Tilapa Otomi

Tilapa Otomi is a seriously endangered native American language spoken by less than a dozen people in the village of Santiago Tilapa, between Toluca and the DF in Mexico State. It has been classified as Eastern Otomi by Lastra (2006).^[1] but in reality "Eastern Otomi" in Lastra's classification is a broader term for a "conservative variety". It is a language closely related to Acazulco and Atlapulco Otomi. It also shows a number of idiosyncratic innovations which make it stand as a different language, probably the closest one to Colonial Otomi. Its system of verbal conjugations is highly complex compared to the Mezquital varieties.^[2]