Chinantecan languages
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The Chinantec or Chinantecan languages constitute a branch of the Oto-Manguean family. Though traditionally considered a single language, Ethnologue lists 14 partially mutually unintelligible varieties of Chinantec.[2]Template:R/superscript The languages are spoken by the indigenous Chinantec people who live in Oaxaca and Veracruz, Mexico, especially in the districts of Cuicatlán, Ixtlán de Juárez, Tuxtepec and Choapan, and in Staten Island, New York.[3]Template:R/superscript
Internal classification
Egland and Bartholomew (1978)[4]Template:R/superscript established fourteen Chinantec languages on the basis of 80% mutual intelligibility. Ethnologue found that one that had not been adequately compared (Tlaltepusco) was not distinct, but split another (Lalana from Tepinapa). At a looser criterion of 70% intelligibility, Lalana–Tepinapa, Quiotepec–Comaltepec, Palantla–Valle Nacional, and geographically distant Chiltepec–Tlacoatzintepec would be languages, reducing the count to ten. Lealao Chinantec (Latani) is the most divergent.
On the basis of shared phonological innovations, Rensch (1989) groups the Chinantecan languages into 5 clusters, which largely agree with previous ethnographic classifications of the population centers of the Chinantla. He additionally proposes a division into a Northern area represented by group I, a Transitional area represented by group II, and a Southern area represented by groups III-V. The northern languages are considered more innovative both phonologically and lexically, while the southern languages are more conservative in both respects. Phonologically, Ojitlán is found to the most innovative, and Comaltepec the most conservative.[5]Template:R/superscript
| Language area | Distribution | Rensch (1989) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ojitlán | Northern Oaxaca and Veracruz municipios of Minatitlán and Hidalgotitlán | I | Northern |
| Usila | Oaxaca, one town in Veracruz | ||
| Tlacoatzintepec | Northern Oaxaca | ||
| Chiltepec | San José Chiltepec, Oaxaca | ||
| Sochiapan | Northern Oaxaca | ||
| Tepetotutla | Northern Oaxaca | II | Transitional |
| Palantla | Oaxaca, San Juan Palantla and surrounding towns | ||
| Valle Nacional | Northern Oaxaca, Yetla | III | Southern |
| Ozumacín | Oaxaca, San Pedro Ozumacín and surrounding towns | ||
| Tepinapa | Northern Oaxaca, Choapan District. Very remote area. | IV | |
| Lalana | 25 towns on the border between Oaxaca and Veracruz | ||
| Lealao | Northeastern Oaxaca, San Juan Lealao, Latani, Tres Arroyos, and La Hondura | ||
| Comaltepec | Northern Oaxaca, Comaltepec | V | |
| Quiotepec | Oaxaca, San Juan Quiotepec and surrounding towns | ||
Phonology
| Labial | Alveolar | Dorsal | Laryngeal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | labial | |||||
| Obstruent | voiceless | *p | *t | *k | *kʷ | *ʔ |
| voiced | *b | *z[a] | *g | *gʷ | ||
| Fricative | *s | *h | ||||
| Continuant | nasal | *m | *n | *ŋ | ||
| oral | *w | *l | *y | |||
| rhotic | *r | |||||
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- ^ The consonant *z is reconstructed as a voiced affricate[5]Template:R/superscript
| Palatal | Non-Palatal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| front | back | front | back | |
| close | *i | *iu | *ɨ | *u |
| open | e | *ia | *ə | *a |
Phonotactics
Syllables are typically of the shape (C)V with an optional onset, and in coda position only laryngeal elements and in some languages a nasal consonant. The only initial consonant clusters to occur consist of one of the laryngeal elements ʔ and h followed by a voiced consonant,[6]Template:R/superscript which in some languages are analyzed as preglottalized or voiceless continuants.[7]Template:R/superscript In some Chinantecan languages, both pre- and post-nuclear glides may combine with the nucleus to form large inventories of diphthongs and triphthongs.[7]Template:R/superscript[8]Template:R/superscript
Roots are predominantly monosyllabic,[6]Template:R/superscript as fully inflected words often are as well, although there also exist polysyllabic roots, in some cases possibly reflecting fossilized classifiers,[7]Template:R/superscript and roots of up to 4 syllables are reported in Spanish borrowings.[8]Template:R/superscript
There is typically a set of nasal vowels, a binary length contrast,[6]Template:R/superscript and in some languages a number of contrastive phonation types,[7]Template:R/superscript which in stressed syllables may potentially all co-occur and cross-classify with tone and ballisticity, generating an extremely large number of contrasting syllable nuclei for a given vowel quality.[6]Template:R/superscript
Stress and ballisticity
Roots in Chinantecan languages are obligatorily stressed,[6]Template:R/superscript and stress typically falls on the final syllable of the root.[9]Template:R/superscript[8]Template:R/superscript Often only stressed syllables display the full range of phonological contrasts, and in some languages there may be a tendency to disallow complex tones and codas in non-stressed syllables.[8]Template:R/superscript
Within stressed syllables, many Chinantecan languages have been analyzed as exhibiting a distinction, also observed in the distantly related Amuzgoan languages,[10]Template:R/superscript between ballistic stress, characterized by an "initial surge and rapid decay of intensity" and shorter duration among other features, and controlled stress, which "exhibit no such initial surge of intensity, displaying a more evenly controlled decrease of intensity" and are generally longer.[6]Template:R/superscript[11]Template:R/superscript[12]Template:R/superscript[13]Template:R/superscript There is variation in the phonetic realization of ballisticity among Chinantecan languages which are thought to exhibit the contrast, and in others, the typical phonetic correlates of ballisticity are not observed, and the distinction is instead analyzed as being purely tonal [9]Template:R/superscript or one of vowel length.[14]Template:R/superscript
Tone
All Chinantecan languages are tonal. Some, such as Usila Chinantec and Ojitlán Chinantec, have five register tones (in addition to contour tones), with the extreme tones deriving historically from ballistic syllables,[15]Template:R/superscript while San Juan Quiotepec Chinantec has been analyzed as contrasting 6 level tones,[14]Template:R/superscript and 6 contour tones comprising 3 falling and 3 rising contours.[14]Template:R/superscript
| Tone | Example | English Gloss | Spanish Gloss |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ˥⁺ | o⁶ | I shout | yo grito |
| 5 ˥ | o⁵ | papaya | papaya |
| 4 ˦ | o⁴ | (s/he) crosses | él cruza |
| 3 ˧ | o³ | to cross | cruzar |
| 2 ˨ | puo² | to plaster | repellar |
| 1 ˩ | o¹ | (s/he) shouted | gritó |
Grammar
Grammars are published for Sochiapam Chinantec,[8]Template:R/superscript and a grammar[16]Template:R/superscript and a dictionary of Palantla (Tlatepuzco) Chinantec.[17]Template:R/superscript
Syntax
Chinantecan languages have VSO as their unmarked word order, with focused constituents typically being able to be fronted before the verb, and are strongly head-initial, as is the case for most Otomanguean languages.[6]Template:R/superscript The following examples from San Juan Quiotepec Chinantec demonstrate basic word order facts:[7]Template:R/superscript
In Lealao Chinantec, however, default word order in transitive sentences with non-pronominal subjects is VOS:[18]Template:R/superscript
Template:Flex columns Example phrase:
- ca¹-dsén¹=jni chi³ chieh³
- ‘I pulled out the hen (from the box).[17]Template:R/superscript
The parts of this sentence are: ca¹ a prefix which marks the past tense, dsén¹ which is the verb stem meaning "to pull out an animate object", the suffix -jni referring to the first person, the noun classifier chi³ and the noun chieh³ meaning chicken.
Animacy
Chinantecan languages group nouns into one of two genders based on animacy. Animals, humans, and some natural phenomena such as thunder or stars which are considered spirits in Chinantec mythology are animate, while plants and body parts are inanimate. Animacy is not overtly marked on the noun itself, but adjectives, demonstratives, quantifiers, numerals, and in some languages relativizers agree with the noun they modify in animacy.[19]Template:R/superscript[8]Template:R/superscript In most languages, the reflex of the marker of animate gender involves a nasal element, either nasalization of the stem, or a postvocalic nasal, for which reason Rensch (1989) reconstructs *-ŋ as the proto-Chinantecan marker of animacy. In some languages, however, "the marker is primarily a high front vowel or palatal semivowel," thought to be either cognate with[20]Template:R/superscript or synchronically identical to a 3rd person marker descended from *-i, "but in every case there is some involvement of nasalization," and in other languages, both occur, either together or in complementary distribution.[5]Template:R/superscript Furthermore, in some languages, animacy agreement with nouns may be marked by changes in tone and stress, stem apophony, and even suppletion.[20]Template:R/superscript
Verbs agree with one of their core arguments in animacy as well, following an ergative pattern where intransitive verbs agree with the subject, and transitive verbs agree with the patient. Verbs thus fall into one of at least 4 transitivity-animacy classes, conventionally labelled Page Template:Smallcaps/styles.css has no content.ii (Inanimate Intransitive), Page Template:Smallcaps/styles.css has no content.ai (Animate Intransitive), Page Template:Smallcaps/styles.css has no content.ti (Transitive Inanimate), and Page Template:Smallcaps/styles.css has no content.ta (Transitive Animate), in a scheme like the one used for the Algonquian languages.[18]Template:R/superscript The following examples from Tepetotula Chinantec demonstrate the 4 agreement patterns with the verbs stand (Page Template:Smallcaps/styles.css has no content.ii), stand (Page Template:Smallcaps/styles.css has no content.ai), leave (Page Template:Smallcaps/styles.css has no content.ti), leave (Page Template:Smallcaps/styles.css has no content.ta). Note the presence of nasalization and differing vowel quality in the animate verb stems.[21]Template:R/superscript
Verbs
Verbs in Chinantecan languages have the following structure:
- a number of prefixes which typically co-occur in a fixed order; express categories such as tense, aspect, mood, evidentiality, movement, and posture;[8]Template:R/superscript and select for only certain tense-aspect forms of the stem;
- an obligatory stem, which inflects for 4 core persons (Page Template:Smallcaps/styles.css has no content.1sg, Page Template:Smallcaps/styles.css has no content.1pl, Page Template:Smallcaps/styles.css has no content.2, Page Template:Smallcaps/styles.css has no content.3) and a number of tense, aspect, and motion categories through a combination of tone, vowel length, ballisticity, glottal coda, and ablaut, the last of which is thought to reflect the alternation between the proto-Chinantecan palatal and non-palatal vowel series;[5]Template:R/superscript
- suffixes or enclitics which mark certain grammatical persons not distinguished by tone and other internal changes in the verb stem, typically Page Template:Smallcaps/styles.css has no content.2pl, Page Template:Smallcaps/styles.css has no content.3pl, and clusivity distinctions in the first-person plural. In some languages, postposed free-standing pronouns are instead used.[5]Template:R/superscript
In summary, the full range of tense-aspect-mood distinctions in a language is expressed by the tense-aspect series of the stem in combination with its prefixes, and person by the person series of the stem in combination with its suffixes or free-standing pronouns.
While the shape of the stem used for a given combination of person and tense-aspect-mood may appear unpredictable, "starting from Merrifield (1968), the existing descriptive tradition of Chinantecan languages from the SIL suggests that the entire paradigm of a verb is retrievable from the inflectional information provided by only 12 cells," which represent the product of the 4 core persons, and 3 core tense-aspect categories, termed Progressive, Intentive, and Completive (alternatively Present, Future, and Past, respectively). The form of the stem used for categories beyond the 3 core tense-aspects is thus predictable from one of the 12 forms.[2]Template:R/superscript
| 1sg | 1pl | 2 | 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Progressive | taᴸ | tiaᴸᴴ | taᴹ | tiaᴸ |
| Intentive | taᴸᴴ | tiaᴴ | taᴹ | tiáᴸ |
| Completive | táᴸ | tiaᴴ | tiáⱽᴴ | tiáᴹ |
| 1sg | 1pl | 2 | 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Progressive | zą́ᴸᴹ | ziógᴸᴹ | zą́ᴸᴹʔ | ząᴸᴹ |
| Intentive | zą́ᴹᴴ | ziógᴹᴴ | zą́ᴹᴴʔ | ząᴸ |
| Completive | zą́ᴸ | zioiᴹᴴ | zą́ᴸʔ | zą́ᴹ |
| 1sg | 1pl | 2 | 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Progressive | Lːˊ | Mː | Lː | Lːˊ |
| Intentive | LHːˊ | Hːˊ | Hːˊ | Mːˊ |
| Completive | Mˊ | Hˊ | Mː | Lːˊ |
Whistled speech
The Chinantec people have practiced whistled speech since the pre-Columbian era. The high functional load of tone, stress, vowel length, laryngeal configuration, intonation, and rhythm in the Chinantecan languages allows speakers to convey complex messages by transposing the prosodic qualities of the spoken languages onto various whistled registers, even in the complete absence of consonants, vowels, and nasalization.[22]Template:R/superscript In Sochiapam Chinantec, the cross-classifying prosodic features produce 31 distinct tone-stress-glottalization patterns, for which 4 distinct styles of whistling are used:
- whistling with the tongue against the alveolar ridge for close-by communication, called Script error: No such module "Lang"., (up to 10 m (33 ft));
- bilabial whistling for mid- to far-distance communication, called Script error: No such module "Lang"., (up to 200 m (660 ft));
- fingers-in-mouth whistling for far-distance communication, called Script error: No such module "Lang"., (up to 1 km (0.62 mi) and sometimes more depending on terrain);
- falsetto speech for mid- to far-distance communication, called Script error: No such module "Lang"., (up to 1 km (0.62 mi)).[8]Template:R/superscript
Whistled speech is typically only used by Chinantec men, although women may also understand it.[8]Template:R/superscript Use of the whistled language is declining, as modern technology such as walkie-talkies and loudspeakers have made long-distance communication easier.[23]Template:R/superscript
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.
-
Example of Chinantec in written form from the Biblioteca Cervantina
-
Example of Chinantec in written form from the Biblioteca Cervantina
References
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Lenguas indígenas y hablantes de 3 años y más, 2020". Censo de Población y Vivienda 2020. INEGI.
- ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Palancar, Enrique L. (2014). "Revisiting the Complexity of the Chinantecan Verb Conjugation Classes". In Léonard, Jean-Léo; Kihm, Alain (eds.). Patterns in Mesoamerican Morphology. pp. 77–102. HAL 01100738.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Torrens, Claudio (2011-05-28). "Some NY immigrants cite lack of Spanish as barrier". UTSanDiego.com. Retrieved 2015-03-02.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Egland, S.; Bartholomew, D. (1978). La inteligibilidad inter-dialectal en Mexico: Resultados de algunos sondeos (PDF). Mexico, D.F.: Instituto Linguistico de Verano. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-12-02.
- ^ a b c d e f g Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Rensch, Calvin (1989). An Etymologial Dictionary of the Chinantec Languages. Studies in Chinantec languages. Vol. 1. Dallas, TX: SIL International and The University of Texas at Arlington.
- ^ a b c d e f g Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Silverman, Daniel (2006). "Chinantec: Phonology". In Brown, Keith (ed.). Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics (Second Edition). Amsterdam: Elsevier. pp. 341–343. ISBN 978-0-08-044854-1. | doi=10.1016/b0-08-044854-2/00103-6
- ^ a b c d e Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Castillo Martínez, Rafael (January 2012). El sistema tonal del chinanteco de San Juan Quiotepec, Oaxaca [The tonal system of the Chinantec of San Juan Quiotepec, Oaxaca] (Master thesis) (in español).
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Foris, David Paul (2000). A grammar of Sochiapam Chinantec. Studies in Chinantec languages. Vol. 6. Dallas, TX: SIL International and The University of Texas at Arlington.
- ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Macaulay, Monica (1999-01-01). "Ojitlán Chinantec Phonology and Morphology". Kansas Working Papers in Linguistics. 24. University of Kansas Department of Linguistics: 71–84. doi:10.17161/KWPL.1808.360. hdl:1808/360.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Dobui, Bien (2025). "A model of non-modal phonation: Ballisticity in Otomanguean languages". In Kuznetsova, Natalia; Anderson, Cormac; Easterday, Shelece (eds.). Rarities in phonetics and phonology: Structural, typological, evolutionary, and social dimensions. Language Science Press. pp. 309–357. doi:10.5281/zenodo.14712629.
- ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Merrifield, William; Rensch, Calvin R., eds. (1990). Syllables, Tone, and Verb Paradigms (PDF). Studies in Chinantec Languages. Vol. 4 Summer Institute of Linguistics and The University of Texas at Arlington. ISBN 0-88312-105-0. LCCN 90-71408. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-12-12.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Mugele, R. L. (1982). Tone and Ballistic Syllables in Lalana Chinantec (Ph.D. dissertation). Austin: University of Texas.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Rensch, Calvin (1978). "Ballistic and controlled syllables in Otomanguean Languages". In Bell, Alan; Hooper, Joan B. (eds.). Syllables and Segments. Amsterdam: North Holland Publishing Company. pp. 85–92.
- ^ a b c d Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Castellanos Cruz, Miguel (2014-02-28). Complejidad fonológica en el chinanteco de Quiotepec: nasalidad, fonación y tono [Phonological complexity in Quiotepec Chinantec: Nasality, phonation and tone] (Master thesis) (in español).
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Edmondson, Jerold A.; Gregerson, Kenneth J. (1992). "On Five-level Tone Systems". In Hwang, Shin Ja J.; Merrifield, William R. (eds.). Language in Context: Essays for Robert E. Longacre. Dallas, TX: Summer Institute of Linguistics. pp. 555–576.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Merrifield, William R. (1968). "Palantla Chinantec grammar". Papeles de la Chinantla 5. Serie Científica. Vol. 9. México: Museo Nacional de Antropología.
- ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Merrifield, William R.; Anderson, Alfred E. (2007). Diccionario Chinanteco de la diáspora del pueblo antiguo de San Pedro Tlatepuzco, Oaxaca (PDF). Serie de vocabularios y diccionarios indígenas “Mariano Silva y Aceves”. Vol. 39 (2nd ed.). Mexico DF: Summer Linguistic Institute.
- ^ a b c Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Rupp, James E. (1989). Lealao Chinantec Syntax. Studies in Chinantec languages. Vol. 2. Dallas, TX: SIL International and The University of Texas at Arlington.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Rupp, James E. (2009). "Animacy in Two Chinantec Variants". SIL-Mexico Electronic Working Papers. 7. SIL Mexico.
- ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Palancar, Enrique L. (2014). "A mixed system of agreement in the suffix classes of Lealao Chinantec". Geomorphology. Elsevier: 1–37. doi:10.1007/s11525-014-9252-x.
- ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Westley, David O. (1991). Tepetotutla Chinantec Syntax. Studies in Chinantec languages. Vol. 5. Dallas, TX: SIL International and The University of Texas at Arlington.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Sicoli, Mark A. (2016-06-02). "Repair organization in Chinantec whistled speech". Language. 92 (2). Cambridge University Press: 411–432. doi:10.1353/lan.2016.0028.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Schachar, Natalie (8 September 2017). "The decline of Chinantec whistled speech in Mexico". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
External links
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- The Chinantec language family (SIL-Mexico)
- Feist, Timothy & Enrique L. Palancar. (2015). Oto-Manguean Inflectional Class Database: Tlatepuzco Chinantec. University of Surrey. doi:10.15126/SMG.28/1.01
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