Sierra Otomi

{{Short description|Language}} {{Infobox language | name = Sierra Otomi | altname = Highland Otomi | nativename = {{lang|otm|Yųhų}} (Eastern Highland Otomi) {{lang|mul|Ñųhų}} (Texcatepec, Tenango) | states = Mexico | region = Puebla, Veracruz, Hidalgo | speakers = 72,000 | date = 1990–2007 | ref = e18 | familycolor = Oto-Manguean | fam1 = Oto-Manguean | fam2 = Oto-Pamean | fam3 = Otomian | fam4 = Eastern | agency = Secretaría de Educación Pública | lc1 = otm | ld1 = Eastern Highland | lc2 = otx | ld2 = Texcatepec | lc3 = otn | ld3 = Tenango | notice = IPA | glotto = east2556 | glottoname = Eastern Highland | glottorefname = Eastern Highland Otomi | glotto2 = texc1235 | glottoname2 = Texcatepec | glottorefname2 = Texcatepec Otomi | glotto3 = tena1241 | glottoname3 = Tenango | glottorefname3 = Tenango Otomi }}

'''Sierra Otomi''' {{a.k.a.}} '''Highland Otomi''' (''Otomi de la Sierra'') is a dialect cluster of the Otomi language spoken in Mexico by ca. 70,000 people in the highlands of Eastern Hidalgo, Western Veracruz and Northern Puebla. The speakers themselves call the language ''Yųhų'' (Eastern Highland) or ''Ñųhų'' (Texcatepec and Tenango).{{Sfn|Lastra|2006|p=57}}{{Sfn|Wright Carr|2005a}} Lastra 2001 classifies it as an Eastern Otomi language together with Ixtenco Otomi, Tilapa Otomi, and Acazulco Otomi.{{Sfn|Lastra|2001}} The three varieties of Sierra Otomi—Eastern Highland, Texcatepec, and Tenango—are above 70% lexically similar; the Eastern Highland dialects are above 80%, and will be considered here.

==Distribution== Municipalities with significant Sierra Otomi populations include the following (Dow 2005:236). Many of these municipalities also have Tepehua, Totonac, and Nahuatl speakers.

{{col-begin}}{{col-2}} ;Hidalgo *Acaxochitlan *Huehuetla *San Bartolo Tutotepec *Tenango de Doria *Tulancingo

;Puebla *Francisco Z. Mena *Pahuatlán *Pantepec *Tlacuilotepec *Tlaxco

{{col-2}} ;Veracruz *Benito Juárez *Chicóntepec *Coatzintla *Coyutla *Huayacocotla *Ixhuatlán de Madero *Temapache *Texcatepec *Tihuatlán *Tlachichilco *Zacualpan {{col-end}}

==Phonology== The phonemic inventory given below is based on the particular phonology of the Otomi de la Sierra dialect as documented by Voigtlander and Echegoyen (1985), phonemic inventories of other dialects vary slightly from that of Otomi de la Sierra.

===Consonants=== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" ! ! colspan="2" | Bilabial ! colspan="2" | Dental ! colspan="2" | Alveolar ! colspan="2" | Palatal ! colspan="2" | Velar ! colspan="2" | Glottal |- ! Nasal | colspan="2" | {{IPAlink|m}} | colspan="2" | | colspan="2" | {{IPAlink|n}} | colspan="2" | | colspan="2" | | colspan="2" | |- ! Plosive | {{IPAlink|p}} | {{IPAlink|b}} | colspan="2" | | {{IPAlink|t}} | {{IPAlink|d}} | colspan="2" | | {{IPAlink|k}} | {{IPAlink|ɡ}} | colspan="2" | {{IPAlink|ʔ}} |- ! Affricate | colspan="2" | | colspan="2" | | {{IPAlink|ts}} | {{IPAlink|dz}} | colspan="2" | | colspan="2" | | colspan="2" | |- ! Fricative | colspan="2" | {{IPAlink|ɸ}} | colspan="2" | {{IPAlink|θ}} | colspan="2" | | colspan="2" | {{IPAlink|ʃ}} | colspan="2" | {{IPAlink|x}} | colspan="2" | {{IPAlink|h}} |- ! Flap | colspan="2" | | colspan="2" | | colspan="2" | {{IPAlink|ɾ}} | colspan="2" | | colspan="2" | | colspan="2" | |- ! Semivowel | colspan="2" | | colspan="2" | | colspan="2" | | colspan="2" | {{IPAlink|j}} | colspan="2" | {{IPAlink|w}} | colspan="2" | |}

===Vowels=== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" ! rowspan="2" | ! colspan="2" | Front ! colspan="2" | Central ! colspan="2" | Back |- !oral || nasal !oral || nasal !oral || nasal |- ! Close | {{IPAlink|i}} | {{IPAlink|ĩ}} | {{IPAlink|ʉ}} | | {{IPAlink|u}} | {{IPAlink|ũ}} |- !Open-mid | {{IPAlink|e}} | | {{IPAlink|ø}} | | | {{IPAlink|õ}} |- ! Mid | {{IPAlink|ɛ}} | {{IPAlink|ɛ̃}} | | | {{IPAlink|ɔ}} | |- ! Open | | | {{IPAlink|ɑ}} | {{IPAlink|ɑ̃}} | | |}

==Orthography== ===Alphabet=== * a - [ɑ] * a̱, ä - [ɔ] * b - [b] * ch - [t͡ʃ] * d - [d] * e - [e] * e̱, ë - [ɛ] * f - [ɸ] * g - [g] * h - [h] * i - [i] * j - [x] * k - [k] * l - [l] * m - [m] * n - [n] * ñ - [ɲ] * o - [ɔ/o] * o̱ - [ø] * p - [p] * r - [ɾ] * s - [s] * t - [t] * th - [θ] * ts - [t͡s] * u - [u/w] * u̱, ʉ - [ʉ/ɨ] * x - [ʃ] * y - [j] * z - [z/d͡z]

===Other letters=== * ą - [ɑ̃] * ę - [ɛ̃] * į - [ĩ] * ǫ - [ɔ̃] * ų - [ũ]

===Tones=== Tones are usually not marked. * a - low tone * á - high tone * ǎ - rising tone * à - falling tone<ref>{{cite web |title=Sierra Otomi language |url=https://www.omniglot.com/writing/sierraotomi.htm |website=Omniglot |access-date=31 August 2021}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable (WP:NOTRS).|date=September 2025}}

==Notes== <references />

==References== {{refbegin|indent=yes}} *{{Cite book |last=Dow |first=James W. |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv2vt02x8 |title=Native Peoples of the Gulf Coast of Mexico |date=2005 |publisher=University of Arizona Press |others= |isbn=978-0-8165-5045-6 |editor-last=Sandstrom |editor-first=Alan R. |edition=1st |series=Native Peoples of the Americas Ser |location=Tucson |chapter=The Sierra Ñähñu (Otomí) |editor-last2=Enrique Hugo García Valencia}} *{{cite book |author=Voigtlander |first=Katherine |author2=Artemisa Echegoyen |year=1985 |title=Luces Contemporaneas del Otomi: Grámatica del Otomi de la Sierra |publisher=Instituto Lingüístico de Verano |location=Mexico, D.F. |language=es}} * {{cite journal |author=Wright Carr |first=David Charles |year=2005a |title=Precisiones sobre el término "otomí" |url=http://www.arqueomex.com/S8N5PALABRAotomi.pdf |journal=Arqueología Mexicana |volume=13 |issue=73 |pages=19 |access-date=2006-12-06 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051108014507/http://www.arqueomex.com/S8N5PALABRAotomi.pdf |archive-date=November 8, 2005 |language=es}} *{{cite book |author=Lastra |first=Yolanda |year=2006 |title=Los Otomies - Su lengua y su historia |publisher=Universidad Nacional Autonoma de México, Instituto de investigaciones Antropológicas |isbn=9789703233885 |language=es}} *{{cite book |author=Lastra |first=Yolanda |year=2001 |title=Unidad y diversidad de la lengua. Relatos otomíes |publisher=Universidad Nacional Autonoma de México, Instituto de investigaciones Antropológicas |isbn=968-36-9509-4 |language=es}} {{refend}}

Category:Otomi language