| Chontal Maya | |
| Nativename: | Yokotʼan |
| Pronunciation: | [jɔʔkɔʔtʼan] |
| States: | Mexico |
| Region: | North central and southern Tabasco |
| Ethnicity: | Chontal Maya |
| Date: | 2020 census |
| Ref: | [1] |
| Familycolor: | American |
| Fam1: | 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 |
Yokotʼan (self-denomination), also known as Chontal Maya, is a Maya language of the Cholan family spoken in 2020 by around 60,000 Chontal Maya people of the Mexican state of Tabasco.[1] According to the National Catalog of Indigenous Languages of Mexico-INALI, Yokotʼan has at least four dialects: Nacajuca (Central), Centla (Northern), Macuspana (Southern) and Tamulte (Eastern).
The Chontal Maya are concentrated in 159 settlements in 5 municipalities of Tabasco (Brown 2005:122).
Some Chontal settlements near the town of Nacajuca include (Brown 2005:116):
Some Chontal settlements in the northeastern Centla region include (Brown 2005:116):
Chontal settlements near Macuspana include Benito Juárez and Aquiles Serdan (Brown 2005).
| Nasal | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive/ Affricate | voiceless | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | |
| glottalized | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | |||
| voiced | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||||||
| Fricative | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | |||||
| Tap/Flap | pronounced as /ink/ | |||||||
| Approximant | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | |||||
| Close | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mid | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | |
| Open | pronounced as /ink/ |
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.
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.