Chontal Maya language

This article is about the language spoken by the Chontal Maya people of Tabasco. For the languages of the Oaxaca Chontal people, see Tequistlatecan languages.

Yokotʼan (self-denomination), also known as Chontal Maya, is a Maya language of the Cholan family spoken in 2020 by around 60,000 Chontal Maya people of the Mexican state of Tabasco.^[1] According to the National Catalog of Indigenous Languages of Mexico-INALI, Yokotʼan has at least four dialects: Nacajuca (Central), Centla (Northern), Macuspana (Southern) and Tamulte (Eastern).

Chontal Maya
Yokotʼan
Pronunciation	[jɔʔkɔʔtʼan]
Native to	Mexico
Region	North central and southern Tabasco
Ethnicity	Chontal Maya
Native speakers	61,000 (2020 census)[1]
Language family	Mayan Cholan–Tzeltalan Cholan Chol–Chontal Chontal Maya
Dialects	Nacajuca / Central Yokotʼan / Central Chontal of Tabasco Tamulte / Eastern Yokotʼan / Eastern Chontal of Tabasco Macuspana / Southern Yokotʼan / Southern Chontal Centla / Northern Yokotʼan / Northern Chontal
Language codes
ISO 639-3	chf
Glottolog	taba1266
ELP	Chontal de Tabasco

Distribution

The Chontal Maya are concentrated in 159 settlements in 5 municipalities of Tabasco (Brown 2005:122).

• Centla
• Centro
• Jonuta
• Macuspana
• Nacajuca (comprising more than 50% of the Chontal Maya population)

Some Chontal settlements near the town of Nacajuca include (Brown 2005:116):

• El Tigre
• Saloya
• Guatacaloa
• Olcuatitan
• Tucta
• Mazatehuapa
• Tapotzingo
• Guaytalpa
• San Simón
• Tecoluta
• Oxiacapue
• Guadalupe
• El Sitio
• Tamulte

Some Chontal settlements in the northeastern Centla region include (Brown 2005:116):

• Cuauhtemoc
• Vicente Guerrero
• Allende
• Simón Sarlat
• Quitin Arauz (on the Río Usumacinta)

Chontal settlements near Macuspana include Benito Juárez and Aquiles Serdan (Brown 2005).

Phonology

Consonants^[2]

		Bilabial	Dental	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m		n
Plosive/ Affricate	voiceless	p	t	ts	tʃ	k	ʔ
	glottalized	pʼ	tʼ	tsʼ	tʃʼ	kʼ
	voiced	b	d
Fricative				s	ʃ		h
Tap/Flap				ɾ
Approximant		w		l	j

Vowels^[2]

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Mid	e	ɘ	o
Open		a