Chichimeca Jonaz language

See also: Chichimeca
Chichimeca
Jonaz
Eza'r
Native to Mexico
Region Guanajuato
Ethnicity Chichimeca Jonaz
Native speakers
 2,200 (2010 census)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 pei
Glottolog chic1272[2]

Chichimeca or Chichimeca Jonaz is an indigenous language of Mexico spoken by around 200 Chichimeca Jonaz people in Misión de Chichimecas near San Luis de la Paz in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico. The Chichimeca Jonaz language belongs to the Oto-Pamean branch of the Oto-Manguean language family. The Chichimecos self identify as úza and call their language eza'r.

Distribution

The language is currently spoken only in San Luis de la Paz (Guanajuato), on the rancho of Misión de Chichimecas, which is located on a small town to the east of the town. In 1934, Jacques Soustelle counted 452 chichimecas, 63 of which were children which attended the local school. Prior to that point the language was spoken in five other locations:[3]

  1. Misión Arnedo (Guanajuato) to the east of San Luis, near Villa Victoria.
  2. Misión de las Palmas (Querétaro), along the Etorax river, which arises near Victoria.
  3. Misión de Santa Rosa, to the north of Victoria.
  4. San Pedro Tolimán, where a mission was established in the 18th century, which failed, however, and the chichimecas abandoned the area. It was later repopulated with Otomís.
  5. Villa Colón (Querétaro), to the south of Tolimán.

Phonology

The consonants of Chichimeca Jonaz are: /p t t͡s t͡ʃ k ʔ b d d͡ʒ ɡ s ʃ h z l r w/ and the fortis and lenis nasals /m n/ and /m n/. The oral vowels are /i ɪ u e o æ ɑ/ and nasal vowels are /ĩ ɪ̃ ũ ẽ õ œ̃ ɑ̃/.[4] Chichimeca Jonaz is a tonal language and distinguish high and low level tones.[5]

Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m̱ m ṉ n
Stop p b t d k g ʔ
Fricative s z ʃ h
Affricate ts tʃ dʒ
Liquid ɾ
Approximant l w

Notes

  1. ↑ INALI (2012) México: Lenguas indígenas nacionales
  2. ↑ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Chichimeca-Jonaz". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
  3. ↑ de Angulo, Jaime (1933). "The Chichimeco language (Central Mexico)". International Journal of American Linguistics 7 (3/4): 152–194. doi:10.1086/463802. Retrieved 2015-01-10.
  4. ↑ Lastra 1984 p. 23
  5. ↑ Suaréz 1983 p. 51

References

Suaréz, Jorge A. (1983). The Mesoamerian Indian Languages. Cambridge Languages Surveys. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-22834-4. OCLC 8034800. 
Lastra de Suárez, Yolanda (1984). "Chichimeco Jonaz". In Munro S. Edmonson (Volume ed.), with Patricia A. Andrews. Supplement to the Handbook of Middle American Indians, Vol. 2: Linguistics. Victoria Reifler Bricker (General Editor). Austin: University of Texas Press. pp. 20–43. ISBN 0-292-77593-8. OCLC 10207920. 


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