Guerrero Amuzgo language explained

Guerrero Amuzgo
Nativename:Ñomndaa
States:Mexico
Region:Guerrero
Date:2011
Ref:e25
Familycolor:American
Fam1:Oto-Manguean
Fam2:Amuzgoan
Iso3:amu
Glotto:guer1243
Glottorefname:Guerrero Amuzgo

The Guerrero Amuzgo language is an Amuzgo language spoken in southwest Guerrero state in Mexico.

Statistics and history

There are 23,000 speakers, 10,000 that are monolingual. It is also known as Nomndaa or Ñomndaa. It belongs to the Oto-Manguean language family and the Amuzgoan subfamily. The use of the language is widespread and it is learned as a second language by Spanish and Nahuatl speakers living with the Guerrero speakers.

There is a positive cultural affinity toward the tongue and it is used in business, religion, and taught bilingually with Spanish until 6th grade. 10% of adults and 15% of children are literate in Amuzgo Guerrero. There are media such as videos, a dictionary and radio broadcasts in the language that propagate its use.

Phonology

Vowels

! colspan="2"
FrontCentralBack
oralnasaloralnasaloralnasal
Closeiĩuũ
Close-mideoõ
Open-midææ̃ɔɔ̃
Openaã
! colspan="2"
FrontCentralBack
oralnasaloralnasaloralnasal
Closeḭ̃ṵ̃
Close-midḛ̃õ̰
Open-midæ̰æ̰̃ɔ̰ɔ̰̃
Openã̰

Consonants

LabialAlveolarPost-
alveolar
VelarGlottal
centrallabial
Nasalmnɲ
Plosivevoiceless(p)tk kʲʔ
prenasal(ᵐb)ⁿdⁿdʲᵑɡᵑɡʷ
Affricatets
Fricativeβsʃh
Laterall
Rhotictapɾ
trill(r)
Approximantwj
Sounds [p, ᵐb, r] only appear in a few words.[1]

Notes and References

  1. Book: de Jesús García, Ivan . Fonología del Amuzgo de Cochoapa, Guerrero . México: CIESAS . 2019.