Isthmus Mixe Explained

Isthmus Mixe
Nativename:	Lowland Mixe
States:	Mexico
Region:	Northeastern Oaxaca
Speakers:	45,000
Date:	1990–2000
Ref:	e18
Familycolor:	American
Fam1:	Mixe–Zoque
Fam2:	Mixean
Fam3:	Mixe
Lc1:	mco
Ld1:	Coatlán, Camotlán
Lc2:	mir
Ld2:	Guichicovi
Lc3:	mzl
Ld3:	Mazatlán
Glotto:	lowl1263
Glottorefname:	Lowland Mixe

Isthmus Mixe, called Lowland Mixe in Wichmann (1995),^[1] is a Mixe language spoken in Mexico. It is spoken in the villages of Coatlán San José el Paraíso, Mazatlán, Guichicovi, and Camotlán, Oaxaca.

Grammar

Isthmus Mixe is SOV word order.^[2] It contains prepositions and postpositions, genitives and demonstratives before noun heads, and relative clauses after the head.^[3] Isthmus Mixe is usually categorized as agglutinating.

Phonology

Consonants of Isthmus Mixe!!Labial!Alveolar!Palatal!Velar!Glottal

Nasal	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
Plosive	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
Affricate		pronounced as /ink/
Fricative			pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/
Glide	pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/

Dieterman believes every consonant may be modified by the addition of secondary palatalization.

Vowels of Isthmus Mixe!!Front
(unrounded)!Central
(unrounded)!Back
(rounded)

Close	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
Mid	pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/
Open		pronounced as /ink/

See also

• Norman Nordell's Isthmus Mixe to Spanish dictionary (1990) published by SIL

Notes and References

1. Book: Wichmann, Søren. The relationship among the Mixe-Zoquean languages of Mexico. 1995. University of Utah Press. 9780874804874. Salt Lake City. 32589134. English.
2. Web site: Word order variation in Isthmus Mixe: voice and discourse considerations. Dieterman. Julia. 2002-09-13. SIL International. en. 2019-02-06.
3. Web site: Secondary palatalization in Isthmus Mixe: a phonetic and phonological account. Dieterman. Julia. 2008. SIL International. en. 2019-02-06.