Tequistlatecan languages

Tequistlatec
Tequistlatec
Chontal
Geographic; distribution	Oaxaca
Native speakers	5,600 ; (not counting 1,700 speakers of unidentified "Chontal") (2020 census)
Linguistic classification	Hokan ? Tequistlatec;
Subdivisions	Highland Chontal; Coastal Chontal;
Glottolog	tequ1244
	The Tequistlatecan languages are in Mexico at the left of the map.

Tequistlatec languages, also called Chontal, are three close but distinct languages spoken or once spoken by the Chontal people of Oaxaca State, Mexico.

Chontal was spoken by 6,000 or so people in 2020.^[1]

Languages

The Tequistlatecan languages are:

Huamelultec (Lowland Oaxaca Chontal)
Tequistlatec (extinct)
Highland Oaxaca Chontal

Name

Although most authors use the form tequistlatec(an) today, this is based on an improper derivation in Nahuatl (the correct derivation from Tequisistlán would be Tequisistec(an), and both terms were used by Sapir interchangeably).

Classification

The Tequistlatecan languages are part of the proposed Hokan family, but are often considered to be a distinct family. Campbell and Oltrogge (1980) proposed that the Tequistlatecan languages may be related to Jicaquean (see Tolatecan), but this hypothesis has not been generally accepted.

Notes

^ ^a ^b Lenguas indígenas y hablantes de 3 años y más, 2020 INEGI. Censo de Población y Vivienda 2020.

References

Campbell, Lyle and Oltrogge, David. 1980. Proto-Tol (Jicaque). International Journal of American Linguistics, 46:205-223
Campbell, Lyle. 1979. "Middle American languages." In L. Campbell & M. Mithun (Eds.), The Languages of Native America: Historical and Comparative Assessment, (pp. 902–1000). Austin: University of Texas Press.
Campbell, Lyle. 1997. "American Indian Languages, The Historical Linguistics of Native America." In Oxford Studies in Anthropological Linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press

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[inegi2020-1] Lenguas indígenas y hablantes de 3 años y más, 2020 INEGI. Censo de Población y Vivienda 2020.

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