Chichimeca Jonaz language

See also: 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. 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.

Chichimeca
Jonaz
Ezaꞌr
Native to	Mexico
Region	Guanajuato
Ethnicity	Chichimeca Jonaz
Native speakers	2,400 (2020 census)
Language family	Oto-Manguean Oto-Pame Chichimeca
Language codes
ISO 639-3	pei
Glottolog	chic1272
ELP	Chichimeca-Jonaz

Distribution

The language is currently spoken only in San Luis de la Paz (Guanajuato), in the settlements of Berlín, Buenavista (El Cuernito), Cerro Blanco, Colonia Benito Juárez [Plan Benito Juárez], Ejido Santa Ana y Lobos (Fracción de Lourdes), El Desmonte, El Sauz Tres, El Tepetate, Exhacienda de Ortega (Ejido Ortega), Garibaldi (El Cerrito), La Ciénega, La Curva, La Huerta, La Laguna (La Lagunita), La Leona, La Mesa de Jesús, La Norita, Los Dolores (Las Quince Letras), Lourdes (Estación de Lourdes), Maguey Blanco, Manzanares, Mesa de Escalante, Mesa de la Estacada, Mesa del Pueblo, Misión de Chichimecas, Norita del Refugio, Parajes, Paso Colorado, Piedras de Lumbre, Pozo Hondo (Exhacienda de Pozo Hondo), Puerto de la Virginita, Puerto del Gato, Rancho Nuevo de las Trojes, San Antonio Chiquito, San Antonio Primero, San Ignacio, San Isidro de Pozos (San Isidrito), San José del Carmen, and San Pedro de los Pozos (Mineral de Pozos). In 1934, Jacques Soustelle counted 452 chichimecas, 63 of whom were children who attended the local school. Prior to that point the language was spoken in five other locations:

1. Misión Arnedo (Guanajuato) to the east of San Luis, near Villa Victoria.
2. Misión de las Palmas (Querétaro), along the Etorax river, which arises near Victoria.
3. Misión de Santa Rosa, to the north of Victoria.
4. 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.
5. Villa Colón (Querétaro), to the south of Tolimán.

Phonology

Chichimeca Jonaz is a tonal language and distinguishes high and low level tones.

Vowels

	Front		Central	Back
Close	i	y		u
Mid	e			o
Open	æ		a

• In addition, Chichimeca Jonaz has nasal counterparts of these vowels, which are /ĩ ỹ ũ ẽ õ æ̃ ã/.

		Labial	Alveolar		Palatal	Velar		Glottal
			plain	sib.		plain	lab.
Nasal	fortis	m	n
	lenis	mː	nː
Plosive/ Affricate	plain	p	t	t͡s	t͡ʃ	k	kʷ	ʔ
	aspirated	pʰ	tʰ	t͡sʰ		kʰ	kʷʰ
	ejective	pʼ	tʼ	t͡sʼ	t͡ʃʼ	kʼ
Fricative	voiceless			s				h
	voiced	β		z		ɣ	ɣʷ
	nasal	β̃
Rhotic	trill		r
	tap		ɾ
	nasal		ɾ̃
Approximant			l			w

Sounds /β, ɾ/ are heard as voiced stops [b, d] when after a nasal consonant.

References

• Suaréz, Jorge A. (1983). The Mesoamerian Indian Languages. Cambridge Languages Surveys. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-22834-4. OCLC 8034800.
• Lastra de Suárez, Yolanda (1984). "Chichimeco Jonaz". In Munro S. Edmonson (Volume ed.), with Patricia A. Andrews (ed.). Supplement to the Handbook of Middle American Indians, Vol. 2: Linguistics. Victoria Reifler Bricker (General Editor). Austin: University of Texas Press. pp. 20–43. ISBN 0-292-77593-8. OCLC 10207920.
• Lizárraga Navarro, Glenda Zoé (2018). Morfología verbal de persona y número en chichimeco jonaz. El Colegio de México.
• "Estadística básica de la población hablante de lenguas indígenas nacionales 2015". site.inali.gob.mx. Retrieved 2019-10-26.