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In this dissertation I provide fresh, organized data which demonstrates the segments and tones that occur and I reinforce the evidence in favor of the sequential nature of the contour tones in Soyaltepec
Mazatec. I show that traditional single tiered autosegmental phonology is inadequate in describing the processes that occur. I demonstrate how an appropriate phonological representation of tone, in this case
RTT, can be used advantageously to explain and predict the complex behavior which occurs in this language. Finally, as the tonal systems of the Americas are, according to Yip 2002, among the least
studied of the world’s tonal systems, this dissertation helps to fill that void by further documenting an understudied language and providing organized, systematic data for anyone interested in further study of a
complex Mesoamerican tone system. The remainder of this chapter is laid out as follows.
§1.2 provides background information about the language and the sociolinguistic situation in which it exists.
§1.3 addresses the specific research questions that will be explored.
§1.4 discusses the methodology employed to collect data. §1.5 introduces the basic phonological theory that will be used to discuss tone in this dissertation. In
§1.6 traditional tonal typology is discussed. Finally in
§1.7 the organizational structure of the dissertation is described.
1.2 Background and Sociolinguistic Situation
The basic background and sociolinguistic information about the language includes its physical location, linguistic characterization and social context. Soyaltepec Mazatec is spoken primarily in the
Soyaltepec Municipio which is located in the Tuxtepec District of the State of Oaxaca, Mexico. It is one of the 177 languages listed as Oto-Manguean
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in the 16
th
edition of the Ethnologue Lewis 2009. Soyaltepec Mazatec is further classified under the sub-variety Popolocan which lists 17 languages under the names
Chocho-Popolocan 8, Ixcatecan 1 and Mazatecan 8. The Ethnologue indicates that there are 27,600 speakers of Soyaltepec Mazatec as of 2005 with 2000 monolinguals.
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Refer to appendix A for a diagram of the Oto-Manguean language family.
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Mazatec languages can be found in the bottom center of Figure 1-1 Map of Mexican languages in the area entitled Southern Central Mexico. The South Central Mexico section is enlarged on the following
page in Figure 1-2. Soyaltepec is number 161 which is located at the upper right of the enlargement, around the northeastern edges and islands of the reservoir created by the Miguel Aleman dam.
Figure 1-1 Map of Mexican languages Lewis 2009
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Figure 1-2 South central Mexico Lewis 2009
In addition to Soyaltepec Mazatec, several other varieties of Mazatec can be seen on the map, some of which, namely, Huautla 160, Chiquihuitlan 165 and Jalapa de Diaz 168, have been studied in depth.
The sociolinguistic situation among speakers of Soyaltepec Mazatec is complicated by the fact that a majority of the speakers were displaced because of the building of the Miguel Aleman dam in the
1950’s and subsequent flooding. They now live in communities where several varieties of Mazatec are spoken in addition to Spanish. There is intermarriage both between speakers of different Mazatec dialects
and with non-Mazatec speakers. There is also outside pressure on speakers through media such as television, internet and instant messaging which are not available in any form of Mazatec, and so encourage
Spanish use. While Soyaltepec Mazatec is a language which is potentially in danger because of its complex sociolinguistic situation, it is not an endangered language. There is evidence that the language is still strong
161 Soyaltepec Mazatec
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and viable. Despite societal pressures, Mazatec continues to be widely used in homes and between friends. As a general rule, children speak their mother’s language as well as the dominant community language and,
as they attend school, Spanish. The local government encourages indigenous language use and provides bilingual elementary education in the indigenous language spoken by the majority of constituents of each
school zone. Often, students entering the school system do not speak adequate Spanish
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to begin their education without transitional help in their primary language.
No one can predict with certainty the future of a language. It is important to document the language now while there are still many speakers and multiple generations available. Also, documentation
along with a usable orthography which will be enhanced by a better understanding of the tone system as provided by this dissertation may help preserve this language.
1.3 Motivation
