Huichol language
The Huichol language (Huichol: Wixárika) is an indigenous language of Mexico which belongs to the Uto-Aztecan language family. It is spoken by the ethnic group widely known as the Huichol (self-designation Wixaritari), whose mountainous territory extends over portions of the Mexican states of Jalisco, San Luis Potosí, Nayarit, Zacatecas, and Durango, mostly in Jalisco. United States: La Habra, California; Houston, Texas. Under the 2003 Law on Indigenous Language Rights, the indigenous languages of Mexico along with Spanish are recognized as "national languages".
Huichol | |
---|---|
Wixárika Niukiyari | |
Native to | Mexico |
Region | Jalisco, Nayarit, Durango, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí United States: La Habra, California; Houston, Texas |
Ethnicity | Huichols |
Native speakers | 60,000 (2020 census) |
Uto-Aztecan
| |
Official status | |
Regulated by | Instituto Nacional de Lenguas Indígenas (INALI) |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | hch |
Glottolog | huic1243 |
ELP | Huichol |
In regard to language typology, the language has switch-reference, is highly polysynthetic and verbs may consist of as many as 20 different morphemes.
In recent years, at least two teaching grammars for Huichol have been produced in Mexico for nonnative speakers. In addition, a project to produce a reference grammar and dictionary of Huichol has been underway since the 1980s, conducted by a team of investigators in the Department of Indigenous Languages at the University of Guadalajara, and the first volume of the reference grammar was published in 2006.