Popoluca
Popolucais aNahuatlterm for various indigenous peoples of southeasternVeracruzandOaxaca.Many of them (about 30,000[1]) speak languages of theMixe–Zoque family.Others speak the unrelatedMazatecan languages,in which case the name in English and Spanish is generally spelledPopoloca.
Various peoples called Popoluca
[edit]The Mixe–Zoque languages called Popoluca are,
- Oluta Popoluca(Olutec Mixe or Olutec)
- Sayula Popoluca(Sayultec Mixe or Sayultec)
- San Andrés Tuxtla
- Sierra Popoluca(Soteapanec Zoque, Soteapan Zoque, Soteapaneco, or Soteapan Soke)
- Texistepec Popoluca(Texistepec Zoque)
- Zoque Popoluca[1]
Among theOto-Manguean languages,there are,
- thePopoloca languages,and
- thePopolocan languages,their containing group.
Origin and current use of the terms
[edit]The reason for the terms' widespread usage for naming indigenous languages is that they are derogatory words from theNahuatllanguage, meaning "to speak unintelligibly" or "babble".[2]When the Spanish invaders asked their Nahuatl-speaking allies what language was spoken in a particular locality, the Nahuas would reply "popoloca" meaning in essence "not Nahuatl". The Nahuas used the term "popolōca" much in the same way the Greek used the term "barbaros",also meaning" gibberish ", to refer to non-Greek speaking strangers.[3]
The name however stuck to many languages and has caused some confusion even among linguists working with Native American languages. This confusion prompted some kind of distinction between Popoluca languages and the spelling "Popoluca" with an "u" became used for certainMixe–Zoque languages,while the spelling "Popoloca" with an "o" became used for certain languages of the Popolocan family ofOto-Manguean languages.Note that the name "Popolocan" is also used by linguists to refer to these languages, which include varieties ofMazatec.[2]InNicaragua,the Nahua-speakingNicaraoused the term "Popoluca" for the speakers of theMatagalpa language.[4]
Although "Popoluca" and "Popoloca" are derogatory and confusing terms, they are still being used, even in academic literature and official publications of the Mexican government.[5]
See also
[edit]External links
[edit]- Popoluca (Popoloca),America Indian Languages
References
[edit]- ^ab"The Popoluca."Archived2010-06-04 at theWayback MachineUniversity of Minnesota, Mankota E-museum.(retrieved 1 Feb 2011)
- ^ab"Summer Institute of Linguistics in Mexico: Confusion about the names" Popoloca "and" Popoluca "".Archived fromthe originalon 2010-09-05.Retrieved2011-04-22.
- ^Popoloca Indian Language (Popoloco) – native-languages.org
- ^D. Victor Jesus Noguera, Cura de Matagalpa: Vocabulario de la Lengua Popoluca de Matagalpa, 1855. In: Walter Lehmann,Die Sprachen Zentral-Amerikas.Königliche Museen zu Berlin, D. Reimer, 1920, p. 599.
- ^"Flora medicinal popoloca de San Marcos Tlacoyalco y San Juan Atzingo, Puebla".MedicinaTradicionalMexicana.UNAM.mx(in Mexican Spanish). nd. Archived fromthe originalon 23 March 2012.Retrieved3 February2022.