Tepehua languages

Tepehua
Hamasipini
Region Mexico: Puebla, Veracruz, Hidalgo
Native speakers
 8,900 (2010 census)[1]
Official status
Regulated by INALI
Language codes
ISO 639-3 Variously:
tee – Tepehua of Huehuetla
tpp – Tepehua of Pisaflores
tpt – Tepehua of Tlachichilco
Glottolog tepe1243[2]

Tepehua is an language cluster of Mexico, spoken across a number of central Mexican states by the Tepehua people. Tepehua is a Mesoamerican language and shows many of the traits which define the Mesoamerican Linguistic Area. Along with some 62 other indigenous languages, it is recognized by a statutory law of Mexico[3] (General Law of Linguistic Rights of the Indigenous Peoples) as an official language in the Mexican Federal District and the other administrative divisions in which it is spoken and it is on an equal footing with Spanish.

Approximate number of speakers of all varieties of Tepehua ~10,000
Language ISO-Code Where spoken Number of speakers
Tepehua of Huehuetla tee Northeastern Hidalgo, Huehuetla, and half the town of Mecapalapa in Puebla. 3,000 (1982 SIL)
Tepehua of Pisaflores tpp Around the town of Pisaflores Veracruz 4,000 (1990 census).
Tepehua of Tlachichilco tpt Tlachichilco, Veracruz 3,000 (1990 SIL).

Huehuetla and Pisaflores are at best marginally intelligible, at 60–70% intelligibility (depending on direction). Tlachichilco, however, much lower intelligibility with the others, at 40% intelligibility or less.

Morphology

Tepehua is an agglutinative language, where words use suffix complexes for a variety of purposes with several morphemes strung together.

References

  1. ↑ INALI (2012) México: Lenguas indígenas nacionales
  2. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2016). "Tepehua". Glottolog 2.7. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  3. ↑ "Ley General de Derechos Lingüísticos de los Pueblos Indígenas" (PDF). (56.2 KiB) ("General Law of the Linguistic Rights of Indigenous peoples"), decree published 13 March 2003


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