Otomí
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The Otomí (own name Hñähñü ) are an indigenous people in Mexico .
history
The Otomí were probably the first settlers in the high valley of Mexico . They were later ousted by the Aztecs and from then on lived in the peripheral areas. They were seen as brave warriors, because Otomi warriors were hired as mercenaries by both the Aztecs and their enemies, the Tlaxcalteks . The Tlaxcalteks are said to have initially sent Otomí mercenaries to fight the Spanish Conquistadors and only concluded their alliance with the Spanish after their defeat.
language
The Otomí language , together with the Chichimek languages of Jonaz, Mazahua, Pame, Ocuilteco and Matlatzinca, belongs to the Oto-Pame languages, which in turn (together with Amuzgo, Chinantek, Mixtec, Popoloca, Tlapanek and Zapotec) are part of the Otomangue -Language group are. The Hñähñu of the Mezquital Valley (Valle de Mezquital) speak the variant nHa: nHu and the Otomí south of Querétaro the variant nHa: nHo , together around 300,000 people (around 5 to 6% monolinguals), most of them in the states of Hidalgo ( Valle de Mezquital), México , Puebla , Querétaro , Tlaxcala , Michoacán and Veracruz . Although the Otomí language is one of the most widely spoken indigenous languages in Mexico , it (like many Mexican languages) is highly endangered as only a few children learn it.
literature
- Haleigh Zillges: The Genetic History Of The Otomi In The Central Mexican Valley , Anthropology Senior Theses. Paper 133
Web links
- Entry in the Encyclopædia Britannica