Мексиканың Амузго тілі

Oto Manguean language spoken in Mexico

Amuzgo is an Oto Manguean language spoken in the Costa Chica region of the Mexican states of Guerrero and Oaxaca by about 44,000 speakers. Like other Oto Manguean languages, Amuzgo is a tonal language. From syntactical point of view Amuzgo can be considered as an active language. The name Amuzgo is claimed to be a Nahuatl exonym but its meaning is shrouded in controversy; multiple proposals have been made, including 'moss in'. A significant percentage of the Amuzgo speakers are monolingual; the remainder also speak Spanish. Four varieties of Amuzgo are officially recognized by the governmental agency, the Instituto Nacional de Lenguas Indígenas (INALI). They are:
(i) Northern Amuzgo (amuzgo del norte, commonly known as Guerrero or (from its major town) Xochistlahuaca Amuzgo);
(ii) Southern Amuzgo (amuzgo del sur, heretofore classified as a subdialect of Northern Amuzgo);
(iii) Upper Eastern Amuzgo (amuzgo alto del este, commonly known as Oaxaca Amuzgo or San Pedro Amuzgos Amuzgo);
(iv) Lower Eastern Amuzgo (amuzgo bajo del este, commonly known as Ipalapa Amuzgo). These varieties are very similar, but there is a significant difference between western varieties (Northern and Southern) and eastern varieties (Upper Eastern and Lower Eastern), as revealed by recorded text testing done in the 1970s. Three dictionaries have been published for Upper Eastern Amuzgo in recent years. For Northern Amuzgo, no dictionary has yet been published, yet it too is very actively written. Lower Eastern Amuzgo and Southern Amuzgo (spoken in Huixtepec (Ometepec), for example) are still not well documented, but work is underway. While the Mixtecan subdivision may indeed be the closest to Amuzgo within Oto Manguean, earlier claims that Amuzgo is part of it have been contested.

Amuzgo has three basic tones: high, mid, and low. But it also has several combinations of tones on single syllables. The contour high low is a common one. The following words are apparently distinguished only by tone in Huixtepec: /ha/ 'sour' (low), /ha/ (mid) 'I', /ha/ (high low) 'we (exclusive)', and /ha/ (high) 'we (inclusive)'. See also the set: /ta/ 'hill' (low), /ta/ 'thick' (mid), /ta/ ' father (vocative)' (high low), /ta/ 'slice' (high).

Nouns are pluralized by a prefix. The common plural prefix is n Compare 'skin', 'skins' (Northern and Southern Amuzgo). Typically the consonant drops when the noun is pluralized: 'hand', 'hands' (Northern Amuzgo), 'hands' (Southern Amuzgo). Animate nouns (most animals and insects, plus some other nouns) carry the classifier prefix This classifier precedes the inflected noun, as in 'dog', 'dogs' (Northern Amuzgo), 'dogs' (Southern Amuzgo).

Amuzgo has been proposed to be an active–stative language. Like many other Otomanguean languages, it distinguishes between first person inclusive plural and first person exclusive plural pronouns.

Amuzgo language programming is carried by the CDI's radio station XEJAM, based in Santiago Jamiltepec, Oaxaca, and by the community radio station Radio Ñomndaa in Xochistlahuaca Suljaa'.