Oto-Manguean languages

E37554

The Oto-Manguean languages are a large and ancient family of indigenous languages of Mesoamerica, spoken primarily in central and southern Mexico and known for their complex tonal systems and significant cultural history.


Statements (66)
Predicate Object
instanceOf Mesoamerican language family
indigenous languages of the Americas
language family
alternativeName Otomanguean languages
estimatedNumberOfLanguages dozens of distinct languages
hasCulturalSignificance Mesoamerican civilizations
Oaxacan indigenous cultures
ritual and oral traditions
hasFeature complex tonal systems
complex verb morphology
contrastive tone
nasalization contrasts
numeral classifiers in some languages
phonemic tone
rich inflectional morphology
vowel length contrasts
hasHistoricalDepth ancient
pre-Columbian origin
hasLinguisticClassification macro-family debated by some linguists
hasMemberLanguage Amuzgo
Chatino
Chichimeca Jonaz
Chinantec
Chocho
Cuicatec
Ixcatec
Ixcatec language
Mazahua
Mazatec
Mixtec
Otomi
Pame
Popoloca
Tlapanec
Trique
Zapotec
hasSubfamily Amuzgoan languages
Chatino languages
Chinantecan languages
Mazatecan languages
Mixtecan languages
Oto-Pamean languages
Popolocan languages
Tlapanecan languages
Zapotecan languages
hasWritingSystem Latin script
partOf Mesoamerican Linguistic Area
recognizedAs one of the major language families of Mesoamerica
one of the oldest language families in the Americas
regionOfOrigin Central Mexico
Mesoamerica
Southern Mexico
spokenIn Central Mexico
Guerrero
Hidalgo
Mesoamerica
Mexico
Oaxaca
Puebla
San Luis Potosí
Southern Mexico
Veracruz
status many languages endangered
some languages still vigorously spoken
some languages vulnerable
usedBy indigenous peoples of Mexico


Please wait…