Chinantecan languages

Chinantec
Tsa Jujmi
Spoken in	Mexico
Region	Oaxaca
Native speakers	approx. 93,000 (Ethnologue)  (date missing)
Language family	Oto-Mangue Western Oto-Mangue Oto-Pame–Chinantecan Chinantec
Language codes
ISO 639-3	variously: cco – Comaltepec Chinantec chj – Ojitlán Chinantec chq – Quiotepec Chinantec chz – Ozumacín Chinantec cle – Lealao Chinantec cnl – Lalana Chinantec cnt – Tepetotutla Chinantec cpa – Palantla Chinantec csa – Chiltepec Chinantec cso – Sochiapan Chinantec cte – Tepinapa Chinantec ctl – Tlacoatzintepec Chinantec cuc – Usila Chinantec cvn – Valle Nacional Chinantec

The Chinantecs are an indigenous people that live in Oaxaca and Veracruz, Mexico, especially in the districts of Cuicatlán, Ixtlán de Juárez, Tuxtepec and Choapan.

The Chinantec languages belong to the Chinantecan branch of the Oto-Manguean family. The Ethnologue lists 14 different partially unintelligible varieties of Chinantec.

Language varieties

Approximate number of speakers of all varieties of Chinantec ~93,000

Language	ISO-Code	Where spoken	Number of speakers
Chinantec of Chiltepec	csa	San José Chiltepec Oaxaca	4,000
Chinantec of Comaltepec	cco	Comaltepec, Northern Oaxaca	2,000 (1990 census).
Chinantec of Lalana	cnl	25 towns on the border between Oaxaca and Veracruz	10,500 (1990 SIL).
Chinantec of Lealao	cle	Northeastern Oaxaca, San Juan Lealao, Latani, Tres Arroyos, and La Hondura	2,000
Chinantec of Ojitlán	chj	Northern Oaxaca and Veracruz municipos of Minatitlan and Hidalgotitlan	22,000
Chinantec of Ozumacín	chz	San Pedro Ozumacín and surrounding towns, Oaxaca	5,000
Chinantec of Palantla	cpa	San Juan Palantla and surrounding towns, Oaxaca	12,000
Chinantec of Quiotepec (Highland Chinantec)	chq	and surrounding towns, Oaxaca	8,000
Chinantec of Sochiapan	cso	Northern Oaxaca	5,800
Chinantec of Tepetolutla	cnt	Northern Oaxaca	2,000
Chinantec of Tepinapa	cte	Northern Oaxaca, Choapan District, Very remote area	8,000
Chinantec of Tlacoatzintepec	ctl	Northern Oaxaca	2,000
Chinantec of Usila	cuc	Oaxaca one town in Veracruz	9,000
Chinantec of Valle Nacional	cvn	Yetla, North Oaxaca	1,000

Tone

the tonal system of Usila Chinantec

Chinantec is a tonal language and some dialects (Usila Chinantec) have five register tones, an uncommon trait in the world's languages.

Chinantec also has ballistic syllables, which is apparently of laryngeal origin, involving a spread glottis.

Media

Chinantec-language programming is carried by the CDI's radio stations XEOJN, broadcasting from San Lucas Ojitlán, Oaxaca, and XEGLO, broadcasting from Guelatao de Juárez, Oaxaca.

External links

• The Chinantec language family (SIL-Mexico)
• Sochiapan Chinantec (SIL-Mexico)
• A whistled conversation in Sochiapan Chinantec (SIL-Mexico)