Mexicanero language explained

Mexicanero
Also Known As:Durango Nahuatl
Nativename:Náhuat de Durango
States:Mexico
Region:South Durango, Nayarit
Speakers:1,300
Date:2011
Ref:e18
Familycolor:Uto-Aztecan
Fam1:Uto-Aztecan
Fam2:Aztecan (Nahuan)
Fam3:Nahuatl (dialects)
Fam4:Western Peripheral Nahuatl
Fam5:Colima–Durango
Lc1:azd
Ld1:Eastern Durango Nahuatl
Lc2:azn
Ld2:Western Durango Nahuatl
Glotto:dura1246
Glottorefname:Durango Nahuatl

Mexicanero is the Nahuan language spoken by the Mexicanero people of southern Durango and northern Nayarit. It has around 1000 speakers in the remote towns of San Pedro Jícora and San Juan Buenaventura in the Mezquital municipality, Durango, where they coexist with speakers of Low Southern Tepehuán, and some 300 speakers in the Acaponeta municipality of Nayarit. There are significant differences between the varieties of San Pedro Jícora on the one hand and San Agustín Buenaventura and Nayarit on the other. The language is vibrant and spoken by adults and children.[1]

Mexicanero is one of the peripheral Nahuatl languages. It uses the -lo suffix to express plurality of subject. Due to the loss of certain syllables it has acquired phonemic stress.[2]

Notes and References

  1. Canger, Una. 1998. Náhuatl en Durango-Nayarit, in: IV Encuentro Internacional de Lingüística en el Noroeste s. 129-149, Estrada, Fernández, Zarina et al. Editorial Unison, Hermosillo, Sonora
  2. Book: Una Canger

    . Canger, Una . Una Canger. 2001 . Mexicanero de la Sierra Madre Occidental . Archivo de Lenguas Indígenas de México, #24 . . México D.F. . 968-12-1041-7. 49212643. es.