Sierra Otomi Highland Otomi (''Otomi de la Sierra'') is a

dialect cluster A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring varieties are mutually intelligible, but the differences accumulate over distance so that widely separated varie ...

of the Otomi language spoken in Mexico by ca. 70,000 people in the highlands of Eastern Hidalgo, Western Veracruz and Northern

Puebla Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its cap ...

. The speakers themselves call the language ''Yųhų'' (Eastern Highland) or ''Ñųhų'' (Texcatepec and Tenango). Lastra 2001 classifies it as an Eastern Otomi language together with

Ixtenco Otomi Ixtenco Otomi, also known as Tlaxcala Otomi, is a native American language spoken in the town of San Juan Bautista Ixtenco in the state of Tlaxcala, Mexico. It has been classified as Eastern Otomi by Lastra (2006). Lastra considers Ixtenco Otom� ...

Tilapa Otomi Tilapa Otomi is a seriously endangered native American language spoken by less than a dozen people in the village of Santiago Tilapa, between Toluca and the DF in Mexico State The State of Mexico ( es, Estado de México; ), officially just M ...

, and

Acazulco Otomi San Jeronimo Acazulco Otomi, or Ocoyoacac Otomí, is a moribund and seriously endangered dialect of the Otomi language spoken by a hundred or so people in the town of San Jerónimo Acazulco in Ocoyoacac, Mexico State. Only people born before ...

. The three varieties of Sierra Otomi—Eastern Highland, Texcatepec, and Tenango—are above 70% lexically similar; the Eastern Highland dialects are above 80%, and will be considered here.

Distribution

Municipalities with significant Sierra Otomi populations include the following (Dow 2005:236). Many of these municipalities also have Tepehua, Totonac, and Nahuatl speakers. ; Hidalgo * Acaxochitlan * Huehuetla *

San Bartolo Tutotepec San Bartolo Tutotepec is a town and one of the 84 municipalities of Hidalgo, in central-eastern Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to ...

Tenango de Doria Tenango de Doria is a town and one of the 84 municipalities of Hidalgo, in central-eastern Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the ...

* Tulancingo ;

Francisco Z. Mena Francisco Z. Mena Municipality is a municipality in the Mexican state of Puebla Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise t ...

* Pahuatlán * Pantepec *

Tlacuilotepec Tlacuilotepec (municipality) is a town and municipality in the Mexican state of Puebla in south-eastern Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is b ...

* Tlaxco ; Veracruz * Benito Juárez * Chicóntepec * Coatzintla * Coyutla *

Huayacocotla Huayacocotla is a town ''(villa)'' in the Mexican state of Veracruz. Located in the state's Huasteca Baja region, it serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of the same name. In the 2005 INEGI Census, Huayacocotla report ...

Ixhuatlán de Madero Ixhuatlán de Madero is a Municipality in Veracruz, Mexico. It is located in north zone of the State of Veracruz, about 376 km from state capital Xalapa, in the region called Huasteca Baja. It is one of 212 municipalities in Veracruz. It has ...

Temapache Álamo Temapache (or simply Temapache) is a municipality located in the montane central zone in the Mexican state of Veracruz, about 90 km from state capital Xalapa. It has a surface of 65.80 km2. It is located at . The municipal seat is at ...

Texcatepec Texcatepec is a municipality located in the north zone in the State of Veracruz, about 190 km from state capital Xalapa. It has a surface of 153.61 km2. It is located at . In 1930 the municipal head-board was established in the village of Am ...

* Tihuatlán *

Tlachichilco Tlachichilco is a small town in Veracruz, 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 w ...

* Zacualpan

Phonology

The phonemic inventory given below is based on the particular phonology of the Otomi de la Sierra dialect as documented by Voigtlander and Echegoyen (1985), phonemic inventories of other dialects vary slightly from that of Otomi de la Sierra.

Consonants

Vowels

Orthography

Alphabet

* a - �* a̱, ä - �* b - * ch - ͡ʃ* d - * e - * e̱, ë - �* f - �* g - * h - * i - * j - * k - * l - * m - * n - * ñ - �* o - �/o* o̱ - �* p - * r - �* s - * t - * th - �* ts - ͡s* u - /w* u̱, ʉ - �/ɨ* x - �* y - * z - /d͡z

Other letters

* ą - �̃* ę - �̃* į - �* ǫ - �̃* ų - �

Tones

Tones are usually not marked. * a - low tone * á - high tone * ǎ - rising tone * à - falling tone

Notes

References

*Dow, James W. 2005. "The Sierra Ñähñu (Otomí)." In Sandstrom, Alan R., and Enrique Hugo García Valencia. 2005. ''Native peoples of the Gulf Coast of Mexico''. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. * * * * {{Oto-Manguean languages Otomi language