Guerrero Amuzgo language

Guerrero Amuzgo
Ñomndaa
Native to	Mexico
Region	Guerrero
Native speakers	46,000 (2011) [1]
Language family	Oto-Manguean Amuzgoan Guerrero Amuzgo
Language codes
ISO 639-3	amu
Glottolog	guer1243
ELP	Guerrero Amuzgo

The Guerrero Amuzgo language is an Amuzgo language spoken in southwest Guerrero state in Mexico. ^[1]

Statistics and history

There are 23,000 speakers, 10,000 that are monolingual. It is also known as Nomndaa or Ñomndaa. ^[1] It belongs to the Oto-Manguean language family and the Amuzgoan subfamily. ^[1] The use of the language is widespread and it is learned as a second language by Spanish and Nahuatl speakers living with the Guerrero speakers. ^[1]

There is a positive cultural affinity toward the tongue and it is used in business, religion, and taught bilingually with Spanish until 6th grade. ^[1] 10% of adults and 15% of children are literate in Amuzgo Guerrero. ^[1] There are media such as videos, a dictionary and radio broadcasts in the language that propagate its use. ^[1]

Phonology

Vowels

Oral/Nasal vowels

	Front		Central		Back
	oral	nasal	oral	nasal	oral	nasal
Close	i	ĩ			u	ũ
Close-mid	e	ẽ			o	õ
Open-mid	æ	æ̃			ɔ	ɔ̃
Open			a	ã

Laryngealized vowels

	Front		Central		Back
	oral	nasal	oral	nasal	oral	nasal
Close	ḭ	ḭ̃			ṵ	ṵ̃
Close-mid	ḛ	ḛ̃			o̰	õ̰
Open-mid	æ̰	æ̰̃			ɔ̰	ɔ̰̃
Open			a̰	ã̰

• Sounds /æ, æ̃, æ̰, æ̰̃/ can also fluctuate to more mid sounds [ɛ, ɛ̃, ɛ̰, ɛ̰̃].

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Post- alveolar	Velar		Glottal
					central	labial
Nasal		m	n	ɲ
Plosive	voiceless	(p)	t	tʲ	k kʲ	kʷ	ʔ
	prenasal	(ᵐb)	ⁿd	ⁿdʲ	ᵑɡ	ᵑɡʷ
Affricate			ts	tʃ
Fricative		β	s	ʃ			h
Lateral			l
Rhotic	tap		ɾ
	trill		(r)
Approximant		w		j

Sounds [p, ᵐb, r] only appear in a few words. ^[2]

Notes

1. Guerrero Amuzgo at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
2. de Jesús García, Ivan (2019). Fonología del Amuzgo de Cochoapa, Guerrero. México: CIESAS.