Jicaque language
| Tol | |
|---|---|
| (Eastern) Jicaque, Jicaque de la Flor | |
| Tolpan | |
| Region | Honduras |
| Ethnicity | 19,600 Tolupan (1990) |
|
Native speakers
|
almost 500 (2012) |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | toll1241 |
Tol, also known as Eastern Jicaque, Tolupan, and Torupan, is spoken by approximately 500 Tolupan people in La Montaña de la Flor reservation in Francisco Morazán Department, Honduras. It was also spoken in much of Yoro Department, but only a few speakers were reported in the Yoro Valley in 1974. Native speakers of this language refer to themselves as the Tolpán people but are referred to as Turrupanes or Jicaque by Hondurans who speak Spanish.
There are no distinct dialects that exist but some presume that the language may be distantly related to the Subtiaba language of Nicaragua, Malinaltepec Me’phaa of Mexico, or the Hokan languages. Although the number of native speakers has usually remained lower than one thousand, there are around 250-350 native speakers worldwide currently.
According to sources such as UNESCO and The Endangered Languages Project, the Tol language is considered endangered.
Tol used to be spoken from the Río Ulúa in the west, to modern-day Trujillo in the east, and to the Río Sulaco in the inland south. This area included the areas around modern-day El Progreso, La Ceiba, and possibly also San Pedro Sula. Most Tolupan had fled the Spanish from coastal regions by the early 1800s. The Tol speakers at La Montaña de la Flor fled the Yoro Valley in 1865 to avoid being conscripted into forced labor by the local governor (Campbell & Oltrogge 1980:206, Hagen 1943, Chapman 1978).
The classification of this language is Jicaquean. The Jicaquean languages, also known as Tolan, are a small language family in Honduras. There are two Jicaquean languages, Tol language (Eastern Jicaque), and Western Jicaque language. Tol is the only language between the two that has survived.
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