Pochutec
Encyclopedia
Pochutec is an extinct
Uto-Aztecan language of the Nahuan (or Aztecan) branch which was spoken in and around the town of Pochutla on the Pacific coast of Oaxaca
, Mexico
. In 1917 it was documented in a monograph by Franz Boas
, who considered the language nearly extinct. In the 1970s another investigator found two speakers around Pochutla who still remembered a few of the words recorded by Boas.
For much of the 20th century, Uto-Aztecanists disagreed among themselves as to the classification of Pochutec within the Aztecan branch. Although the majority thought it likely that Pochutec and Nahuatl were to be considered as belonging to separate branches of Nahuan (or Aztecan, as it was then called), Hasler proposed the opposite. The majority view classifying Pochutec outside of Nahuatl was bolstered in 1978 when Campbell and Langacker published a paper in which they adduced new arguments relying on the data of Boas. Their conclusion has met with little if any rebuttal in the literature and become widely accepted. The Aztecan branch (often called the Nahuan branch) of Uto-Aztecan thus consists of Pochutec and General Aztec, the latter in turn consisting of Nahuatl
and Pipil
.
Bartholomew (1980) suggests that some of the divergent traits, for example last syllable stress, are due to influence from Chatino
, an Oto-Manguean language
. She argues that at the time of the 16th century Spanish conquest of Mexico
the settlement of Pochutla did not fall under the Aztec Empire's
domain, but instead was part of the Mixtec
state centered at Tututepec
. Thus, the Chatino linguistic influences stemmed from the trade and communication routes between Pochutla and Tututepec passing through Chatino territory.
s strung together.
Extinct language
An extinct language is a language that no longer has any speakers., or that is no longer in current use. Extinct languages are sometimes contrasted with dead languages, which are still known and used in special contexts in written form, but not as ordinary spoken languages for everyday communication...
Uto-Aztecan language of the Nahuan (or Aztecan) branch which was spoken in and around the town of Pochutla on the Pacific coast of Oaxaca
Oaxaca
Oaxaca , , officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca is one of the 31 states which, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided into 571 municipalities; of which 418 are governed by the system of customs and traditions...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional 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...
. In 1917 it was documented in a monograph by Franz Boas
Franz Boas
Franz Boas was a German-American anthropologist and a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology" and "the Father of Modern Anthropology." Like many such pioneers, he trained in other disciplines; he received his doctorate in physics, and did...
, who considered the language nearly extinct. In the 1970s another investigator found two speakers around Pochutla who still remembered a few of the words recorded by Boas.
For much of the 20th century, Uto-Aztecanists disagreed among themselves as to the classification of Pochutec within the Aztecan branch. Although the majority thought it likely that Pochutec and Nahuatl were to be considered as belonging to separate branches of Nahuan (or Aztecan, as it was then called), Hasler proposed the opposite. The majority view classifying Pochutec outside of Nahuatl was bolstered in 1978 when Campbell and Langacker published a paper in which they adduced new arguments relying on the data of Boas. Their conclusion has met with little if any rebuttal in the literature and become widely accepted. The Aztecan branch (often called the Nahuan branch) of Uto-Aztecan thus consists of Pochutec and General Aztec, the latter in turn consisting of Nahuatl
Nahuatl
Nahuatl is thought to mean "a good, clear sound" This language name has several spellings, among them náhuatl , Naoatl, Nauatl, Nahuatl, Nawatl. In a back formation from the name of the language, the ethnic group of Nahuatl speakers are called Nahua...
and Pipil
Pipil language
Pipil is a Uto-Aztecan language descended from Nahuatl which was spoken in several parts of present day Central America before the Spanish conquest. It is on the verge of extinction in western El Salvador and has already gone extinct elsewhere in Central America...
.
Bartholomew (1980) suggests that some of the divergent traits, for example last syllable stress, are due to influence from Chatino
Chatino language
The Chatino language is an indigenous Mesoamerican language, which is classified under the Zapotecan branch of the Oto-Manguean language family...
, an Oto-Manguean language
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 the Manguean branch of the family, which is now extinct, was spoken as far south as Nicaragua and Costa Rica.The...
. She argues that at the time of the 16th century Spanish conquest of Mexico
Spanish conquest of Mexico
The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire was one of the most important campaigns in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. The invasion began in February 1519 and was acclaimed victorious on August 13, 1521, by a coalition army of Spanish conquistadors and Tlaxcalan warriors led by Hernán Cortés...
the settlement of Pochutla did not fall under the Aztec Empire's
Aztec
The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...
domain, but instead was part of the Mixtec
Mixtec
The Mixtec are indigenous Mesoamerican peoples inhabiting the Mexican states of Oaxaca, Guerrero and Puebla in a region known as La Mixteca. The Mixtecan languages form an important branch of the Otomanguean language family....
state centered at Tututepec
Tututepec
Tututepec is a Mesoamerican archaeological site located in the lower Río Verde valley on the coast of Oaxaca that formed the nucleus of an extensive Mixtec state during the Late Postclassic period...
. Thus, the Chatino linguistic influences stemmed from the trade and communication routes between Pochutla and Tututepec passing through Chatino territory.
Morphology
Pochutec is an agglutinative language, where words use suffix complexes for a variety of purposes with several morphemeMorpheme
In linguistics, a morpheme is the smallest semantically meaningful unit in a language. The field of study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology. A morpheme is not identical to a word, and the principal difference between the two is that a morpheme may or may not stand alone, whereas a word,...
s strung together.