Chontal of Oaxaca is a
Hokan language not to be confused with the
Mayan language
Chontal of Tabasco, to which it bears no similarity other than a similar
name bestowed upon both by the Aztecs (chontalli just means "foreigner" in the Nahuatl language.)
Oaxacan Chontal has two dialects, Lowland and Highland,
which are so distinct from one another than native speakers cannot understand each other well without a translator, and so most linguists
consider them distinct languages. Taken together, the two Oaxaca Chontal languages are spoken by more than 4000 people in Mexico today.
American Indian cultures
Indian Names
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