Trique language
Encyclopedia
The Trique language is an Oto-Manguean language of Mexico
spoken by the Trique
indigenous group of the state of Oaxaca
and elsewhere (due to recent population movements). It belongs to the Mixtecan
branch together with the Mixtec languages and Cuicatec
.
lists three major variants:
Mexico's federal agency for its indigenous languages, Instituto Nacional de Lenguas Indígenas
(INALI), identifies four variants of Trique in its Catálogo de las lenguas indígenas nacionales published in early 2008. The variants listed by INALI are:
Tones in Trique languages are typically written with superscript numbers, so that chraa5 'river' indicates the syllable chraa with the highest (5) tone, while cha3na1 'woman' has the middle (3) tone on the first syllable and the lowest (1) tone on the second syllable.
Of the Trique dialects, the Copala dialect has undergone the most vowel loss, with many non-final syllables losing their vowels. The result of this, as in many other Oto-Manguean languages, is a complex set of consonant clusters. So, for instance, the word si5kuj5 'cow' in Itunyoso Trique corresponds to skuj5 in Copala Trique.
Trique has been written in a number of different orthographies, depending on the intended audience. Linguists typically write the language with all tones fully marked and all phonemes represented. However, in works intended for native speakers of Trique, a practical orthography is often used with a somewhat simpler representation.
The following Copala Trique example is written in both the linguistic and the practical orthographies :
'Who are you speaking to?' (¿Con quién estas hablando?)
The tonal phonology of other Trique languages is more complex than Copala Trique. The tone system of Itunyoso Trique has nine tones. The tone system of Chicahuaxtla Trique has at least 10 tones but may have as many as 16.
A'mii32 zo'1.
'You are speaking'.
C-a'mii32 zo'1.
'You spoke'.
The same /k-/ prefix plus a tonal change shows the potential aspect:
C-a'mii2 zo'1.
'You will speak.'
The tonal changes associated with the potential aspect are complex, but always involve lowering the tone of the root. (Hollenbach 1984.)
There are also complex phonological processes that are triggered by the presence of root-final clitic pronouns. These pronouns (especially the 1st and 2nd person singular) may change the shape of the stem or alter its tone.
Copala Trique is a has Verb-Subject-Object (VSO) word order, as in the following example:
'Maria put the tortilla in the tenate.'
Copala Triqui has an accusative marker maa3 or man3 which is obligatory for animate pronominal objects, but is optional in other circumstances, as in the following example:
'Maria saw the tortilla.'
'Maria saw you.'
This use of the accusative before some objects and not others is what is called differential object marking
.
The following example (repeated from above) shows a Copala Trique question:
'Who are you speaking to?' (¿Con quién estas hablando?)
As this example shows, Copala Trique has wh-movement
and pied-piping with inversion
.
Copala Trique syntax is described in Hollenbach (1992).
Trique is also interesting for having toggle processes. Under the scope of negation, a completive aspect prefix signifies the negative potential. A potential aspect prefix in the same context signifies the negative completive.
As a language sub-family, Trique is interesting for having a large tonal inventory, complex morphophonology, and interesting syntactic phenomena (much of which has yet to be described).
's radio stations XEQIN-AM
, based in San Quintín, Baja California
, and XETLA, based in Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca.
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
spoken by the Trique
Trique
The Trique or Triqui are an indigenous people of the western part of the Mexican state of Oaxaca, centered in the municipalities of Juxtlahuaca, Tlaxiaco and Putla. They number around 23,000 according to the Ethnologue surveys. The Trique language is a Mixtecan language of Oto-Manguean genetic...
indigenous group of the state of Oaxaca
Oaxaca
Oaxaca , , officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca is one of the 31 states which, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided into 571 municipalities; of which 418 are governed by the system of customs and traditions...
and elsewhere (due to recent population movements). It belongs to the Mixtecan
Mixtecan languages
The Mixtec language, actually multiple languages, belong to Otomanguean language family of Mexico, and are closely related to the Trique and Cuicatec languages. They are spoken by over half a million people. Identifying how many Mixtec languages there are in this complex dialect continuum poses...
branch together with the Mixtec languages and Cuicatec
Cuicatec
The Cuicatecs are an indigenous group of the Mexican state of Oaxaca, closely related to the Mixtecs. They inhabit two towns: Teutila and Tepeuxila in western Oaxaca...
.
Variants
EthnologueEthnologue
Ethnologue: Languages of the World is a web and print publication of SIL International , a Christian linguistic service organization, which studies lesser-known languages, to provide the speakers with Bibles in their native language and support their efforts in language development.The Ethnologue...
lists three major variants:
- Triqui de Copala spoken by 15,000 people (1990 census) in San Juan CopalaSan Juan CopalaSan Juan Copala is a little town in the municipality of Santiago Juxtlahuaca in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, inhabited by Trique Indians. Its inhabitants have declared themselves autonomous of the Mexican state and founded the Autonomous Municipality of San Juan Copala in 2006.It has been the...
, Oaxaca (and recently due to migrations in the San Quintín valleySan Quintín, Baja CaliforniaSan Quintín is a coastal town on the west coast of the Mexican state of Baja California, in the municipio of Ensenada. San Quintín has beautiful beaches and several places for tourists to stay. Tourists can enjoy fishing, camping, bird watching, surfing, and clam digging...
, Baja CaliforniaBaja CaliforniaBaja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
). - Triqui de San Andrés Chicahuaxtla spoken by 6,000 people in San Andrés Chicahuaxtla, Oaxaca.
- Triqui de San Martín Itunyoso spoken by 2,000 people (1983 survey) in San Martín ItunyosoSan Martín ItunyosoSan Martín Itunyoso is a Triqui Trique language town and municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico. The municipality covers an area of 82.93 km².It is part of the Tlaxiaco District in the south of the Mixteca Region....
, Oaxaca.
Mexico's federal agency for its indigenous languages, Instituto Nacional de Lenguas Indígenas
Instituto Nacional de Lenguas Indígenas
The Instituto Nacional de Lenguas Indígenas is a Mexican federal public agency, created 13 March 2003 by the enactment of the Ley General de Derechos Lingüísticos de los Pueblos Indígenas by the administration of President Vicente Fox...
(INALI), identifies four variants of Trique in its Catálogo de las lenguas indígenas nacionales published in early 2008. The variants listed by INALI are:
| Variant (name in Spanish) | Autonym | Localities |
|---|---|---|
| Triqui de San Juan Copala | xnánj nu’ a | Oaxaca: Santiago Juxtlahuaca |
| Triqui de La Media | sná'ánj ni’ | Oaxaca: San Martín Itunyoso |
| Triqui de La Alta | rnu'a'n | Oaxaca: Putla Villa de Guerrero |
| Triqui de La Baja | tnanj ni’inj | Oaxaca: Constancia del Rosario, Putla Villa de Guerrero |
Phonology and orthography
All varieties of Trique are tonal and have complex phonologies. The tone system of Copala Trique is the best described, having eight tones.Tones in Trique languages are typically written with superscript numbers, so that chraa5 'river' indicates the syllable chraa with the highest (5) tone, while cha3na1 'woman' has the middle (3) tone on the first syllable and the lowest (1) tone on the second syllable.
Of the Trique dialects, the Copala dialect has undergone the most vowel loss, with many non-final syllables losing their vowels. The result of this, as in many other Oto-Manguean languages, is a complex set of consonant clusters. So, for instance, the word si5kuj5 'cow' in Itunyoso Trique corresponds to skuj5 in Copala Trique.
Trique has been written in a number of different orthographies, depending on the intended audience. Linguists typically write the language with all tones fully marked and all phonemes represented. However, in works intended for native speakers of Trique, a practical orthography is often used with a somewhat simpler representation.
The following Copala Trique example is written in both the linguistic and the practical orthographies :
| Practical orthography | Me | síí | rihaan | a'mii | so' | ga |
| Linguistic | Me3 | zii5 | riaan32 | a'mii32 | zo'1 | ga2 |
| Gloss | wh | 3rd person | to | speak | 2nd person | interrogative |
'Who are you speaking to?' (¿Con quién estas hablando?)
The tonal phonology of other Trique languages is more complex than Copala Trique. The tone system of Itunyoso Trique has nine tones. The tone system of Chicahuaxtla Trique has at least 10 tones but may have as many as 16.
Morphology and syntax
Trique morphology is fairly limited. Verbs take a /k-/ prefix (spelled c- or qu-) to show completive aspect:A'mii32 zo'1.
'You are speaking'.
C-a'mii32 zo'1.
'You spoke'.
The same /k-/ prefix plus a tonal change shows the potential aspect:
C-a'mii2 zo'1.
'You will speak.'
The tonal changes associated with the potential aspect are complex, but always involve lowering the tone of the root. (Hollenbach 1984.)
There are also complex phonological processes that are triggered by the presence of root-final clitic pronouns. These pronouns (especially the 1st and 2nd person singular) may change the shape of the stem or alter its tone.
Copala Trique is a has Verb-Subject-Object (VSO) word order, as in the following example:
| A’nii5 | Mariia4 | chraa3 | raa4 | yoo4 | a32. |
| put | Maria | tortilla | in | tenate | declarative |
'Maria put the tortilla in the tenate.'
Copala Triqui has an accusative marker maa3 or man3 which is obligatory for animate pronominal objects, but is optional in other circumstances, as in the following example:
| Quene'e3 | Mariia4 | (maa3) | chraa4 | a32. |
| saw | Maria | acc | tortilla | declarative |
'Maria saw the tortilla.'
| Quene'e3 | Mariia4 | *(maa3) | zo'1 | a32. |
| saw | Maria | acc | you | declarative |
'Maria saw you.'
This use of the accusative before some objects and not others is what is called differential object marking
Differential object marking
Differential object marking is a linguistic phenomenon that is present in more than 300 languages; the term was coined by Georg Bossong. In languages where DOM is active, direct objects are divided in two different classes, depending on different meanings, and, in most DOM languages, only one of...
.
The following example (repeated from above) shows a Copala Trique question:
| Me3 | zii5 | riaan32 | a'mii32 | zo'1 | ga2 |
| wh | 3rd person | to | speak | 2nd person | interrogative |
'Who are you speaking to?' (¿Con quién estas hablando?)
As this example shows, Copala Trique has wh-movement
Wh-movement
Wh-movement is a syntactic phenomenon found in many languages around the world, in which interrogative words or phrases show a special word order. Unlike ordinary phrases, such wh-words appear at the beginning of an interrogative clause...
and pied-piping with inversion
Pied-piping with inversion
Pied-piping with inversion is a special word order phenomenon found in some languages, for example, languages in the Mesoamerican linguistic area.-Introduction:...
.
Copala Trique syntax is described in Hollenbach (1992).
Trique is also interesting for having toggle processes. Under the scope of negation, a completive aspect prefix signifies the negative potential. A potential aspect prefix in the same context signifies the negative completive.
As a language sub-family, Trique is interesting for having a large tonal inventory, complex morphophonology, and interesting syntactic phenomena (much of which has yet to be described).
Media
Trique-language programming is carried by the CDINational Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples
The National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples is a decentralized agency of the Mexican Federal Public Administration. It was founded in 2003 as a replacement for the National Indigenist Institute . It has its headquarters in Mexico City and, since 15 December 2006, has been...
's radio stations XEQIN-AM
XEQIN-AM
XEQIN-AM is an indigenous community radio station that broadcasts in Spanish, Mixtec, Zapotec and Triqui from San Quintín in the Mexican state of Baja California....
, based in San Quintín, Baja California
San Quintín, Baja California
San Quintín is a coastal town on the west coast of the Mexican state of Baja California, in the municipio of Ensenada. San Quintín has beautiful beaches and several places for tourists to stay. Tourists can enjoy fishing, camping, bird watching, surfing, and clam digging...
, and XETLA, based in Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca.