View source for Mixe languages

{{Short description|Branch of the Mixe-Zoquean language family of Mexico}}
{{distinguish|Mixean languages|Mixtec languages}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=April 2011}}
{{Infobox language family
|name=Mixe
|altname=Oaxacan Mixean<br />''Ayuujk''
|region=[[Oaxaca]], [[Mexico]]
|ethnicity = [[Mixe people]]
| speakers = {{sigfig|139760|2}} 
| date=2020 census
|ref=<ref name=inegi2020/>
|familycolor=American
|fam1=[[Mixe–Zoque languages|Mixe–Zoque]]
|fam2=[[Mixean languages|Mixean]]
|child1=''[[Totontepec Mixe|Totontepec]]''
|child2=''[[Tlahuitoltepec Mixe|Tlahuitoltepec]]''
|child3=''[[Midland Mixe|Midland]]''
|child4=''[[Isthmus Mixe|Isthmus]]''
|child5=''[[Ulterior Mixe]]''
|glotto=oaxa1241
|glottorefname=Oaxaca Mixe
|map=Sierra Mixe.svg
|mapcaption=The Mixe region within the state of [[Oaxaca]] in southern Mexico
}}
{{infobox ethnonym|root=|person=|people=[[Mixe people|Ayuujkjä'äy (Mixe)]]|language=Ayöök (Mixe)|country=}}
The '''Mixe languages''' are languages of the Mixean branch of the [[Mixe–Zoquean languages|Mixe–Zoquean]] language family indigenous to southern [[Mexico]]. According to a 1995 classification, there are seven of them (including one that is extinct). The four that are spoken in [[Oaxaca]] are commonly called Mixe while their two relatives spoken in [[Veracruz]] are commonly called "[[Popoluca]]", but sometimes also Mixe (these are "[[Oluta Popoluca]]" or "Olutec Mixe" and "[[Sayula Popoluca]]" or "Sayultec Mixe"). This article is about the Oaxaca Mixe languages, which their speakers call ''Ayöök'', ''Ayuujk'', ''Ayüük'' or ''Ayuhk''.{{citation needed|date=April 2011}}[[File:Nido_de_Lenguas_Ayuujk_Machacado_Tlahuitoltepec,_Mixe.webm|thumb|Video on Mixe produced by [[Benito Juárez Autonomous University of Oaxaca|UABJO]]]]

140,000 people reported their language to be "Mixe" in the 2020 census.<ref name="inegi2020">{{Cite web |title=Diferentes lenguas indígenas |url=https://cuentame.inegi.org.mx/hipertexto/todas_lenguas.htm |access-date=2022-07-02 |website=cuentame.inegi.org.mx}}</ref>

==Classification==
Oaxaca Mixe languages are spoken in the [[Sierra Mixe]] of eastern [[Oaxaca]]. These four languages are: [[North Highland Mixe]], spoken around [[Totontepec]] (the most divergent); [[South Highland Mixe]], spoken around [[Santa María Tlahuitoltepec]], [[San Pedro y San Pablo Ayutla|Ayutla]] and [[Tamazulapan]]); [[Midland Mixe]], spoken around [[Juquila]] and [[Zacatepec]]; and [[Lowland Mixe]], spoken in [[San Juan Guichicovi]] (this language is also known as "Isthmus Mixe").

The following classification is from Wichmann (1995:9).

;Mixe (Oaxacan Mixean)
* [[North Highland Mixe]] (Totontepec)
* [[South Highland Mixe]] (Tlahuitoltepec)
** Core (Tlahuitoltepec, Ayutla, Tamazulapan)
** Fringe (Tepuxtepec, Tepantlali, Mixistlán)
* [[Midland Mixe]]
** North Midland Mixe (Jaltepec, Puxmetacan, Matamoros, Cotzocón)
** South Midland Mixe (Juquila, Cacalotepec)
* [[Lowland Mixe]] (Camotlán, San José El Paraíso / Coatlán, Mazatlán, Guichicovi)

Wichmann (2008) adds [[Ulterior Mixe]] as an additional branch:

;Mixe
* [[Totontepec Mixe]]
* [[Ulterior Mixe]]
* Lowland – Midland Mixe – South Highland
** [[Tlahuitoltepec Mixe]]
** Lowland–Midland Mixe
*** Midland Mixe
**** [[Juquila Mixe]]
**** [[North Central Mixe]]
*** Lowland Mixe
**** [[Coatlán Mixe]]
**** [[Isthmus Mixe]] (Guichicovi)
**** [[Mazatlán Mixe]]

==Phonology==
The [[phonology]] of Mixe languages is remarkable due to their complex system of vowel duration contrasts in addition to glottalization. There is a [[Palatalization (phonetics)|palatalized]] series of all consonant phonemes (as in Russian, Polish or Irish) and possibly a [[Fortis and lenis|fortis/lenis]] distinction in the plosive series, the recognition of which however is obscured by a tendency towards allophonic voicing of consonants in voiced environments.

The tables below illustrate the phonemes for Ayöök (Totentepec) Mixe: [https://realin.upnvirtual.edu.mx/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=44:ayoeok-mixe-de-totontepec&catid=10:fonologia-y-alfabetos&Itemid=187]

=== Vowels ===
Syllable nuclei vary in length and phonation. Most descriptions report three contrastive [[vowel length]]s.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The sounds of the world's languages|last1=Ladefoged|last2=Maddieson|publisher=Blackwell|year=1996|isbn=978-0631198154|pages=320}}</ref>  The other types of phonation have been variously termed [[Checked and free vowels|checked vowels]], [[creaky voice]] vowels and [[breathy voice]] vowels.
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! rowspan=2 | 
! colspan="3" |Short
! colspan="3" |[[Vowel length|Long]]
|-
![[Front vowel|Front]]
!Central
! [[Back vowel|Back]]
![[Front vowel|Front]]
! Central
! [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! [[High vowel|High]] 
|'''i''' {{IPAslink|i}}
|'''ï''' /ɨ/
| '''u''' {{IPAslink|u}}
|'''ii''' {{IPAslink|iː}}
| '''ïï''' /ɨ/
| '''uu''' /uː/
|-
! [[Close-mid vowel|Close-mid]]
|'''e''' /e/
|'''ë''' /ə/ 
|'''o''' /o/
|'''ee''' {{IPAslink|e|eː}}
| '''ëë''' /əː/ 
|'''oo''' /oː/
|-
! [[Open-mid vowel|Open-mid]]
|'''ä''' /æ/
|
|
|'''ää''' /æː/
|
|
|-
! [[Low vowel|Low]] (open)
|
|'''a''' {{IPAslink|a}}
|
!
| '''aa''' {{IPAslink|a|aː}}
|
|}

=== Consonants ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! rowspan=2 | 
! colspan="2" |[[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! colspan="2" |[[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! colspan="2" |[[Retroflex consonant|Retroflex]]
! colspan="2" |[[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! colspan="2" |[[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! colspan="2" |[[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|- style="font-size: small;"
! {{small|plain}}
! {{small|[[Palatalization (phonetics)|pal.]]}}
! {{small|plain}}
! {{small|[[Palatalization (phonetics)|pal.]]}}
! {{small|plain}}
! {{small|[[Palatalization (phonetics)|pal.]]}}
! colspan="2" |{{small|plain}}
! {{small|plain}}
! {{small|[[Palatalization (phonetics)|pal.]]}}
! {{small|plain}}
! {{small|[[Palatalization (phonetics)|pal.]]}}
|-

|-
![[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
|{{IPA link|m}}
|{{IPA link|mʲ}}
|{{IPA link|n}}
|{{IPA link|nʲ}}
|
|
|colspan="2"|
|
|
|
|
|-
![[Plosive]]
|{{IPA link|p}}
|{{IPA link|pʲ}}
|{{IPA link|t}}
|{{IPA link|tʲ}}
|
|
|colspan="2"|
|{{IPA link|k}}
|{{IPA link|kʲ}}
|
|
|-
![[Affricate]]
|
|
|{{IPA link|t͡s}}
|{{IPA link|t͡sʲ}}
|
|
|colspan="2"|
|
|
|
|
|-
![[Fricative]]
|{{IPA link|β}}
|{{IPA link|βʲ}}
|{{IPA link|s}}{{efn-lr|name=fn1|Used only in loanwords and onomatopoeia.}}
|
|{{IPA link|ʂ}}
|{{IPA link|ʂʲ}}
|colspan="2"|
|
|
|{{IPA link|h}}
|{{IPA link|hʲ}}
|-
![[Trill consonant|Trill]]
|
|
|{{IPA link|r}}{{efn-lr|name=fn1}}
|
|
|
|colspan="2"|
|
|
|
|
|-
![[Approximant]]
|
|
|{{IPA link|l}}{{efn-lr|name=fn1}}
|
|
|
|colspan="2"|{{IPA link|j}}
|
|
|
|
|}
{{notelist-lr}}

== Grammar ==

===Verbs===
The [[morphosyntactic alignment]] of Mixe is [[Ergative–absolutive language|ergative]] and it also has an [[obviative]] system which serves to distinguish between verb participants in reference to its [[direct–inverse language|direct–inverse]] system.{{citation needed|date=April 2011}} The Mixe [[verb]] is complex and inflects for many categories and also shows a lot of derivational [[Morphology (linguistics)|morphology]]. One of the parameters of verb inflection is whether a verb occurs in an independent or dependent clause; this distinction is marked by both differential affixation and stem [[ablaut]].{{citation needed|date=April 2011}} Unlike Sayultec Mixe<ref>Kroeger 2005:&nbsp;286</ref> (spoken in the neighboring state of Veracruz), Mixe languages of Oaxaca only mark one argument on the verb:{{citation needed|date=April 2011}} either the object or the subject of the verb depending on whether the verb is in the direct or inverse form. Mixe shows a wide variety of possibilities for [[Incorporation (linguistics)|noun incorporation]].

===Nouns===
The Mixe noun does not normally inflect, except that human nouns inflect for plural.{{citation needed|date=April 2011}} Noun compounding is a very productive process, and the profuse derivational morphology allows for creation of new nouns both from verbs and from other nouns. To indicate the plural an enclitic, ëch, is added to the noun.<ref>Jany, 2013 p.538</ref>

===Syntax===
Mixe languages have SOV constituent order, prepositions and genitives precede the noun. But relative clauses follow the noun.{{citation needed|date=April 2011}}

==Sample==
This sample is from Lowland Mixe:<ref>Dieterman, 1995 pg. 110</ref>

{{interlinear|indent=3|ipa2=yes|glossing3=yes
|pwes hadu'n idaa yɨyoop jɨyäj idaa aldeano mɨɨt ytöxyijk ytɨkoy yɨ mɨkü
|[pwes haduʔn ʔidaː ʲ-ʔɨjoːb hɨjaʔaj ʔidaː ʔaldeano mɨːd ʲ-toʔoʃʲɨʰk ʲtɨɡoˑjʲ jɨ mɨkuʔu]
|Well there this 3P-poor person this {ranch hand} with 3P.POSS-woman 3P-CAUS/PAS-lose-DEP the devil
|"Well that's how this poor person, this ranch hand with his wife, made the devil lose"}}

==Radio==
Mixe-language programming is carried by the [[National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples|CDI]]'s radio station [[XEGLO]], based in [[Guelatao de Juárez, Oaxaca]].

==See also==
* [[Agustín Quintana]]

==Sources==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* Dieterman, Julia Irene, 1995, Participant reference in Isthmus Mixe Narrative Discourse, MA. Thesis in linguistics presented to the Faculty of the Graduate school of the University of Texas at Arlington.
* Hoogshagen, Searle & Hilda Halloran Hoogshagen, 1993, Diccionario Mixe de Coatlán, Serie de Vocabularios Indigénas "Mariano Silva y Aceves" Num. 32. SIL, Mexico, D.F.
* Kroeger, Paul R. 2005. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=rSglHbBaNyAC Analyzing grammar: an introduction]''. Cambridge University Press.
* Schoenhals, Alvin & Louise Schoenhals, 1965, Vocabulario Mixe de Totontepec, Serie de Vocabularios Indigénas "Mariano Silva y Aceves" Num. 14. SIL, Mexico, D.F.
* Wichmann, Søren, 1995, The Relationship Among the Mixe–Zoquean Languages of Mexico. University of Utah Press. Salt Lake City. {{ISBN|0-87480-487-6}}
* JANY, C. (2013). Defining Nominal Comp as a P WORD-FORMATION PROCESS IN CHUXNABÁN MIXE. ''International Journal of American Linguistics'', ''79''(4), 533–553.

==External links==
* [http://flan.csusb.edu/~cjany/Mixe/ Online resources for Mixe of Chuxnabán (Midlands) by Carmen Jany]
* [http://www.bicap.edu.mx/comunidad/index.htm Bachillerato bilingüe Mixe de Tlahuitoltepec]

{{Mixe-Zoque languages}}
{{Languages of Mexico}}

[[Category:Indigenous languages of Mexico]]
[[Category:Mesoamerican languages]]
[[Category:Mixean languages]]
[[Category:Articles citing INALI]]