Learn here everything about the language of the Tarahumaras

  • The Tarahumara language is spoken by around 85,000 people in northern Mexico.
  • There are five linguistic variants of Tarahumara, some of which are in danger of extinction.
  • The grammar includes long and short vowels, with a focus on simple morphology.
  • The verb usually appears at the end of sentences, a characteristic of Yunahua languages.
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Maintaining as a custom passed from generation to generation, where around almost 85.000 Mexicans articulate the Tarahumara dialect in the northern region of Mexico. Through this interesting article, we invite you to learn more about the Tarahumara language.

LANGUAGE OF THE TARAHUMARAS

Origin of the Tarahumara Language

The name Tarahumara is a term used authentically by a Mexican society, it makes references to a community of natives, as well as to a group of closely related indigenous languages, where its origin has not yet been clarified.

The Tarahumara languages ​​have different denominations to mention them, a difference that is due to different factors such as the languages ​​themselves, the territorial subareas or even the communities; These natives are also identified as the Rarámuri, which has an interpretation such as "light feet, runners or people".

The Tarahumara dialect is commonly used in the town of Chihuahua, and it has three personal qualifications: Rarómariraicha, Ralámuliraicha and Rarámariraicha, and which in turn have five differentiations:

  1. tarahumara from the west zone – raremariraicha
  2. tarahumara from the north zone – ralámuliraicha (from the north)
  3. Tarahumara from the Summits – Ralámuliraicha (from the Summits)
  4. Tarahumara from the central zone – Ralámuliraicha (from the center)
  5. tarahumara from the south zone – rarámariraicha

Tarahumara corresponds to the Yunahua or Yuto-Aztec lineage, and the closest language to this is Guarijío. Of the five linguistic differentiations that the group brings together, four are in immediate danger of disappearing and one, the Tarahumara summits, has a medium risk of disappearing.

Grammar of the Tarahumara Language

Some of the most common grammatical elements of the Tarahumara language, in terms of their sound, the composition and derivation of words, as well as the combination and relationship of these, are the following:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEWNjevu0j8

Phonology

This language of the Tarahumara culture is distinguished by its five vowel tones similar to Spanish (a, e, i, o, u), with a distinction between long and short vowels due to their intonation. Furthermore, stress is found to be phonetic, with a tendency for contrasts between sounds to be irrelevant.

Morphology

In the language of the Tarahumara, the morphological aspects are very simple; a model of this is the plural that is constructed by doubling the first syllable, while verbs have a wide variety of prefixes and suffixes to mark the subject, object, tense and form.

In addition, there are two types of verbs that are created with the vowel modification, both at the end of a noun, as well as a transitive verb, a model of this is the word norí or cloud, when modified to noré, it expresses that there are clouds; similarly, the transitive verb will flee (it stops), it will change to huirí (it stops).

Syntax

In general, the Yunahua or Yuto-Aztecan languages ​​usually have the verb at the end of the sentence, without it being necessary to have a secondary complementary verb. Even though the language of the Tarahumara is not the only defining element of this culture, it has an imposing weight in its identity, since it is the means through which thought and worldview are expressed.

Characteristics of the Tarahumara Language

Next, the most frequent characteristics of the Yunahua or Yuto-Aztec languages, specifically the Tarahumara, are detailed:

  • In general, there is a distinction between long and short vowels.
  • Volume contrasts are irrelevant, only in some languages ​​like Guarijío, the contrast is phonemic.
  • Syllabic structures are simple, generally the most complicated syllable is the CVC type (one or more consonants at the end of the syllable).
  • Nouns have a very simple inflectional morphology.
  • There is no strong grammatical gender, although animate and inanimate entities generally have different prefixes.
  • Verbs have a wide variety of inflectional prefixes and suffixes, to mark subject, object, appearance, tense, or forms.
  • The name can take suffixes and verbal prefixes to express intransitive sermons; there is no linking verb.
  • There is an initial reduplication to express repeated actions on verbs or a plurality of nouns, although the degree of use varies greatly from language to language.
  • Most Yunahua or Yuto-Aztecan languages ​​are final core languages, and thus usually have the verb last; the Tarahumara have a final verb without a secondary assistant.

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