Guerrero Amuzgo language

The Guerrero Amuzgo language is an Amuzgo language spoken in southwest Guerrero state in Mexico.

Guerrero Amuzgo
Ñomndaa
Native to	Mexico
Region	Guerrero
Native speakers	46,000 (2011)
Language family	Oto-Manguean Amuzgoan Guerrero Amuzgo
Language codes
ISO 639-3	amu
Glottolog	guer1243
ELP	Guerrero Amuzgo

Statistics and history

There are 23,000 speakers, 10,000 that are monolingual. It is also known as Nomndaa or Ñomndaa. It belongs to the Oto-Manguean language family and the Amuzgoan subfamily. The use of the language is widespread and it is learned as a second language by Spanish and Nahuatl speakers living with the Guerrero speakers.

There is a positive cultural affinity toward the tongue and it is used in business, religion, and taught bilingually with Spanish until 6th grade. 10% of adults and 15% of children are literate in Amuzgo Guerrero. There are media such as videos, a dictionary and radio broadcasts in the language that propagate its use.

Phonology

Vowels

Oral/Nasal vowels

	Front		Central		Back
	oral	nasal	oral	nasal	oral	nasal
Close	i	ĩ			u	ũ
Close-mid	e	ẽ			o	õ
Open-mid	æ	æ̃			ɔ	ɔ̃
Open			a	ã

Laryngealized vowels

	Front		Central		Back
	oral	nasal	oral	nasal	oral	nasal
Close	ḭ	ḭ̃			ṵ	ṵ̃
Close-mid	ḛ	ḛ̃			o̰	õ̰
Open-mid	æ̰	æ̰̃			ɔ̰	ɔ̰̃
Open			a̰	ã̰

• Sounds /æ, æ̃, æ̰, æ̰̃/ can also fluctuate to more mid sounds [ɛ, ɛ̃, ɛ̰, ɛ̰̃].

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Post- alveolar	Velar		Glottal
					central	labial
Nasal		m	n	ɲ
Plosive	voiceless	(p)	t	tʲ	k kʲ	kʷ	ʔ
	prenasal	(ᵐb)	ⁿd	ⁿdʲ	ᵑɡ	ᵑɡʷ
Affricate			ts	tʃ
Fricative		β	s	ʃ			h
Lateral			l
Rhotic	tap		ɾ
	trill		(r)
Approximant		w		j

Sounds [p, ᵐb, r] only appear in a few words.