The Matlatzincan languages are a pair of closely related branches of the

Oto-Manguean The Oto-Manguean or Otomanguean () languages are a large family comprising several subfamilies of indigenous languages of the Americas. All of the Oto-Manguean languages that are now spoken are indigenous to Mexico, but the Manguean languages, Ma ...

language family in the

Oto-Pamean The Oto-Pamean languages are a branch of the Oto-Manguean languages that includes languages of the Otomi-Mazahua, Matlatzinca, and Pamean language groups all of which are spoken in central Mexico. Like all Oto-Manguean languages, the Oto-Pamean ...

group, spoken in Central Mexico: Tlahuica/Ocuiltec in one and

Matlatzinca Matlatzinca or Ocuiltec may refer to: * Matlatzinca people Matlatzinca is a name used to refer to different Indigenous ethnic groups in the Toluca Valley in the state of México, located in the central highlands of Mexico. The term is applied to t ...

-Pirinda in the other. They were variously understood as a single

macrolanguage A macrolanguage is a group of mutually intelligible speech varieties, or dialect continuum, that have no traditional name in common, and which may be considered distinct languages by their speakers. Macrolanguages are used as a book-keeping mech ...

or as two distinct languages, and today most linguists and speakers consider them to be separate. Both Matlatzinca and Tlahuica are moribund, and Pirinda went fully extinct in 1936. In 2003, together with 67 other languages, Matlatzinca was recognised as an official language of Mexico''Ley General de Derechos Lingüísticos de los Pueblos Indígenas''
("General Law of the Linguistic Rights of Indigenous peoples"), decree published 13 March 2003 as an

official language An official language is defined by the Cambridge English Dictionary as, "the language or one of the languages that is accepted by a country's government, is taught in schools, used in the courts of law, etc." Depending on the decree, establishmen ...

on equal footing with

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

Notes

Indigenous languages of Mexico Mesoamerican languages Oto-Pamean languages Endangered Oto-Manguean languages Matlatzinca Temascaltepec {{IndigenousAmerican-lang-stub

See also

Notes