Matlatzinca languages

The Matlatzincan languages are two closely related Oto-Manguean language of the Oto-Pamean spoken in Central Mexico: Tlahuica/Ocuiltec and Matlatzinca. The name of the language in the language itself is pjiekak'joo.[2][3]

Matlatzinca
pjiekak'joo
Native toMexico
RegionState of Mexico
EthnicityMatlatzinca
Native speakers
1,800 (2010 census)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3Either:
ocu – Ocuiltec/Tlahuica
mat – Matlatzinca
Glottologmatl1258
1640 text on the language by Fray Diego Basalenque

The Matlatzincan language group consists of two mutually unintelligible languages: one called Ocuiltec[4] or Tlahuica, the other called Matlatzinca proper.[5] While originally one language they are now so removed that they are considered separate languages both by linguists and by the speakers themselves.

In 2000 Matlatzinca was spoken by around 650 persons in San Francisco Oxtotilpan, and in 2011 Ocuiltec/Tlahuica was spoken by around 100 persons in the municipality of Ocuilan de Arteaga in the villages San Juan Atzingo and Santa Lucía del Progreso.[6]

Because of the extremely small population and the unfavourable age structure, the Matlatzincan languages are considered to be highly endangered. In the 2000 census, only 26 persons under the age of 20 were registered as speakers of Ocuiltec.

In 2003, together with 62 other languages, it was recognised as an official language of Mexico[7] (per General Law of Linguistic Rights of the Indigenous Peoples) as an official language in the Mexican Federal District and the other administrative divisions in which it is spoken, and on an equal footing with Spanish.

See also

Notes
  1. INALI (2012) México: Lenguas indígenas nacionales
  2. Sabino Nava, Rocío. "¿ Somos Ocuiltecos, Atzincas, Tlahuicas o Pjiekakjo?." Estudios de Cultura Otopame 7, no. 1.
  3. Cazes, D. (1971). La lengua Maclasinca de Nsampaanchu, San Francisco Oxtotilpan. Journal de la Société des Américanistes, 60(1), 191-232.
  4. Muntzel, M. C. (2003). The structure of Ocuilteco. PhD Thesis, UMI, Ann Arbor.
  5. Hernández, R. E., & Hernández, M. (1999). Matlatzinca de San Francisco Oxtotilpan, Estado de México (Vol. 23). El Colegio de México.
  6. Palancar, Enrique L. 2016. Oto-Pamean.
  7. The Ley General de Derechos Lingüísticos de los Pueblos Indígenas Archived 2007-02-08 at the Wayback Machine ("General Law of the Linguistic Rights of Indigenous peoples"), decree published 13 March 2003
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