Chocho language

Phonology

Consonants

Vowels

• Vowel sounds / / can have lax allophones of [ ].

Chocho is a tonal language distinguishing low, mid and high tones.

Grammar

Carol Mock (1982) argues that Chocho distinguishes morphosyntactically between subjects of willful actions whether they are transitive or intransitive and subjects of unwillful actions. This results in her analysing Chocho as an active–stative language.

As an example of how this works here is an example showing that the subject is marked with a different suffix depending on whether the action of the verb is active or inactive

In an active/voluntary transitive phrase the agent/subject is marked by the active suffix "-á" and the patient by the inactive clitic "-mī". The patient/subject of an intransitive active/voluntary phrase is marked by the same suffix.

|bì- kų̄ -ámī |ASP- see -1.EXCL.ACT/2.INFORM.INACT |"I saw you"}}

|d- àsǭ -á |ASP- arrive -1.EXCL.ACT |"I arrive"}}

However in an involuntary/inactive intransitive phrase the subject/patient is marked with the inactive clitic "má" like an object/patient of a transitive phrase.

|d- ą́tʰē -má |ASP- fall -1.EXCL.ACT |"I fall"}}

This morphosyntactic alignment would imply Chocho is a Split-S type active language. However, some intransitive verbs can use either the active person suffixes or the inactive enclitic, this suggests that it does in fact belong to the Fluid-S type active language.

References

• Annette Veerman-Leichsenring. 2000. Gramática del Chocho de Santa Catarina Ocotlán, Oaxaca. (CNWS Publications, 86.) Leiden: Research School of Asian, African and Amerindian Studies (CNWS), Universiteit Leiden. xiii+140pp.
• Mock, Carol C, 1982, Los Casos Morfosintácticos del Chocho. Anales de Antropología, (Instituto de investigaciones Antropológicas, UNAM) 19(2): 345-378. (Cited from Thomas C Smith and Fermin Tapia: "El Amuzgo como lengua activa" In Paulette Levy Ed. "Del Cora al Maya Yucateco" UNAM 2002)
• Mock, Carol. 1977. Chocho: Santa Catarina Ocotlán, Oaxaca. (Archivo de Lenguas Indígenas de México, 4.) Mexico: Centro de Investigación para la Integración Social. 175pp.

References

1. [http://cuentame.inegi.org.mx/hipertexto/todas_lenguas.htm Lenguas indígenas y hablantes de 3 años y más, 2020] INEGI. Censo de Población y Vivienda 2020.
2. "Catálogo de las Lenguas Indígenas Nacionales".