Jalapa Mazatec language
| Jalapa Mazatec | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Oaxaca, Mexico |
| Region | San Felipe Jalapa de Díaz |
|
Native speakers
|
18,000 (2000) |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | jala1237 |
Jalapa Mazatec is a Mazatecan language, as of 1990[update] spoken by ca. 15,000 people, one-third of whom are monolingual, in 13 villages in the vicinity of the town of San Felipe Jalapa de Díaz in the Tuxtepec District of the Mexican state of Oaxaca. Egland (1978) found 73% intelligibility with Huautla, the prestige variety of Mazatec. Literacy in Jalapa is taught alongside Spanish in local schools.
Jalapa Mazatec root words are primarily monosyllabic, and the intricate inflectional system is largely subsyllablic (Silverman 1994).
Jalapa Mazatec syllables are maximally CCGV. However, vowels distinguish several phonations, and like all Mazatec languages, Jalapa has tone.
Jalapa roots distinguish three tones, low ˩, mid ˧, and high ˥. In morphologically complex situations, combinations of these may form short (or perhaps mid-length) vowels with contour tones: ˩˧, ˧˥, ˥˧, ˧˩, ˥˩, ˩˥˩ have been recorded.
The simple tones are contrasted in /ʃá/ (/ʃa˥/) "work", /ʃā/ (/ʃa˧/) "puma", /ʃà/ (/ʃa˩/) "mould".
In much of the literature, these are written with the numerals 1 (low), 2 (mid), and 3 (high).
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