Chontal Maya language

This article is about the language spoken by the Chontal Maya people of Tabasco. For the languages of the Oaxaca Chontal people, see Tequistlatecan languages.

Yokotʼan (self-denomination), also known as Chontal Maya, is a Maya language of the Cholan family spoken in 2020 by around 60,000 Chontal Maya people of the Mexican state of Tabasco. According to the National Catalog of Indigenous Languages of Mexico-INALI, Yokotʼan has at least four dialects: Nacajuca (Central), Centla (Northern), Macuspana (Southern) and Tamulte (Eastern).

Chontal Maya
Yokotʼan
Pronunciation	[jɔʔkɔʔtʼan]
Native to	Mexico
Region	North central and southern Tabasco
Ethnicity	Chontal Maya
Native speakers	61,000 (2020 census)
Language family	Mayan Cholan–Tzeltalan Cholan Chol–Chontal Chontal Maya
Dialects	Nacajuca / Central Yokotʼan / Central Chontal of Tabasco Tamulte / Eastern Yokotʼan / Eastern Chontal of Tabasco Macuspana / Southern Yokotʼan / Southern Chontal Centla / Northern Yokotʼan / Northern Chontal
Language codes
ISO 639-3	chf
Glottolog	taba1266
ELP	Chontal de Tabasco

Distribution

The Chontal Maya are concentrated in 159 settlements in 5 municipalities of Tabasco (Brown 2005:122).

• Centla
• Centro
• Jonuta
• Macuspana
• Nacajuca (comprising more than 50% of the Chontal Maya population)

Some Chontal settlements near the town of Nacajuca include (Brown 2005:116):

• El Tigre
• Saloya
• Guatacaloa
• Olcuatitan
• Tucta
• Mazatehuapa
• Tapotzingo
• Guaytalpa
• San Simón
• Tecoluta
• Oxiacapue
• Guadalupe
• El Sitio
• Tamulte

Some Chontal settlements in the northeastern Centla region include (Brown 2005:116):

• Cuauhtemoc
• Vicente Guerrero
• Allende
• Simón Sarlat
• Quitin Arauz (on the Río Usumacinta)

Chontal settlements near Macuspana include Benito Juárez and Aquiles Serdan (Brown 2005).

Phonology

Consonants

		Bilabial	Dental	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m		n
Plosive/ Affricate	voiceless	p	t	ts	tʃ	k	ʔ
	glottalized	pʼ	tʼ	tsʼ	tʃʼ	kʼ
	voiced	b	d
Fricative				s	ʃ		h
Tap/Flap				ɾ
Approximant		w		l	j

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Mid	e	ɘ	o
Open		a

References

Brown, Denise Fay. 2005. "The Chontal Maya of Tabasco." In Sandstrom, Alan R., and Enrique Hugo García Valencia. 2005. Native peoples of the Gulf Coast of Mexico. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.

• Keller, Kathryn C. and Plácido Luciano G., compilers. 1997. Diccionario Chontal de Tabasco.

Knowles, Susan Marie. 1984. "A descriptive grammar of Chontal Maya (San Carlos dialect)." Thesis (Ph. D.)--Tulane University, 1984.

"La lengua maya-chontal de Tabasco / [selección de textos y edición, Tomás Pérez Suárez]." 1984. Emiliano Zapata, Tabasco, Mexico : Editora Municipal, H. Ayuntamiento Constitucional (1983–1985), 1984.