Isthmus-Mecayapan Nahuatl
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| Isthmus-Mecayapan Nahuatl mela'tájtol |
||
|---|---|---|
| Spoken in: | Mexico | |
| Region: | Mecayapan and Tatahuicapan, Veracruz | |
| Total speakers: | ~20,000 | |
| Language family: | Uto-Aztecan Southern Uto-Aztecan Aztecan General Aztec Aztec Isthmus-Mecayapan Nahuatl |
|
| Writing system: | Latin alphabet | |
| Language codes | ||
| ISO 639-1: | none | |
| ISO 639-2: | nah | |
| ISO 639-3: | nhx | |
| Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. See IPA chart for English for an English-based pronunciation key. | ||
Isthmus-Mecayapan Nahuatl or Isthmus Nahuat(l) (native name: mela'tájtol) is a modern variety of Nahuatl spoken by about 20,000 people in Mecayapan and Tatahuicapan, Veracruz, Mexico.
Contents |
[edit] Phonology
[edit] Vowels
| Front | back | |
|---|---|---|
| High | i iː | o oː |
| Mid | e eː | |
| Low | a aː | |
[edit] Consonants
| Labial | Dental | Postalveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stop | p b | t d | k ɡ | ʔ | ||
| Affricate | ts | tʃ | ||||
| Fricative | s | ʃ | h | |||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | |||
| Approximant | w | j | ||||
| Lateral | l | |||||
| Rhotic | r |
[edit] Writing system
| A a | B b | C c | Ch ch | D d | E e | F f | G g | H h | I i | J j | K k | L l | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| /a/ | /b/ | /k/ | /tʃ/ | /d/ | /e/ | /ɡ/ | /i j/ | /h/ | /k/ | /l/ | |||
| M m | N n | O o | P p | Q q | R r | S s | T t | U u | V v | X x | Y y | Z z | ' |
| /m/ | /n/ | /o/ | /p/ | /k/ | /r/ | /s/ | /t/ | /w/ | /ʃ/ | /j/ | /ʔ/ |
H is used at the beginnings of words before u, and has no value of its own. C is used to represent /k/ before the vowels a and o, while qu is used before i and e.
An underline (a, e, i, o) is used to mark long vowels.
Stress on the second-last syllable of a word that does not end in l or r, and stress on the last syllable of a word that does end in l or r, is unmarked. All other stress patterns are marked with an acute accent on the stressed vowel (á, é, í, ó).
The letters f, k, v and z occur only in loanwords.
[edit] Grammar
This variety of Nahuatl has developed a distinction between inclusive and exclusive "we", which Classical Nahuatl and other modern forms of Nahuatl lack. The exclusive form is regularly derived from the first person singular ("I"), while the inclusive continues the suppletive first person plural of Classical Nahuatl.
| Classical | Isthmus-Mecayapan | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person singular | niquīza "I leave" | niquisa "I leave" | 1st person singular |
| niquisaj "We (not you) leave" | 1st person plural exclusive | ||
| 1st person plural | tiquīzah "We leave" | tiquisaj "We (including you) leave" | 1st person plural inclusive |
[edit] Bibliography
- Wolgemuth, et al. 2000. Diccionario Náhuatl de los municipios Mecayapan y Tatahuicapan de Juárez, Veracruz.
- Wolgemuth, Carl. 2002. Gramática Náhuatl (melaʼtájto̱l) de los municipios de Mecayapan y tatahuicapan de Juárez, Veracruz (Segunda edición).
[edit] External links
- Ethnologue
- SIL Mexico — includes sound recordings
