Isthmus-Mecayapan Nahuatl

language|name=Isthmus-Mecayapan Nahuatl|nativename=mela'tájtol
familycolor=American
states=Mexico
region=Mecayapan and Tatahuicapan, Veracruz
speakers=~20,000
fam1=Uto-Aztecan
fam2=Southern Uto-Aztecan
fam3=Aztecan
fam4=General Aztec
fam5=Aztec
script=Latin alphabet
iso2=nah
iso3=nhx

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.

Phonology

Vowels

H is used at the beginnings of words before u, and has no value of its own. C is used to represent IPA|/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.

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.

Bibliography

*Wolgemuth, et al. 2000. " [http://www.sil.org/mexico/nahuatl/istmo/G020a-DiccNahIst-nhx.htm Diccionario Náhuatl de los municipios Mecayapan y Tatahuicapan de Juárez, Veracruz.] "
*Wolgemuth, Carl. 2002. " [http://www.sil.org/mexico/nahuatl/istmo/G027a-GramNahIst-nhx.htm Gramática Náhuatl (melaʼtájto̱l) de los municipios de Mecayapan y tatahuicapan de Juárez, Veracruz (Segunda edición).] "

External links

* [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=nhx Ethnologue]
* [http://www.sil.org/mexico/nahuatl/istmo/00i-NahuatlMecaTata-nhx.htm SIL Mexico] — includes sound recordings