Cuicatec language

Not to be confused with the Cuitlatec language.

Cuicatec is an Oto-Manguean language spoken in Oaxaca, Mexico. It belongs to the Mixtecan branch together with the Mixtec languages and the Trique language.^[2] The Ethnologue lists two major dialects of Cuicatec: Tepeuxila Cuicatec and Teutila Cuicatec. Like other Oto-Manguean languages, Cuicatec is tonal.

Cuicatec
Native to	Mexico
Region	Oaxaca
Ethnicity	Cuicatec
Native speakers	13,000 (2020 census)[1]
Language family	Oto-Manguean Mixtecan Cuicatec
Writing system	Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either: cux – Tepeuxila cut – Teutila
Glottolog	cuic1234
ELP	Cuicatec
Extent of the Cuicatec language: prior to contact (olive green) and current (red)
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

The Cuicatecs are closely related to the Mixtecs. They inhabit two towns: Teutila and Tepeuxila in western Oaxaca. According to the 2000 census, they number around 23,000, of whom an estimated 65% are speakers of the language.^[3] The name Cuicatec is a Nahuatl exonym, from [ˈkʷika] 'song' [ˈteka] 'inhabitant of place of'.^[4]

Cuicatec-language programming is carried by the CDI's radio station XEOJN, based in San Lucas Ojitlán, Oaxaca.

Phonology

Vowels

The Santa Maria Papalo dialect contains six vowel sounds both oral and nasal:

	Front	Back
Close	i ĩ	u ũ
Mid	e ẽ	o õ
		ɔ ɔ̃
Open	a ã

Consonants

		Bilabial	Dental	Palatal	Velar		Glottal
					plain	lab.
Plosive		p	t		k	kʷ	ʔ
Affricate				tʃ
Fricative	voiceless		s
	voiced	β	ð		ɣ	ɣʷ
Nasal		m	n
Rhotic			ɾ, r
Approximant			l	j		w

Allophones of the following sounds /β ð ɣ n j t tʃ/ include [b d ɡ~x ŋ j̈ θ ʃ], respectively.