Otomi is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

, unclassified Mesoamerican language formerly spoken in the state of

Jalisco Jalisco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in western Mexico and is bordered by s ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. It is uncertain if the Otomi language of Jalisco is related to the

Otomi language Otomi ( ; ) is an Oto-Pamean languages, Oto-Pamean language spoken by approximately 240,000 indigenous Otomi people in the Mexican Plateau, central ''altiplano'' region of Mexico. Otomi consists of several closely related languages, many of whi ...

spoken elsewhere in Mexico, or if it is an unrelated language with the same name.

Geographic distribution

Otomi was spoken in the province of Amula, in the communities of Cuzalapa (now in the municipality of Cuautitlán de García Barragán), Tuxcacuesco, and Zapotitlán de Vadillo.

Nahuatl Nahuatl ( ; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahuas, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller popul ...

was also spoken in these communities.

Sources

The use of the Otomi language was described in a '' relación geográfica'' made in 1579 by Francisco de Agüero, '' alcalde mayor'' of the province of Amula. The ''relación'' also mentions an Otomi name, ''Ercape'', said to mean "a flea that itches greatly". The language is also mentioned, though not named, by

Antonio de Ciudad Real Antonio de Ciudad Real was a Franciscan friar, born 1551, in Castilla La Nueva, Spain. At the age of 15, he joined the Convent of San Francisco, in Toledo, Spain. In 1573, he accompanied Diego de Landa, on his second trip to Yucatán, in the Vic ...

, who visited Tuxcacuesco and Zapotitlán with Alonso Ponce in 1587. He called it "a unique language" ().

Extinction

Otomi became extinct due to the community shifting from using Otomi to using

as their primary language. Nahuatl had become a

lingua franca A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, link language or language of wider communication (LWC), is a Natural language, language systematically used to make co ...

in the

pre-Columbian era In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European col ...

, being used as the administrative language of the

Aztec Empire The Aztec Empire, also known as the Triple Alliance (, Help:IPA/Nahuatl, �jéːʃkaːn̥ t͡ɬaʔtoːˈlóːjaːn̥ or the Tenochca Empire, was an alliance of three Nahuas, Nahua altepetl, city-states: , , and . These three city-states rul ...

and as a trade language beyond the empire's borders, and was subsequently also promoted by the Spaniards after the

Spanish conquest The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered in the European Age of Discovery. It ...

. Nearby languages that went extinct in similar circumstances include

Cochin Kochi ( , ), formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of Kerala. The city is also commonly referred to as Ernaku ...

Tiam Malay titles#State titles, Datuk Wira Poh Ah Tiam (; 1 April 1952 – 15 March 2007) was a Malaysian politician, businessman and community leader of Malaysian Chinese, Chinese descent. Poh was born in Kampung Belimbing, near Durian Tunggal, M ...

(both spoken around

Tuxpan Tuxpan (or Túxpam, fully Túxpam de Rodríguez Cano, for Enrique Rodríguez Cano) is both a municipality and city located in the Mexican state of Veracruz. The population of the city was 89,557 and of the municipality was 154,600 inhabitants, ...

), Tamazultec (spoken in Tamazula de Gordiano),

Sayultec Sayula Popoluca, also called Sayultec, is a Mixe language spoken by around 5,000 indigenous people in and around the town of Sayula de Alemán in the southern part of the state of Veracruz, Mexico. Almost all published research on the language ...

, and Zapotec.

Citations

References

* * * * * {{Mesoamerican families Extinct languages of North America Unclassified languages of North America Mesoamerican languages Indigenous languages of Mexico