Pame languages explained

Pame
States:	Mexico
Region:	San Luis Potosí, Puebla
Ethnicity:	Pame people
Date:	2020 census
Ref:	^[1]
Familycolor:	American
Fam1:	Oto-Manguean
Fam2:	Oto-Pame
Lc1:	pbs
Ld1:	Central Pame
Lc2:	pmq
Ld2:	Northern Pame
Lc3:	pmz
Ld3:	Southern Pame
Glotto:	pame1260
Glottorefname:	Pamean
Map:	Otomanguean Languages.png
Mapcaption:	The Pame language, number 1 (azure), north.

The Pame languages are a group of languages in Mexico that is spoken by around 12,000 Pame people in the state of San Luis Potosí. It belongs to the Oto-Pamean branch of the Oto-Manguean language family.

Distribution and languages

Ethnologue notes two living varieties of Pame both spoken in the state of San Luis Potosí: Central Pame, in the town of Santa María Acapulco,^[2] and Northern Pame,^[3] in communities from the north of Río Verde to the border with Tamaulipas.

The third variety, Southern Pame, was last described in the mid 20th century, is assumed to be extinct, and is very sparsely documented. It was spoken in Jiliapan, Hidalgo, and Pacula, Querétaro.^[4]

• Northern Pame (Ñãʔũ) (~6,000^[5])
• Central Pame (Šiʔúi) (~6,000)
• Southern Pame (Šiyúi) (†)

Classification

The Pame languages are part of the Oto-Pamean branch of the Oto-Manguean language family. They are most closely related to the Chichimeca Jonaz language, spoken in Guanajuato, and together, they form the Pamean language groups. During the colonial period, two grammatical descriptions were written.

Phonology

Consonants

Berthiaume (2004) report a complex phonology for Northern Pame with contrasts between plain, voiced, aspirated, and glottalized consonants both for the stops, nasals, affricates and approximants.

		Bilabial	Alveolar		Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/
		pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/
		pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/
Stop		pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/			pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
		pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/			pronounced as /ink/
			pronounced as /ink/			pronounced as /ink/
		pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/			pronounced as /ink/
Fricative			pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/
			pronounced as /ink/
Affricate			pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/
			pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/
			pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/
					pronounced as /ink/
Flap			pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
Lateral			pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/
			pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/
			pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/
Semivowel					pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/

Pame languages are tonal but the exact number of tonal contrasts is a matter of debate. Avelino, Gibson and Manrique have analyzed the language as having three tones: high and low level tones and a falling contour tone (Suárez 1983, pg. 51). However, Berthiaume (2004) argues that only a high and a rising tone exist, no low, level tone.

Vowels

		Central	Back
Close	pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/
Mid	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
Open	pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/

Grammar

Pame grammar is characterized by complex morphophonemics and suppletion. Many grammatical categories are marked by exchanging consonants in patterns that are not fully predictable. The morphology is head-marking, marking agreement with possessors on nouns and with the participants in actions on verbs. Its personal system distinguishes between singular, dual and plural number in all persons, and there is also an exclusive first-person category ("we but not you").

Pame has an octal (base-8) counting system, as the Pame keep counting their knuckles, rather than the fingers.^[6]

Examples

The following table shows the numbers and some basic words in different varieties of Pame:^[7]

GLOSS	Southern Pame		Central Pame^[8]	Northern Pame^[9]	PROTO- PAME
	(Jiliapan)	(Tilaco)	(Santa María)	(Alaquines)
1	nna	nna	ndɑ	sɑnte	^nda
2	ti	ti-yii	nui	nuyi	nui
3	niyũ	ti-ñũn	rɑnhũʔ	rnuʔ	-nũʔ
4	tipiyã	tyipya	ki-ñui	giriui	ki-nui
5	špitũnt	šputun	kik^ʔɑi	gič^ʔɑi	kik^ʔɑi
6	tikiyen	taken	tiliyɑ	teriɑ	te-
7	tekiti	ki-yii	tiliñũhũñ	teriuhiñ	te-?i+2
8	teiniyun	kyidinũn	ndɑ ntsɑwʔ	tenhiuñ	te-?-nũʔ
9	nahwẽn	nawẽ	nda ntsawʔ nda	kɑrɑ tenhiuñ santa	?
10	stut^ʔu	štusu	seskɑʔɑi	kɑrɑ tenhiuñ nuji	?
'head'	kiñãu	keyãw	ganãw	ganãu	kənaw
'eye'	nta	ndao	gotao	ntao	^nta
'nose'	šiñũ	šiyõa	ʦiñowa	šiñõã	šiñũ(?)
'mouth'	kine	kane	kona	kteye
'pie'	nogua	nigowa	mok^wa	mok^wa	mok^wa
'corn'	ʦ^ʔiũ	t^yõã	gu-d^hwã	t^ʔwã	t^ʔwã
'metate'	mbot	nab^ʔot^ʔ	k^ʔyi	k^ʔiyn	?
'chile'	bihi	mahi	mahi	l^ʔu	-hi
'tomato'	mpia	rumbay	lapay	dbipay	-pay
'bean'	tio	t^ʔawuʔ	gu-k^ʔwe	k^ʔwi	k^ʔwi(?)
'meat'	migu	magiybi	pakas	pakas	^mpak-(?)
'eat'	dii, nii	nii	sihin	sey	si-
'maguey'	ši-nʤia	p^ʔi-doa	go-doa	^ndwa	^ndoa
'alcohol'	pink^ʔi	pingi	ke-pi	ki-pint	?
'forest'	mipwi	set^ʔa	mabwo	kwãn	mikwV (?)
'flower'	ntu	nd^ʔow	go-tun	nkyun	^ndo-ni
'dog'	nn^ʔow	nn^ʔow	nadu	dyo	^nd^ʔo-
'horse'	pahan	bhãn	wahil	pahal	pahal-(?)
'stone'	kido	kudo	kotu	gitu	ki-^nto
'sun'	mpãẽ	nimbay	kunhu	mpa	^mpay
'moon'	m^ʔõ	m^ʔãũ	m^ʔau	m^ʔãũ	m^ʔau
'water'	bisa	masa	kwote	kãnte	^nte
'mountain'	t^ʔoe	t^ʔi	go-loe	toe	t^ʔoe
'salt'	t^ʔiũs	t^ʔũs	l^ʔũs	t^ʔũs	t^ʔũs
'market'	tityawt	tetãwn	kekywãw	kik^ʔyič	teta-
'year'	špo	šop^ʔaw	ningyihin	čyii	?
'week'	nimpya	nembẽ	nembẽyn	pyẽy	^mpyẽ(y)
'night'	sãu	nasaw	gu-sãw	digun	sãw
'cold'	ʦe	ʦe	ʦee	ʦee	ʦe(e)
'hot'	pa	mapa	mapa	mpa	(ma)pa

Media

Pame-language programming is carried by the CDI's radio station XEANT-AM, based in Tancanhuitz de Santos, San Luis Potosí.

Bibliography

• Suaréz, Jorge A. 1983. The Mesoamerican Indian Languages. Cambridge: CUP
• Berthiaume, S. C. (2004). A phonological grammar of Northern Pame (Doctoral dissertation, PhD thesis, University of Texas at Arlington).
• Avelino, H. (2006). The typology of Pame number systems and the limits of Mesoamerica as a linguistic area. Linguistic Typology, 9, 493–513.
• Gibson, L. F. (1956). Pame (Otomi) phonemics and morphophonemics. International Journal of American Linguistics, 22(4), 242–265.
• Gibson, Lorna, and Doris Bartholomew. "Pame noun inflection." International Journal of American Linguistics 45, no. 4 (1979): 309–322.
• Manrique Castañeda, Leonardo. "Análisis preliminar del vocabulario pame de Fray Juan Guadalupe Soriano." In Anales de Antropología, vol. 12, no. 1. 2009.
• Castañeda, L. M. (1960). Dos gramáticas pames del siglo XVIII. Anales del Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, sexta época (1945-1967), 11, 283–287.
• Lastra, Y. (2015). Tratado del arte y unión de los idiomas otomí y pame; Vocabularios de los idiomas pame, otomi, mexicano y jonaz de Fray Juan Guadalupe Soriano.
• Manrique Castañeda, Leonardo. 1967. Jiliapan Pame. The Handbook of Middle American Indians, ed. by Robert Wauchope, general editor, Norman McQuown, volume editor, vol. 5, 331–48. Austin: University of Texas Press.
• Soustelle, Jacques [1937] (1992): La familia Otomí-Pame de México Central, Fondo de Cultura Económica, México DF, .

External links

• A Phonological Grammar of Northern Pame https://web.archive.org/web/20150512074017/http://www-01.sil.org/silepubs/Pubs/928474548919/eBook_37_N_Pame_Grammar_FINAL.pdf

Notes and References

1. http://cuentame.inegi.org.mx/hipertexto/todas_lenguas.htm Lenguas indígenas y hablantes de 3 años y más, 2020
2. http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=pbs Central Pame
3. http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=pmq Ethnologue: Northern Pame
4. http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=pmz SouthernPame
5. Berthiaume 2004
6. Avelino . Heriberto . The typology of Pame number systems and the limits of Mesoamerica as a linguistic area . Linguistic Typology . 2006 . 10 . 1 . 41–60 . 10.1515/LINGTY.2006.002 . 20412558 .
7. Soustelle, 1937, p. 364-365
8. Los numerales 1-10 no proceden de Soustelle sino de Dr. Heriberto Avelino, 5 November 2008, Northern Pame
9. Los numerales 1-10 no proceden de Soustelle sino de Dr. Heriberto Avelino, 5 November 2008, Central Pame