Highland Chinantec language

Highland Chinantec is a Chinantecan language of Mexico, spoken in Comaltepec, San Juan Quiotepec, and surrounding towns in northern Oaxaca. It has a complex system of tone and vowel length compared to other Chinantec languages. The two principal varieties, Quiotepec and Comaltepec, have marginal mutual intelligibility. Yolox Chinantec is somewhat less divergent.

Highland Chinantec
Jmii’
Native toMexico
RegionOaxaca Highlands
EthnicityChinantecs
Native speakers
(10,000 cited 1990–1998)[1]
Oto-Mangue
  • Western Oto-Mangue
    • Oto-Pame–Chinantecan
Dialects
  • Quiotepec Chinantec
  • Comaltepec Chinantec
  • Yolox Chinantec
Language codes
ISO 639-3Either:
chq – Quiotepec Chinantec
cco – Comaltepec Chinantec
Glottologchin1488
ELPSierra Chinantec

Phonology

Comaltepec

The following are sounds of Comaltepec Chinantec:[2][3]

Consonants
LabialAlveolarRetroflexPalatalVelarLaryngeal
Nasal mn(ɲ)ŋ
Stop &
Affricate		 voiceless pttʃkʔ
voiced ᵐbⁿdⁿdʒᵑɡ
Fricative voiceless (f)s(ʂ)(ʃ)(x)h
voiced (ʐ)
Lateral l
Approximant jw
1. Parenthesised sounds are loans, allophones, or free variants
2. Voiced stops are frequently prenasalised
Vowels
FrontCentralBack
High iɨu
Mid eʌo
Low æa
Tones

Quiotepec

The following are sounds of Quiotepec Chinantec:[4]

Consonants
LabialAlveolarPalatalVelarLaryngeal
Nasal mnɲŋ
Stop voiceless pttʲkʔ
voiced bddʲɡ
Fricative voiceless fsçh
voiced βðʝɣ
Lateral l
Trill r
1. /β/ is heard as a glide [w] after /k/.
Vowels
Front Back
unroundedrounded unroundedrounded
High iy ɯu
Low eø ao
Tones

References
  1. Quiotepec Chinantec at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Comaltepec Chinantec at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. Anderson, Judi Lynn, Martínez, Isaac H., & Pace, Wanda. (1990). Comaltepec Chinantec Tone. In William R. Merrifield & Calvin R. Rensch (Eds.), Syllables, Tone, and Verb Paradigms: Studies in Chinantec Languages 4 (pp. 3-20). Dallas, TX: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
  3. Silverman, Daniel. (1997). Tone Sandhi in Comaltepec Chinantec. Language, 73(3), 473-492.
  4. Robbins, Frank E. (1961). Quiotepec Chinantec Syllable Patterning. International Journal of American Linguistics, 27(3), 237-250.
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