Sierra Otomi Highland Otomi (''Otomi de la Sierra'') is a
dialect cluster
A dialect is a variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standardized varieties as well as vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardized varieties, such as those used in developing countries or iso ...
of 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 in
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 ...
by ca. 70,000 people in the highlands of Eastern
Hidalgo, Western
Veracruz
Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...
and Northern
Puebla
Puebla, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Puebla, is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its capital is Puebla City. Part of east-centr ...
. The speakers themselves call the language ''Yųhų'' (Eastern Highland) or ''Ñųhų'' (Texcatepec and Tenango). Lastra 2001 classifies it as an Eastern Otomi language together with
Ixtenco Otomi,
Tilapa Otomi, and
Acazulco Otomi. The three varieties of Sierra Otomi—Eastern Highland, Texcatepec, and Tenango—are above 70% lexically similar; the Eastern Highland dialects are above 80%, and will be considered here.
Distribution
Municipalities with significant Sierra Otomi populations include the following (Dow 2005:236). Many of these municipalities also have Tepehua, Totonac, and Nahuatl speakers.
;
Hidalgo
*
Acaxochitlan
*
Huehuetla
*
San Bartolo Tutotepec
*
Tenango de Doria
*
Tulancingo
;
Puebla
Puebla, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Puebla, is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its capital is Puebla City. Part of east-centr ...
*
Francisco Z. Mena
*
Pahuatlán
*
Pantepec
*
Tlacuilotepec
*
Tlaxco
;
Veracruz
Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...
*
Benito Juárez
Benito Pablo Juárez GarcÃa (; 21 March 1806 – 18 July 1872) was a Mexican politician, military commander, and lawyer who served as the 26th president of Mexico from 1858 until his death in office in 1872. A Zapotec peoples, Zapotec, he w ...
*
Chicóntepec
*
Coatzintla
*
Coyutla
*
Huayacocotla
*
Ixhuatlán de Madero
*
Temapache
*
Texcatepec
*
Tihuatlán
*
Tlachichilco
*
Zacualpan
Phonology
The phonemic inventory given below is based on the particular phonology of the Otomi de la Sierra dialect as documented by Voigtlander and Echegoyen (1985), phonemic inventories of other dialects vary slightly from that of Otomi de la Sierra.
Consonants
Vowels
Orthography
Alphabet
* a -
‘* a̱, ä -
”* b -
* ch -
͡ʃ* d -
* e -
* e̱, ë -
›* f -
¸* g -
* h -
* i -
* j -
* k -
* l -
* m -
* n -
* ñ -
²* o -
”/o* o̱ -
¸* p -
* r -
¾* s -
* t -
* th -
¸* ts -
Í¡s* u -
/w* u̱, ʉ -
‰/ɨ* x -
ƒ* y -
* z -
/d͡z
Other letters
* Ä… -
‘̃* Ä™ -
›Ìƒ* į -
©* Ç« -
”̃* ų -
©
Tones
Tones are usually not marked.
* a - low tone
* á - high tone
* ÇŽ - rising tone
* Ã - falling tone
Notes
References
*Dow, James W. 2005. "The Sierra Ñähñu (OtomÃ)." In Sandstrom, Alan R., and Enrique Hugo GarcÃa Valencia. 2005. ''Native peoples of the Gulf Coast of Mexico''. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
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{{Oto-Manguean languages
Otomi language