Language enables human beings to communicate with one another. In the world today, there are 7,105 living languages and these are grouped under 136 language families. One such family is the Oto-Manguean with 174 languages and 1,686,494 speakers (Ethnologue.com). The people using these languages are located in Mesoamerica, an area that Suarez (17) refers to as “well-defined from a linguistic point of view” (17). Mesoamerica is also considered a culture area. In the map presented by Suarez (xvii) there are 14 language families and 89 languages in Mesoamerica (xvii). This essay shall discuss one of the living languages of Mesoamerica. The sections below shall (a) explain the Mixtec language, (b) present an example where the language was used, and (c) provide information about its speakers.
Mixtec language
Mixtec is the language widely spoken in the States of Guerrero, Oaxaca, and Puebla of Southern Mexico (MIXTEC 1). Using the map of Suarez (xvii), Mixtec is traced back to the Oto-Manguean family. There are nine (9) branches in the Oto-Manguean family. These are Otopamean, Popolocan, Subtiaba-Tiapanec, Amuzgo, Chatino-Zapotec, Chinantecan, Chiapanec-Mangue, and Mixtecan. The Mixtec is one of the three languages classified as Mixtecan. The two other languages in this group are Cuicatec and Trique.
Mixtec language itself has different variations. According to the Summer Institute of Linguistics, there are 29 MIxtec dialects that are already below the “70 percent intelligibility level with one another” (Encyclopedia of World Cultures, 176). This researcher used the data provided by Ethnologue and identified 63 variations of the Mixtec language. Of this figure only 22 are classified as vigorous. There are 13 which are considered developing while 5 are shifting. There are 13 Mixtec languages that are losing users and are classified as threatened. The Mixtec San Miguel Piedras and Mixtec Soyaltepec are moribund languages, meaning only the elders are using it and it is spoken among the Ethnic population. One Mixtec language called Sindihui is nearly extinct with only 34 users in 2005 (Ethnologue.com).
The Mixtec is very much a living language. According to the Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, there are about 500,000 people in Mexico who still speak Mixtec. Despite this big number, a study by Perry (Summary) showed evidence that there is a declining use of the Mixtec language. This was brought about by the experience of the Mixtec people of language discrimination. They have used silence as a strategy to “distance themselves” from what is considered a “stigmatized practice,” the use of the language.
Video of Mixtec
There are two video clips that showcase the use of the Mixtec language. The first one is a bible story produced by the Global Recordings Network (GRN). According to their website, GRN translates bible passages into languages of people who are “not literate from oral cultures, particularly unreached groups” (Globalrecordings.net). Since the audio is a narration or a reading of a bible passage, a listener could not get a complete sample of the nuances of the language. The second video is a documentary entitled Justice, Mixtec language. However, it is only towards the end of the 5-minute video that the viewer hears the Mixtec language (as indicated by the subtitles). This researcher’s impression of the Mixtec language is that it contains words that are also in the Spanish language.
Mixtec speakers
The speakers of the Mixtec language call themselves the ”Nuu Savi or the people of the rain” and in 1980 they numbered 323,137 and ranked the “fourth-largest indigenous group in Mexico (Encyclopedia of World Cultures, 176). The Mixtecs were major participants in the political history of Mexico. Speakers of the language were involved in the War of the Reform and also in the Mexican Revolution. At present, the Mixtec middle class is already increasing, many of whom are professionals like teachers, politicians, government employees, and technicians.
The Mixtecs are known for their crafts. Residing in traditional communities are weavers and manufacturers of furniture and agricultural tools as well. The “finest stones and metal work” as well as “elaborately carved wood and bone objects and painted polychrome pottery” are said to be the legacy of the Mixtec speakers.
In the present day Mixtec communities, agriculture is being practiced and the farmers trade their produce in local markets. As regards family dynamics, parents still have influence over their children’s choice of a spouse. Bride-wealth and bride-service are still practiced and polygyny is likewise acceptable. Funeral rites are a major activity and mourning for the dead lasts for about a week. The majority of the Mixtec still subscribe to the Mesoamerican beliefs that the manner of death determines one’s final resting place (Encyclopedia of World Cultures, 178).
Works Cited
Columbia University, Press. “Mixtec.” Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th edition (2011):1. History Reference Center. Web. 1 Mar. 2013.
Ethnologue.com. “Summary by Language Family.” Ethnologue: Languages of the World. Web. 1 Mar. 2013. [https://www.ethnologue.com/statistics/family]
KWN Global. Justice, Mixteca Language, 21 Mar 2011. Web. 1 Mar 2013. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsJkYdRnS7g]
“Mixtec.” Encyclopedia of World Cultures, Vol. 8: Middle America and the Caribbean. New York: MacMillan Reference USA, 1996. Print.
MIXTEC. (n.d.) Funk & Wganalis New World Encyclopedia. Web. 1 March 2013.
Perry, Elizabeth. The Declining Use of the Mixtec Language: The Persistence of Memory, Discrimination, and Social Hierarchies of Power. California: University of California, 2009. Print
Suarez, Jorge A. The Mesoamerican Indian Languages. Cambridge,UK: Cambridge University Press, 1983. Print.
World Language Movies. Good News MIXTEC, MAGDALENA PENASCO: San Mateo People/Language Movie Trailer, 28 May 2009. Web. 1 Mar 2013. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNMRUlNZbVU]
