Tepehuán language

Tepehuán (Tepehuano) is the name of three closely related languages of the Piman branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family, all spoken in northern Mexico. The language is called O'otham by its speakers.

Not to be confused with Tepehua languages.
Tepehuán
O'otham
Native toMexico
RegionChihuahua, Durango
EthnicityTepehuán
Native speakers
55,000 (2020 census)[1]
Dialects
Language codes
ISO 639-3Variously:
ntp – Northern Tepehuán
stp – Southeastern Tepehuán
tla – Southwestern Tepehuán
tep – Tepecano
Glottologtepe1281
ELP
Northern Tepehuán is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
Southwestern Tepehuán is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

Northern Tepehuán

Northern Tepehuán is spoken by about 10,000 people (2020 census)[1] in several settlements in Guadalupe y Calvo and Guachochi, Chihuahua, as well as in the north of Durango.[2]

Southern Tepehuán

Southern Tepehuán is spoken by about 45,000 people,[1] about equally divided into:

  • Southeastern Tepehuán in Mezquital Municipio in the state of Durango.
  • Southwestern Tepehuán in southwestern Durango.

Southern Tepehuán coexists with the Mexicanero language; there is some intermarriage between the two ethnic groups, and a number of speakers are trilingual in Mexicanero, Tepehuán and Spanish.

Media

Tepehuán-language programming is carried by the CDI's radio stations XEJMN-AM, broadcasting from Jesús María, Nayarit, and XETAR, based in Guachochi, Chihuahua.

Morphology

Tepehuán is an agglutinative language, in which words use suffix complexes for a variety of purposes with several morphemes strung together.

Phonology

Northern Tepehuan

The following is representative of the Northern dialect of Tepehuan.[3]

Vowels
Front Central Back
Close i ɨ u
Mid o
Open a

Consonants
Labial Alveolar Post-
alveolar		 Palatal Velar
Plosive voiceless p t tʲ k
voiced b d dʲ ɡ
Affricate t͡ʃ
Fricative v s ʃ x
Nasal m n ɲ
Rhotic r
Approximant l

Nasal consonants /n, ɲ/ become [ŋ] when preceding a velar consonant.

Southern Tepehuan

The following is representative of the Southeastern dialect of Tepehuan.[4]

Vowels
Front Back
Close i ɯ u
Mid ʌ o
Open ɑ

Consonants
Labial Alveolar Post-
alveolar		 Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive voiceless p t k ʔ
voiced b d ɡ
Affricate voiceless t͡ʃ
voiced d͡ʒ ɣ͡ʎ
Fricative v s ʃ h
Nasal m n ɲ
Rhotic ɾ
Approximant (l) j

/v/ is sometimes realized as [f] in word-final position. /l/ appears only in loanwords from Spanish.

Sample Tepehuan Text

Northern Tepehuan:

Gʌrooga aapipʌsmaacʌdʌ
tʌvaagɨʌrʌ daja, aatʌmʌ
ipʌlidɨ ɨʌoodami
gʌšiia duutuadagɨ.
Vai otoma aʌna
istuigaco gatʌaanʌda
agai aapi ʌʌgɨ tami
oidigɨ daama.
Vaidʌ ʌpʌduuna
pʌštumaasɨ aapɨ ipʌlidi
tami oidigi daama
poduucai isduucai
ʌpʌvueeyi tʌvaagiʌrʌ.
Gʌrsoiñañi tʌtai viaaca
aatʌmʌ cuaadagai
tʌšɨ ʌʌšɨ tʌgito sivɨ
vʌʌtarʌ.
Gʌroigʌldañɨ
gʌrsoimaascamiga
tʌsmaacʌdʌ ivueeyi
poduucai tʌsduucai
oigʌldi aatʌmʌ ʌgai
ismaacʌdʌ šoimaasi
gʌrvuiididi.
Maiti dagito
išʌDiaavora gʌraagiadan
taadacagi isiduñia
aatʌmʌ soimaasi.
Cʌʌ maatʌ aatʌmʌ
isaapi ʌrʌgʌʌ
baitʌc ʌaacamitʌvaagiʌrʌ
dai oidi daama
tomastuigaco,
dai aapi vaamioma viaa
guvucadagaɨ
tomastuigaco istomali
ʌmo ʌmai daɨ
isaliʌšɨ gʌaagai
ɨsvʌʌšɨ oodami gʌsiaa
duutuadagɨ
tomastuigaco.
Our father, which art
in heaven, hallowed be
thy name. Thy kingdom
come. Thy will be done
on earth as it is in
heaven. Give us this
day our daily bread.
And forgive us our
debts, as we forgive
our debtors. And lead
us not into temptation, :but deliver us from
evil. For thine is the
kingdom and the power
and the glory for ever
and ever. Amen.

Southeastern Tepehuan:

Utogga atemo tubaggue :dama Santu sicamoe
uggue ututugaraga
duviana uguiere api
odduna gutuguito
daraga tami dubar
dama tubggue.
Udguaddaga ud macane
schibi ud joigadane
ud seca doada raga
addu cate abemo
joigudu jut jaddune
maitague daguito soy
macire ud niuca
dacane api odduna.
Amen, Jesus.
Our father, which art
in heaven, hallowed be :thy name. Thy kingdom
come. Thy will be done :on earth as it is in
heaven. Give us this
day our daily bread.
And forgive us our
debts, as we forgive
our debtors. And lead
us not into temptation, :but deliver us from
evil. For thine is the :kingdom and the power
and the glory for ever :and ever. Amen.

Further reading
  • Gil Burgoin, Carlos Ivanhoe (2021). "Northern Tepehuan". Illustrations of the IPA. Journal of the International Phonetic Association: 1–17. doi:10.1017/S002510032100013X, with supplementary sound recordings.

References
  1. Lenguas indígenas y hablantes de 3 años y más, 2020 INEGI. Censo de Población y Vivienda 2020.
  2. "Catálogo de las Lenguas Indígenas Nacionales".
  3. Bascom, Burton (1982). Northern Tepehuan. Studies in Uto-Aztecan grammar 3: Uto-Aztecan grammatical sketches: Summer Institute of Linguistics. pp. 267–393.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  4. Willett, Thomas L. (1988). A Reference Grammar of Southeastern Tepehuan.


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