View source for Huichol language

{{Short description|Indigenous language of Mexico}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Huichol
| nativename       = {{lang|hch|Wixárika Niukiyari}}<ref>Iturrioz 2004:153</ref>
| states           = [[Mexico]]
| region           = [[Jalisco]], [[Nayarit]], [[Durango]], [[Zacatecas]], [[San Luis Potosí]]
United States: [[La Habra, California]]; [[Houston, Texas]]
| ethnicity        = [[Huichol people|Huichols]]
| speakers         = {{sigfig|60263|2}}
| date             = 2020 census
| ref              = <ref name=inegi2020>[http://cuentame.inegi.org.mx/hipertexto/todas_lenguas.htm Lenguas indígenas y hablantes de 3 años y más, 2020] INEGI. Censo de Población y Vivienda 2020.</ref>
| familycolor      = Uto-Aztecan
| fam1             = [[Uto-Aztecan languages|Uto-Aztecan]]
| fam2             = [[Corachol]]
| iso3             = hch
| glotto           = huic1243
| glottorefname    = Huichol
| agency           = [[Instituto Nacional de Lenguas Indígenas]] (INALI)
| notice           = IPA
| map              = File:Huichol.png
| mapcaption       = Map of Huichols in Mexico
| map2             = Lang Status 80-VU.svg
| mapcaption2      = {{center|{{small|Huichol is classified as Vulnerable by the [[UNESCO]] ''[[Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger]]''}}}}
}}

The '''Huichol''' language ({{langx|hch|Wixárika}}) is an [[indigenous language of Mexico]] which belongs to the [[Uto-Aztecan languages|Uto-Aztecan]] [[language family]]. It is spoken by the ethnic group widely known as the [[Huichol people|Huichol]] (self-designation ''Wixaritari''), whose mountainous territory extends over portions of the [[States of Mexico|Mexican states]] of [[Jalisco]], [[San Luis Potosí]], [[Nayarit]], [[Zacatecas]], and [[Durango]], mostly in Jalisco. 
United States: [[La Habra, California]]; [[Houston, Texas]]. Under the 2003 [[Ley General de Derechos Lingüísticos de los Pueblos Indígenas|Law on Indigenous Language Rights]], the indigenous languages of Mexico along with Spanish are recognized as "national languages".<ref>Leyco, Ley General de Derechos Lingüísticos de los Pueblos Indígenas</ref>

In regard to language typology, the language has [[switch-reference]], is highly [[polysynthetic language|polysynthetic]] and verbs may consist of as many as 20 different morphemes.<ref>Iturrioz 2004:171</ref>

In recent years, at least two teaching grammars for Huichol have been produced in Mexico for nonnative speakers. In addition, a project to produce a reference grammar and dictionary of Huichol has been underway since the 1980s, conducted by a team of investigators in the Department of Indigenous Languages at the [[University of Guadalajara]],<ref>''Gaceta Universitaria'', 2006.02.20</ref> and the first volume of the reference grammar was published in 2006.

==Classification==
The Huichol and [[Cora language|Cora]] languages (whose territories are contiguous) form the [[Coracholan]] subgroup of the [[Uto-Aztecan languages]].

==Dialects==
{{Expand section|date=November 2024}}
There are many dialects of Huichol, including Coyultita, Huichol del norte, Huichol del sur, San Andrés Cohamiata (Huichol del oeste, Western Huichol), San Sebastián-Santa Catarina (Eastern Huichol, Huichol del este).<ref name=e25>{{e25|hch}}</ref>

==Speakers==
{{Expand section|date=November 2024}}
According to the [[United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization]] (UNESCO), there were 35,724 speakers of Huichol as of 2005.<ref name="unesco.org">"Huichol, UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger" http://www.unesco.org/culture/languages-atlas/index.php?hl=en&page=atlasmap&cc2=mx</ref> Huichol has been classified by UNESCO as a "vulnerable" language.<ref name="unesco.org"/>

==Phonology==
===Vowels===
There are five vowel phonemes: {{IPA|/i, ɛ, a, u, ɨ/}}; {{IPA|/ɛ/}} is spelled 'e'. {{IPA|/ɨ/}} is phonetically {{IPA|[ɨ]}}, a [[high central unrounded vowel]], similar to the 'e' in the word 'roses' in English English.

====Articulation of vowels====
{{IPA|[ɛ]}} is reported to be even more open than the similar half open front vowel of French, but less open than the [æ] of English 'cat'. [a] is low central.<ref>Iturrioz et al. 1999:48</ref><ref name="Grimes 1981:8-9">Grimes 1981:8–9</ref>

==== Suprasegmental phonemic contrasts ====
Length is phonemic for vowels. A long vowel is marked by a pair of identical vowel letters. Some minimal pairs:
*''{{IPA|ʔiiya}}'' 'to drink', ''{{IPA|ʔiya}}'' 'to chew';
*''{{IPA|ʔeetsiya}}'' 'to cook', ''{{IPA|ʔetsiya}}'' 'sown field';
*''{{IPA|pukuʔeewiene}}''  'looking for a place to get out of the rain', ''{{IPA|pukuʔewiene}}'' 'walking around tending to things'.

Stress accent is phonemic.<ref>Iturrioz et al. 1999:103</ref><ref>Grimes (1959:232) alluded to previous, unpublished research in which he claimed that Huichol phonology includes phonemic tone and length. However, Grimes 1959 did not cite any examples; nor did he in his dissertation, published as ''Huichol syntax'' (1964), although in the latter work he marks high tone on syllables.</ref> The default position for word stress in Huichol is the penultimate syllable (the next to last syllable),<ref>Iturrioz et al. 1999:153ff</ref> as in Spanish and English. When a word has primary stress on the penult, the orthography does not mark it. When the primary stress of the word falls on a syllable other than the penult, the stress is marked with the acute accent (as in Spanish). When there is a need to mark stress on a long vowel, the acute accent is placed on the ''second'' vowel letter. Minimal pairs showing phonemic syllable stress:
*''tuaxa'' 'to shoot', ''tuaxá'' 'oak';
*''{{IPA|kɨpi}}'' 'close one's eyes', ''{{IPA|kɨpí}}''  'butterfly'.

===Consonants===
There are thirteen consonant phonemes. /t͡s/ has two allophones, the affricate, [ts] by default and the fricative, [s] when it immediately precedes another consonant. /h/, which Grimes (1955) groups with /w y/ for morphophonemic reasons, is phonetically the glottal voiceless fricative, [h]. The boldfaced symbols in parentheses are the symbols used in the Huichol orthography, where these differ from the linguists' symbols.<ref>Those consulting the works of Grimes on Huichol should take care to note that Grimes (1955) used 'q' for the glottal stop, but from 1959 on, he reassigned 'q' for the labiovelar stop.</ref><ref name=":0">Iturrioz et al. 1999:43</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
! colspan="2" |
![[Bilabial]]!! [[Apicoalveolar]] !![[Palatal]]!! [[Velar consonant|Velar]] !! [[labialized velar consonant|Labiovelar]] !! [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Nasal stop|Nasal]]
| {{IPAlink|m}} || {{IPAlink|n}} || || || ||
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Plosive]]
| {{IPAlink|p}} || {{IPAlink|t}} || || {{IPAlink|k}} || {{IPAlink|kʷ}} {{grapheme|kw}} || {{IPAlink|ʔ}}
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Fricative]]
| || {{IPAlink|t͡s}} ~ {{IPAblink|s}} || || || ||{{IPAlink|h}}
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Rhotic consonant|Rhotic]]
! {{small|[[Trill consonant|Trill]]}}
| || {{IPAlink|r}} {{grapheme|x}} || || || ||
|-
! {{small|[[Flap consonant|Flap]]}}
| || {{IPAlink|ɾ}} {{grapheme|r}} || || || ||
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Approximant]]
| {{IPAlink|w}} || || {{IPAlink|j}} {{grapheme|y}} || || ||
|}

====Articulation of consonants====
/k/ before /i/ is [[Aspiration (phonetics)|aspirated]]. /k/ before /ɛ/ is [[Palatalization (phonetics)|palatalized]], hence the pronunciation of /kɛ/ is [kjɛ].<ref name="Grimes 1981:8-9" />
/w/ is [w] before /a ü/, [β] (voiced bilabial fricative) before /e i u/. The sequence /wu/, 'vu' occurs only in loanwords from Spanish.

=====Articulation of /ts r ɾ/=====
/r, ɾ/, while basically alveolar, have a retroflex quality. The descriptions of the phonetic content of these two phonemes vacillated from McIntosh (1945:31–32) to Grimes (1955:31) to Grimes (1959:221, 223).

McIntosh described [t͡s s] as "alveolar" and considered these two to be allophones of the same phoneme, with [t͡s] being the main allophone. Grimes agreed with this: he never uses 's' in his list of 13 phonemes.

McIntosh described '''r''' as "a voiced retroflex alveolar flap" and '''x''' as "backed alveolar . . . somewhat retroflex"; "backed alveolar" seems to correspond to the term "postalveolar" in more modern phoneticians' jargon. Among phoneticians, the [[alveolar ridge]] is seen as a range, not a point, in the sagittal (front to back) dimension of the roof of the mouth. Phoneticians optionally distinguish between ''prealveolar'' and ''postalveolar'' (and likewise between ''prepalatal'', ''midpalatal'', and ''postpalatal''). It must be understood that in the jargon, ''pre-'' and ''post-'' do not have their normal English meanings. ''Postalveolar'' means "the rear portion of the alveolar ridge", not "a region behind the alveolar ridge", while ''prepalatal'' means "the front portion of the palate (immediately behind the alveolar ridge)", not "a region in front of the palate". Thus, the descriptions "backed alveolar" and "''somewhat'' retroflex" are consistent (perhaps even duplicative). Grimes (1955) described the allophone symbols [r] as "retroflex reverse flap" and [z s] as "retroflex", but he amended this<ref>Grimes 1959:223, fn. 6</ref> to "apicoalveolar affricate, fricative, and flap /t͡s r ɾ/ (the latter two with retroflex quality)". The description, "reverse flap" was not defined. By way of conjecture, it may mean that the tongue tip (apex) travels up and backward during the flap articulation instead of straight up or up and forward.

===Syllable structure===
Syllables have one of the following structures (C = consonant, V = vowel, V^ = long vowel): CV; CV^; CVV (the two vowels differ in articulation), at least in the base form of words; in speech and sometimes in writing, the elision of vowels creates sequences in violation of these syllable canons. In syllables of the last type, the two vowels form a diphthong in which the first vowel is the most prominent. The language has a large number of diphthongs; both ascending diphthongs and descending diphthongs occur. Examples (period marks syllable boundary):
*''{{IPA|ʔɨi.tɨa}}'' 'to give';
*''{{IPA|niɨ.tɨa}}'' 'to lend';
*''xei.ya'' 'to see';
*''xie.te'' 'bee'
(the diphthongs are different in the initial syllables of ''{{IPA|ʔɨi.tɨa}}'' and ''{{IPA|niɨ.tɨa}}''<ref>Iturrioz et al. 1999:59–60</ref>). The sequences /wV/ are distinct from /uV/, likewise /yV/ is distinct from /iV/. /uV/ and /iV/ are diphthongs, and to form a valid syllable in Huichol, they must be preceded by a consonant.

===Intonation===
Grimes (1959) investigated the affective use of intonation.

== Orthography ==
The alphabet currently in use to teach Huichol-speaking children to be literate in their native language is

'''a e h i ɨ k kw m n p r t ts u w x y ʔ'''<ref name=":02">Iturrioz et al. 1999:43</ref>

Formerly, ɨ has been written as ü.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-09-15 |title=Ti'utüatü Vixaricacü (C) |url=https://www.sil.org/resources/archives/66032 |access-date=2024-08-25 |website=SIL Global |language=Huichol (hch), es}}</ref>

For ''x'' an alternative spelling ''rr'' is seen, even in recent linguistic scholarship and lay publications. When the IPA symbol for the glottal stop, ʔ, is not available with the typing device being used, the apostrophe is substituted.<ref>Iturrioz et al. 1999:114</ref>

== Morphology ==
{{Expand section|date=November 2024}}
Huichol is a highly [[polysynthetic language]] with a strong tendency to head-marking. 

==Media==
Huichol-language programming is carried by the [[National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples|CDI]]'s radio station [[XEJMN-AM]], broadcasting from [[Jesús María, Nayarit]].

Popular Mexican music group Huichol Musical, made up of four Huichol men from Santa Catarina, Mezquitic, Jalisco, write songs that fuse the Huichol language and music style with Spanish lyrics and more current music trends. Their biggest hit, "Cuisinela" garnered attention worldwide and their album by the same name was Grammy nominated in the "Best Regional Mexican Album" category in 2008.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.elsiglodetorreon.com.mx/noticia/470465.huichol-musical-de-las-calles-al-grammy.html|title=Huichol Musical, de las calles... ¡al Grammy!|website=El Siglo|date=18 October 2009 }}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==

(Coincidentally, McIntosh 1945 and Grimes 1955 have identical paginations, 31–35.)

*Campbell, Lyle. 1997. American Indian languages: the historical linguistics of Native America. Oxford University Press. Series: Oxford studies in anthropological linguistics; 4.
*''Gaceta Universitaria''. 20 February 2006. [https://web.archive.org/web/20181001165225/http://www.gaceta.udg.mx/Hemeroteca/paginas/426/426-22.pdf El huichol debe escribirse]. Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico: University of Guadalajara.
*Grimes, Joseph E. 1955. Style in Huichol discourse. ''Language'', 1955 Jan–March, 31(1):31–35.
*Grimes, Joseph E. 1959. Huichol Tone and Intonation. ''International Journal of American Linguistics'', 1959 October, 25(4):221–232.
*Grimes, Joseph E. 1964. ''Huichol syntax''. Mouton.
*Grimes, José E., et al. 1981. [http://eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/2f/b3/b5.pdf ''El Huichol: Apuntes Sobre el Lexico''].
*Iturrioz Leza, José Luis, ed. 2004. [http://cultura.jalisco.gob.mx/cultpopular/Lenglitind.pdf ''Lenguas y literaturas indígenas de Jalisco'']. Guadalajara: Secretaría de Cultura, Gobierno Estatal de Jalisco. [http://cultura.jalisco.gob.mx/culturapop.html Colección: Las culturas populares de Jalisco].
*Iturrioz Leza, José Luis, Julio Ramírez de la Cruz, et al. 1999. [http://www.publicaciones.cucsh.udg.mx/pperiod/funcion/volumenes/funcion99.htm ''Gramática Didáctica del Huichol: Vol. I. Estructura Fonológica y Sistema de Escritura''] (in PDF). Guadalajara: Departamento de Estudios en Lenguas Indígenas, Universidad de Guadalajara; Secretaría de Educación Pública. This is volume XIV of [http://www.publicaciones.cucsh.udg.mx/pperiod/funcion/index.htm ''Función''].
*Iturrioz Leza, José Luis, Paula Gómez López, and Xitákame Ramírez de la Cruz. 2004. Morfología y sintaxis del nombre. In Iturrioz Leza, JL, ed. ''Lenguas y literaturas indígenas de Jalisco''. Guadalajara: Secretaría de Cultura, Gobierno del Estado de Jalisco.
*Leyco. [http://leyco.org/mex/fed/257.html Text of the Ley General de Derechos Lingüísticos de los Pueblos Indígenas] (General Law of the Language Rights of the Indigenous Peoples). In Spanish.
*McIntosh, John B. 1945. Huichol phonemes. ''International Journal of American Linguistics'', January 1945, 11(1):31–35.

== Further reading ==
*Gómez López, Paula. 1999. [https://publicaciones.colmex.mx/infopub.aspx?cve=L/111 ''El huichol de San Andrés Cohamiata, Jalisco''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722224530/https://publicaciones.colmex.mx/infopub.aspx?cve=L%2F111 |date=22 July 2011 }}. Mexico City: El Colegio de México. Series: Archivo de Lenguas Indígenas de México; 22. 204 pp.
*Grimes, Joseph E. 2008. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/590089 Review of ''Gramática Wixarika I'' (Iturrioz and Gómez López)]. International Journal of American Linguistics, July 2008, 74(3):&nbsp;401-404.
*[http://www.language-archives.org/language/hch OLAC resources in and about the Huichol language]

== Resources for language learning ==
*{{Cite web
| last = Grimes
| first = José
| title = Hablemos español y huichol (Let's Speak Spanish and Huichol)
| work = Instituto Lingüístico de Verano
| access-date = 19 September 2013
| date = 2008
| url = http://www-01.sil.org/mexico/corachol/huichol/L199-FrasesHuicholEspanol-hch.htm
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130924034327/http://www-01.sil.org/mexico/corachol/huichol/L199-FrasesHuicholEspanol-hch.htm
| archive-date = 24 September 2013
| url-status = dead
}}
*Santos García, Saúl; Tutupika Carrillo de la Cruz; Marina Carrillo Díaz. 2008. ''Taniuki: curso de Wixárika como segunda lengua''. [Taniuki [Our language], course in Huichol as a second language] Nayarit, Mexico: Universidad Autónoma de Nayarit. 90 pp.&nbsp;In Spanish. ([https://books.google.com/books?id=4RiXKsxi5s4C&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&hl=en Google Books Page]) ([https://www.academia.edu/49350737/Taniuki_Curso_de_wix%C3%A1rika_huichol_como_segunda_lengua copy of the book hosted on academia.edu]) ([https://archive.today/20130201081504/http://www.revistaopcion.com/web/2008/12/18/se-presenta-el-libro-taniuki-curso-de-wixarika-como-segunda-lengua/ news report announcing publication of the book])
* [http://turing.iimas.unam.mx/wix Wixarika(huichol) – Spanish Translate]

=== Vocabulary and dictionaries ===
* [https://www.sil.org/system/files/reapdata/10/16/48/101648084418719788382136797636654511994/hch_vocabulario1954.pdf Vocabulario huichol] (1954) McIntosh y Grimes. 121 p.
*{{Cite web
| last = Grimes
| first = José
| author2 = Barbara Grimes
| title = 'AIXÜA TEPÜTEU'ERIE [Tenemos salud] [We Are Well]
| work = Instituto Lingüístico de Verano
| access-date = 19 September 2013
| date = 2008
| url = http://www-01.sil.org/americas/mexico/corachol/huichol/L116-AlimentHigiene-hch.htm
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131202235935/http://www-01.sil.org/americas/mexico/corachol/huichol/L116-AlimentHigiene-hch.htm
| archive-date = 2 December 2013
| url-status = dead
}}

=== Grammar ===
*Iturrioz Leza, José Luis, Julio Ramírez de la Cruz, et al. 1999. [http://www.publicaciones.cucsh.udg.mx/pperiod/funcion/volumenes/funcion99.htm ''Gramática Didáctica del Huichol: Vol. I. Estructura Fonológica y Sistema de Escritura''] (in PDF). Guadalajara: Departamento de Estudios en Lenguas Indígenas, Universidad de Guadalajara; Secretaría de Educación Pública. This is volume XIV of [http://www.publicaciones.cucsh.udg.mx/pperiod/funcion/index.htm ''Función''].
*Iturrioz, José Luis, ed. 2004. [http://www.jalisco.gob.mx/wps/wcm/connect/ea1a82804dbe3179a0ace95160bedb77/Lenglitind.pdf?MOD=AJPERES Lenguas y literaturas indígenas de Jalisco]. Guadalajara: Secretaría de Cultura, Gobierno del Estado de Jalisco. The bulk of the book addresses the grammar of the Huichol language.
*Iturrioz, José Luis & Gómez López, Paula. 2006. ''Gramática Wixárika I''. LINCOM Europa. Studies in Native American Linguistics; 3. {{ISBN|3-89586-061-1}}. 268 pp. (Reference grammar)
*Iturrioz, José Luis & Gómez López, Paula. 2009. ''Gramática Wixárika II/III''. München/Munich: LINCOM Europa. 280 pp. (Reference grammar)

=== Audio ===
*{{Cite web
| title = Words of Life – Huichol – Audio Bible stories and lessons
| work = Global Recordings Network
| access-date = 18 September 2013
| url = http://globalrecordings.net/en/program/C04251
}}

{{Uto-Aztecan languages}}
{{Languages of Mexico}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huichol Language}}
[[Category:Huichol|+]]
[[Category:Agglutinative languages]]
[[Category:Indigenous languages of Mexico]]
[[Category:Mesoamerican languages]]
[[Category:Southern Uto-Aztecan languages]]