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{{breadcrumb | link1=[[Mexico Genealogy|Mexico]] | link2= | link3= | link4= | link5=[[Mexico Languages|Languages]] }} ==Description== '''Spanish''' is the de facto national language in Mexico. It is spoken by the vast majority of the population. There is no stated official language. <ref>Wikipedia contributors, "Mexico," in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia'', https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico#:~:text=the%20de%20facto%20national%20language, accessed 17 May 2023.</ref> [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Spanish '''Mexican Spanish'''] includes the variety of dialects and sociolects of the language spoken in Mexico. <ref>Wikipedia contributors, "Mexico," in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia'', https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico#:~:text=refers%20to%20the%20varieties%20of%20the%20language, accessed 17 May 2023.</ref> <ref>Wikipedia contributors, "Mexican Spanish," in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia'', https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Spanish, accessed 17 May 2023.</ref> The Mexican government recognizes sixty-eight linguistic groups and 364 varieties of indigenous languages.<br> The Indigenous and Native American languages spoken by a large population of Mexico include: * [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nahuatl '''Nahuatl'''] - the only indigenous language spoken by more than a million people in Mexico. * [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yucatec_Maya_language '''Yucatec Maya'''] * [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tzeltal_language '''Tzeltal Maya'''] - also known as '''Tzeltal''' or '''Tseltal''' (a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayan_languages Mayan Language]) * [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tzotzil_language '''Tzotzil Maya'''] - also known as '''Tzotzil''' (a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayan_languages Mayan Language]) * [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixtecan_languages '''Mixtec'''] - part of the Mixtecan languages * [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zapotec_languages '''Zapotec'''] - part of the Zapotec languages * [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Mexico#Indigenous_languages#:~:text=Mexico%20recognizes%20sixty-two%20indigenous%20languages '''List of Indigenous Languages of Mexico by population size'''] Most materials used in Mexican research are written in Spanish. However, you do not need to speak or read Spanish to do research in Mexican records. However, you will need to know some key words and phrases to understand the records. The official language of Mexico is Spanish, which is spoken by 90 percent of the people. Indian languages of the Aztecs, Mayans, and other tribes are still spoken throughout the country. Originally there may have been more than 200 roots of native languages. In 1889, Antonio García Cubas estimated that 38% of Mexicans spoke an indigenous language, down from 60% in 1820. By the end of the 20th century, this figure had fallen to 6%. In the early history of Mexico after the Spanish conquest, the spiritual leaders knew Latin, and where schools were established, Latin was a required subject. So you may find some Latin terms included in church records. Hundreds of native languages and dialects existed although very few written records survived the European conquest. Of these the Náuatl language, spoken by the Aztecs of the Central Plateau region, is predominant, followed by the Mayan of the Yucatan Pennisula and Northern Central America. The Zapoteco, Mixteco, and Otomi languages, follow in importance. Mexico is a diverse country in terms of the languages that are used from the US border down to the Guatemalan border and it depends on the era of interest as well. Before the arrival of the Spaniards, there were diverse tribes or cultures with their respective languages. The Mayan language in the south is Tarahumara, Yaqui, Apache, Comanche. In the north, the language is Navajo which makes the territory a diverse and fascinating array of languages. Later Spanish, French, English, Chinese, and other foreign languages create a mix like as in any other country. In the early records a great many Indian words, especially names and localities, found their way into the Spanish language. Many of them were modified to make them more pronounceable to the Spanish conquerors. Spanish phonetics may affect the way names appear in genealogical records. For example, the names of your ancestor may vary from record to record in Spanish. For help in understanding name variations, see [[Mexico Names, Personal]]. ==Word List(s)== * Evans, Bruce, Cecilia Carmona, and Rafael Carmona. ''Mexican Spanish phrasebook & dictionary.'' Carlton, Victoria: Lonely Planet Global Limited, 2018. '''''Available at:''''' [https://worldcat.org/title/1054258879 WorldCat]. * [https://omniglot.com/language/phrases/spanish.php#:~:text=Useful%20Spanish%20phrases Useful Spanish phrases] - Omniglot * [https://www.mondly.com/spanish-phrases-expressions Spanish phrases and expressions] - Mondly * [https://omniglot.com/language/phrases/nahuatl.php#:~:text=Useful%20phrases%20in%20Nahuatl Useful phrases in Nahuatl] - Omniglot * [https://omniglot.com/language/phrases/yucatec-maya.php#:~:text=Useful%20phrases%20in%20Yucatec%20Maya Useful phrases in Yucatec Maya] - Omniglot * [https://omniglot.com/language/phrases/tsotsil.php#:~:text=Useful%20Tsotsil%20phrases Useful Tsotsil phrases] - Omniglot * [[Spanish Genealogical Word List|Spanish Genealogical Word List]] ==Alphabet and Pronunciation== '''Alphabet''' * [https://omniglot.com/writing/spanish.htm#:~:text=Spanish%20alphabet Spanish alphabet] - Omniglot * [https://omniglot.com/writing/nahuatl.htm#:~:text=Nahuatl%20alphabet Nahuatl alphabet] - Omniglot * [https://omniglot.com/writing/yucatec.htm#:~:text=Yucatec%20alphabet Yucatec alphabet] - Omniglot * [https://omniglot.com/writing/tzeltal.htm#:~:text=Tzeltal%20alphabet Tzeltal alphabet] - Omniglot * [https://omniglot.com/writing/mixtec.htm#:~:text=Alphabet%20of%20the%20Mixtecan%20Languages Alphabet of the Mixtecan Languages] - Omniglot * [https://omniglot.com/writing/zapotec.php#:~:text=Isthmus%20Zapotec%20alphabet Isthmus Zapotec alphabet] - Omniglot * [https://omniglot.com/writing/zapotec-rincon.htm#:~:text=Rinc%C3%B3n%20Zapotec%20alphabet Rincón Zapotec alphabet] - Omniglot * [https://omniglot.com/writing/zapotec-aloapam.htm#:~:text=Alo%C3%A1pam%20Zapotec%20alphabet Aloápam Zapotec alphabet] - Omniglot '''Pronunciation''' * [https://omniglot.com/writing/spanish.htm#:~:text=Pronunciation%20of%20Spanish%20in%20Latin%20America Pronunciation of Spanish in Latin America] - Omniglot * [https://omniglot.com/writing/nahuatl.htm#:~:text=Nahuatl%20alphabet%20and%20pronunciation Nahuatl pronunciation] - Omniglot * [https://forvo.com/languages/nah/ Nahuatl pronunciation dictionary] - Forvo * [https://omniglot.com/writing/yucatec.htm#:~:text=Yucatec%20alphabet%20and%20pronunciation Yucatec pronunciation] - Omniglot * [https://forvo.com/languages/yua/ Yucatec Maya pronunciation dictionary] - Forvo * [https://omniglot.com/writing/tzeltal.htm#:~:text=Tzeltal%20alphabet%20and%20pronunciation Tzeltal pronunciation] - Omniglot * [https://omniglot.com/writing/tsotsil.htm#:~:text=Tsotsil%20pronunciation Tsotsil pronunciation] - Omniglot * [https://omniglot.com/writing/zapotec.php#:~:text=Isthmus%20Zapotec%20alphabet%20and%20pronunciation Isthmus Zapotec pronunciation] - Omniglot * [https://omniglot.com/writing/zapotec-rincon.htm#:~:text=Rinc%C3%B3n%20Zapotec%20alphabet%20and%20pronunciation Rincón Zapotec pronunciation] - Omniglot * [https://omniglot.com/writing/zapotec-aloapam.htm#:~:text=Alo%C3%A1pam%20Zapotec%20alphabet%20and%20pronunciation Aloápam Zapotec alphabet and pronunciation] - Omniglot * [https://forvo.com/languages/zpf/ Quiatoni Zapotec pronunciation dictionary] - Forvo * Velázquez de la Cadena, Mariano, Edward Gray, and Juan L. Iribas. ''A new pronouncing dictionary of the Spanish and English languages.'' Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1973. '''''Available at:''''' [https://worldcat.org/title/7277868 WorldCat]. ==Language Aids and Dictionaries== '''Dictionaries''' * Evans, Bruce, Cecilia Carmona, and Rafael Carmona. ''Mexican Spanish phrasebook & dictionary.'' Carlton, Victoria: Lonely Planet Global Limited, 2018. '''''Available at:''''' [https://worldcat.org/title/1054258879 WorldCat]. * Hamel, Bernard H. ''Hamel's bilingual dictionary of Mexican Spanish.'' Beverly Hills, CA: Bilingual Book Press, 2002. '''''Available at:''''' [https://worldcat.org/title/50444211 WorldCat]. * Karttunen, Frances E. ''An analytical dictionary of Nahuatl.'' Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1992. '''''Available at:''''' [https://worldcat.org/title/24846061 WorldCat]. * Bierhorst, John. ''A Nahuatl-English dictionary.'' Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press, 1985. '''''Available at:''''' [https://worldcat.org/title/11185890 WorldCat]. * Lima, Rubem. ''English-Yucatec Maya dictionary.'' Minneapolis: R. Lima, 1996. '''''Available at:''''' [https://worldcat.org/title/42014809 WorldCat]. * Montgomery, John. ''Maya-English/English-Maya (Yucatec) dictionary & phrasebook.'' New York: Hippocrene Books, 2004. '''''Available at:''''' [https://worldcat.org/title/56194976 WorldCat]. * Sarles, Harvey B. ''Monosyllable dictionary of the Tzeltal language.'' n.p.: n.p., 1961. '''''Available at:''''' [https://worldcat.org/title/4476486 WorldCat]. * John-Martin, Emily. ''Mixtec picture dictionary.'' Mexico: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, 2013. '''''Available at:''''' [https://worldcat.org/title/859411341 WorldCat]. * Munro, Pamela and Felipe H. Lopez. ''San Lucas Quiaviní Zapotec dictionary.'' Los Angeles: UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center Publications, 1999. '''''Available at:''''' [https://worldcat.org/title/42061155 WorldCat]. * Britton, A. Scott. ''Zapotec-English/English-Zapotec (Isthmus) concise dictionary.'' New York: Hippocrene Books, 2003. '''''Available at:''''' [https://worldcat.org/title/53030649 WorldCat]. * Dutton, Brian, L. P. Harvey, and Roger M. Walker. ''Cassell's concise Spanish-English, English-Spanish dictionary.'' Macmillan, London, New York: Cassell, 1977. '''''Available at:''''' [https://worldcat.org/title/2963889 WorldCat]. * ''Diccionario de autoridades.'' Madrid: Real Academia Española, 2013. '''''Available at:''''' [https://worldcat.org/title/870665647 WorldCat]. '''Online Dictionaries''' * [https://glosbe.com/en/es Dictionary English - Spanish] - Glosbe * [https://glosbe.com/en/nah Dictionary English - Nahuatl languages] - Glosbe * [https://glosbe.com/en/tzh Dictionary English - Tzeltal] - Glosbe * [https://glosbe.com/en/zap Dictionary English - Zapotec] - Glosbe * [https://glosbe.com/en/zai Dictionary English - Isthmus Zapotec] - Glosbe * [https://glosbe.com/zpc/en Dictionary Choapan Zapotec - English] - Glosbe * [https://glosbe.com/zpu/en Dictionary Yalálag Zapotec - English] - Glosbe '''Language Aids''' * [https://omniglot.com/language/articles/mexicanspanish.htm Mexican Spanish language] - Omniglot * García, Yan. ''Learn Nahuatl.'' n.p.: n.p., 2021. '''''Available at:''''' [https://worldcat.org/title/1322064636 WorldCat]. * Parker, Philip M. ''Webster's Yucatec-English thesaurus dictionary.'' San Diego, CA: ICON, 2008. '''''Available at:''''' [https://worldcat.org/title/227183842 WorldCat]. ==Additional Resources== == References == {{reflist}} [[es:Idiomas y dialectos de México]] [[Category:Mexico]] [[Category:Language and Handwriting]]