Sierra Puebla Nahuatl is one of the Eastern Peripheral varieties of Nahuatl, spoken by ethnic Nahua people in northwestern Puebla state in Mexico.

Sierra Puebla Nahuatl
masehual tla’tol (ncj)
Native toMéxico
RegionPuebla
Native speakers
(200,000 cited 1983–2007)[1]
Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3Variously:
azz – Highland Puebla Nahuatl (Zacapoaxtla)
ncj – Northern Puebla Nahuatl (Naupan)
nhi – Tenango Nahuatl (ZacatlánAhuacatlánTepetzintla)
Glottologhigh1278  Highland Puebla
nort2957  Northern Puebla
zaca1241  Zacatlan–Ahuacatlan–Tepetzintla
ELPEastern Nahua ([azz)]

Phonology

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The following description is that of the Sierra Puebla dialects:[2][3]

Consonants

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Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
central lateral plain labial
Nasal m n
Plosive voiceless p t k ʔ
voiced ɡ
Affricate ts
Fricative s ʃ h
Approximant voiced l j w
voiceless ()
  • /t, n, l/ may also freely be heard as dental [t̪, n̪, l̪] among dialects.
  • /n/ can be heard as [ŋ] when before velar consonants.
  • /w̥/ is of limited distribution.

Vowels

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Front Back
High i
Mid e o
Low a
  • Short vowels /i, e/ may vary freely to [ɪ, ɛ].
  • /a/ may be heard as [ɔ] when before /w/.

References

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  1. ^ Highland Puebla Nahuatl (Zacapoaxtla) at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)  
    Northern Puebla Nahuatl (Naupan) at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)  
    Tenango Nahuatl (Zacatlán–Ahuacatlán–Tepetzintla) at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)  
  2. ^ Key, Harold & Mary R. (1953). The phonemes of Sierra Nahuat. International Journal of American Linguistics 19. pp. 53–56.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. ^ Brockway, Earl (1963). The Phonemes of North Puebla Nahuatl. Anthropological Linguistics 5. pp. 14–18.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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