Chontal Maya language
Yokot t'an | ||
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Spoken in |
Mexico | |
speaker | about 37,000 to 45,000 | |
Linguistic classification |
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Official status | ||
Official language in | National language in Mexico |
Chontal-Maya (Yokot t'an) is an indigenous language in Mexico in the state of Tabasco with about 37,000 to 45,000 speakers.
Surname
The name "Chontal" comes from Nahuatl and means "foreign". It is also used for two other, unrelated languages in the Mexican states of Oaxaca and Guerrero and is therefore a source of confusion. The name Yokot t'an means "true language".
classification
Chontal Maya belongs to the Maya languages and is closely related to the Chol language .
distribution
The language is spoken by 37,091 people in the Mexican state of Tabasco , according to the 2010 census , mainly in the municipalities of Centla , Centro , Macuspana and Nacajuca .
literature
- Kathryn C. Keller, Plácido Luciano G. (compilers): Diccionario Chontal de Tabasco. Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, Tucson (Arizona) 1997.