Zapotec language (Jalisco)
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| Zapotec | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Mexico |
| Region | Ciudad Guzmán, Jalisco |
| Extinct | (date missing) |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis) |
  Ciudad Guzmán Location of Ciudad Guzmán in Jalisco | |
| Coordinates: 19°42′N 103°28′W / 19.700°N 103.467°W | |
Zapotec (Spanish: zapoteco) is an extinct, unclassified Mesoamerican language formerly spoken in Ciudad Guzmán, Jalisco, Mexico. It may have been a dialect of the nearby Otomi language.[1]
The name "Zapotec" is derived from Zapotlán, the former name of Ciudad Guzmán, where the language was spoken. Zapotlán was renamed Ciudad Guzmán in 1857.[2]
Despite sharing the same name, Zapotec has no known relationship to the Zapotec languages of Oaxaca.[3]
Evidence
The existence of Zapotec is known from a relación geográfica made in 1580 by Gerónimo Flores, alcalde mayor of the province of Tuspa, Tamatzula and Zapotlán (now Tuxpan, Tamazula de Gordiano and Ciudad Guzmán, respectively). According to Flores:
[In Zapotlán] they have four languages which they formerly used and use, which are called Mechoacan [Purépecha], Zayulteca, Zapoteca, and Naguas, which is Mexican [Nahuatl], which they all generally speak.[a]
Extinction
Zapotec became extinct due to the community shifting from using Zapotec to using Nahuatl as their primary language.[5] Nahuatl had become a lingua franca in the pre-Columbian era, being used as the administrative language of the Aztec Empire and as a trade language beyond the empire's borders, and was subsequently also promoted by the Spaniards after the Spanish conquest.[6] Nearby languages that went extinct in similar circumstances include Sayultec (which was also spoken in Ciudad Guzmán alongside Zapotec), Cochin, Otomi, Tiam, and Tamazultec.