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Chontal Maya language

{{short description|Maya language of Tabasco, Mexico}}

{{about|the language spoken by the Chontal Maya people of Tabasco|the languages of the Oaxaca Chontal people|Tequistlatecan languages}}

{{Infobox language

| name = Chontal Maya

| nativename = {{lang|chf|Yokotʼan}}

| pronunciation = [jɔʔkɔʔtʼan]

| states = Mexico

| region = North central and southern Tabasco

| ethnicity = Chontal Maya

| speakers = {{sigfig|60563|2}}

| date = 2020 census

| ref = [http://cuentame.inegi.org.mx/hipertexto/todas_lenguas.htm Lenguas indígenas y hablantes de 3 años y más, 2020] INEGI. Censo de Población y Vivienda 2020.

| familycolor = Mayan

| fam1 = Mayan

| fam2 = Cholan–Tzeltalan

| fam3 = Cholan

| fam4 = Chol–Chontal

| dia1 = Nacajuca / Central Yokotʼan / Central Chontal of Tabasco

| dia2 = Tamulte / Eastern Yokotʼan / Eastern Chontal of Tabasco

| dia3 = Macuspana / Southern Yokotʼan / Southern Chontal

| dia4 = Centla / Northern Yokotʼan / Northern Chontal

| iso3 = chf

| glotto = taba1266

| glottorefname = Tabasco Chontal

}}

{{lang|chf|Yokotʼan}} (self-denomination), also known as Chontal Maya, is a Maya language of the Cholan family spoken in 2020 by around 60,000 Chontal Maya people of the Mexican state of Tabasco. According to the National Catalog of Indigenous Languages of Mexico-INALI, [https://www.inali.gob.mx/clin-inali/html/v_chontal_de_tabasco.html Yokotʼan] has at least four dialects: Nacajuca (Central), Centla (Northern), Macuspana (Southern) and Tamulte (Eastern).

Distribution

The Chontal Maya are concentrated in 159 settlements in 5 municipalities of Tabasco (Brown 2005:122).

Some Chontal settlements near the town of Nacajuca include (Brown 2005:116):

  • El Tigre
  • Saloya
  • Guatacaloa
  • Olcuatitan
  • Tucta
  • Mazatehuapa
  • Tapotzingo
  • Guaytalpa
  • San Simón
  • Tecoluta
  • Oxiacapue
  • Guadalupe
  • El Sitio
  • Tamulte

Some Chontal settlements in the northeastern Centla region include (Brown 2005:116):

  • Cuauhtemoc
  • Vicente Guerrero
  • Allende
  • Simón Sarlat
  • Quitin Arauz (on the Río Usumacinta)

Chontal settlements near Macuspana include Benito Juárez and Aquiles Serdan (Brown 2005).

Phonology

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|+ Consonants{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/rosettaproject_chf_phon-1|title=Diccionario Chontal de Tabasco|author1=Keller, Kathryn C. |author2=Luciano G., Plácido |year=1997|publisher=Summer Institute of Linguistics }}

! colspan="2" |

!Bilabial

!Dental

!Alveolar

!Palatal

!Velar

!Glottal

colspan="2" | Nasal

| {{IPAlink|m}}

|

| {{IPAlink|n}}

|

|

|

rowspan="3" | Plosive/
Affricate

! voiceless

| {{IPAlink|p}}

| {{IPAlink|t}}

| {{IPAlink|ts}}

| {{IPAlink|tʃ}}

| {{IPAlink|k}}

| {{IPAlink|ʔ}}

glottalized

| {{IPAlink|pʼ}}

| {{IPAlink|tʼ}}

| {{IPAlink|tsʼ}}

| {{IPAlink|tʃʼ}}

| {{IPAlink|kʼ}}

|

voiced

| {{IPAlink|b}}

| {{IPAlink|d}}

|

|

|

|

colspan="2" | Fricative

|

|

| {{IPAlink|s}}

| {{IPAlink|ʃ}}

|

| {{IPAlink|h}}

colspan="2" | Tap/Flap

|

|

| {{IPAlink|ɾ}}

|

|

|

colspan="2" | Approximant

| {{IPAlink|w}}

|

| {{IPAlink|l}}

| {{IPAlink|j}}

|

|

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|+ Vowels

!

!Front

!Central

!Back

Close

|{{IPAlink|i}}

|

|{{IPAlink|u}}

Mid

|{{IPAlink|e}}

|{{IPAlink|ɘ}}

|{{IPAlink|o}}

Open

|

|{{IPAlink|a}}

|

References

{{Reflist}}

Brown, Denise Fay. 2005. "The Chontal Maya of Tabasco." In Sandstrom, Alan R., and Enrique Hugo García Valencia. 2005. Native peoples of the Gulf Coast of Mexico. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.

  • Keller, Kathryn C. and Plácido Luciano G., compilers. 1997. Diccionario Chontal de Tabasco.

Knowles, Susan Marie. 1984. "A descriptive grammar of Chontal Maya (San Carlos dialect)." Thesis (Ph. D.)--Tulane University, 1984.

"La lengua maya-chontal de Tabasco / [selección de textos y edición, Tomás Pérez Suárez]." 1984. Emiliano Zapata, Tabasco, Mexico : Editora Municipal, H. Ayuntamiento Constitucional (1983–1985), 1984.

{{Mayan languages}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maya, Chontal, Language}}

Category:Agglutinative languages

Category:Mayan languages

Category:Mesoamerican languages

Category:Indigenous languages of Mexico

Category:Chontal Maya

{{Mayan-lang-stub}}