Huasteca Nahuatl is a Nahuan language spoken by over a million people in the region of La Huasteca in Mexico, centered in the states of Hidalgo, Veracruz (Eastern) and San Luis Potosí (Western).Kimball: p. 196.
Ethnologue divides Huasteca Nahuatl into three languages: Eastern, Central, and Western, as they judge that separate literature is required, but notes that there is 85% mutual intelligibility between Eastern and Western. However, the variety used differs by state and even by community.
The indigenous radio station XEANT-AM in Tancanhuitz de Santos, San Luis Potosí, broadcasts in Huasteca Nahuatl.
Demographics Huasteca Nahuatl is spoken in the following municipalities in the states of Hidalgo, Veracruz, and San Luis Potosí.Rodríguez & Valderrama 2005: page 168.
Hidalgo (121,818 speakers) Huejutla de Reyes (56,377 speakers) Huautla (18,444 speakers) Yahualica (14,584 speakers) Xochiatipan (12,990 speakers) Atlapexco (12,445 speakers) Jaltocan (6,978 speakers)
Veracruz (98,162 speakers) Chicontepec (41,678 speakers) Ixhuatlán de Madero (21,682 speakers) Benito Juárez (11,793 speakers) Ilamatlán (9,689 speakers) Ixcatepec (6,949 speakers) Zontecomatlán (6,371 speakers)
San Luis Potosí (108,471 speakers) Tamazunchale (35,773 speakers) Axtla de Terrazas (17,401 speakers) Xilitla (16,646 speakers) Matlapa (16,286 speakers) Coxcatlán (12,300 speakers) Chalchicuautla (10,065 speakers)
Phonology The following description is that of Eastern Huasteca.
Vowels Front Back High Mid-high Mid-low Low
Consonants +Huasteca Nahuatl consonantsLabialAlveolarPalatalVelarGlottalmedianlateralplainlabialized Nasal Plosive Affricate Continuant Semivowel Liquid
Orthography Huasteca Nahuatl currently has several proposed orthographies, most prominent among them those of the Instituto de Docencia e Investigación Etnológica de Zacatecas (IDIEZ),IDIEZ:. Mexican government publications, and the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL).Bible.is: Old Testament in Eastern Huasteca Nahuatl.
IDIEZ Their orthography is essentially the same as the ACK (Andrews, Campbell, Kartunnen) orthographic norm, which is heavily influenced by the de facto orthographies in colonial Nahuatl texts. It is somewhat of a deep orthography based on morphology since it aims to provide a unified system across regions. uses ⟨ca⟩, ⟨que⟩, ⟨qui⟩, ⟨co⟩ for /k/ takes morphology into account uses ⟨za⟩, ⟨ce⟩, ⟨ci⟩, ⟨zo⟩ for /s/ uses ⟨h⟩ for /h/ uses ⟨hu⟩ and ⟨cu⟩ for /w/ and /kw/, respectively.
Mexican government's Secretary of Public Education (SEP) orthography Aims to provide easy literacy across regions but with a different writing system in each one. uses ⟨k⟩ for /k/ does not take morphology into account uses ⟨s⟩ for /s/ uses ⟨j⟩ for /h/ uses ⟨u⟩ for /w/
Mexican government's National Institute of Indigenous Languages (INALI) uses ⟨k⟩ for /k/ does not take morphology into account uses ⟨s⟩ for /s/ uses ⟨h⟩ for /h/ uses ⟨w⟩ for /w/
SIL Somewhat based on modern Spanish conventions, mostly surface-based orthography as well but does not completely dispose of Classical Nahuatl conventions. uses ⟨ca⟩, ⟨que⟩, ⟨qui⟩, ⟨co⟩ for /k/ does not take morphology into account uses ⟨s⟩ for /s/ uses ⟨j⟩ for /h/
Sample text: 'a book about my location.' IDIEZ: ce tlahcuilolli tlen campa niitztoc. SEP: se tlajkuiloli tlej kampa niitstok INALI: se tlahkwiloli tleh kampa niitstok SIL: se tlajcuiloli tlej campa niitztoc
Notes
References
Rodríguez López, María Teresa, and Pablo Valderrama Rouy. 2005. "The Gulf Coast Nahua." In Sandstrom, Alan R., and Enrique Hugo García Valencia. 2005. Native peoples of the Gulf Coast of Mexico. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
Stiles, Neville Náhuatl in the Huasteca Hidalguense: A Case Study in the Sociology of Language (1983) PhD Thesis, University of St. Andrews, Scotland.