Mixe languages
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (April 2011) |
| Mixe | |
|---|---|
| Oaxacan Mixean Ayuujk | |
| Ethnicity | Mixe people |
| Geographic distribution | Oaxaca, Mexico |
Native speakers | 140,000 (2020 census)[1] |
| Linguistic classification | Mixe–Zoque
|
| Subdivisions | |
| Glottolog | oaxa1241 |
 The Mixe region within the state of Oaxaca in southern Mexico | |
| People | Ayuujkjä'äy (Mixe) |
|---|---|
| Language | Ayöök (Mixe) |
The Mixe languages are languages of the Mixean branch of the
140,000 people reported their language to be "Mixe" in the 2020 census.[1]
Classification
Oaxaca Mixe languages are spoken in the
The following classification is from Wichmann (1995:9).
- Mixe (Oaxacan Mixean)
- North Highland Mixe(Totontepec)
- South Highland Mixe(Tlahuitoltepec)
- Core (Tlahuitoltepec, Ayutla, Tamazulapan)
- Fringe (Tepuxtepec, Tepantlali, Mixistlán)
- Midland Mixe
- North Midland Mixe (Jaltepec, Puxmetacan, Matamoros, Cotzocón)
- South Midland Mixe (Juquila, Cacalotepec)
- Lowland Mixe(Camotlán, San José El Paraíso / Coatlán, Mazatlán, Guichicovi)
Wichmann (2008) adds Ulterior Mixe as an additional branch:
- Mixe
- Totontepec Mixe
- Ulterior Mixe
- Lowland – Midland Mixe – South Highland
- Tlahuitoltepec Mixe
- Lowland–Midland Mixe
- Midland Mixe
- Juquila Mixe
- North Central Mixe
- Lowland Mixe
- Coatlán Mixe
- Isthmus Mixe (Guichicovi)
- Mazatlán Mixe
- Midland Mixe
Phonology
The phonology of Mixe languages is remarkable due to their complex system of vowel duration contrasts in addition to glottalization. There is a palatalized series of all consonant phonemes (as in Russian, Polish or Irish) and possibly a fortis/lenis distinction in the plosive series, the recognition of which however is obscured by a tendency towards allophonic voicing of consonants in voiced environments.
Vowels
Syllable nuclei vary in length and phonation. Most descriptions report three contrastive vowel lengths.[2] The other types of phonation have been variously termed checked vowels, creaky voice vowels and breathy voice vowels.
The table below illustrates the vowel phonemes for Ayöök (Totentepec) Mixe: [1]
| Short | Long | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Front | Central | Back | Front | Central | Back | |
High
|
i /i/ | ï /ɨ/ | u /u/ | ii /iː/ | ïï /ɨ/ | uu /uː/ |
| Close-mid | e /e/ | ë /ə/ | o /o/ | ee /eː/ | ëë /əː/ | oo /oː/ |
| Open-mid | ä /æ/ | ää /æː/ | ||||
Low (open)
|
a /a/ | aa /aː/ | ||||
Grammar
Verbs
The
Nouns
The Mixe noun does not normally inflect, except that human nouns inflect for plural.[citation needed] Noun compounding is a very productive process, and the profuse derivational morphology allows for creation of new nouns both from verbs and from other nouns. To indicate the plural an enclitic, ëch, is added to the noun.[4]
Syntax
Mixe languages have SOV constituent order, prepositions and genitives precede the noun. But relative clauses follow the noun.[citation needed]
Sample
This sample is from Lowland Mixe:[5]
pwes
[pwes
Well
hadu'n
haduʔn
there
idaa
ʔidaː
this
yɨyoop
ʲ-ʔɨjoːb
3P-poor
jɨyäj
hɨjaʔaj
person
idaa
ʔidaː
this
aldeano
ʔaldeano
ranch hand
mɨɨt
mɨːd
with
ytöxyijk
ʲ-toʔoʃʲɨʰk
3P.POSS-woman
ytɨkoy
ʲtɨɡoˑjʲ
3P-CAUS/PAS-lose-DEP
yɨ
jɨ
the
mɨkü
mɨkuʔu]
devil
"Well that's how this poor person, this ranch hand with his wife, made the devil lose"
Radio
Mixe-language programming is carried by the
See also
Sources
- ^ a b "Diferentes lenguas indígenas". cuentame.inegi.org.mx. Retrieved 2022-07-02.
- ISBN 978-0631198154.
- ^ Kroeger 2005: 286
- ^ Jany, 2013 p.538
- ^ Dieterman, 1995 pg. 110
Bibliography
- Dieterman, Julia Irene, 1995, Participant reference in Isthmus Mixe Narrative Discourse, MA. Thesis in linguistics presented to the Faculty of the Graduate school of the University of Texas at Arlington.
- Hoogshagen, Searle & Hilda Halloran Hoogshagen, 1993, Diccionario Mixe de Coatlán, Serie de Vocabularios Indigénas "Mariano Silva y Aceves" Num. 32. SIL, Mexico, D.F.
- Kroeger, Paul R. 2005. Analyzing grammar: an introduction. Cambridge University Press.
- Schoenhals, Alvin & Louise Schoenhals, 1965, Vocabulario Mixe de Totontepec, Serie de Vocabularios Indigénas "Mariano Silva y Aceves" Num. 14. SIL, Mexico, D.F.
- Wichmann, Søren, 1995, The Relationship Among the Mixe–Zoquean Languages of Mexico. University of Utah Press. Salt Lake City. ISBN 0-87480-487-6
- JANY, C. (2013). Defining Nominal Comp as a P WORD-FORMATION PROCESS IN CHUXNABÁN MIXE. International Journal of American Linguistics, 79(4), 533–553.