View source for Social:Chontal Maya language

{{short description|Maya language of Tabasco, Mexico}}
{{Infobox language
| name = Chontal Maya
| nativename = ''Yokotʼan''
| pronunciation = [jɔʔkɔʔtʼan]
| states = Mexico
| region = North central and southern Tabasco
| ethnicity = Chontal Maya
| speakers = {{sigfig|60563|2}}
| date=2020 census
| ref=<ref name=inegi2020>[http://cuentame.inegi.org.mx/hipertexto/todas_lenguas.htm Lenguas indígenas y hablantes de 3 años y más, 2020] INEGI. Censo de Población y Vivienda 2020.</ref>
| familycolor = American
| fam1 = [[Social:Mayan languages|Mayan]]
| fam2 = Cholan–Tzeltalan
| fam3 = Cholan
| fam4 = Chol–Chontal
| dia1 = Nacajuca / Central Yokotʼan / Central Chontal of Tabasco
| dia2 = Tamulte / Eastern Yokotʼan / Eastern Chontal of Tabasco
| dia3 = Macuspana / Southern  Yokotʼan / Southern Chontal
| dia4 = Centla / Northern Yokotʼan / Northern Chontal
| iso3 = chf
| glotto = taba1266
| glottorefname = Tabasco Chontal
| severely endangered = 
}}

''Yokotʼan'' (self-denomination), also known as '''Chontal Maya''', is a Maya [[Social:Mayan languages|language]] of the Cholan family spoken in 2020 by around 60,000 Chontal Maya people of the Mexican state of Tabasco.<ref name=inegi2020/> According to the National Catalog of Indigenous Languages of Mexico-INALI, [https://www.inali.gob.mx/clin-inali/html/v_chontal_de_tabasco.html Yokotʼan] has at least four dialects: Nacajuca (Central), Centla (Northern), Macuspana (Southern) and Tamulte (Eastern).

==Distribution==
The Chontal Maya are concentrated in 159 settlements in 5 municipalities of Tabasco (Brown 2005:122).

*Centla
*Centro
*Jonuta
*Macuspana
*Nacajuca (comprising more than 50% of the Chontal Maya population)

Some Chontal settlements near the town of Nacajuca include (Brown 2005:116):

*El Tigre
*Saloya
*Guatacaloa
*Olcuatitan
*Tucta
*Mazatehuapa
*Tapotzingo
*Guaytalpa
*San Simón
*Tecoluta
*Oxiacapue
*Guadalupe
*El Sitio
*Tamulte

Some Chontal settlements in the northeastern Centla region include (Brown 2005:116):

*Cuauhtemoc
*Vicente Guerrero
*Allende
*Simón Sarlat
*Quitin Arauz (on the Río Usumacinta)

Chontal settlements near Macuspana include Benito Juárez and Aquiles Serdan (Brown 2005).

==Phonology==

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+ Consonants<ref name="Keller">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/rosettaproject_chf_phon-1|title=Diccionario Chontal de Tabasco|author1=Keller, Kathryn C. |author2=Luciano G., Plácido |year=1997|publisher=Summer Institute of Linguistics }}</ref>
! colspan="2" |
!Bilabial
!Dental
!Alveolar
!Palatal
!Velar
!Glottal
|-
! colspan="2" | Nasal
| {{IPAlink|m}}
|
| {{IPAlink|n}}
|
|
|
|-
! rowspan="3" | Plosive/<br>Affricate
! <small>voiceless</small>
| {{IPAlink|p}}
| {{IPAlink|t}}
| {{IPAlink|ts}}
| {{IPAlink|tʃ}}
| {{IPAlink|k}}
| {{IPAlink|ʔ}}
|-
! <small>glottalized</small>
| {{IPAlink|pʼ}}
| {{IPAlink|tʼ}}
| {{IPAlink|tsʼ}}
| {{IPAlink|tʃʼ}}
| {{IPAlink|kʼ}}
|
|-
! <small>voiced</small>
| {{IPAlink|b}}
| {{IPAlink|d}}
|
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" | Fricative
|
|
| {{IPAlink|s}}
| {{IPAlink|ʃ}}
|
| {{IPAlink|h}}
|-
! colspan="2" | Tap/Flap
|
|
| {{IPAlink|ɾ}}
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" | Approximant
| {{IPAlink|w}}
|
| {{IPAlink|l}}
| {{IPAlink|j}}
|
|
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+ Vowels<ref name="Keller"/>
!
!Front
!Central
!Back
|-
!Close
|{{IPAlink|i}}
|
|{{IPAlink|u}}
|-
!Mid
|{{IPAlink|e}}
|{{IPAlink|ɘ}}
|{{IPAlink|o}}
|-
!Open
|
|{{IPAlink|a}}
|
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}
Brown, Denise Fay. 2005. "The Chontal Maya of Tabasco." In Sandstrom, Alan R., and Enrique Hugo García Valencia. 2005. ''Native peoples of the Gulf Coast of Mexico''. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
*Keller, Kathryn C. and Plácido Luciano G., compilers. 1997. ''Diccionario Chontal de Tabasco''.

Knowles, Susan Marie. 1984. "A descriptive grammar of Chontal Maya (San Carlos dialect)." Thesis (Ph. D.)--Tulane University, 1984.

"La lengua maya-chontal de Tabasco / [selección de textos y edición, Tomás Pérez Suárez]." 1984. Emiliano Zapata, Tabasco, Mexico : Editora Municipal, H. Ayuntamiento Constitucional (1983–1985), 1984.

{{Mayan languages}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maya, Chontal, Language}}
[[Category:Agglutinative languages]]



{{Sourceattribution|Chontal Maya language}}