Zoque languages

The Zoque (/ˈsoʊkeɪ/) languages form a primary branch of the Mixe–Zoquean language family indigenous to southern Mexico by the Zoque people.

Central (Copainalá) Zoque-language programming is carried by the CDI's radio station XECOPA, broadcasting from Copainalá, Chiapas.

There are over 100,000 speakers of Zoque languages. 74,000 people reported their language to be "Zoque" in a 2020 census, and an additional 36,000 reported their language to be Sierra Popoluca. Most of the remaining 8,400 "Popoluca" speakers are presumably also Zoque.

Zoquean languages fall in three groups:

• Gulf Zoquean (Veracruz Zoque)

  • Sierra Popoluca (Soteapan Zoque)
  • Texistepec Popoluca
  • Ayapa Zoque (Tabasco Zoque)

  Oaxacan Zoque

  • Chimalapa Zoque (dialects: Santa María Chimalapa, San Miguel Chimalapa)

  Chiapas Zoque

  • Copainalá Zoque
  • Francisco León Zoque
  • Rayón Zoque (a dialect cluster)

    

Justeson and Kaufman also classify Epi-Olmec as a Zoquean language, although this claim is disputed by Andrew Robinson.

List of ISO 639-3 codes and demographic information of Mixean languages from Ethnologue (22nd edition):

• Wichmann, Søren, 1995. The Relationship Among the Mixe–Zoquean Languages of Mexico. University of Utah Press. Salt Lake City.ISBN 0-87480-487-6

• Sierra Popoluca Collection of Lynda Boudreault at the Archive of the Indigenous Languages of Latin America. Contains audio recordings and transcriptions of Zoque and Soteapan in a wide range of genres. Some files are restricted but may be available upon request.

• Epi-Olmec script