The internal classification of

Mixtec The Mixtecs (), or Mixtecos, are Indigenous Mesoamerican peoples of Mexico inhabiting the region known as La Mixteca of Oaxaca and Puebla as well as La Montaña Region and Costa Chica of Guerrero, Costa Chica Regions of the state of Guerre ...

is controversial. Many varieties are

mutually unintelligible In linguistics, mutual intelligibility is a relationship between different but related language varieties in which speakers of the different varieties can readily understand each other without prior familiarity or special effort. Mutual intellig ...

and by that criterion separate languages. In the 16th century, Spanish authorities recognized half a dozen ''lenguas'' comprising the Mixtec ''lengua''. (See #Classical Mixtec.) It is not clear to what extent these were distinct languages at the time. Regardless, the colonial disintegration of the Mixtec nation and resulting isolation of local communities led to the rapid diversification of local dialects into distinct languages. Below are some attempts at Mixtec classification by various scholars.

Geographic divisions

Josserand (1983:106) lists 5 major geographic (not linguistic) divisions of Mixtec, which together cover a total of about 25,000 square kilometers. Enclaves of Amuzgo, Trique, Cuicatec, Ixcatec, and Chocho speakers are scattered nearby. #Puebla Mixtec #Guerrero Mixtec #Mixteca Baja #Mixteca Alta #Mixteca de la Costa

Colonial divisions

De los Reyes, in his ''Arte de Lengua Mixteca'' (1593), spoke of half a dozen ''lenguas'' in the Mixtec ''lengua''. To these, his contemporaries added the dialects of Guerrero: *the ''lengua'' of Teposcolula, including the major communities of Tamazulapan, Tilantongo, Texupa, and Mitlatongo (Jiménez-Moreno: Tepozcolula– Tilantongo; the prestige dialect chosen by de los Reyes) *the ''lengua'' of Yanhuitlán, incl. Coixtlahuaca, Xaltepec, and Nochixtlán (Jiménez-Moreno: Yuanhuitlán–

Cuilapan Cuilapan de Guerrero is a town and Municipalities of Oaxaca, municipality located in the central valley region of Oaxaca in southern Mexico. It is to the south of the Oaxaca, Oaxaca, capital city of Oaxaca on the road leading to Villa de Zaachila ...

) *the ''lengua'' of

Tlaxiaco Tlaxiaco () is a city, and its surrounding Municipalities of Oaxaca, municipality of the same name, in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is located in the Tlaxiaco District in the south of the Mixteca Region, with a population of about 17,450. The ...

and

Achiutla The thumb is the first Digit (anatomy), digit of the hand, next to the index finger. When a person is standing in the medical anatomical position (where the palm is facing to the front), the thumb is the outermost digit. The Medical Latin Englis ...

(the prestige dialect chosen by Hernández) *the ''lengua'' of the

Mixteca Baja is a cultural, economic and political region in Western Oaxaca and neighboring portions of Puebla, Guerrero in south-central Mexico, which refers to the home of the Mixtec people. In their languages, the region is called either , or . Two-thir ...

*the ''lengua'' of Cuilapa and Guaxolotitlán in the

Valley of Oaxaca The Central Valleys () of Oaxaca, also simply known as the Oaxaca Valley, is a geographic region located within the modern-day state of Oaxaca in southeastern Mexico. In an administrative context, it has been defined as comprising the districts of ...

(Jiménez-Moreno: Cuauhxochpan– Cuyamecalco) *the ''lengua'' of the

Mixteca de la Costa is a cultural, economic and political region in Western Oaxaca and neighboring portions of Puebla, Guerrero in south-central Mexico, which refers to the home of the Mixtec people. In their languages, the region is called either , or . Two-third ...

*the Mixtec of Guerrero Josserand found that native mundane writing of the colonial era corresponded well to de los Reyes; based on phonological and orthographic consistencies, she divides the dialects into five groups, as follows: *the Baja area around Huajuapan (though there were multiple varieties in Baja, more than de los Reyes recognized) *the Oaxaca Valley around

, closely related to the next *the northeastern Alta around the Valley of Nochixtlan, including Yanhuitlan and Coixtlahuaca *the eastern Alta around the Valleys of Teposcolula and Tamasulapa *the western Alta around the Valley of

, and

Chalcatongo Chalcatongo de Hidalgo (also, Chalcatongo and Villa Hidalgo) is a municipality in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is part of the Tlaxiaco District in the south of the Mixteca Region. It is the birthplace of former Governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz U ...

Holland (1959)

The following classification is given by William R. Holland (1959), as cited in Josserand (1983:134-135). This preliminary classification is a glottochronological study of the dialects of 22 Mixtec and 4 Cuicatec towns. *Zone 1: Ixtayutla, Mechoacán, Jamiltepec, Huazolotitlán, Pinotepa Nacional *Zone 2: Ixtayutla, Mechoacán, Jamiltepec, Pinotepa de Don Luis, Pinotepa Nacional, Atoyac, Tlacamama *Zone 3: Santo Tomás Ocotepec, Santa Lucía Monte Verde, San Miguel el Grande, San Esteban Atatlahuca *Zone 4: San Rafael Guerrero *Zone 5:

Juxtlahuaca Juxtlahuaca (), or Xiuxtlahuaca (), is a cave and archaeological site in the Mexican state of Guerrero containing murals linked to the Olmec motifs and iconography. Along with the nearby Oxtotitlán cave, Juxtlahuaca walls contain the earlie ...

*Zone 6: Santa María Peñoles, Huitepec *Zone 7:

Peñoles Peñoles is a subsidiary company owned by Grupo BAL. Peñoles is the second largest Mexican mining company, the first Mexican producer of gold, zinc and lead and the world leader in silver production. Peñoles is a company with active mines wi ...

*Zone 8: Jocoticpac / Jocotipac *Zone 9: Cuyamecalco *Zone 10: San Juan Coatzospan *Zone 11: Chigmecatitlán, Santa Catarina Tlaltempan Holland (1959) also gives 3 areal groupings for these zones. *Costa: Zones 1, 2 *Alta: Zones 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 *Baja: Zones 8, 9, 10, 11 However, Josserand (1983) states that these groupings are based on flawed methodologies, including a faulty conception of the geographical layout of the Mixteca. Many towns that Holland listed as ''Baja'' are in fact ''Alta'', and vice versa.

Arana (1960)

The following classification is given by Evangelina Arana-Osnaya (1960:257), as cited in Josserand (1983:137). *Group 1: Chigmecatitlán, Tlaltempan *Group 2: Cuyamecalco, San Juan Coatzospan *Group 3a: Huitepec,

, Santa María Peñoles, San Juan Tamazola *Group 3b:

; probably also Xoxocotla and other towns - where Mixtec is now no longer spoken *Group 4a: San Miguel el Grande, San Esteban Atatlahuca, Santo Tomás Ocotepec, Jocoticpac; San Rafael in

Guerrero Guerrero, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guerrero, is one of the 32 states that compose the administrative divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Guerrero, 85 municipalities. The stat ...

*Group 4b: Mechoacán, Jamiltepec, Pinotepa de Don Luis, Ixtayutla, Huazolotitlán, Tlacamama, Pinotepa Nacional, Atoyac

Mak & Longacre (1960)

Cornelia Mak and Robert Longacre (1960) is the first reconstruction of Proto-Mixtec, which is the ancestor of Mixtec proper as opposed to Mixtecan. Below is a classification inferred from Mak & Longacre (1960) by Josserand (1983:142). 9 groups and a total of 28 towns are given. *Central Mixteca Alta: San Miguel el Grande, San Esteban Atatlahuca *Southern Mixteca Alta: Santiago Yosondúa, Santa Cruz Itundujia, San Mateo Santigui, San Pedro el Alto, San Fernando Yucucundo *Western Mixteca Alta: Santo Tomás Ocotepec *Lowland Mixteca (Mixteca de la Costa): Jicaltepec, Pinotepa de Don Luis, Mechoacán, Tlacamama, Atoyac *Mixteca Baja: San Juan Mixtepec,

*Guerrero: Metlatonoc *Puebla: Tonahuixtla, Xayacatlán, Chigmecatitlán *Eastern Mixteca Alta: Estetla, Tilantongo, Tidaa, San Juan Diuxi, Santiago Mitlatongo, Nuxaa, San Juan Tamazola *Northeastern Mixteca Alta: San Juan Coatzospan, Cuyamecalco

Spores (1967)

The following classification, based on "archaeological, ethnohistorical and modern information in his delimitation of interaction spheres within the Mixteca", is given by Richard Spores in ''The Mixtec Kings and Their People'' (1967), as cited in Josserand (1983:128). A total of 18 dialects are given. * Apoala, Apasco, Sosola; eastern frontier with Chinantec, Cuicatec, and Zapotec * Coixtlahuaca, Huautla, Tequixixtepec * Tonalá, Chila, Petlalcingo, Mariscala, Acatlán; towns on the northern frontier with Nahuatl and Tlapanec * Huajuapan * Silacayoapan; ranchos on Guerrero border * Tecomaxtlahuaca,

, and its ranchos of Cuquila,

Ñumí Ñumí (Paraguayan Guaraní, Guaraní: ''Ñumi'') is a district of the Guairá Department, Paraguay. Is located to the south of the city of Villarrica, Paraguay, Villarrica, the capital of the department, and to the east of the San Salvador d ...

, Mixtepec * Teposcolula, and its ranchos; Tayata,

, and about 8 other communities, all of which use the Teposcolula market * Tilantongo, and its ranchos; Mitlatongo *

, San Miguel el Grande * Yucuañe, and 9 or 10 surrounding communities *

Teozacoalco San Pedro Teozacoalco is a town and Municipalities of Oaxaca, municipality in Oaxaca, in south-western Mexico. It is part of the Nochixtlán District in the southeast of the Mixteca Region. Population As of 2005, the municipality had a total popul ...

* Putla * Zacatepec * Tututepec, Jamiltepec * Yolotepec * Yanhuitlán, Chicahua, Soyaltepec, Cántaros, Coyotepec, Nochixtlán, Tonaltepec * Tamazulapan, Tejutla, Teotongo, Chilapa de Díaz

Bradley (1968, 1970)

The following classification is given by C. Henry Bradley (1970), as cited in Josserand (1983:132). A total of 11 languages are given. His classification was most likely based on

SIL International SIL Global (formerly known as the Summer Institute of Linguistics International) is an evangelical Christian nonprofit organization whose main purpose is to study, develop and document languages, especially those that are lesser-known, to expan ...

's mutual intelligibility surveys. *Northern: Xayacatlán, Huajuapan, Chigmecatitlán *Northeastern: Apoala, Coatzospan, Cuyamecalco *Eastern:

, Tilantongo, Huitepec *East-central: Amoltepec *Central: Yosondúa, San Miguel, Molinos, San Esteban (Atatlahuca), Santo Tomás (Ocotepec), Mixtepec *South-central: Nuyoo– Yucuite, Itundujia *West-central: Silacayoapan–

*Western: Metlatonoc, Coicoyán *Southwestern: Ayutla *Southern: Jicaltepec, Chayuco, Zacatepec *Southeastern: Tututepec However, Bradley (1968) had given a different classification which included only 7 languages. *Northeast: Apoala, Cuyamecalco *Northwest: Chigmecatitlán, Xayacatlán– Chazumba, Cacaloxtepec *Mixteca Baja: Mixtepec,

– Silacayoapan, Coicoyán *Guerrero: Coatzingo, Malinaltepec, Yolosochitl, Ayutla *Mixteca de la Costa: Zacatepec, Pinotepa, Ixtayutla, Jamiltepec, Tututepec *Western Mixteca Alta:

, Yosondúa, Itundujia, Atatlahuca *Eastern Mixteca Alta:

, Tilantongo

Egland & Bartholomew (1983)

Egland & Bartholomew find 29 groups at a 70% mutual-intelligibility level. The towns they tested are the following, grouped at 60% intelligibility; a question mark indicates that intelligibility testing had not been done with non-neighboring varieties. *Coatzospan–Cuyamecalco ** Santa Ana Cuauhtémoc Cuyamecalco per E16 Coatzospan iz** Cuyamecalco tu* Apoala, Jocotipac, Ixtaltepec, Chicahua ip*

San Bartolo Soyaltepec San Bartolo Soyaltepec is a town and Municipalities of Oaxaca, municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico. The municipality covers an area of 70.17 km². It is part of the Teposcolula District in the center of the Mixteca Region. As of 2005, ...

mq* Santiago Chazumba tb Tonahuixtla, Cosoltepec tb Xayacatlán de Bravo it Tepejillo, Zapotitlán Palmas it Petlalcingo it, xtb both in the town** 5% Xayacatlán in the other direction* Chigmecatitlán ii* Nuxaá xy* Estetla,

il Huitepec xs, mil Tlazoyaltepec qh, mil San Juan Tamazola mx* Tidaá tx(60% w Peñoles) * San Miguel Piedras tp* Tilantongo td*?Ñumí–Tlacotepec **

, Nunduchi, Nicananduta, San Antonio Monteverde tn Sto. Tomás Ocotepec ie Yucuañe vg** Tlacotepec tm(69% w Atatláhuca) * Yucunicoco mc San Juan Mixtepec ix(unidirectional intelligibility) * Nuyoo, Yucuhiti eh* San Esteban Atatláhuca (68% w Yosondúa) ib Santa Lucía Monteverde dv Molinos; Itundujía ce* Yosondúa (70% w Atatláhuca) pm San Miguel el Grande,

ig Yolotepec; Teita tj* Santa Maria Sindihui ts*Silacayopan group ** Cacaloxtepec iu** Silacayoapan, San Jorge Nuchita ks Ixpantepec Nieves, Santiago Tamazola, San Simón Zahuatlán, Atenango, Yucuñuti xb San Miguel Ahuehuetitlán;
Juxtlahuaca: Tecomastlahuaca, San Rafael Tepejillo,

, Tindú mc Cahuatache im Metlatónoc xv** Coicoyán, S. M. Peras mx** Guadalupe Portezuelo xa w Zahuatlán*? Cuatzoquitengo im(not close to Cahuatache) * Ayutla iy(divergent) * Amoltepec bz!--this is the correct Amoltepec--> * Tututepec (61% w Ixtayutla),

Acatepec Acatepec is a city and seat of the Acatepec (municipality), municipality of Acatepec, in the state of Guerrero, southern Mexico.Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía. Principales resultados por localidad 2005 (ITER). Retrieved on Dec ...

tu*Chayuco–Zacatepec ** San Cristobál (60% w Jicaltepec) xt Mechoacán, Chayuco ih(69% Coicoyán) **? Ixtayutla mj(80% w San Cristobál, 79%/63% Amoltepec, 59% Chayuco) ** Zacatepec za* Jicaltepec io(74% w Ixtayutla),

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

jc Tepetlapa, Sayultepec, Don Luis, esternJamiltepec, Jicayán, San Lorenzo, Atoyac; Huazolotitlán Eastern Jamiltepec per E16

''Ethnologue''

The classification of ''

Ethnologue ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensive catalogue of languages. It w ...

'' is largely based on Egland & Bartholomew. There is no sub-classification, only a list of 52 varieties, though these are reported to have a great range of intelligibility, from essentially none to 90% or higher.

Notes and references

* Egland, Steven, Doris Bartholomew, and Saúl Cruz Ramos. 1983. ''La inteligibilidad interdialectal en México: Resultados de algunos sondeos''. México, D.F: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano.: https://web.archive.org/web/20151122014320/http://www-01.sil.org/mexico/sondeos/G038a-SondeosInteligibilidad.htm - Note: The 1983 date is only a reprint date. Actual publication date is 1978. * Josserand, Judy Kathryn. 1983. ''Mixtec Dialect History.'' Ph.D. Dissertation, Tulane University. {{Mixtec languages *