Xincan languages

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Xinca (or Xinka, Sinca, or Szinca) is a small extinct family of Mesoamerican languages; formerly, the language was regarded as a single language isolate. Xinca was once spoken by the Indigenous Xinca people in southeastern Guatemala, much of El Salvador, and parts of Honduras.

They have also historically been referred to as Popoluca or Popoluca-Xinca; Popoluca being a Nahuatl term for unintelligible speech.[1]

Classification

The Xincan languages have no demonstrated affiliations with other language families. Lehmann (1920) tried linking Xincan with Lencan, but the proposal was never demonstrated.[2] An automated computational analysis (ASJP 4) by Müller et al. (2013)[3] also found lexical similarities between Xincan and Lencan. However, since the analysis was automatically generated, the grouping could be either due to mutual lexical borrowing or genetic inheritance.

The Xincan languages were formerly regarded as one language isolate. However, the most recent studies suggest they were indeed a language family.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

Languages

There were at least four Xincan languages, each of which is now extinct.[2] Yupiltepeque was spoken in Jutiapa Department, while the rest were spoken in Santa Rosa Department. Campbell also suggests that the Alagüilac language of San Cristóbal Acasaguastlán may have in fact been a Xincan language.

To these, Glottolog adds

Sachse (2010) considers all Xincan speakers today to be semi-speakers, with the completely fluent speakers having already died.

History

Xincan languages have many loanwords from Mayan languages especially in agricultural terms, suggesting extensive contact with Mayan peoples.[5] According to Campbell, Xinca also has a "vast number of Mixe-Zoquean loanwords", suggesting contact with now extinct Mixe-Zoque varieties of the Guatemalan Pacific coast.[6]

In the 16th century the territory of the Xinca extended from the Pacific coast to the mountains of Jalapa. In 1524 the population was conquered by the Spanish Empire. Many of the people were forced into slavery and compelled to participate in the conquest of modern-day El Salvador. It is from this that the names for the town, river, and bridge "Los Esclavos" (The Slaves) are derived in the area of Cuilapa, Santa Rosa.

After 1575, the process of Xinca cultural extinction accelerated, mainly due to their exportation to other regions. This also contributed to a decrease in the number of Xinca-language speakers. One of the oldest references concerning this language was presented by the archbishop Pedro Cortés y Larraz during a visit to the diocese of Taxisco in 1769.

Contemporary situation

Xinca was most recently spoken in seven municipalities and a village in the departments of Santa Rosa and Jutiapa. In 1991, it was reported that the language had only 25 speakers; the 2006 edition of the Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics reported fewer than ten.[7] Nonetheless, of the 16,214 Xinca who responded to the 2002 census,[8] 1,283 reported being Xinka speakers, most probably semi-speakers or people who knew a few words and phrases of the languages.[9] However by 2010, all completely fluent speakers have died, leaving only semi-speakers who know the languages.

Distribution

Xincan languages were once more widespread, which is evident in various toponyms with Xincan origins (Campbell 1997:166). These toponyms are marked by such locative prefixes as ay- "place of" (e.g. Ayampuc, Ayarza), al- "place of" (Alzatate), san- "in" (e.g. Sansare, Sansur), or with the locative suffixes -(a)gua or -hua "town, dwelling" (e.g. Pasasagua, Jagua, Anchagua, Xagua, Eraxagua).

Kaufman (1970:66) lists the following towns as once being Xinca-speaking.[10]

Sachse (2010), citing colonial-era sources, lists the following villages in Santa Rosa Department and Jutiapa Department as having Xinca speakers during the Spanish colonial era.

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Phonology

The phonological system of Xincan languages had some variance, as evidenced by the variations in recorded phonology exhibited among semi-speakers of the two remaining languages.[11][12]

Vowels

It is generally agreed upon that the Xincan languages have 6 vowels.[11][12]

Front Central Back
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Close-mid Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink
Open Template:IPAlink

Consonants

These charts show the consonants of two languages, used by the final semi-speakers of the language.[11][12]

Jumaytepeque consonants
Labial Alveolar Post-
alveolar 		Retroflex Velar Glottal
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Stop/
Affricate 		plain Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink
ejective Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink Template:IPA link Template:IPAlink
voiced Template:IPA link Template:IPA link (Template:IPA link)
Fricative Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink Template:IPA link Template:IPAlink
Nasal plain Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink
glottalized Template:IPA link Template:IPA link
Approximant plain Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink
glottalized Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link
Trill plain Template:IPAlink
glottalized Template:IPA link
Yupiltepeque consonants
Labial Alveolar Post-
alveolar 		Velar Glottal
plainScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". sibilantScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Stop Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink
Affricate plain Template:IPAlink
ejective Template:IPAlink
Fricative Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink
Nasal plain Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink
glottalized Template:IPA link
Approximant Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink Template:IPAlink
Trill Template:IPAlink

Many younger semi-speakers also used the phonemes /b, d, g, f, ŋ/ due to greater influence from Spanish.[11]

See also

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References

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  1. ↑ Solano y Perez Lila, Francisco de. Areas lingüísticas y población de habla indígena de Guatemala en 1772. Spain, Departamento de Historia de América de la Universidad de Madrid, 1969.
  2. ↑ a b Lyle Campbell, 1997. American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America
  3. ↑ Müller, André, Viveka Velupillai, Søren Wichmann, Cecil H. Brown, Eric W. Holman, Sebastian Sauppe, Pamela Brown, Harald Hammarström, Oleg Belyaev, Johann-Mattis List, Dik Bakker, Dmitri Egorov, Matthias Urban, Robert Mailhammer, Matthew S. Dryer, Evgenia Korovina, David Beck, Helen Geyer, Pattie Epps, Anthony Grant, and Pilar Valenzuela. 2013. ASJP World Language Trees of Lexical Similarity: Version 4 (October 2013).
  4. ↑ Template:Glottolog
  5. ↑ Mayan Loan Words in Xinca
  6. ↑ Campbell, Lyle, et al. The linguistics of Southeast Chiapas, Mexico. United States, New World Archaeological Foundation, Brigham Young University, 1988. pg. 309
  7. ↑ Template:ELL2
  8. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ Kaufman, Terrence. 1970. Proyecto de alfabetos y ortografías para escribir las lenguas mayances. Antigua: Editorial José de Pineda Ibarra.
  11. ↑ a b c d Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  12. ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

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External links

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