Popoluca

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Popoloca or Popoluca is a Nahuatl name for various indigenous peoples of Mexico who do not speak Nahuatl.

Origin of the name

The Nahuatl word popoloca (popolōca) means "growl, grunt, mumble, speak indistinctly, speak incomprehensibly, speak a foreign language". This term, which had a similar meaning to the Greek word βάρβαρος (from onomatopoeia “βαρ-βαρ” in the sense of “babbling”) for the barbarians , was used by the Nahua for many different ethnic groups, and the Spaniards adopted this. The result is confusion that continues to this day, even among linguists. In Nicaragua , the Nahua-speaking Nicarao used the word Popoluca for speakers of the Matagalpa language .

Although “Popoluca” and “Popoloca” are derogatory and confusing terms, they are used to this day even in academic papers and official publications by the Mexican government.

So designated ethnic groups

Many of the so-called ethnic groups (around 30,000) speak Mixe-Zoque languages. These are written with u according to an agreement by linguists Popoluca .

Other ethnic groups with this name speak variants of the Popolocan languages - which include Mazatec - which belong to the Eastern branch of the Otomangue languages; they are written with o to distinguish Popoloca .

Even within the Mixe-Zoque language family, the languages ​​called “Popoluca” do not form a unit. Here is an overview:

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ popoloca : gruñir, murmurar, hablar entre serves; ser tartamudo, hablar una lengua bárbara, extranjera. Rémi Siméon: Diccionario de la lengua náhuatl o mexicana. Siglo Veintiuno, América Nuestra. 17th ed. En esp., Ciudad de México 2004. p. 393. (Orig. En francés 1885: Diccionnaire de la langue nahuatl ou mexicaine). ISBN 968-23-0573-X
  2. ↑ David Tuggy T .: Confusión en el uso de los nombres "Popoloca" y "Popoluca". Summer Institute of Linguistics in Mexico, 2016.
  3. ↑ Popoloca Indian Language (Popoloco) - native-languages.org
  4. ^ D. Victor Jesus Noguera, Cura de Matagalpa: Vocabulario de la Lengua Popoluca de Matagalpa, 1855. In: Walter Lehmann, The languages ​​of Central America. Royal Museums in Berlin, D. Reimer, 1920, p. 599.
  5. ↑ Example: Flora medicinal popoloca de San Marcos Tlacoyalco y San Juan Atzingo, Puebla

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