The Chinantecan languages, number 9 (chartreuse), east.
The Chinantec or Chinantecan languages constitute a branch of the Oto-Manguean family. Though traditionally considered a single language, Ethnologue lists 14 partially mutually unintelligible varieties of Chinantec.[2] The languages are spoken by the indigenous Chinantec people who live in Oaxaca and Veracruz, Mexico, especially in the districts of Cuicatlán, Ixtlán de Juárez, Tuxtepec and Choapan, and in Staten Island, New York.[3]
Egland and Bartholomew (1978)[4] established fourteen Chinantec languages on the basis of 80% mutual intelligibility. Ethnologue found that one that had not been adequately compared (Tlaltepusco) was not distinct, but split another (Lalana from Tepinapa). At a looser criterion of 70% intelligibility, Lalana–Tepinapa, Quiotepec–Comaltepec, Palantla–Valle Nacional, and geographically distant Chiltepec–Tlacoatzintepec would be languages, reducing the count to ten. Lealao Chinantec (Latani) is the most divergent.
On the basis of shared phonological innovations, Rensch (1989) groups the Chinantecan languages into 5 clusters, which largely agree with previous ethnographic classifications of the population centers of the Chinantla. He additionally proposes a division into a Northern area represented by group I, a Transitional area represented by group II, and a Southern area represented by groups III-V. The northern languages are considered more innovative both phonologically and lexically, while the southern languages are more conservative in both respects. Phonologically, Ojitlán is found to the most innovative, and Comaltepec the most conservative.[5]:3–9
Syllables are typically of the shape (C)V with an optional onset, and in coda position only laryngeal elements and in some languages a nasal consonant. The only initial consonant clusters to occur consist of one of the laryngeal elements ʔ and h followed by a voiced consonant,[6] which in some languages are analyzed as preglottalized or voiceless continuants.[7]:57 In some Chinantecan languages, both pre- and post-nuclear glides may combine with the nucleus to form large inventories of diphthongs and triphthongs.[7]:88–99[8]:16–20
Roots are predominantly monosyllabic,[6] as fully inflected words often are as well, although there also exist polysyllabic roots, in some cases possibly reflecting fossilized classifiers,[7]:100-101 and roots of up to 4 syllables are reported in Spanish borrowings.[8]:29
There is typically a set of nasal vowels, a binary length contrast,[6] and in some languages a number of contrastive phonation types,[7]:80–84 which in stressed syllables may potentially all co-occur and cross-classify with tone and ballisticity, generating an extremely large number of contrasting syllable nuclei for a given vowel quality.[6]
Stress and ballisticity
Roots in Chinantecan languages are obligatorily stressed,[6] and stress typically falls on the final syllable of the root.[9]:77[8]:13 Often only stressed syllables display the full range of phonological contrasts, and in some languages there may be a tendency to disallow complex tones and codas in non-stressed syllables.[8]:14
Within stressed syllables, many Chinantecan languages have been analyzed as exhibiting a distinction, also observed in the distantly related Amuzgoan languages,[10] between ballistic stress, characterized by an "initial surge and rapid decay of intensity" and shorter duration among other features, and controlled stress, which "exhibit no such initial surge of intensity, displaying a more evenly controlled decrease of intensity" and are generally longer.[6][11][12][13] There is variation in the phonetic realization of ballisticity among Chinantecan languages which are thought to exhibit the contrast, and in others, the typical phonetic correlates of ballisticity are not observed, and the distinction is instead analyzed as being purely tonal [9]:77 or one of vowel length.[14]:137–138
Tone
All Chinantecan languages are tonal. Some, such as Usila Chinantec and Ojitlán Chinantec, have five register tones (in addition to contour tones), with the extreme tones deriving historically from ballistic syllables,[15] while San Juan Quiotepec Chinantec has been analyzed as contrasting 6 level tones,[14]:168–185 and 6 contour tones comprising 3 falling and 3 rising contours.[14]:186–188
6 level tones of SJQ Chinantec, with tonal minimal quintuplet[14]:168
Tone
Example
English Gloss
Spanish Gloss
6 ˥⁺
o⁶
I shout
yo grito
5 ˥
o⁵
papaya
papaya
4 ˦
o⁴
(s/he) crosses
él cruza
3 ˧
o³
to cross
cruzar
2 ˨
puo²
to plaster
repellar
1 ˩
o¹
(s/he) shouted
gritó
Grammar
Grammars are published for Sochiapam Chinantec,[8] and a grammar[16] and a dictionary of Palantla (Tlatepuzco) Chinantec.[17]
Syntax
Chinantecan languages have VSO as their unmarked word order, with focused constituents typically being able to be fronted before the verb, and are strongly head-initial, as is the case for most Otomanguean languages.[6] The following examples from San Juan Quiotepec Chinantec demonstrate basic word order facts:[7]:11
VSO order with transitive verb:
tɘɨtsei²³
remember.3.IMPERF
V
seʼ³⁴
Cesar
S
do¹
DEM
saʼo⁴⁵³
mother.3SG.POSS
O
tɘɨtsei²³ seʼ³⁴ do¹ saʼo⁴⁵³
remember.3.IMPERF Cesar DEM mother.3SG.POSS
V S {} O
'Cesar remembers his mother'
VS order with intransitive verb:
gɨ¹
PERF
ngɨ²¹
walk.3.PERF
V
seʼ³⁴
Cesar
S
do¹
DEM
gɨ¹ ngɨ²¹ seʼ³⁴ do¹
PERF walk.3.PERF Cesar DEM
{} V S {}
'Cesar walked'
VO order with transitive verb and subject omitted:
tɘɨtsei²³
remember.3.IMPERF
V
saʼo⁴⁵³
mother.3SG.POSS
O
tɘɨtsei²³ { saʼo⁴⁵³ }
remember.3.IMPERF {mother.3SG.POSS}
V O
'(He) remembers his mother'
In Lealao Chinantec, however, default word order in transitive sentences with non-pronominal subjects is VOS:[18]:38–39
The parts of this sentence are: ca¹ a prefix which marks the past tense, dsén¹ which is the verb stem meaning "to pull out an animate object", the suffix -jni referring to the first person, the noun classifierchi³ and the nounchieh³ meaning chicken.
Animacy
Chinantecan languages group nouns into one of two genders based on animacy. Animals, humans, and some natural phenomena such as thunder or stars which are considered spirits in Chinantec mythology are considered animate. Plants and body parts are considered inanimate. Animacy is not overtly marked on the noun itself, but adjectives, demonstratives, quantifiers, numerals, and in some languages relativizers agree with the noun they modify in animacy.[19]:3[8]:234 Verbs agree with one of their core arguments in animacy as well, following an ergative pattern where intransitive verbs agree with the subject, and transitive verbs agree with the patient. Verbs thus fall into one of at least 4 transitivity-animacy classes, conventionally labelled ii (Inanimate Intransitive), ai (Animate Intransitive), ti (Transitive Inanimate), and ta (Transitive Animate), in a scheme like the one used for the Algonquian languages.[18]:24
Verbs in Chinantecan languages have the following structure:
an obligatory stem, which inflects for 4 core persons (1sg, 1pl, 2, 3) and a number of tense, aspect, and motion categories through a combination of tone, vowel length, ballisticity, glottal closure, and ablaut, which is thought to reflect the alternation between the proto-Chinantecan palatal and non-palatal vowel series;
a number of optional prefixes which typically co-occur in a fixed order, and express categories such as tense, aspect, mood, evidentiality, movement, and posture;[8]:157–159
suffixes or enclitics which mark certain grammatical persons.[5]:27–28
Sochiapam Chinantec verb phrase, verb stem in bold:[8]:156
EVID-PAST-CONT-MOT-sustained.PROG- cry.INTR.AN.3 baby little inside shawl
'The little baby in the shawl was evidently constantly crying nonstop (while) hanging (there).'
While the shape of the stem used for a given combination of person and tense-aspect-mood may appear unpredictable, "starting from Merrifield (1968), the existing descriptive tradition of Chinantecan languages from the SIL suggests that the entire paradigm of a verb is retrievable from the inflectional information provided by only 12 cells," which represent the product of the 4 core persons, and 3 core tense-aspect categories, termed Progressive, Intentive, and Completive (alternatively Present, Future, and Past, respectively). The form of the stem used for categories beyond the 3 core tense-aspects is thus predictable from one of the 12 forms. [2]:4
Tepetotutla 12-stem paradigm for verb dance (ai) [20]:13
1sg
1pl
2
3
Progressive
zą́ᴸᴹ
ziógᴸᴹ
zą́ᴸᴹʔ
ząᴸᴹ
Intentive
zą́ᴹᴴ
ziógᴹᴴ
zą́ᴹᴴʔ
ząᴸ
Completive
zą́ᴸ
zioiᴹᴴ
zą́ᴸʔ
zą́ᴹ
Comaltepec 12-stem paradigm with only suprasegmentals [11]:43
1sg
1pl
2
3
Progressive
Lːˊ
Mː
Lː
Lːˊ
Intentive
LHːˊ
Hːˊ
Hːˊ
Mːˊ
Completive
Mˊ
Hˊ
Mː
Lːˊ
Whistled speech
The Chinantec people have practiced whistled speech since the pre-Columbian era. The high functional load of tone, stress, vowel length, laryngeal configuration, intonation, and rhythm in the Chinantecan languages allows speakers to convey complex messages by transposing the prosodic qualities of the spoken languages onto various whistled registers, even in the complete absence of consonants, vowels, and nasalization.[21] In Sochiapam Chinantec, the cross-classifying prosodic features produce 31 distinct tone-stress-glottalization patterns, for which 4 distinct styles of whistling are used:
whistling with the tongue against the alveolar ridge for close-by communication, called siɛ², (up to 10m (33ft));
bilabial whistling for mid- to far-distance communication, called huɯ³², (up to 200m (660ft));
fingers-in-mouth whistling for far-distance communication, called huɔ², (up to 1km (0.62mi) and sometimes more depending on terrain);
falsetto speech for mid- to far-distance communication, called hɔ́h³², (up to 1km (0.62mi)).[8]:30–31
Whistled speech is typically only used by Chinantec men, although women may also understand it.[8]:29 Use of the whistled language is declining, as modern technology such as walkie-talkies and loudspeakers have made long-distance communication easier.[22]
12345Rensch, Calvin (1989). An Etymologial Dictionary of the Chinantec Languages. Studies in Chinantec languages. Vol.1. Dallas, TX: SIL International and The University of Texas at Arlington.
1234567Silverman, Daniel (2006). "Chinantec: Phonology". In Brown, Keith (ed.). Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics (Second Edition). Amsterdam: Elsevier. pp.341–343. ISBN978-0-08-044854-1. | doi=10.1016/b0-08-044854-2/00103-6
12345678910Foris, David Paul (2000). A grammar of Sochiapam Chinantec. Studies in Chinantec languages. Vol.6. Dallas, TX: SIL International and The University of Texas at Arlington.
↑Dobui, Bien (2025). "A model of non-modal phonation: Ballisticity in Otomanguean languages". In Kuznetsova, Natalia; Anderson, Cormac; Easterday, Shelece (eds.). Rarities in phonetics and phonology: Structural, typological, evolutionary, and social dimensions. Language Science Press. pp.309–357. doi:10.5281/zenodo.14712629.
↑Mugele, R. L. (1982). Tone and Ballistic Syllables in Lalana Chinantec (Ph.D. dissertation). Austin: University of Texas.
↑Rensch, Calvin (1978). "Ballistic and controlled syllables in Otomanguean Languages". In Bell, Alan; Hooper, Joan B. (eds.). Syllables and Segments. Amsterdam: North Holland Publishing Company. pp.85–92.
↑Edmondson, Jerold A.; Gregerson, Kenneth J. (1992). "On Five-level Tone Systems". In Hwang, Shin Ja J.; Merrifield, William R. (eds.). Language in Context: Essays for Robert E. Longacre. Dallas, TX: Summer Institute of Linguistics. pp.555–576.
↑Merrifield, William R. (1968). "Palantla Chinantec grammar". Papeles de la Chinantla 5. Serie Científica. Vol.9. México: Museo Nacional de Antropología.
123Rupp, James E. (1989). Lealao Chinantec Syntax. Studies in Chinantec languages. Vol.2. Dallas, TX: SIL International and The University of Texas at Arlington.
12Westley, David O. (1991). Tepetotutla Chinantec Syntax. Studies in Chinantec languages. Vol.5. Dallas, TX: SIL International and The University of Texas at Arlington.
↑Sicoli, Mark A. (2016-06-02). "Repair organization in Chinantec whistled speech". Language. 92 (2). Cambridge University Press: 411–432. doi:10.1353/lan.2016.0028.
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