![]() However, the fact that several northern and western states such as Durango, Nayarit, Chihuahua and Jalisco have modest rates of monolingualism is of special interest. Higher rates of monolingualism among the central and southern states are expected, considering the large indigenous populations that inhabit some parts of those states. Today, their high level of monolingualism is a tribute to their determination to preserve their culture in their isolated mountain habitats. They were conquered by the Spaniards in the sixteenth century but have managed to maintain their language and culture in the centuries since then. Guerrero’s Tlapanecos - also known as the Me’phaa - were one of the few tribal groups who held out against the Aztec Empire in an independent enclave known as Yopitzinco. Tzeltal and Tzotzil - both Mayan languages spoken in Chiapas - also have relatively high rates of monolingualism, while Tlapaneco - spoken primarily in Guerrero - has a monolingual rate of 28.1% ranking it fourth. Veracruz and Puebla had another 18.6% of the indigenous speakers in the republic.Īs noted in the preceding table, Amuzgo de Guerrero is the indigenous language with the largest percent of monolingual speakers, but Amuzgo also has a presence in Oaxaca and other states, where its monolingual rate is still considerable, but much less than in Guerrero. It can readily be seen that Oaxaca and Chiapas, together, had 34.4% of all the indigenous speakers in the country. The following table lists the Mexican states with the largest populations of indigenous language speakers. States with Large Populations of Indigenous Speakers Three of the four most commonly spoken languages - Náhuatl, Maya and Zapotec - had very low levels of monolingualism: 10.3%, 6.5% and 8.8%, respectively. The Tzeltal, Tzotzil, Chol and Tlapaneco languages appeared to have the highest rates of monolingualism in 2010. In the preceding chart, the fifth column lists the percentage of persons in each language group who are monolingual. Náhuatl was the language of the Aztecs and, during Mexico’s colonial period, it was the de facto lingua franca (after Spanish) in many parts of Mexico. Speakers of the top four indigenous languages in Mexico - Náhuatl, Maya, Mixtec and Zapotec - represent nearly one-half (48.6%) of all indigenous speakers within the Mexican Republic. Data on the most commonly spoken languages in Mexico at the time of the 2010 census are illustrated in the following table: Náhuatl speakers, in fact, represented 23.08% of the indigenous speakers 5 and older in the Mexican Republic, up from 22.89% in the 2005 census count. Bilingualism (speaking both Spanish and an indigenous language) usually results from education through schooling, literacy campaigns, migration to other states, and extended social interaction with mestizo populations (mixed race individuals).Īs of the 2010 census, Náhuatl remains the most widely spoken language in Mexico with 1,544,968 persons five years of age and older speaking that tongue. In the 2010 census, the number of monolingual indigenous speakers dropped to 980,894, or 14.7% of the indigenous speaking population. ![]() ![]() This segment of the population represented 16.6% of all indigenous language speakers. In 2000, there were 1,002,236 persons five years of age and older who spoke an indigenous language, but did not speak Spanish (i.e., they were monolingual). Monolingual Speakers of Indigenous Languages It is important to point out that the criteria in this tally represents people who speak indigenous languages and that the number of Mexicans who consider themselves to be indigenous – through culture, tradition, spirit, genetics and other factors –was measured in a separate census question, not discussed in this study. At the same time, the percentage of indigenous speakers dropped from 7.2% to 6.7% between 20 and remained at 6.7% in 2010. The overall number of indigenous speakers in Mexico dropped from 6,044,547 to 6,011,202 between 20, but increased to 6,695,228 in 2010. But while the overall numbers rose in many states, the percentage of indigenous speakers in individual states actually dropped in many parts of Mexico. When the results of the 2010 Mexican Census are compared to the 2000 Censo and 2005 Conteo (Count), we can see a significant increase in the number of Mexicans 5 years of age and older who speak indigenous languages. Every ten years, INEGI publishes a census showing various population statistics for all residents living in Mexico. Mexico’s Census agency is the Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía (INEGI) - known to Americans as the National Institute of Statistics and Geography.
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