Where are Oto-Manguean languages spoken?

These languages are spoken in Central America, in Central and Southern Mexico (i.e. in the states of Mexico, Oaxaca, Guanajuato, Chiapas, Puebla, Hidalgo, Querétaro and Guerrero).

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Who speaks Oto-Manguean languages?

They are spoken by indigenous populations of America, which inhabited the region long before its colonization by Europeans.

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Total number of speakers (estimates):

Approximately 2,000,000 according to the Ethnologue website.

UNESCO’s data is too fragmented to calculate a global estimate.

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Classification:

The Oto-Manguean language family includes 23 or 24 active languages.

Western Oto-Manguean sub-family

Oto-Pamean-Chinantecan branch

Oto-Pamean group

Mazahua: 115,000 speakers according to UNESCO and 350,000 according to SIL

Otomi (dialect group): 225,800 speakers according to UNESCO

Chichimeca Jonaz: 1,641 speakers according to INALI and 1,200 according to SIL

Matlatzinca (also known as Pirinda): 651 speakers according to UNESCO and 1,300 speakers according to SIL

Ocuilteco (also known as Tlahuica and Atzingo): 405 speakers according to UNESCO

Pame (Mexico): 7,700 speakers according to UNESCO and 9,966 speakers according to SIL

Chinantecan group

Chiltepec Chinantec: 4,000 speakers according to SIL

Ojitlán Chinantec: 22,000 speakers according to SIL

Palantla Chinantec: 12,000 speakers according to SIL

Quiotepec Chinantec: 8,000 speakers according to SIL

San Juan Lalana Chinantec: 10 500 speakers according to SIL

Usila Chinantec: 9 000 speakers according to SIL

Tlapanecan-Manguean branch

Tlapanecan-Subtiaban group

Subtiaba: extinct

Tlapanecan (dialect group): 23,652 speakers according to UNESCO

Manguean group

Chiapaneco: extinct according to UNESCO and 17 speakers according to SIL

Mangue: extinct

Eastern Oto-Manguean sub-family

Popolocan-Zapotecan branch

Popolocan group

Chocho: 350 speakers according to UNESCO, 920 speakers according to the Latin Union and 770 speakers according to SIL

Ixcateco: 535 speakers according to INALI and 119 according to SIL

Mazateco (dialect group): 165,596 speakers according to UNESCO and 174,000 speakers according to SIL

Popoloca: 13,298 speakers according to UNESCO and 23,200 speakers according to SIL

Zapotecan group (Oaxaca)

Chatino: 40,722 speakers according to the Latin Union and 23,000 speakers according to SIL

Zapoteco (dialectal group): 785,000 speakers according to SIL

Amuzgo branch

Amuzgo (dialect group, Guerrero & Oaxaca): 29,000 speakers according to SIL

Mixtecan branch

Cuicateco (Oaxaca): 11,765 speakers according to UNESCO and 10,000 speakers according to SIL

Mixteco (Guerrero, Puebla, Oaxaca): 511,000 speakers according to SIL

Trique (Oaxaca): 23,000 speakers according to SIL

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Observations on the classification of Oto-Manguean languages:

We have followed Campbell’s classification system (Campbell, 1997).

The number of Oto-Manguean languages varies between 23 and 174, depending on the sources consulted and on the criteria used to distinguish a language from a dialect. The Ethnologue website, for example, cites 14 Chinantecan languages and 53 Mixtecan languages.

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Are Oto-Manguean languages endangered?

UNESCO classifies several Oto-Manguean languages as endangered.

Subtiaba and Mangue, two languages belonging to this family that were once spoken in Nicaragua and Costa Rica, are now extinct.

Chiapaneco, once spoken in Chiapas, is also probably extinct.

Among the active Oto-Manguean languages, Matlazinca, Ocuilteco, Pame, Chocho and Popoloca are considered severely endangered, or even critical.

Most of the other active Oto-Manguean languages are “vulnerable” according to UNESCO: for the time being, they are not endangered, but they could become endangered in the future.

Mixteco and Zapoteco are the two exceptions, with 2.1 million speakers between them. Yet certain dialectical variations of these two languages are disappearing.

There is no available information on the vitality of the languages belonging to the Chinantecan group, which are spoken in the region of Oaxaca. However, with the entire group totalling only 90,000 speakers, we can assume that the languages are “vulnerable” at the very least.

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Sources:

Campbell, Lyle (1997). American Indian languages: the historical linguistics of Native America. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Ethnologue website

INALI website

Latin Union website

UNESCO website