Midland Mixe

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

North

Jaltepec, Puxmetecán, Atitlán, Matamoros, Cotzocón

South

Juquila, Cacalotepec

Midland Mixe
Central Mixe
Native to	Mexico
Region	Northeastern Oaxaca
Native speakers	29,000 (2000–2002)[1]
Language family	Mixe–Zoque Mixean Mixe Midland Mixe
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Variously: mxq – Juquila neq – North Central (Cotzocón, Puxmetecán, Atitlán) pxm – Quetzaltepec Mixe (not distinct)
Glottolog	midl1241
ELP	Midland Mixe

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

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

Consonants

Consonants in Chuxnabán Mixe^[6]

	Bilabial	Dental/ Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	m ⟨m⟩	n̪ ⟨n⟩
Plosive	p ⟨p⟩	t̪ ⟨t⟩		k ⟨k⟩	ʔ ⟨’⟩
Affricate		ts	(tʃ) ⟨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

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

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%5B%5D
5. Jany, Carmen (2010). "Orthography design for Chuxnabán Mixe". Language Documentation & Conservation. 4: 231–253. hdl:10125/4481.
6. 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.