Huasteca Nahuatl

Huasteca Nahuatl is a Nahuan language spoken by over a million people in the region of La Huasteca in Mexico, centered in the states of Hidalgo (Eastern) and San Luis Potosí (Western).

Ethnologue divides Huasteca Nahuatl into three languages: Eastern, Central, and Western, as they judge that separate literature is required, but notes that there is 85% mutual intelligibility between Eastern and Western.

XEANT-AM radio broadcasts in Huasteca Nahuatl.

Demographics
Huasteca Nahuatl is spoken in the following municipalities in the states of Hidalgo, Veracruz, and San Luis Potosí.


 * Hidalgo (121,818 speakers)
 * Huejutla Reyes (56,377 speakers)
 * Huautla (18,444 speakers)
 * Yahualica (14,584 speakers)
 * Xochiatipan (12,990 speakers)
 * Atlapexco (12,445 speakers)
 * Jaltocan (6,978 speakers)


 * Veracruz (98,162 speakers)
 * Chicontepec (41,678 speakers)
 * Ixhuatlán de Madero (21,682 speakers)
 * Benito Juárez (11,793 speakers)
 * Ilamantlan (9,689 speakers)
 * Ixcatepec (6,949 speakers)
 * Zontecomatlán (6,371 speakers)


 * San Luis Potosí (108,471 speakers)
 * Tamazunchale (35,773 speakers)
 * Axtla de Terrazas (17,401 speakers)
 * Xilitla (16,646 speakers)
 * Matlapa (16,286 speakers)
 * Coxcatlan (12,300 speakers)
 * Chalchicuautla (10,065 speakers)

Phonology
The following description is that of Eastern Huasteca.

Orthography
Huasteca Nahuatl currently has several proposed orthographies, most prominent among them those of the Instituto de Docencia e Investigación Etnológica de Zacatecas (IDIEZ), Mexican government publications, and the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL).


 * IDIEZ
 * Their orthography is based on the evolution of Classical Nahuatl. It is somewhat of a deep orthography based on morphology since it aims to provide a unified system across regions.
 * uses ⟨ca⟩, ⟨que⟩, ⟨qui⟩, ⟨co⟩ for /k/
 * takes morphology into account
 * uses ⟨za⟩, ⟨ce⟩, ⟨ci⟩, ⟨zo⟩ for /s/
 * uses ⟨h⟩ for /h/


 * Mexican government publications
 * Is influenced by modern Spanish conventions and is a very surface-based orthography. It aims to provide easy literacy across regions but with a different writing system in each one.
 * uses ⟨k⟩ for /k/
 * does not take morphology into account
 * uses ⟨s⟩ for /s/
 * uses ⟨j⟩ for /h/


 * SIL
 * Somewhat based on modern Spanish conventions, mostly surface-based orthography as well but does not completely dispose of Classical Nahuatl conventions.
 * uses ⟨ca⟩, ⟨que⟩, ⟨qui⟩, ⟨co⟩ for /k/
 * does not take morphology into account
 * uses ⟨s⟩ for /s/
 * uses ⟨j⟩ for /h/

Sample text: 'a book about my location.'
 * IDIEZ: ce tlahcuilolli tleh campa niitztoc.
 * Government: se tlajkuiloli tlej kampa niitstok
 * SIL: se tlajcuiloli tlej campa niitztoc