languages of Mexico

{{see also|Academia Mexicana de la Lengua|Mexican Spanish}}

From the arrival of the first Franciscan missionaries, Spanish, Latin, and indigenous languages played parts in the evangelization of Mexico. Many 16th-century churchmen studied indigenous languages in order to instruct native peoples in Christian doctrine. The same men also found Castilian and Latin appropriate in certain contexts. All told, there existed a kind of "linguistic coexistence" from the beginning of the colonial period.{{cite journal|last1=Wasserman-Soler|first1=Daniel|title=Lengua de los indios, lengua española: Religious Conversion and the Languages of New Spain, ca. 1520–1585|journal=Church History|date=2016|volume=85|issue=4|pages=690–723|doi=10.1017/S0009640716000755|doi-access=free}}

Some monks and priests attempted to describe and classify indigenous languages with Spanish. In 1570, Philip II of Spain made Nahuatl an official language of the colonies of New Spain to facilitate communication between the natives of the colonies.Cifuentes, Bárbara (1998): Letras sobre voces. Multilingüismo a través de la historia. Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social – Instituto Nacional Indigenista. Historia de los Pueblos Indígenas de México. Mexico City. {{ISBN|968-496-338-6}}

In 1696 the government of Charles II reversed that policy and banned the use of any languages other than Spanish throughout New Spain. Beginning in the 18th century, decrees ordering the Hispanization of indigenous populations became more numerous and Spanish colonizers no longer learned the indigenous languages.

After independence the government initiated an educational system with the primary aim of Hispanization of the native populations. This policy was based on the idea that this would help the indigenous peoples become a more integrated part of the new Mexican nation.Stavenhagen, Rodolfo (1990), "Linguistic Minorities and Language Policy in Latin America: The Case of Mexico", in Florian Coulmas (ed.), Linguistic Minorities and Literacy: Language Policy Issues in Developing Countries, Mouton Publishers, Berlin, pp. 56–62, at pp. 60–61.

Except for the Second Mexican Empire, led by the Habsburg Maximilian I, no Mexican government tried to prevent the loss of indigenous languages during the 19th century.{{cite book |author=Suaréz, Jorge A. |year=1983 |title=The Mesoamerican Indian Languages |series=Cambridge Language Surveys |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-521-22834-3 |oclc=8034800 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/mesoamericanindi0009suar }}

The 1895 census records some 16% of the populace spoke various indigenous languages "habitually," while 0.17% did foreign languages. The rest, 83.71%, spoke primarily Spanish instead.{{citation |title=Población según el idioma habitual |work=I Censo General de la República Mexicana 1895. Resumen general |orig-date=1897 |year=1899 |publisher=Dirección General de Estadística, Secretaría de Fomento |pages=462–487 |url=https://www.inegi.org.mx/contenidos/productos/prod_serv/contenidos/espanol/bvinegi/productos/historicos/1329/702825410100/702825410100_3.pdf}}

For most of the 20th century successive governments denied native tongues the status of valid languages. Indigenous students were forbidden to speak their native languages in school and were often punished for doing so.G. G. Patthey-Chavez (1994). Language Policy and Planning in Mexico: Indigenous Language Policy. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 14, pp 200–219Grinevald, Colette. “Endangered Languages of Mexico and Central America”. Language

Diversity, Endangered, Matthias Brenzinger. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co, 2007. 50–86.{{cite web|url=http://www.hist.umn.edu/~rmccaa/chsind/index0.htm |title=Is education destroying indigenous languages in Chiapas? |website=Hist.umn.edu |access-date=2015-12-30}}Sánchez, L. (2011), Mexican Indigenous Languages at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century edited by Margarita Hidalgo. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 15: 422–425.

In 2002, Mexico's constitution was amended to reinforce the nation's pluricultural nature by giving the State the obligation to protect and nurture the expressions of this diversity. On June 14, 1999, the Council of Writers in Indigenous Languages presented Congress with a document entitled "Suggested legal initiatives towards linguistic rights of indigenous peoples and communities", with the goal of beginning to protect the linguistic rights of indigenous communities. {{Lang|es|La Ley General de Derechos Lingüísticos de los Pueblos Indígenas}} was passed in March 2003, establishing a framework for the conservation, nurturing and development of indigenous languages. Critics claim that the law's complexity makes enforcement difficult.[http://www.linguapax.org/congres04/pdf/4_cuevas.pdf] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205055217/http://www.linguapax.org/congres04/pdf/4_cuevas.pdf|date=February 5, 2012}}Margarita Hidalgo (ed.) . Mexican Indigenous Languages at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century (Contributions to the Sociology of Language, 91) . 2006 . Berlin, Germany : Mouton de GruyterHamel, Rainer Enrique. “Indigenous Language Policy and Education in Mexico.” Encyclopedia of Language and Education. Vol. 1: Language Policy and Political Issues in Education. 2nd ed. New York: Springer, 2008. 301–313. Gail Virtual Reference Library. Amer. Univ. Bender Library. 5 April 2009.Hamel, Rainer Enrique and Communities in Mexico. “Bilingual Education for Indigenous Communities in Mexico”. Encyclopedia of Language and Education. Vol. 5: Bilingual Education. 2nd ed. New York: Springer, 2008. 311–322. Gail

Cambronne 42 Virtual Reference Library. Amer. Univ. Bender Library. 5 April 2009*{{cite journal |author=Instituto Nacional de Lenguas Indígenas [INALI] |author-link=Instituto Nacional de Lenguas Indígenas |date=14 January 2008 |title=Catálogo de las lenguas indígenas nacionales: Variantes lingüísticas de México con sus autodenominaciones y referencias geoestadísticas |url=http://www.inali.gob.mx/catalogo2007/index.html |format=PDF online reproduction |journal=Diario Oficial de la Federación |volume=652 |issue=9 |oclc=46461036|language=es}}

Spanish is the de facto national language spoken by the vast majority of Mexicans, though it is not defined as an official language in legislation. The second article of the 1917 Constitution defines the country as multicultural, recognizes the right of the indigenous peoples to "preserve and enrich their languages" and promotes "bilingual and intercultural education".

In 2003, the Mexican Congress approved the General Law of Linguistic Rights of the Indigenous Peoples ({{langx|es|Ley General de Derechos Lingüísticos}}), which is a law that recognizes that Mexico's history makes its indigenous languages "national languages".[http://www.diputados.gob.mx/LeyesBiblio/pdf/257.pdf] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080611011220/http://www.diputados.gob.mx/LeyesBiblio/pdf/257.pdf|date=June 11, 2008}} Accordingly, they "have the same validity [as Spanish] in their territory, location and context". At the same time, legislators made no specific provisions for the official or legal status of the Spanish language. This law means that indigenous peoples can use their native language in communicating with government officials and request official documents in that language. The Mexican state supports the preservation and promotion of the use of the national languages through the activities of the National Institute of Indigenous Languages.{{cite web |url=http://www.cddhcu.gob.mx/leyinfo/pdf/257.pdf |title=Ley General De Derechos Lingüísticos de los Pueblos Indígenas |access-date=February 3, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060427204513/http://www.cddhcu.gob.mx/leyinfo/pdf/257.pdf |archive-date=April 27, 2006 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.inali.gob.mx/pdf/PINALI-2008-2012.pdf |title=Programa de Revitalización, Fortalecimiento y Desarrollo de las Lenguas Indígenas Nacionales : 2008–2012 : PINALI |publisher=National Institute of Indigenous Languages |access-date=2015-12-30 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.inali.gob.mx/pdf/CLIN_completo.pdf |title=Instituto Nacional de Lenguas Indigenas |publisher=National Institute of Indigenous Languages |access-date=2015-12-30}}

Mexico has about six million citizens who speak indigenous languages. That is the second-largest group in the Americas after Peru. However, a relatively small percentage of Mexico's population speaks an indigenous language compared to other countries in the Americas, such as Guatemala (42.8%), Peru (35%), and even Ecuador (9.4%), Panama (8.3%),{{cite web |url=http://www.inegi.gob.mx/est/contenidos/espanol/rutinas/ept.asp?t=mlen21&c=3349 |title=Información estadística |access-date=August 11, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051110125441/http://www.inegi.gob.mx/est/contenidos/espanol/rutinas/ept.asp?t=mlen21&c=3349 |archive-date=November 10, 2005 }} Paraguay and Bolivia.

The only indigenous language spoken by more than a million people in Mexico is the Nahuatl language; the other Native American languages with a large population of native speakers (at least 400,000 speakers) include Yucatec Maya, Tzeltal Maya, Tzotzil Maya, Mixtec, and Zapotec.

According to the Law of Linguistic Rights, Mexico recognizes sixty-two indigenous languages as co-official National languages.{{Cite journal|last1=Terborg|first1=Roland|last2=Landa|first2=Laura García|last3=Moore|first3=Pauline|date=2006-11-15|title=The Language Situation in Mexico|journal=Current Issues in Language Planning|volume=7|issue=4|pages=415–518|doi=10.2167/cilp109.0|s2cid=143601300|issn=1466-4208}} With Spanish being the dominant language, Mexico has become a site for endangered languages. "Indigenous people’s disadvantaged socioeconomic status and the pressure of assimilation into mestizo society have been influential on indigenous language loss."{{Cite journal|last=Yoshioka|first=Hirotoshi|title=Indigenous Language Usage and Maintenance Patterns Among Indigenous People in the Era of Neoliberal Multiculturalism in Mexico and Guatemala|date=2010-01-01|jstor=40926268|journal=Latin American Research Review|volume=45|issue=3|pages=5–34|doi=10.1017/S0023879100011092 |s2cid=142934657 |doi-access=free}} The result of the conflict between indigenous languages and Spanish has been a language shift in Mexico from indigenous languages being spoken to more people using Spanish in every domain. Due to this situation there have been many language revitalization strategies implemented in order to create a language shift to try to reverse this language shift. Literature projects done with the Nahua people {{Cite journal|last=Farfán|first=José Antonio Flores|title=Keeping the fire alive: a decade of language revitalization in Mexico|journal=International Journal of the Sociology of Language|issue=212|pages=189–209|doi=10.1515/ijsl.2011.052|year=2011|s2cid=143758486}} include "Keeping the fire alive: a decade of language revitalization in Mexico" showing the experiences of language revitalization in South Mexico.{{Cite journal|last=Hernández|first=Lorena Córdova|date=2016-02-05|title=Consumo literario en lenguas indígenas: experiencias de revitalización desde el Sur de México|journal=Revista CS|language=es|issue=18|pages=37–61|doi=10.18046/recs.i18.2053|issn=2011-0324|doi-access=free}}

{{main|Indigenous languages of the Americas|List of endangered languages in Mexico}}

The following is a classification of the 65 indigenous languages grouped by family:

Language families with members north of Mexico

• Algonquian languages: Kikapú
• Yuman–Cochimí languages: Paipai, Kiliwa, Cucapá, Cochimi and Kumiai
• Uto-Aztecan languages:
• Tepiman branch: Pápago, Pima Bajo, Northern and Southern Tepehuán
• Taracahita branch: Tarahumara, Guarijio language, Yaqui and Mayo
• Corachol branch: Cora and Huichol
• Nahuan branch: Nahuatl, Nahuan dialects
• Na-Dene languages: Lipan, Mezcalero, Chiricahua, Western Apache

Language families with all known members in Mexico

• Totonacan languages:
• Totonac (different varieties)
• Tepehua (different varieties)
• Oto-Manguean languages:
• Oto-pamean branch: Northern Pame, Southern Pame, Chichimeca Jonaz, Otomí, Mazahua, Matlatzinca and Ocuiltec.
• Popolocan branch: Popoloca language, Chocho, Ixcatec language*, Mazatecan languages
• Tlapanec–Subtiaban branch: Me'phaa
• Amuzgoan branch: Amuzgo de Guerrero, Amuzgo de Oaxaca
• Mixtecan branch: Mixtecan languages, Cuicatec and Trique language.
• Zapotecan branch: Chatino languages, Zapotec languages.
• Chinantec branch: Chinantec languages
• Chiapaneca–Mangue branch: Chiapaneco*
• Mixe–Zoquean languages:
• Zoque languages
• Mixe languages
• Popoluca (Texistepec Popoluca, Sierra Popoluca (Both Zoquean) and Sayula Popoluca Oluta Popoluca (Both Mixean))

Language family with members south of Mexico

• Mayan languages:
• Huastecan branch: Wastek language,
• Yucatecan branch: Yukatek Maya, Lacandón,
• Cholan branch: Ch'ol language, Chontal Maya language, Tzeltal language, Tzotzil language,
• Qanjobalan–Chujean branch: Chuj language, Tojolabal language, Q'anjob'al language, Jakaltek, Motozintlec, Akatek language
• Quichean–Mamean branch: Mam language, Tektitek language, Ixil, Kʼicheʼ language, Kaqchikel and Q'eqchi'.

Language isolates:

• Seri
• Tequistlatecan languages: Lowland Chontal, Highland Chontal
• Purépecha
• Huave

*In danger of extinction.

The deaf community uses Mexican Sign Language, Mayan Sign Language, and, particularly among Mexicans who attended school in the United States, American Sign Language. Other local sign languages are used or emerging, including Albarradas Sign Language, Chatino Sign Language, Tzotzil Sign Language, and Tijuana Sign Language.{{Cite book |last1=Ramsey |first1=Claire |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/18/monograph/chapter/272582#info_wrap |title=Interpreting in Multilingual, Multicultural Contexts |last2=Peña |first2=Sergio |publisher=Gallaudet University Press |year=2010 |editor-last=McKee |editor-first=Rachel Locker |pages=4–5 |language=en |chapter=Sign Language Interpreting at the Border of the Two Californias |editor-last2=Davis |editor-first2=Jeffrey E.}}{{Cite web |title=Lenguas de señas en México |url=https://mexico.sil.org/es/lengua_cultura/lenguas-de-se%C3%B1as-en-m%C3%A9xico |website=SIL México |language=es-mx}}

The non-Spanish and non-indigenous languages spoken in Mexico include English (by English-speaking as well as by the residents of border states). One example of this group is of the American Mormon colony of Nueva Casas Grandes in Chihuahua, which settled in the late 19th century. Afro-Seminole Creole, an English-based creole, is traditionally spoken by the Mascogos of Coahuila. Korean is spoken mainly in Nuevo León. German (spoken mainly in Mexico City and Puebla), Greek (spoken mainly in Mexico City, Guadalajara and especially in Sinaloa state), Arabic, Venetian (in Chipilo), Italian, French, Occitan, Catalan, Basque, Galician, Asturian, Filipino, Polish, Hebrew, Korean, Ladino, Plautdietsch, Armenian, Japanese, Chinese and other languages are spoken by smaller numbers. Some of these languages (Venetian and Plautdietsch) are spoken in isolated communities or villages. The rest are spoken by immigrants or their descendants who tend to live in the larger cities and towns.

As far as second languages go, many educated Mexicans (and those with little education who have immigrated to the US and returned) have different degrees of fluency in English. Many Mexicans working in the tourist industry can speak some English.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7C4lDwAAQBAJ&dq=languages+spoken+in+mexico+english+romani&pg=PA25|title=Handbook of Research in Second Language Teaching and Learning: Volume III|isbn=978-1-317-50836-6 |last1=Hinkel |first1=Eli |date=18 November 2016 |publisher=Taylor & Francis }}

A study conducted by the Alliance française in 2019 revealed that Mexicans have begun to take a greater interest in studying the French language, with 250,000 people being French speakers and 350,000 learning French.{{cite web|url=https://www.rfi.fr/es/americas/20190320-oui-los-mexicanos-quieren-aprender-mas-frances |title=Oui! Los mexicanos quieren aprender más francés |website=Radio France Internationale |date=20 March 2019 |access-date=2021-06-27}}

Romani is spoken by the Mexican Roma minority.[https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/mexico/articles/mexicos-hidden-romani-heritage/ Mexico's Hidden Romani Heritage]

Palenque glyphs-edit1.jpg|Mexico is home to some of the world's oldest writing systems (Epi-Olmec, Zapotec, Maya script). Maya writing used logograms complemented by syllabic glyphs, similar in function to modern Japanese writing

Mapa_de_lenguas_de_México_+_100_000.png|Current distribution of indigenous languages of Mexico with more than 100,000 speakers

Pre-contact distribution language families Mexico.svg|Approximate pre-contact distribution of native language families with presence in present-day Mexico (and elsewhere)

Carochi.jpg|Grammar of Mexican language by Carochi

Mapa de las variedades del español en México (Lope).svg|Dialect division of Spanish in Mexico, according to Lope Blanch.

Laktsumajan restroom.jpg|Toilet sign in Mexico in Spanish, English and Totonac

{{Portal|Mexico|Language}}

• List of Mexican states by indigenous-speaking population
• Pura López Colomé
• Languages of Belize
• Languages of Guatemala
• Languages of the United States

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book |author=Josserand, Judith K |year=1983 |title=Mixtec Dialect History, PhD Thesis |publisher=Tulane University}}
• {{cite book |editor=Lewis, P. M. |editor2=Simons, G. F. |editor3=Fennig, C. D. |year=2013 |title=Ethnologue: Languages of the World |location=Dallas, TX |publisher=SIL International |isbn=978-1556712166 |edition=16th}}

• [http://www.cdi.gob.mx CDI]
• [http://www.cdi.gob.mx/index.php?id_seccion=1102 "¿Qué lengua hablas?", a portal that contains multimedia files of phrases spoken in some of the national indigenous languages]
• [http://www.inali.gob.mx National Institute of Indigenous Languages / in Spanish]
• [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=MX Ethnologue report for Mexico]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080611011220/http://www.diputados.gob.mx/LeyesBiblio/pdf/257.pdf General Law of Linguistic Rights of Indigenous Peoples] (in Spanish)

{{Languages of Mexico}}

{{Mexico topics}}

{{North America in topic|Languages of}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Culture of Mexico