Zoque languages explained

Zoque
Also Known As:	O'de püt
Region:	Chiapas, Oaxaca, Tabasco
Ethnicity:	Zoques
Speakers:	"Zoque" and "Sierra Popoluca"
Date:	2020 census
Familycolor:	American
Fam1:	Mixe–Zoquean
Child1:	Gulf Zoquean
Child2:	Chimalapa Zoque
Child3:	Chiapas Zoque
Child4:	? Epi-Olmec
Glotto:	zoqu1261
Glottorefname:	Zoque
Map:	Mixezoquemap.png
Mapcaption:	Locations (green) where Zoquean languages are spoken

The Zoque ^[1] languages form a primary branch of the Mixe–Zoquean language family indigenous to southern Mexico by the Zoque people.

Central (Copainalá) Zoque-language programming is carried by the CDI's radio station XECOPA, broadcasting from Copainalá, Chiapas.

There are over 100,000 speakers of Zoque languages. 74,000 people reported their language to be "Zoque" in a 2020 census, and an additional 36,000 reported their language to be Sierra Popoluca. Most of the remaining 8,400 "Popoluca" speakers are presumably also Zoque.^[2]

Languages

Zoquean languages fall in three groups:

Gulf Zoquean (Veracruz Zoque)

• • Sierra Popoluca (Soteapan Zoque)
  • Texistepec Popoluca
  • Ayapa Zoque (Tabasco Zoque)

Oaxacan Zoque

• • Chimalapa Zoque (dialects: Santa María Chimalapa, San Miguel Chimalapa)

Chiapas Zoque

• • Copainalá Zoque
  • Francisco León Zoque
  • Rayón Zoque (a dialect cluster)

Justeson and Kaufman also classify Epi-Olmec as a Zoquean language,^{[3] [4] [5]} although this claim is disputed by Andrew Robinson.^[6]

Demographics

List of ISO 639-3 codes and demographic information of Mixean languages from Ethnologue (22nd edition):^[7]

Language	ISO 639-3 code	State	Municipalities and towns	Dialects	Speakers	Date/Source	Alternate names
		Chiapas state			2,100	1990 census	Zoque de Rayón
		Chiapas state		Ocotepec, Ostuacán (Ostuacan Zoque). 83% intelligibility of Francisco León [zos] (most similar).	10,000	1990 census	Zoque de Copainalá
		Chiapas, Tabasco, Veracruz, and Oaxaca states		Chapultenango, San Pedro Yaspac	20,000	1990 census	Santa Magdalena Zoque, Zoque de Francisco León
Popoluca, Highland		Veracruz state			26,000	2000 INALI	Popoluca, Popoluca de la Sierra
		Veracruz state			1	2011 UNSD	Texistepec
		Tabasco state	Jalpa de Méndez municipality: Ayapa		12	2016, J. Rangel	Ayapanec, Zoque de Ayapanec, Zoque de Tabasco, numte oote
		Oaxaca state			4,500	1990 census	San Miguel Chimalapa Zoque

References

• Wichmann, Søren, 1995. The Relationship Among the Mixe–Zoquean Languages of Mexico. University of Utah Press. Salt Lake City.

Recordings

• Sierra Popoluca Collection of Lynda Boudreault at the Archive of the Indigenous Languages of Latin America. Contains audio recordings and transcriptions of Zoque and Soteapan in a wide range of genres. Some files are restricted but may be available upon request.

See also

• Epi-Olmec script

Notes and References

1. Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student's Handbook, Edinburgh
2. http://cuentame.inegi.org.mx/hipertexto/todas_lenguas.htm Lenguas indígenas y hablantes de 3 años y más, 2020
3. Justeson, John S., and Terrence Kaufman (1993), "A Decipherment of Epi-Olmec Hieroglyphic Writing" in Science, Vol. 259, 19 March 1993, pp. 1703–11.
4. Justeson, John S., and Terrence Kaufman (1997) "A Newly Discovered Column in the Hieroglyphic Text on La Mojarra Stela 1: a Test of the Epi-Olmec Decipherment", Science, Vol. 277, 11 July 1997, pp. 207–10.
5. Justeson, John S., and Terrence Kaufman (2001) Epi-Olmec Hieroglyphic Writing and Texts.
6. Robinson, Andrew (2008) Lost Languages: The Enigma of the World's Undeciphered Scripts, Thames & Hudson, .
7. Web site: Mexico languages . Ethnologue

   Languages of the World

   . 22nd . Eberhard . David M. . Simons . Gary F. . Fennig . Charles D. . 2019 . Dallas . SIL International.