Midland a.k.a. Central Mixe[2] is a Mixe language spoken in Mexico. According to Wichmann (1995), there are two groups of dialects:

Midland Mixe
Central Mixe
Native toMexico
RegionNortheastern Oaxaca
Native speakers
29,000 (2000–2002)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3Variously:
mxq – Juquila
neq – North Central (Cotzocón, Puxmetecán, Atitlán)
pxm – Quetzaltepec Mixe (not distinct)
Glottologmidl1241
ELPMidland Mixe
North
Jaltepec, Puxmetecán, Atitlán, Matamoros, Cotzocón
South
Juquila, Cacalotepec

Ethnologue lists Mixistlán as well, but Wichmann counts that as Tlahuitoltepec Mixe.

A new variety of Midland Mixe has been recently documented in the village of San Juan Bosco Chuxnabá in San Miguel Quetzaltepec municipality, Oaxaca by Carmen Jany and other linguists.[3][4][5]

Phonology

edit

Orthography from Jany (2011) is in angle brackets where it differs from IPA.[6]

Consonants

edit
Consonants in Chuxnabán Mixe[6]
Bilabial Dental/
Alveolar
Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m ⟨m⟩ ⟨n⟩
Plosive p ⟨p⟩ ⟨t⟩ k ⟨k⟩ ʔ ⟨’⟩
Affricate ts () ⟨ch⟩
Fricative ʃ ⟨x⟩ h ⟨j⟩
Glide w j ⟨y⟩

Spanish loanwords contain eight additional phonemes: /b, d, g, f, s, ɾ, r, l/.[6]

Vowels

edit
Vowels in Chuxnabán Mixe[6]
Front Central Back
Close i ɨ ⟨ë⟩ u
Mid e o
Open a

/æ/ ⟨ä⟩, /ø/ ⟨ö⟩, and /ʊ/ ⟨ü⟩ are marginal vowels. [ø] and [ʊ] only occur as allophones of /o/ and /u/, respectively, in palatalized environments, and [æ] sometimes alternates with /a/.[6]

References

edit
  1. ^ Juquila at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    North Central (Cotzocón, Puxmetecán, Atitlán) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Quetzaltepec Mixe (not distinct) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Hammarström (2015) Ethnologue 16/17/18th editions: a comprehensive review: online appendices
  3. ^ Jany, Carmen. "Vowel Length and Phonation Contrasts in Chuxnabán Mixe" (PDF). Research: Department of Linguistics. University of California, Santa Barbara. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 20, 2010. Retrieved April 12, 2012.
  4. ^ http://nhlrc.ucla.edu/events/conference/1st/papers/The_Chuxnaban_Mixe_Online_Dictionary.pdf[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ Jany, Carmen (2010). "Orthography design for Chuxnabán Mixe". Language Documentation & Conservation. 4: 231–253. hdl:10125/4481.
  6. ^ a b c d e Jany, Carmen (2011). "The Phonetics and Phonology of Chuxnabán Mixe". Linguistic Discovery. 9 (1). doi:10.1349/PS1.1537-0852.A.388. Archived from the original on November 1, 2019. Retrieved May 10, 2017.