Supanecan languages

Supanec
Tlapanecan
Geographic
distribution
Mexico, Nicaragua
Linguistic classificationOto-Manguean
  • Western Oto-Mangue
    • Tlapanec–Mangue
      • Supanec
Subdivisions
Language codes
Glottologsubt1249
A detailed map showing the dispersion of various languages.
Map of Oto-Manguean languages including Tlapeneco (#13, light green)

The Supanecan or Tlapanecan languages are Tlapanec (Me'phaa) of Guerrero and the extinct Subtiaba of Nicaragua. The family was recognized in 1925 by Edward Sapir, who linked them to his Hokan proposal. However, they are the most recently recognized members of the Oto-Manguean language family, the relationship having been demonstrated in 1977 by Jorge Suárez.[1] The Oto-Manguean affiliation of Tlapaneco-Subtiaba is supported by Kaufman (2016).[2]

According to Costenla (1994), these two languages diverged sometime after 1200 AD.

Sapir proposed that a third language, the extinct Maribo of the village of Maribichicoa, on the Guatajiguala River in Lencan country in El Salvador, may have been the closest relative of Subtiaba, or that it in fact was Subtiaba. However, Campbell (1975)[citation needed] questions this.[3]

  1. ^ Suárez, Jorge A. (1977). El tlapaneco como lengua Otomangue (in Spanish). México, D.F.: Universidad Nacional Autonoma de México.
  2. ^ Kaufman, Terrence. 2016. Tlapaneko-Sutiaba, Oto-Mangean, and Hokan: Where Greenberg Went Wrong. Project for the Documentation of the Languages of Mesoamerica (PDLMA).
  3. ^ Oltrogge (1977)Two studies in Middle American comparative linguistics, p. 4