| Huichol | |
|---|---|
| Wixárika Niukiyari[1] | |
| 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)[2] |
Uto-Aztecan
| |
| Official status | |
| Regulated by | Instituto Nacional de Lenguas Indígenas (INALI) |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | hch |
| Glottolog | huic1243 |
| ELP | Huichol |
 Map of Huichols in Mexico | |
 Huichol is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
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".[3]
In regard to language typology, the language has switch-reference, is highly polysynthetic and verbs may consist of as many as 20 different morphemes.[4]
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,[5] and the first volume of the reference grammar was published in 2006.