Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-07-05
LANGUAGES OF OLD MEXICO
MORE THAN FIFTY TONGUES
SPOKEN IN SISTER REPUBLIC.
Indian Speech Of the Pre-Columbian
Period Has Not Been Driven
Out by Spanish.
From the Mexican Herald.

FROM the MeAICdn
During the iestas of Christmas or
the week of All Souls and All Saints.
when the Indians swarm down from
the mountains With their holiday wares
for sale. visitors in the City Of Mexico
may notice the strange language that
the vendors use in addressing cash other,
and even when they turn to serve the
purchaser their Spanish is neither Cas-
lillian nor Mexican, and is frequently
broken by peculiar syllables and accents.
But this is merely an illustration OF the
fact that the Indian languages OF Odo
Mexico have not been entirely sub
merged by the conquering Spanish, ana
in some Of the most remote d1Ser1cts
of the republic various and distinct Ian
guages handed down from the pre-Co-
lumbar era are still spoken in their pris-
tine purity by many tribe members.
To appreciate this state OF affairs one
must remember that prior to the con-
quest by Cortes and his captains there
leo, and although they might be classi-
fed under the general head of Indians.
they were distinct and separate as to
language, customs and general character
istics. The stranger In the capital ire
quentiy Iabors under the impression that
the Aztecs were the only Indians in this
part Of the republic. but this is a fall
lacy 1t is true that the Aztecs domi-
mated the ancient city Of Tenochtitlan
and it's immediate vicinity. but there
were hostile tribes to the north, to the
south, east and west.
Coming of the Spaniards.
With the incoming of the Spaniards
this capital was conquered and its in
habitants were soon in a state of bond
age, and naturally In the course Of time
it's language, it's customs and even Its
Indian blood was dominated by those OF
the Spaniards. So it was in other large
settlements Of the Indians in various
parts of the republic. Their language
gradually gave way to that of the Span
lard; their customs became those OF Sc
vile and Barcelona and other cities OF
Spain and their mothers soon bore chill
dren with Spanish blood in their veins.
But this amalgamation was not SO
rapid in the more remote parts of the
country, and even in the mountains not
far distant from the larger cities where
the Indian tribes were not brought into
close contact with the Spaniard and
where intermarriage was not SO COM
mon. 1t is for this reason that 1t has
required four centuries for Spanish to
dominate some of the Indian tribes of
Mexico, and 1t is for the same reason
that there are many tribes which StlIl
retain their own tribal language, al
though the educated members are usually
able to speak Spanish.
Tribal Tongues Preserved.
OF course, the hostility of such tribes
as the Yaques and Mayas has had a
great deal to do with the preservation
of their tribal language, and this hostil-
ity is not a matter of recent years, al
though some of the pure Indian tribes
take pride in the fact that they have
furnished the young republic with her
sinews of war, her patriots, poets and
soldiers.
If one were to start out to ascertain the
number of distinct languages which still
survive in the republic Of Mexico. one
would undoubtedly be surprised at the
number And these are not dialects.
with common characteristics and only
slight differences. They are distinct
languages, and although they may all
sound alike to the foreign ear. it would
be as difficult for a member of one tribe
to understand the member of another
tribe as it would for renchman TO
understand Spaniard.
Jalico Mexicano prevails, although the
language of the KickapOos is SPOKEN in
Coahuila. But suppose one drifted into
Chiapas, what would one finL-a verita-
jargon of Indian languages-the ZoQue
Maya, Tztzil, Tzendal. Chiapaneco
kiche, Kackechiekl, Seltain Tojolobal.
and the Chol. Or suppose one visited
the capital of Chihuahua, he would find
the Indians speaking Tarahumara. Pima
and Tepehuan. Or suppose he visited
the mining camp of Guanajuato. he
would find Indians speaking Otomi. Tar
ascan, Pane and Chichimeca.