Huave language

Last updated
Huave
Ombeayiiüts, Umbeyajts
Native to Mexico
Region Oaxaca
Ethnicity Huave people
Native speakers
20,000 (2020 census) [1]
Dialects
  • Eastern (San Dionisio and San Francisco del Mar)
  • Western (San Mateo and Santa Maria del Mar)
Language codes
ISO 639-3 Variously:
hue   San Francisco del Mar
huv   San Mateo del Mar
hve   San Dionisio del Mar
hvv   Santa María del Mar, Oaxaca
Glottolog huav1256
ELP Huave
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Huave (also spelled Wabe) is a language isolate spoken by the indigenous Huave people on the Pacific coast of the Mexican state of Oaxaca. The language is spoken in four villages on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, in the southeast of the state, by around 20,000 people (see table below).

Contents

Name of the language

The Huave people of San Mateo del Mar, who call themselves Ikoots, meaning "us," refer to their language as ombeayiiüts, meaning "our language". In San Francisco del Mar, the corresponding terms are Kunajts ("us") and umbeyajts ("our language"). The term "Huave" is thought to come from the Zapotec languages, meaning "people who rot in the humidity", according to the 17th-century Spanish historian Burgoa. However, Martínez Gracida (1888) claims the meaning of the term means 'many people' in Isthmus Zapotec, interpreting hua as "abundant" and be as a shortened form of binni ("people"). The etymology of the term requires further investigation. Neither of the above etymologies is judged plausible by Isthmus Zapotec speakers.[ citation needed ]

Classification

Although genetic relationships between the Huave language and several language families have been proposed, none has been substantiated, and Huave continues to be considered an isolate (Campbell 1997 pg. 161). Paul Radin proposed a relationship between Huave and the Mayan and Mixe–Zoquean languages, and Morris Swadesh proposed a connection to the Oto-Manguean languages that has been further investigated by Rensch (1976), but all proposals have been inconclusive.

An automated computational analysis (ASJP 4) by Müller et al. (2013) [2] found lexical similarities among Huave, Totozoquean, and Chitimacha. However, since the analysis was automatically generated, the similarities could be either due to mutual lexical borrowing or genetic inheritance.

Current use and status

While Huave is still in use in most domains of social life in at least one of the four villages where it is spoken, it is an endangered language. Recently, fieldwork and revitalization projects have been carried out in the Huave communities by universities of different countries.

As of 2011, it is reported that teenagers have taken to texting in Huave, so as to be able to communicate without their parents' knowing what they are saying. [3] (The Mexican Kickapooswhistled speech was developed around 1915 for much the same reason.) [4] [5] Also as of 2011, a radio station in San Mateo del Mar, Radio Ikoots, was broadcasting in Huave. [6]

Phonology

Huave of San Mateo del Mar is partly tonal, distinguishing between high and low tone in penultimate syllables only. Huave is one of only two Mesoamerican languages not to have a phonemic glottal stop (the other is Purépecha).

The phonemic inventory, reconstructed for the common ancestor of the four existing Huave varieties as presented in Campbell 1997, is as follows:

These phonemes are from the phonology of San Francisco del Mar Huave. The San Dionisio del Mar dialect has an additional vowel phoneme, /y/, cognate with /e/ in San Mateo. [7]

Vowels: /i, e, u, o, ɑ/. All vowels have aspirated forms. [8]

Consonants
Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
plain labialized
Stop voicelessptk
prenasalized ᵐbⁿdᵑɡᵑɡʷ
Affricate voicelesst͡s
prenasalized ⁿt͡s
Fricative ɸsh
Nasal mn
Approximant wlj
Trill r
Flap ɾ

Grammar

Huave is similar to the Mayan languages in being both morphologically and syntactically ergative and consistently head-marking. [9] It is less morphologically complex than Mayan languages, however, and usually each word has only a few affixes. [10] There are obligatory categories on the verb of absolutive person and present, past or future tense, plus additional categories of transitive subject, indefinite subject and reflexive. [10]

Complex sentences in Huave often juxtapose multiple verbs each inflected for the appropriate person. An interesting feature of Huave is that verbs meaning "give" can be used to produce causative meaning, [11] whilst a verb meaning "come" is used to produce purpose clauses (i.e. meaning "in order to" in English). There are other purpose clauses introduced by more ordinary particles in which the verb is inflected for a special subordinate mode.

Word order, like verb morphology, in Huave follows a fully ergative pattern. The basic word order can be expressed very simply as Ergative Verb Absolutive. [12] This means that whilst in transitive clauses the word order is AVO, in intransitive clauses the word order is verb–subject (VS). Adjectives and demonstratives can be placed either before or after the noun to which they refer, whilst numerals obligatorily precede their nouns.

Reduplication is a very productive phonological process in Huave. The verb root is reduplicated and the newly formed word's meaning is an intensified or repeated version of the meaning of the base verb. Huave also contains some partial reduplication, where only part of the root is reduplicated (typically its final VC sequence). Unlike full reduplication, this process is not productive. [13]

Dialects

Location of the four Huave speaking towns within the state of Oaxaca Huavetowns.png
Location of the four Huave speaking towns within the state of Oaxaca

Huave is spoken in the four coastal towns of San Francisco del Mar, San Dionisio del Mar, San Mateo del Mar and Santa Catarina del Mar. The most vibrant speech community is in San Mateo del Mar which was fairly isolated until recently. Negative speakers' attitudes towards their language and a strong social pressure from the dominant Spanish language are the main reasons for the endangerment of Huave.

Dialect and placeNumber of Speakers (ca.)ISO 639-3 (SIL)
San Dionisio del Mar 5,000hve
San Francisco del Mar 900hue
San Mateo del Mar 12,000huv
Santa María del Mar500hvv

Although considered separate languages by SIL according to the needs of literacy materials, Campbell (1997) considers them dialects of a single language. INALI distinguishes two varieties, Eastern (Dionisio and Francisco) and Western (Mateo and Maria).

Sample of written Huave

Practical orthographies are currently in use by literate speakers in San Mateo, San Francisco, San Dionisio and Santa María del Mar. There is an effort going on by the Mexican INALI (National Institute for Indigenous Languages) to standardize the orthography together with speakers from all four communities.

The following text-sample is a passage from Cuentos Huaves III published by the Instituto Lingüístico de Verano: [14]

Tambüw

chüc

ambiyaw

chüc

xicuüw,

Tambüw chüc ambiyaw chüc xicuüw,

'Two compadres went to kill deer'

ambiyaw

chüc

coy,

nggwaj.

Apiüng

chüc

nop:

ambiyaw chüc coy, nggwaj. Apiüng chüc nop:

'and they went to kill rabbits. One (of them) said:'

—Tabar

combül,

ambiyar

coya,

ambiyar

xicuüwa,

ambiyar

püecha

—aw

chüc.

—Tabar combül, ambiyar coya, ambiyar xicuüwa, ambiyar püecha —aw chüc.

'Let's go, compadre, to kill rabbits, deer and chachalacas'.

—Nggo

namb

—aw

chüc.

—Nggo namb —aw chüc.

'I won't go', he said'.

Notes

  1. Lenguas indígenas y hablantes de 3 años y más, 2020 INEGI. Censo de Población y Vivienda 2020.
  2. Müller, André, Viveka Velupillai, Søren Wichmann, Cecil H. Brown, Eric W. Holman, Sebastian Sauppe, Pamela Brown, Harald Hammarström, Oleg Belyaev, Johann-Mattis List, Dik Bakker, Dmitri Egorov, Matthias Urban, Robert Mailhammer, Matthew S. Dryer, Evgenia Korovina, David Beck, Helen Geyer, Pattie Epps, Anthony Grant, and Pilar Valenzuela. 2013. ASJP World Language Trees of Lexical Similarity: Version 4 (October 2013) .
  3. Gearing, Jes (2012-03-26). "Texting Endangered Languages". Beyond Words. Retrieved 2012-10-06.
  4. Ritzenthaler, Robert E.; Peterson, Frederick A. (1954). "Courtship Whistling of the Mexican Kickapoo Indians". American Anthropologist. American Anthropological Association. 56 (6): 1088–1089. doi: 10.1525/aa.1954.56.6.02a00110 . JSTOR   664763.
  5. Rock, Margaret (2011-06-29). "Teenagers Revive Dead Languages Through Texting". Mobiledia. Archived from the original on 2013-01-29. Retrieved 2012-10-06.
  6. Johnson, Tim (2011-06-27). "Hip-hop, texting may help save world's languages". McClatchy. Archived from the original on 2012-07-01. Retrieved 2012-10-06.
  7. Salminen (2016) , p.  21
  8. Kim (2008)
  9. Nichols, Johanna (1999). Linguistic Diversity in Space and Time. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 300–301. ISBN   0-226-58057-1.
  10. 1 2 Suárez, Jorge A. (1983). The Mesoamerican Indian languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 66–67. ISBN   0-521-29669-2.
  11. Suárez (1983) , pp. 130–131
  12. "Order of Subject and Verb". WALS Online.
  13. Kim (2008) , pp. 316–317
  14. Cuentos Huaves III (PDF) (2nd (electronic) ed.). México DF: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano. 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-06-17.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tzeltal language</span> Mayan language of Mexico

Tzeltal or Tseltal is a Mayan language spoken in the Mexican state of Chiapas, mostly in the municipalities of Ocosingo, Altamirano, Huixtán, Tenejapa, Yajalón, Chanal, Sitalá, Amatenango del Valle, Socoltenango, Las Rosas, Chilón, San Juan Cancuc, San Cristóbal de las Casas and Oxchuc. Tzeltal is one of many Mayan languages spoken near this eastern region of Chiapas, including Tzotzil, Chʼol, and Tojolabʼal, among others. There is also a small Tzeltal diaspora in other parts of Mexico and the United States, primarily as a result of unfavorable economic conditions in Chiapas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tzotzil language</span> Mayan language spoken in Mexico

Tzotzil is a Maya language spoken by the indigenous Tzotzil Maya people in the Mexican state of Chiapas. Most speakers are bilingual in Spanish as a second language. In Central Chiapas, some primary schools and a secondary school are taught in Tzotzil. Tzeltal is the most closely related language to Tzotzil and together they form a Tzeltalan sub-branch of the Mayan language family. Tzeltal, Tzotzil and Chʼol are the most widely spoken languages in Chiapas besides Spanish.

The Kaqchikel language is an indigenous Mesoamerican language and a member of the Quichean–Mamean branch of the Mayan languages family. It is spoken by the indigenous Kaqchikel people in central Guatemala. It is closely related to the Kʼicheʼ (Quiché) and Tzʼutujil languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern Pomo language</span> Pomoan language

Eastern Pomo, also known as Clear Lake Pomo, is a nearly extinct Pomoan language spoken around Clear Lake in Lake County, California by one of the Pomo peoples.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chuj language</span> Mayan language spoken in Guatemala and Mexico

Chuj is a Mayan language spoken by around 40,000 members of the Chuj people in Guatemala and around 3,000 members in Mexico. Chuj is a member of the Qʼanjobʼalan branch along with the languages of Tojolabʼal, Qʼanjobʼal, Akateko, Poptiʼ, and Mochoʼ which, together with the Chʼolan branch, Chuj forms the Western branch of the Mayan family. The Chujean branch emerged approximately 2,000 years ago. In Guatemala, Chuj speakers mainly reside in the municipalities of San Mateo Ixtatán, San Sebastián Coatán and Nentón in the Huehuetenango Department. Some communities in Barillas and Ixcán also speak Chuj. The two main dialects of Chuj are the San Mateo Ixtatán dialect and the San Sebastián Coatán dialect.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zapotec languages</span> Group of related indigenous Mesoamerican languages

The Zapotec languages are a group of around 50 closely related indigenous Mesoamerican languages that constitute a main branch of the Oto-Manguean language family and which is spoken by the Zapotec people from the southwestern-central highlands of Mexico. A 2020 census reports nearly half a million speakers, with the majority inhabiting the state of Oaxaca. Zapotec-speaking communities are also found in the neighboring states of Puebla, Veracruz, and Guerrero. Labor migration has also brought a number of native Zapotec speakers to the United States, particularly in California and New Jersey. Most Zapotec-speaking communities are highly bilingual in Spanish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isthmus Zapotec</span> Language

Isthmus Zapotec, also known as Juchitán Zapotec, is a Zapotec language spoken in Tehuantepec and Juchitán de Zaragoza, in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. According to the census of 1990 it has about 85,000 native speakers, however this number is rapidly decreasing, as speakers shift to Spanish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Otomi language</span> Oto-Pamean language family of south-central Mexico

Otomi is an Oto-Pamean language spoken by approximately 240,000 indigenous Otomi people in the central altiplano region of Mexico. Otomi consists of several closely related languages, many of which are not mutually intelligible. The word Hñähñu has been proposed as an endonym, but since it represents the usage of a single dialect, it has not gained wide currency. Linguists have classified the modern dialects into three dialect areas: the Northwestern dialects are spoken in Querétaro, Hidalgo and Guanajuato; the Southwestern dialects are spoken in the State of Mexico; and the Eastern dialects are spoken in the highlands of Veracruz, Puebla, and eastern Hidalgo and villages in Tlaxcala and Mexico states.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trique languages</span> Language family

The Triqui, or Trique, languages are a family of Oto-Manguean spoken by 30,000 Trique people of the Mexican states of Oaxaca and the state of Baja California in 2007. They are also spoken by 5,000 immigrants to the United States. Triqui languages belong to the Mixtecan branch together with the Mixtec languages and Cuicatec.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mixe languages</span>

The Mixe languages are languages of the Mixean branch of the Mixe–Zoquean language family indigenous to southern Mexico. According to a 1995 classification, there are seven of them. The four that are spoken in Oaxaca are commonly called Mixe while their two relatives spoken in Veracruz are commonly called "Popoluca", but sometimes also Mixe. This article is about the Oaxaca Mixe languages, which their speakers call Ayöök, Ayuujk, Ayüük or Ayuhk.

Sierra Popoluca, also known as Soteapanec, Soteapan Zoque, or Highland Popoluca, is a developing Mixe-Zoquean language of the Zoquean branch. It has 35,050 speakers who live in the southern part of Veracruz, Mexico. Sierra Popoluca has two sister languages, Texistepec and Ayapanec, both of which are severely endangered.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chatino language</span> Indigenous Mesoamerican languages of Mexico

Chatino is a group of indigenous Mesoamerican languages. These languages are a branch of the Zapotecan family within the Oto-Manguean language family. They are natively spoken by 45,000 Chatino people, whose communities are located in the southern portion of the Mexican state of Oaxaca.

Texistepec, commonly called either Texistepec Popoluca or Texistepec Zoque, is a Mixe–Zoquean language of the Zoquean branch spoken by a hundred indigenous Popoluca people in and around the town of Texistepec in Southern Veracruz, Mexico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indigenous people of Oaxaca</span>

The Indigenous people of Oaxaca are descendants of the inhabitants of what is now the state of Oaxaca, Mexico, who were present before the Spanish invasion. Several cultures flourished in the ancient region of Oaxaca from as far back as 2000 BC, of whom the Zapotecs and Mixtecs were perhaps the most advanced, with complex social organization and sophisticated arts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Embera language</span> Embera language of Colombia and Panama

Northern Emberá, also known as West Embera and Cholo, is the largest Embera language. It is spoken largely in Colombia, but is also the principal language of the Darién Gap in Panama.The Emberá language is divided into two branches: Northern and Southern. Two prominent Northern groups are Emberá Darien and Catío. The Catío language is spoken by 10,000 - 20,000 people, whose literacy rate is at 1%. The Darien Emberá language is spoken by 9,000-10,000 people.

Zaniza Zapotec is an Oto-Manguean language of western Oaxaca, Mexico. It is one of several Zapotec languages called Papabuco. It has only 10% intelligibility with Texmelucan Zapotec, its closest important relative.

Djaru (Tjaru) is a Pama–Nyungan language spoken in the south-eastern Kimberley region of Western Australia. As with most Pama-Nyungan languages, Djaru includes single, dual and plural pronoun numbers. Djaru also includes sign-language elements in its lexicon. Nouns in Djaru do not include gender classes, and apart from inflections, words are formed through roots, compounding or reduplication. Word order in Djaru is relatively free and has the ability to split up noun phrases. The Djaru language has a relatively small number of verbs, as compared to most languages, and thus utilizes a system of 'preverbs' and complex verbs to compensate. Djaru also has an avoidance language. Avoidance languages, sometimes known as 'mother-in-law languages', are special registers within a language that are spoken between certain family members – such registers are common throughout native Australian languages.

Elotepec Zapotec is a Zapotec language of a single village in western Oaxaca, Mexico, San Juan Elotepec in the Municipio of Villa Sola de Vega. It is one of several Zapotec languages called Papabuco, and has 68% intelligibility of Zaniza Zapotec.

Yalálag Zapotec is a Zapotec language of Oaxaca, Mexico, spoken in Hidalgo Yalalag, Mexico City, Oaxaca City, Veracruz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matlatzinca language</span> Endangered Oto-Manguean language of Mexico

Matlatzinca, or more specifically San Francisco Matlatzinca, is an endangered Oto-Manguean language of Western Central Mexico. The name of the language in the language itself is pjiekak'joo. The term "Matlatzinca" comes from the town's name in Nahuatl, meaning "the lords of the network." At one point, the Matlatzinca groups were called "pirindas," meaning "those in the middle."

References

OLAC resources