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Huastec

Huastec is a Mayan language spoken in Mexico, by about 150 thousand people. Glottolog rates it shifting.

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Huastec · 21.6°N 98.5°W

The Huastec (also spelled Wasteko or Huasteco) language, now commonly known by the endonym Téenek, of Mexico is spoken by the Téenek people living in rural areas of San Luis Potosí and northern Veracruz. Though relatively isolated from them, it is related to the Mayan languages spoken further south and east in Mexico and Central America. Huastec is remarkable among Mayan languages for having tone, much like its Otomanguean and Totonac neighbors.

According to the 2005 population census, there are about 200,000 speakers of Huasteco in Mexico (some 120,000 in San Luis Potosí and some 80,000 in Veracruz). The language and its speakers are also called Teenek, and this name has gained currency in Mexican national and international usage in recent years.

The now-extinct Chicomuceltec language, spoken in Chiapas and Guatemala, was most closely related to Wasteko.

From Wikipedia · Huastec language · CC BY-SA 4.0

Written down

Kuentsal nap wah-chínal tee ti chabal jayechek-i antip wah-chínal, bá tamá maxak a pulik maxak in exlal, jununul aní ni chap aní jaxtam ko-yal kip le-naxín aní ki k-ana ti ba.

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR in Unicode).

Words in Huastec

MeaningWordRomanization
persontenek*
namebih*
eyewal*
earSucun*
nose8am*
toothkamab*
tonguelekab*
handkubak*
bloodSic*
bonebeklek*
skinotlab*
kneekwalal*
breastimil*
livermamal*
waterjaʼ
firekamal*
sunkiCa*
starot*
stonetuhub*
mountainbolCal*
treete7*
leafSeklek*
nightakal*
dogpiko7*
fishto7ol*
louseuc*
onehun*
twocab*
Inana7*
youtata7*

* in the simplified ASJP transcription

Most similar languages

Vocabulary

Grammar

Vocabulary compares 40 basic words (ASJP); grammar compares 195 features (Grambank). Similar is not always related.

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Glottolog · huas1242 · Wikipedia (English) · Ethnologue · hus