Southern Coahuila Nahuatl | |
---|---|
Native to | Mexico |
Region | Coahuila, Nuevo Leon |
Extinct | 20th century[1] |
Uto-Aztecan
| |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | nah |
Southern Coahuila Nahuatl,[2] or Neotlaxcaltec Nahuatl, is a variety of Nahuatl that was spoken in the northeast of Mexico, mainly in the municipalities of San Esteban,[3] Parras de la Fuente,[4] Guadalupe and Bustamante.[5] A related variety was spoken in the west and central-north zones of the country, in the municipalities of Tlaltenango, Juchipila, Tlacuitlapán, Mexquitic and Colotlán.[6]
During the colonial era, the Tlaxcaltec colonization of the northeast of New Spain led to the foundation of new settlements and cities. San Esteban de Nueva Tlaxcala,[7] in the south of Coahuila, was the most influential,[8] and from here families of Tlaxcaltec colonists dispersed to found new cities like San Miguel de Aguayo (today Bustamante, Nuevo León)[9] and Santa María de las Parras (today Parras de la Fuente, Coahuila).[4] The latter, in turn, was a point of dispersion for families to found Viesca.[10]
This northern variety, derived from 16th-century Tlaxcala Nahuatl, developed certain innovations which can be observed in documents written in it, primarily proceeding from the south of Coahuila[3] and the north of Nuevo León,[11] as the region was essentially devoid of other Nahua settlements. There is a short vocabulary list of this variety, which was published in the 20th century.[2]