Western Popoloca language

Western Popoloca is an indigenous language of Puebla state, Mexico. There are two principal varieties, sometimes counted as distinct languages,

  • Santa Inés Ahuatempan Popoloca (a.k.a. Ahuatempan, Santa Inés)
  • San Felipe Otlaltepec Popoloca (a.k.a. Otlaltepec, San Felipe)
Western Popoloca
Native toMexico
RegionPuebla
Native speakers
7,000 (2000)[1]
Oto-Manguean
Language codes
ISO 639-3Either:
pow – San Felipe Otlaltepec
pca – Santa Inés Ahuatempan
Glottologsant1454  Santa Ines Ahuatempan
sanf1264  San Felipe Otlaltepec

which are about 75% mutually intelligible. Approximately half of ethnic Popoloca of these towns speak the language.

Phonology

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Vowels

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Front Central Back
Close i, ĩ u, ũ
Mid e, o, õ
Open a, ã

Consonants

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Labial Alveolar Post-
alveolar
Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ɲ
Plosive (p) t k ʔ
Affricate t͡s t͡ʃ t͡ʂ
Fricative voiceless s ʃ ʂ h
voiced z ʒ ʐ ɣ
Rhotic ɾ (r)
Approximant w l j

Sounds [p, r] only occur from loanwords.[2]

References

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  1. ^ San Felipe Otlaltepec at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Santa Inés Ahuatempan at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Williams, Ann F.; Pike, Eunice V. (1968). The phonology of Western Popoloca. Lingua, Vol. 20. pp. 368–380.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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