Orizaba Nahuatl

Orizaba Nahuatl
Āwillisāpan Nāwatl
Spoken in	Veracruz
Native speakers	120,000  (1991)
Language family	Uto-Aztecan Aztecan General Aztec Nahuatl Orizaba Nahuatl
Writing system	Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	nlv

Orizaba Nahuatl is a native American language spoken in the southeastern Mexican state of Veracruz mostly in the area to the south of the city of Orizaba. It is also known as Orizaba Aztec and Náhuatl de la Sierra de Zongolica. It has 79 percent intelligibility with Morelos Nahuatl. There is a dialect called Ixhuatlancillo Nahuatl which is spoken in a town to the north of Orizaba. There are several primary schools and one secondary school which use this language along with Spanish.

Phonology

Vowels

Short	Front	Back
High	i /i/	u /ü͍/
Mid-high		o /o/
Mid-low	e /e̞/	oa /ø̞ɐ/
Low	a /a/

Long	Front	Back
High	ī /iyː/	w /ɯʷː/
Mid-high	ē /eː/	ō /ɘː/
Mid-low
Low	ā /äː/

Consonants

Consonants	Labial	Apical	Postalveolar	Velar		Glottal
				Unrounded	Rounded
Plosive	p /p/	t /t/		k /k/	kw /kʷ/	h /ʲʔ/
Affricate	b /β/	ts /ts/	ch /tɕ/
Lateral affricate		tl /tɬ/
Fricative	p /f/	s /s/	x /ʃ, ʒ/			g /χ/
Liquid		l /l, ɾ/	ll /ʎ/
Nasal	m/m/	n /n/		n /ŋ/
Semivowel	w /ʋ/		y /j/

• The letter w is pronounced /ʋ/ before or between vowels and /ɯʷ/ or /ʍ/ in all other places.
• The letter p is pronounced /f/ in any consonant cluster and before i, ī, e, ē, u, and w. The letter p may be pronounced /ɸ/ in free variation in all places pronounced as /p/.
• The letter t is pronounced /ts/ or /z/ before ī, u, and w. It is pronounced as either /ts/ or /tɕ/ interchangeably before i.

Writing

The orthography of Orizaba Nahuatl (nlv) is similar to that of Classical Nahuatl (nah), though it features the consonants of this modern variety internationally rather than on the basis of Castilian (Spanish) orthography:

• "I will enter his/her house."

"Nicalaquīz īcal." [nah]

"Nikalakīs īkal." [nlv]

This corresponds to a more phonetic translation while still making use of macrons to mark long vowels. Most grammar and vocabulary changes are minor, most of them corresponding to neologisms and loan words from Spanish. Example:

• "Now/At this moment/Today."

"Āxcān." [nah]

"Axan." [nlv]

(In this case both long vowels and intermediate consonant are lost.)

Some loanwords from Spanish:

"Kahwen" (from café, coffee; also used in Classical Nahuatl as "cafetzin").

"Kawayoh" (from caballo, horse; also used in Classical Nahuatl as "cahuayoh").

"Kochih" (from coche, car).

"Refreskoh" (from refresco, soft drink or soda).

External links

• Orizaba Nahuatl lessons