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Chorotega ( is the name of an indigenous people of Honduras
Honduras

Honduras is a democratic republic in Central America. It was formerly known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras ....
, Costa Rica
Costa Rica

Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the east and south, the Pacific Ocean to the west and south and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
 and Nicaragua
Nicaragua

Nicaragua officially the Republic of Nicaragua , is a representative democracy republic. It is the largest state in Central America with an area of 130,000 km2, about the size of the state of New York....
. The ethnic population number around 795 according to the ethnologue 2000 survey . The Chorotega language, which was a member of the Manguean branch of the Oto-Manguean
Oto-Manguean languages

Oto-Manguean languages are a large family comprising several families of Native American languages. All of the Oto-manguean languages that are now spoken are indigenous to Mexico, but Oto-Manguean languages that are now extinct language were spoken as far south as Nicaragua....
 linguistic family, is now extinct
Extinct language

An extinct language is a language which no longer has any speakers .Extinct languages may be contrasted with Language death: no longer spoken as a main language....
.

The Oto-Manguean languages are spoken mainly in Mexico
Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
 and it is thought that the Chorotega moved south from Mexico together with the speakers of Subtiaba
Subtiaba

Subtiaba is an extinct language Oto-Manguean languages language which was spoken on the Pacific slope of Nicaragua. In 1925 Edward Sapir wrote an article based on scant evidence arguing for the inclusion of Subtiaba in his hypothesized Hokan group....
 and Chiapanec
Chiapanec

Chiapanec is the name of an indigenous Mexican language of the Oto-Manguean languages. In 1990 the Ethnologue reported 17 living speakers of the language in southern Chiapas but since later investigations failed to find any speakers at all it is now considered to be probably extinct language by experts on the Oto-Manguean languages....
 well before the arrival of the Spaniards in the Americas.

Some sources list "Cholutega" as an alternative name of the people and their language and this has caused some, for example Terrence Kaufman
Terrence Kaufman

Terrence Kaufman is an United States linguistics specializing in documentation of unwritten languages, Mesoamerican historical linguistics and language contact phenomena....
 (2001) to speculate that they were the original inhabitants of the city of Cholula
Cholula

Cholula is a city in the Mexican state of Puebla. The official, though little used, full name of the city is Cholula de Rivadavia. The city of Cholula is divided into two municipalities, San Andr?s Cholula and San Pedro Cholula, which are considered to be part of the Metropolitan area of Puebla, and a third, more rural municipality cal...
, who were displaced with the arrival of Nahua
Nahua

The Nahuas are a group of Indigenous peoples in Mexico peoples of Mexico. Their language of Uto-Aztecan affiliation is called Nahuatl and consists of many more Nahuatl dialects and variants, a number of which are mutually unintelligible....
 people in central Mexico.






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Chorotega ( is the name of an indigenous people of Honduras
Honduras

Honduras is a democratic republic in Central America. It was formerly known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras ....
, Costa Rica
Costa Rica

Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the east and south, the Pacific Ocean to the west and south and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
 and Nicaragua
Nicaragua

Nicaragua officially the Republic of Nicaragua , is a representative democracy republic. It is the largest state in Central America with an area of 130,000 km2, about the size of the state of New York....
. The ethnic population number around 795 according to the ethnologue 2000 survey . The Chorotega language, which was a member of the Manguean branch of the Oto-Manguean
Oto-Manguean languages

Oto-Manguean languages are a large family comprising several families of Native American languages. All of the Oto-manguean languages that are now spoken are indigenous to Mexico, but Oto-Manguean languages that are now extinct language were spoken as far south as Nicaragua....
 linguistic family, is now extinct
Extinct language

An extinct language is a language which no longer has any speakers .Extinct languages may be contrasted with Language death: no longer spoken as a main language....
.

The Oto-Manguean languages are spoken mainly in Mexico
Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
 and it is thought that the Chorotega moved south from Mexico together with the speakers of Subtiaba
Subtiaba

Subtiaba is an extinct language Oto-Manguean languages language which was spoken on the Pacific slope of Nicaragua. In 1925 Edward Sapir wrote an article based on scant evidence arguing for the inclusion of Subtiaba in his hypothesized Hokan group....
 and Chiapanec
Chiapanec

Chiapanec is the name of an indigenous Mexican language of the Oto-Manguean languages. In 1990 the Ethnologue reported 17 living speakers of the language in southern Chiapas but since later investigations failed to find any speakers at all it is now considered to be probably extinct language by experts on the Oto-Manguean languages....
 well before the arrival of the Spaniards in the Americas.

Some sources list "Cholutega" as an alternative name of the people and their language and this has caused some, for example Terrence Kaufman
Terrence Kaufman

Terrence Kaufman is an United States linguistics specializing in documentation of unwritten languages, Mesoamerican historical linguistics and language contact phenomena....
 (2001) to speculate that they were the original inhabitants of the city of Cholula
Cholula

Cholula is a city in the Mexican state of Puebla. The official, though little used, full name of the city is Cholula de Rivadavia. The city of Cholula is divided into two municipalities, San Andr?s Cholula and San Pedro Cholula, which are considered to be part of the Metropolitan area of Puebla, and a third, more rural municipality cal...
, who were displaced with the arrival of Nahua
Nahua

The Nahuas are a group of Indigenous peoples in Mexico peoples of Mexico. Their language of Uto-Aztecan affiliation is called Nahuatl and consists of many more Nahuatl dialects and variants, a number of which are mutually unintelligible....
 people in central Mexico. The etymology for the nomenclature "Chorotega" in this case would come from the Nahuatl language
Nahuatl language

Nahuatl is a group of related languages and dialects of the Nahuan branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family.Collectively they are spoken by an estimated Nahua peoples, most of whom live in Central Mexico....
 where "Chololtecah" means "inhabitants of Cholula". The Region south of Honduras derives itīs name from this nahuatl word, present day Choluteca
Choluteca

Choluteca may refer to:* Choluteca, Choluteca - a city in Honduras* Choluteca - a governmental region in Honduras* Choluteca River - a river in southern Honduras...
, and Choluteca City. Choluteca was originally inhabited by Chorotega groups.