# Huasteca Nahuatl

Huasteca Nahuatl is a Nahuan language spoken by over a million people in the region of La Huasteca in Mexico, centered in the states of Hidalgo (Eastern) and San Luis Potosí (Western).
Ethnologue divides Huasteca Nahuatl into three languages: Eastern, Central, and Western, as they judge that separate literature is required, but notes that there is 85% mutual intelligibility between Eastern and Western.
XEANT-AM radio broadcasts in Huasteca Nahuatl.

## Demographics

Huasteca Nahuatl is spoken in the following municipalities in the states of Hidalgo, Veracruz, and San Luis Potosí.

### Hidalgo (121,818 speakers)

* Huejutla de Reyes (56,377 speakers)
* Huautla (18,444 speakers)
* Yahualica (14,584 speakers)
* Xochiatipan (12,990 speakers)
* Atlapexco (12,445 speakers)
* Jaltocan (6,978 speakers)

### Veracruz (98,162 speakers)

* Chicontepec (41,678 speakers)
* Ixhuatlán de Madero (21,682 speakers)
* Benito Juárez (11,793 speakers)
* Ilamantlan (9,689 speakers)
* Ixcatepec (6,949 speakers)
* Zontecomatlán (6,371 speakers)

### San Luis Potosí (108,471 speakers)

* Tamazunchale (35,773 speakers)
* Axtla de Terrazas (17,401 speakers)
* Xilitla (16,646 speakers)
* Matlapa (16,286 speakers)
* Coxcatlan (12,300 speakers)
* Chalchicuautla (10,065 speakers)

## Phonology

The following description is that of Eastern Huasteca.

### Vowels

| | Front | Back |
| High | i iˑ | |
| Mid-high | e eˑ | |
| Mid-low | | o oˑ |
| Low | a aˑ | a aˑ |

### Consonants

Huasteca Nahuatl consonants :
| | Labial | Alveolar | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Velar | Glottal |
| | Labial | central | lateral | Palatal | plain | labialized | Glottal |
| Nasal | m | n | | | | | |
| Plosive | p | t | | | k, ɡ | kʷ | ʔ |
| Affricate | | ts | tɬ | tʃ | | | |
| Continuant | | s | | ʃ | | ʍ | h |
| Semivowel | | | | j | | w | |
| Liquid | | r | l | | | | |

## Orthography

Huasteca Nahuatl currently has several proposed orthographies, most prominent among them those of the Instituto de Docencia e Investigación Etnológica de Zacatecas (IDIEZ), Mexican government publications, and the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL).

### IDIEZ

* Their orthography is based on the evolution of Classical Nahuatl. It is somewhat of a deep orthography based on morphology since it aims to provide a unified system across regions.
* uses ⟨ca⟩, ⟨que⟩, ⟨qui⟩, ⟨co⟩ for /k/
* takes morphology into account
* uses ⟨za⟩, ⟨ce⟩, ⟨ci⟩, ⟨zo⟩ for /s/
* uses ⟨h⟩ for /h/

### Mexican government publications

* Is influenced by modern Spanish conventions and is a very surface-based orthography. It aims to provide easy literacy across regions but with a different writing system in each one.
* uses ⟨k⟩ for /k/
* does not take morphology into account
* uses ⟨s⟩ for /s/
* uses ⟨j⟩ for /h/

### SIL

* Somewhat based on modern Spanish conventions, mostly surface-based orthography as well but does not completely dispose of Classical Nahuatl conventions.
* uses ⟨ca⟩, ⟨que⟩, ⟨qui⟩, ⟨co⟩ for /k/
* does not take morphology into account
* uses ⟨s⟩ for /s/
* uses ⟨j⟩ for /h/
Sample text: 'a book about my location.'
* IDIEZ: ce tlahcuilolli tleh campa niitztoc.
* Government: se tlajkuiloli tlej kampa niitstok
* SIL: se tlajcuiloli tlej campa niitztoc