Western branch Oto-Pamean The languages of the
Oto-Pamean branch are spoken in central and western Mexico. The group includes the Otomian languages:
Otomi, which is spoken primarily in the states of
Mexico,
Hidalgo,
Puebla, and
Veracruz (c. 293,000 speakers);
Mazahua, which is spoken in the western part of the State of Mexico (c. 350,000 speakers); and the endangered
Matlatzincan languages including
Matlatzinca (c. 1000 speakers in the town of
San Francisco Oxtotilpan) and
Tlahuica (also called Ocuilteco) (c. 400 speakers in the municipio of
Ocuilan) both spoken in the State of Mexico; And the Pamean group composed of the two living
Pame languages of
San Luís Potosí, Northern Pame being spoken in communities from the north of
Río Verde on the border with
Tamaulipas (c. 5500 speakers), and Central Pame spoken in the town of Santa María Acapulco (c. 4000 speakers), the extinct Southern Pame language, and the
Chichimeca Jonaz language spoken in Misión de Chichimecas near
San Luis de la Paz, in the state of
Guanajuato (c. 200 speakers). Otomi is traditionally described as a single language although not all of its many dialects are mutually intelligible. The language classification of the SIL International's
Ethnologue considers Otomi to be a cover term for nine separate Otomi languages and assigns a different
ISO code to each of these nine varieties. Currently, Otomi varieties are spoken collectively by c. 239,000 speakers, some 5 to 6 percent of whom are
monolingual. Because of recent migratory patterns, small populations of Otomi speakers can be found in new locations throughout Mexico and in the United States. The Otomi languages are vigorous in some areas, and children acquire the language through natural transmission (e.g. in the
Mezquital Valley of Hidalgo and in the Highlands). However, three varieties are now considered
moribund: those of Ixtenco (
Tlaxcala state), Santiago Tilapa and Acazulco (
Mexico state), and Cruz del Palmar (
Guanajuato state). In some municipalities, the level of monolingualism in Otomi is as high as 22.3% (
Huehuetla, Hidalgo) or 13.1% (
Texcatepec, Veracruz). Monolingualism is normally significantly more frequent for women than for men.
Chinantecan The
Chinantecan languages are spoken by c. 93,000 people in Northern Oaxaca and Southern Veracruz in the districts of Cuicatlán,
Ixtlán de Juárez, Tuxtepec and Choapan.
Ethnologue recognizes 14 separate varieties, with separate ISO codes.
Tlapanec–Mangue The
Tlapanec language is spoken by c. 75,000 people in
Guerrero. There are four principal varieties, which are named after the communities in which they are spoken: Acatepec, Azoyú, Malinaltepec and Tlacoapa. Recent labor migrations have introduced Tlapanec speaking communities to the state of
Morelos. It was closely related to the
Subtiaba language, which was spoken in
Nicaragua but is now extinct. All
Manguean languages are extinct. They included the
Mangue and
Chorotega languages, which were spoken in Nicaragua and
Costa Rica in the early 20th century, and the
Chiapanec language, which was spoken in
Chiapas,
Mexico, by a handful of speakers in the 1990s.
Eastern branch Popolocan The Popolocan language group includes the seven different varieties of
Popoloca that are spoken in southern
Puebla, near
Tehuacán and
Tepexi de Rodríguez (c. 30,000 speakers), and the closely related
Chocho language (c. 700 speakers) spoken in Northern Oaxaca state, and the 8 different
Mazatecan languages spoken in northern Oaxaca (c. 120,000 speakers), and the nearly extinct
Ixcatec language spoken in
Santa María Ixcatlán (< 8 speakers). The Popolocan languages should not be confused with the languages called
Popoluca, which are spoken in
Veracruz and belong to the unrelated
Mixe–Zoquean language family. The Mazatecan languages are known for their prolific use of
whistled speech.
Zapotecan The
Zapotecan subgroup is formed by the
Zapotec languages (c. 785,000 speakers of all varieties) and the related
Chatino language (c. 23,000 speakers). All are traditionally spoken in central and southern Oaxaca, but they have been spread throughout Mexico and even into the United States through recent labor-related migrations. Zapotec languages and dialects fall into four broad geographic divisions: Zapoteco de la Sierra Norte (Northern Zapotec), Valley Zapotec, Zapoteco de la Sierra Sur (Southern Zapotec), and
Isthmus Zapotec. Northern Zapotec languages are spoken in the mountainous region of
Oaxaca, in the Northern Sierra Madre mountain ranges. Southern Zapotec languages and are spoken in the mountainous region of
Oaxaca, in the Southern Sierra Madre mountain ranges. Valley Zapotec languages are spoken in the Valley of Oaxaca. Isthmus Zapotec languages are spoken in the
Isthmus of Tehuantepec.
Ethnologue recognizes 57 varieties of Zapotec and 6 varieties of Chatino by distinct ISO codes.
Mixtecan–Amuzgoan The Mixtecan branch includes the many different mutually-unintelligible varieties of Mixtec, spoken by about 511,000 people, as well as the
Trique (or Triqui) languages, spoken by about 24,500 people, and
Cuicatec, spoken by about 15,000 people. The Mixtecan languages are traditionally spoken in the region known as
La Mixteca, which is shared by the
Mexican states of
Oaxaca,
Puebla and
Guerrero. Because of migration from that region, the Mixtecan languages have expanded to Mexico's main urban areas, particularly the
State of México and the
Federal District, to certain agricultural areas such as the
San Quintín valley in
Baja California and parts of
Morelos and
Sonora, and even into the
United States. The Mixtec language is a complex set of regional varieties, many of which are not mutually intelligible. The varieties are sometimes grouped by geographic area by using designations such as those of the
Mixteca Alta, the
Mixteca Baja, and the
Mixteca de la Costa. However, the dialects do not actually follow the geographic areas, and the precise historical relationships between the different varieties have not been worked out. The number of varieties of Mixtec depends in part on what the criteria are for grouping them, of course; at one extreme, government agencies once recognized no dialectal diversity. Mutual intelligibility surveys and local literacy programs have led
SIL International to identify more than
50 varieties, which have been assigned distinct ISO codes. Four
Amuzgo varieties are spoken in the
Costa Chica region of
Guerrero and
Oaxaca by about 44,000 speakers. The four varieties recognized by the Mexican government are
Northern Amuzgo (
amuzgo del norte, commonly known as Guerrero or (from its major town) Xochistlahuaca Amuzgo), Southern Amuzgo (
amuzgo del sur, heretofore classified as a subdialect of Northern Amuzgo); Upper Eastern Amuzgo (
amuzgo alto del este, commonly known as Oaxaca Amuzgo or San Pedro Amuzgos Amuzgo); Lower Eastern Amuzgo (
amuzgo bajo del este, commonly known as Ipalapa Amuzgo). Those varieties are very similar, but there is a significant difference between the western varieties (Northern and Southern) and the eastern varieties (Upper Eastern and Lower Eastern), as revealed by recorded text testing done in the 1970s. ==Phonology==