The Zoque ()Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student's Handbook, Edinburgh languages form a primary branch of the Mixe–Zoquean language family indigenous to southern Mexico by the Zoque people. 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.Lenguas indígenas y hablantes de 3 años y más, 2020 INEGI. Censo de Población y Vivienda 2020. Central (Copainalá) Zoque-language programming is carried by the CDI's radio station XECOPA, broadcasting from Copainalá, Chiapas.
Languages 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,Justeson, John S., and Terrence Kaufman (1993), "A Decipherment of Epi-Olmec Hieroglyphic Writing" in Science, Vol. 259, 19 March 1993, pp. 1703–11.Justeson, John S., and Terrence Kaufman (1997) "A Newly Discovered Column in the Hieroglyphic Text on La Mojarra Stela 1: a Test of the Epi-Olmec Decipherment", Science, Vol. 277, 11 July 1997, pp. 207–10.Justeson, John S., and Terrence Kaufman (2001) Epi-Olmec Hieroglyphic Writing and Texts . although this claim is disputed by Andrew Robinson.Robinson, Andrew (2008) Lost Languages: The Enigma of the World's Undeciphered Scripts, Thames & Hudson, .
Demographics List of ISO 639-3 codes and demographic information of Mixean languages from Ethnologue (22nd edition):
Language ISO 639-3 code State Municipalities and towns Dialects Speakers Date/Source Alternate names Zoque, Rayón zor Chiapas state Rayón and Tapilula 2,100 1990 census Zoque de Rayón Zoque, Copainalá zoc Chiapas state Copainalá Ocotepec, Ostuacán (Ostuacan Zoque). 83% intelligibility of Francisco León [zos] (most similar). 10,000 1990 census Zoque de Copainalá Zoque, Francisco León zos Chiapas, Tabasco, Veracruz, and Oaxaca states 1. northwest Mezcalapa Chiapas: into Tabasco, Veracruz-Llave, and Oaxaca, mainly near Grijalva River, Sayula area2. southern Mezcalapa Chiapas: Grijalva River near Angostura Reservoir3. eastern Mezcalapa Chiapas and Tabasco states: area surrounding northwest Guatemala tip, west bank of San Antonio River and Laguna de Naja4. west central Mezcalapa Chiapas: upper reaches of Grijalva River Chapultenango, San Pedro Yaspac 20,000 1990 census Santa Magdalena Zoque, Zoque de Francisco León Popoluca, Highland poi Veracruz state Amamaloya, Barosa, Buena Vista, Col Benito Juárez, Cuilonia, El Aguacate, Estrivera, Guadalupe Victoria, Horno de Cal, Kilómetro Diez, La Florida, La Magdalena, Las Palmas, Soteapan; Bay of Campeche, area inland between Lake Catemaco and San Juan point, towards Hueyapan and Acayucan 26,000 2000 INALI Popoluca, Popoluca de la Sierra Popoluca, Texistepec poq Veracruz state Texistepec area east of Oluta 1 2011 UNSD Texistepec Zoque, Tabasco zoq Tabasco state Jalpa de Méndez municipality: Ayapa 12 2016, J. Rangel Ayapanec, Zoque de Ayapanec, Zoque de Tabasco, numte oote Zoque, Chimalapa zoh Oaxaca state San Miguel Chimalapa and Santa María Chimalapa 4,500 1990 census San Miguel Chimalapa Zoque
References
Wichmann, Søren, 1995. The Relationship Among the Mixe–Zoquean Languages of Mexico. University of Utah Press. Salt Lake City.
Recordings 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.
See also Epi-Olmec script