Classical Otomi is the name used for the

Otomi language Otomi (; ) is an Oto-Pamean languages, Oto-Pamean language family spoken by approximately 240,000 indigenous Otomi people in the Mexican Plateau, central ''altiplano'' region of Mexico. Otomi consists of several closely related languages, many ...

as spoken in the early centuries of Spanish colonial rule in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and documented by Spanish friars who learned the language in order to catechize the Otomi peoples. During the colonial period, many Otomis learned to write their language in Roman letters. As a consequence, a significant number of documents in Otomi, both secular and religious, exist from the period, and the most well-known documents are the Codices of Huichapan and Jilotepec. Text in classical Otomi is not easily accessible since the Spanish speaking friars failed to differentiate the varied vowel and consonant sounds of the Otomi language. Friars wrote several grammars, the earliest documented of which was the ''Arte de la lengua othomí'' of Pedro de Cárceres in 1580 (but not published until 1907). In 1605, Alonso de Urbano wrote a trilingual Spanish-

Nahuatl Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller ...

-Otomi dictionary, which also included a small set of grammatical notes about Otomi. The grammarian of Nahuatl,

Horacio Carochi Horacio Carochi (1586–1666) was a Jesuit priest and grammarian who was born in Florence and died in New Spain. He is known for his grammar of the Classical Nahuatl language. Life Carochi was born in Florence. He went to Rome where he entered ...

, is known to have written a grammar of Otomi, but no copies have survived. In the latter half of the eighteenth century, an anonymous Jesuit cleric wrote the grammar ''Luces del Otomi'', and Neve y Molina wrote a dictionary and a grammar.Neve y Molina 2005

References

Works cited

* * * * * * * {{Oto-Manguean languages Otomi language Oto-Pamean languages Indigenous languages of Mexico Otomi, Classical Otomi