Huastec language

Wastek
Huasteco
Teenek
Native toMexico
RegionSan Luis Potosí, Veracruz and Tamaulipas
EthnicityHuastec
Native speakers
170,000 (2020 census)
Language codes
ISO 639-3hus
Glottologhuas1242
ELPHuastec
Approximate extent of Huastec-speaking area in Mexico
Téenek
PeopleHuastec
LanguageHuastec
CountryHuasteca
A speaker of Huastec, also known as Tenek

The Huastec (also spelled Wasteko or Huasteco) language, now commonly known by the endonym Téenek, of Mexico is spoken by the Téenek people living in rural areas of San Luis Potosí and northern Veracruz. Though relatively isolated from them, it is related to the Mayan languages spoken further south and east in Mexico and Central America. Huastec is remarkable among Mayan languages for having tone, much like its Otomanguean and Totonac neighbors.

According to the 2005 population census, there are about 200,000 speakers of Huasteco in Mexico (some 120,000 in San Luis Potosí and some 80,000 in Veracruz). The language and its speakers are also called Teenek, and this name has gained currency in Mexican national and international usage in recent years.

The now-extinct Chicomuceltec language, spoken in Chiapas and Guatemala, was most closely related to Wasteko.

The first linguistic description of the Huastec language in a European language was written by Andrés de Olmos, who also wrote the first grammatical descriptions of Nahuatl and Totonac.

Huastec-language broadcasting is carried out by the CDI's radio station XEANT-AM, based in Tancanhuitz de Santos, San Luis Potosí.

Dialects

Huastec has three dialects, which have a time depth of no more than 400 years (Norcliffe 2003:3). It is spoken in a region of east-central Mexico known as the Huasteca Potosina.

  1. Western (Potosino) — 48,000 speakers in the 9 San Luis Potosí towns of Ciudad Valles (Tantocou), Aquismón, Huehuetlán, Tancanhuitz, Tanlajás, San Antonio, Tampamolón, Tanquian, and Tancuayalab.
  2. Central (Veracruz) — 22,000 speakers in the 2 northern Veracruz towns of Tempoal and Tantoyuca.
  3. Eastern (Otontepec) — 12,000 speakers in the 7 northern Veracruz towns of Chontla, Tantima, Tancoco, Chinampa, Naranjos, Amatlán, and Tamiahua. Also known as Southeastern Huastec. Ana Kondic (2012) reports only about 1,700 speakers, in the municipalities of Chontla (San Francisco, Las Cruces, Arranca Estacas, and Ensinal villages), Chinampa, Amatlan, and Tamiahua.

Phonology

Vowels

Short vowels
Front Central Back
Close i, ɪ ⟨i⟩ʊ ⟨u⟩
Mid e, ɛ ⟨e⟩ɔ, ʌ ⟨o⟩
Open ə, a ⟨a⟩
Long vowels
Front Central Back
Close iː ⟨ii⟩ʊː, uː ⟨uu⟩
Mid ɛː, eː ⟨ee⟩ɔː, oː ⟨oo⟩
Open aː ⟨aa⟩
  • /aː/ can be realized as laryngealized [a̰ː] after a glottalized consonant.
  • /ʊ/ in unstressed syllables can also be heard as [ʌ].

Consonants

Labial Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
plain labial
Nasal m ⟨m⟩ n ⟨n⟩
Plosive/
Affricate		 aspirated pʰ ⟨p⟩ tʰ ⟨t⟩ tsʰ ⟨ts⟩ tʃʰ ⟨ch⟩ kʰ ⟨k⟩ kʷʰ ⟨kw⟩
ejective tʼ ⟨tʼ⟩ tsʼ ⟨tsʼ⟩ tʃʼ ⟨chʼ⟩ kʼ ⟨kʼ⟩ kʼʷ ⟨kwʼ⟩
voiced b ⟨b⟩ (d ⟨d⟩) (ɡ ⟨kʼ⟩) (ɡʷ ⟨kwʼ⟩)
Fricative (f ⟨f⟩) θ ⟨z⟩ s ⟨s⟩ ʃ ⟨x⟩ h ⟨j⟩
Approximant w ⟨w⟩ l ⟨l⟩ j ⟨y⟩
Flap ɾ ⟨r⟩
  • Unaspirated plosives and affricates only occur as allophones of their aspirated counterparts word-medially. /p/ can also become voiced to [b] word-finally.
  • /f, d/ may[clarification needed] be present Spanish loanwords.
  • The affricates /ts, tsʼ/ can also be realized as [s, dz].
  • /b/ can also be realized as a fricative [β], and also as a voiceless fricative [ɸ] in word-final positions.
  • Ejective velars /kʼ, kʼʷ/ can be realized as voiced [ɡ, ɡʷ] word-medially.
  • Approximanta /l, w, j/ can be devoiced [l̥, w̥, j̊] word-finally.
  • /n/ before velars is realized as a palatal nasal [ɲ].
  • /h/ before /i/ can be[clarification needed] realized as a velar fricative [x].

Notes

  1. ↑ Lenguas indígenas y hablantes de 3 años y más, 2020 INEGI. Censo de Población y Vivienda 2020.
  2. ↑ INEGI, 2005
  3. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-09-28. Retrieved 2013-01-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ↑ Edmonson, Barbara Wedemeyer (1988). A descriptive grammar of Huastec (Potosino dialect). Tulane University.

References

Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía, e Informática (INEGI) (an agency of the government of Mexico). 2005. 2005 Mexican population census, last visited 22 May, 2007

Further reading