relaciones de la Familia Mangue|journal=Anthropological Linguistics|volume=3|issue=7|year=1961|pages=1–99}} * {{cite book|last1=Josserand|first1=J. Kathryn|first2=Marcus|last2=Winter|first3=Nicholas|last3=Hopkins|title=Essays in Otomanguean Culture History|year=1984|publisher=Vanderbilt University Publications in Anthropology|issue=31|location=Nashville, Tennessee}} * {{cite journal|doi=10.1017/S0956536109990113|last1=Kaufman|first1=Terrence|author-link=Terrence Kaufman |year=2009|last2=Justeson|first2=John|title=Historical linguistics and pre-columbian Mesoamerica|journal=Ancient Mesoamerica|volume=20|issue=2|pages=221–231|s2cid=163094506 }} * {{cite book |last=Kaufman|first=Terrence|author-link=Terrence Kaufman|year=2015|title=Early Oto-Mangean homelands and cultures: some premature hypotheses|url=https://www.albany.edu/ims/pdlma/2015%20Publications/Kaufman-Otomangean%20Woerter%20und%20Sachen.pdf|publisher=Project for the Documentation of the Languages of Mesoamerica (PDLMA)}} * {{cite book |last=Longacre|first=Robert E.|author-link=Robert E. Longacre|year=1968 |chapter=Systemic Comparison and Reconstruction |pages=117–159 |title=Handbook of Middle American Indians |volume=5: Linguistics |editor=Norman A. McQuown |editor2=R. Wauchope |editor2-link=Robert Wauchope (archaeologist) |publisher=[[University of Texas Press]] |location=Austin |isbn=978-0-292-73665-8 |oclc=277126}} * {{cite journal|last=Longacre|first=Robert E.|author-link=Robert E. Longacre|title=On Linguistic Affinities of Amuzgo|journal= International Journal of American Linguistics|volume=32|issue=1|year=1966|pages=46–49|doi=10.1086/464878|s2cid=143879066 }} * {{cite book|last=Merrifield|first=William R|title=Proto Otomanguean kinship|year=1981|series=International Museum of Cultures Publication, 11|location=Dallas |publisher=[[Summer Institute of Linguistics]]}} * {{cite journal|last1=Newman|first1=Stanley|first2=Roberto|last2=Weitlaner|title=Central Otomian I:Proto-Otomian reconstructions|journal=International Journal of American Linguistics|volume=16|issue=1|year=1950a|pages=1–19 |doi=10.1086/464056 |jstor=1262748|s2cid=144486505 }} * {{cite journal|last1=Newman|first1=Stanley|first2=Roberto|last2=Weitlaner|title=Central Otomian II:Primitive central otomian reconstructions|journal=International Journal of American Linguistics|volume=16|issue=2|year=1950b|pages=73–81 |doi= 10.1086/464067 |jstor=1262851|s2cid=143618683 }} * {{cite book |last=Rensch|first=Calvin|year=1977 |chapter=Classification of the Oto-Manguean Languages and the position of Tlapanec|pages=53–108 |title=Two Studies in Middle American Comparative Linguistics |editor=David Oltrogge |editor2=Calvin Rensch|series=Publications in Linguistics, Publication Number 55|publisher=[[Summer Institute of Linguistics]]|chapter-url=https://www.sil.org/acpub/repository/16416.pdf}} * {{cite journal |last=Sapir|first=Edward|author-link=Edward Sapir |year=1925 |title=The Hokan affinity of Subtiaba in Nicaragua |journal=American Anthropologist |series=New Series |volume=27 |issue=3,4 |pages=402–435, 491–527 |doi=10.1525/aa.1925.27.3.02a00040|doi-access=free }} * {{cite book|chapter=Oto-Manguean languages|first=Mark A. |last=Sicoli|year=2005|title=Encyclopedia of Linguistics|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopedialing12stra|url-access=limited|editor=Philipp Strazny|location=New York|publisher=Fitzroy Dearborn|pages=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopedialing12stra/page/n827 797]–800}} * {{cite book |last=Soustelle|first=Jacques|author-link=Jacques Soustelle|year=1993 |orig-date=1937 |title=La familia Otomí-Pame del México central |edition=Translation of: "La famille Otomí-Pame du Mexique central", doctoral thesis |translator=Nilda Mercado Baigorria |series=Sección de Obras de Historia |location=México, D.F.|publisher=Centro de Estudios Mexicanos y Centroamericanos, Fondo de Cultura Económica |isbn=978-968-16-4116-0|language=es}} * {{cite book |last=Suárez|first=Jorge A.|year=1977 |title=El tlapaneco como lengua Otomangue |location=México, D.F. |publisher=[[Universidad Nacional Autonoma de México]]|language=es}} * {{cite book |last=Suárez |first=Jorge A. |year=1983 |title=The Mesoamerican Indian Languages |series=Cambridge Language Surveys |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-521-22834-3 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/mesoamericanindi0009suar }}

{{Refend}}

==External links== {{sister project |project=wiktionary |text=[[Wiktionary]] has a list of reconstructed forms at '''''[[Wiktionary:Appendix:Proto-Oto-Manguean reconstructions|Appendix:Proto-Oto-Manguean reconstructions]]'''''}} *[http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Swadesh_lists_for_Oto-Manguean_languages Comparative Swadesh vocabulary lists for Oto-Manguean languages] (from Wiktionary) *Feist, Timothy & Enrique L. Palancar. (2015). Oto-Manguean Inflectional Case Database. https://oto-manguean.surrey.ac.uk/<nowiki/>University of Surrey. [[doi:10.15126/SMG.28/1]] *[https://www.sil.org/Mexico/22i-Stocks.htm#StocOtomanguean SIL on the Oto-Manguean Stock] *{{cite web |url= http://linguistics.berkeley.edu/~rosemary/om-endangered.pdf |title= Why you should study an endangered Oto-Manguean language |access-date= 30 December 2006 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20061212042928/http://linguistics.berkeley.edu/~rosemary/om-endangered.pdf |archive-date= 12 December 2006 }} {{small|(82.9 [[Kibibyte|KiB]])}}, by Rosemary Beam de Azcona *Feist, Timothy, Matthew Baerman, Greville G. Corbett & Erich Round. 2019. Surrey Lexical Splits Visualisations (Chichimec). University of Surrey. Chichimec verb paradigm visualisations . https://lexicalsplits.surrey.ac.uk/chichimec.html

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oto-Manguean Languages}} [[Category:Oto-Manguean languages| ]] [[Category:Language families]]