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| Pochutec | |
|---|---|
| Pochutla | |
| Naguál,nawal | |
| Native to | Mexico |
| Region | Pochutla,Oaxaca |
| Extinct | late 20th century |
| Latin | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | xpo |
xpo | |
| Glottolog | poch1244 |
Pochutec is anextinctUto-Aztecan language of theNahuan (or Aztecan) branch which was spoken in and around the town ofPochutla on the Pacific coast ofOaxaca,Mexico. In 1917, it was documented in a monograph byFranz Boas, who considered the language nearly extinct.[1] In the 1970s, another investigator found two speakers around Pochutla who still remembered a few of the words recorded by Boas.[2]
In the early 20th century, scholars disagreed as to the origin of the language within the Nahuan family. Most thought Pochutec was distinct from Nahuatl, and this was proven in 1978, when Campbell and Langacker gave new arguments[3] from Boas' data. Their conclusion was quickly accepted.[4][5][6][7][8] Nahuan thus consists of Pochutec and "General Aztec", which consists ofNahuatl andPipil.
Bartholomew (1980) suggests that some of the divergent traits, for example last syllable stress, are due to influence fromChatino, anOto-Manguean language. She argues that at the time of the 16th centurySpanish conquest of the Aztec Empire the settlement of Pochutla did not fall under theAztec Empire's domain, but instead was part of theMixtec state centered atTututepec. Thus, the Chatino linguistic influences stemmed from the trade and communication routes between Pochutla and Tututepec passing through Chatino territory.
Dakin (1983) argues that the key correspondence sets used by Campbell and Langacker as evidence for the existence of a separate fifth vowel *ï evolving from pUA *u, their main basis for separating Pochutec from their "General Aztec", were actually later developments within Pochutec by which proto-Aztec *i and *e > o in closed syllables, and that the supposed contrast in final position in imperatives originally had had a following clitic.[9] In a later article, Canger and Dakin (1985) identify a different, very systematic isogloss for the development of pUA *u that shows a basic split between Eastern Nahuatl dialects and the Central and Western periphery, including Pochutec, as exemplified in at least eight different cognate sets. This proposal is incompatible with Campbell and Langacker's proposal for the development of pUA *u.[10] Dakin thus classifies Pochutec as belonging to the Western branch of the Nahuan languages, rather than having split off from Nahuan before the basic East-West split.
Pochutec is anagglutinative language, where words use suffix complexes for a variety of purposes with severalmorphemes strung together.
The following are sample phrases in Pochutec, accompanied by Spanish and English translations:
| Original phrase | Spanish translation | English translation |
|---|---|---|
| Nen ca igüén natacoztúc. | "Estoy platicando con él." | "I am talking with him." |
| Quet túchi nochán. | "Mi casa es pequeña." | "My house is small." |
| Açóc tachóm unyóc nebá. | "Aquí hay muchos perros." | "There are many dogs here." |
| Ma quet iténc apázt. | "Está debajo de la olla." | "It is under the pot." |
| ¿Quem tpenúc na atén? | "¿Cómo pasaste el río?" | "How did you cross the river?" |
| Az nuí Uetúl ámpa ayagó tumín. | "No me voy aHuatulco porque no hay dinero." | "I'm not going to Huatulco because there's no money." |
| Iná coneból quixíc itecú. | "Este muchacho es parecido a su padre." | "This boy looks like his father." |
IJAL =International Journal of American Linguistics
