Native to Mexico Ethnicity Chichimeca Jonaz ISO 639-3 pei | Region Guanajuato Native speakers 2,200 (2010 census) | |
Language family Oto-Manguean
Oto-Pame
Chichimeca | ||
Chichimeca or Chichimeca Jonaz is an indigenous language of Mexico spoken by around 200 Chichimeca Jonaz people in Misión de Chichimecas near San Luis de la Paz in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico. The Chichimeca Jonaz language belongs to the Oto-Pamean branch of the Oto-Manguean language family. The Chichimecos self identify as úza and call their language eza'r.
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Distribution
The language is currently spoken only in San Luis de la Paz (Guanajuato), on the rancho of Misión de Chichimecas, which is located on a small town to the east of the town. In 1934, Jacques Soustelle counted 452 chichimecas, 63 of which were children which attended the local school. Prior to that point the language was spoken in five other locations:
- Misión Arnedo (Guanajuato) to the east of San Luis, near Villa Victoria.
- Misión de las Palmas (Querétaro), along the Etorax river, which arises near Victoria.
- Misión de Santa Rosa, to the north of Victoria.
- San Pedro Tolimán, where a mission was established in the 18th century, which failed, however, and the chichimecas abandoned the area. It was later repopulated with Otomís.
- Villa Colón (Querétaro), to the south of Tolimán.
Phonology
The consonants of Chichimeca Jonaz are: /p t t͡s t͡ʃ k ʔ b d d͡ʒ ɡ s ʃ h z l r w/ and the fortis and lenis nasals /m n/ and /m n/. The oral vowels are /i ɪ u e o æ ɑ/ and nasal vowels are /ĩ ɪ̃ ũ ẽ õ œ̃ ɑ̃/. Chichimeca Jonaz is a tonal language and distinguish high and low level tones.