The Totonacan languages, also called Totonac-Tepehua, are a family of closely related languages spoken by roughly 290,000 Totonac and Tepehua people across the Mexican states of Veracruz, Puebla and Hidalgo. The family divides into the Totonac and Tepehua branches and belongs to the proposed Totozoquean macrofamily, though that wider connection remains uncertain; Ethnologue counts 12 languages in the family as of 2023. At the time of the Spanish conquest the languages were spoken widely along Mexico's gulf coast, but speaker numbers have declined through the colonial period and into the 20th century.
Facts
Disputed
Proto-Language StatusA consonant inventory has been reconstructed for proto-Totonacan (Arana Osnaya 1953) and later refined, but the family's proposed genetic link to Mixe-Zoque remains unconfirmed. 1 RegionMexico: the states of Veracruz, Puebla and Hidalgo along the Gulf coast 1 Speaker Count In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Totonacan languages
WikipediaIntroduction, first sentence (place names)
The Totonacan languages (also known as Totonac-Tepehua languages) are a family of closely related languages spoken by approximately 290,000 Totonac (approx. 280,000) and Tepehua (approx. 10,000) people in the states of Veracruz, Puebla, and Hidalgo in Mexico.
Introduction, first sentence (speaker totals)
The Totonacan languages (also known as Totonac-Tepehua languages) are a family of closely related languages spoken by approximately 290,000 Totonac (approx. 280,000) and Tepehua (approx. 10,000) people in the states of Veracruz, Puebla, and Hidalgo in Mexico.
Introduction, final sentence
Recent work suggests a possible genetic link to the Mixe-Zoque language family, although this has yet to be firmly established.
View the Source Wikidata: Totonacan
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