Huastec language


The Wasteko language of Mexico is spoken by the Huastecos living in rural areas of San Luis Potosí and northern Veracruz. Though relatively isolated from them, it is related to the Mayan languages spoken further south and east in Mexico and Central America. According to the 2005 population census, there are about 200,000 speakers of Huasteco in Mexico. The language and its speakers are also called Teenek, and this name has gained currency in Mexican national and international usage in recent years.
The now-extinct Chicomuceltec language, spoken in Chiapas and Guatemala, was most closely related to Wasteko.
The first linguistic description of the Huasteco language accessible to Europeans was written by Andrés de Olmos, who also wrote the first grammatical descriptions of Nahuatl and Totonac.
Wasteko-language programming is carried by the CDI's radio station XEANT-AM, based in Tancanhuitz de Santos, San Luis Potosí.

Dialects

Huasteco has three dialects, which have a time depth of no more than 400 years. It is spoken in a region of east-central Mexico known as the Huaxteca-Potossina.
  1. Western — 48,000 speakers in the 9 San Luis Potosí towns of Ciudad Valles, Aquismón, Huehuetlán, Tancanhuitz, Tanlajás, San Antonio, Tampamolón, Tanquian, and Tancuayalab.
  2. Central — 22,000 speakers in the 2 northern Veracruz towns of Tempoal and Tantoyuca.
  3. Eastern — 12,000 speakers in the 7 northern Veracruz towns of Chontla, Tantima, Tancoco, Chinampa, Naranjos, Amatlán, and Tamiahua. Also known as Southeastern Huastec. Ana Kondic reports only about 1,700 speakers, in the municipalities of Chontla, Chinampa, Amatlan, and Tamiahua.

    Phonology

Vowels

Short vowelsFrontCentralBack
Closei, u
Mide, o,
Opena,

Long vowelsFrontCentralBack
Closeii uu,
Midee, oo,
Openaa