Cuicatec is a member of the Mixtecan branch of the Oto-Manguean language family. It is spoken by about 13,000 people in the state of Oaxaca in southern Mexico. In particular, it is spoken in the towns of San Juan Tepeuxila and San Pedro Teutila in the northwest of Oaxaca. The majority of adults over 60 speak Cuicatec and Spanish, while younger people speak mainly or only Spanish.
Each of the towns where Cuicatec is spoken has its own variety of the language, which are classified as separate languages in some sources. The name Cuicatec comes from a Nahuatl name meaning "place of singers". Cuicatec speakers call their language Dbaku [ˈðβaku] or Dibaku [ˈðiβaku].
Cuicatec is written with the Latin alphabet, and is used on a local radio station. It is officially recognised as a national language of Mexico.
Download alphabet charts for Cuicatec (Excel)
Ama guvi ca’an ama tiudi ne, chii ti ama vichi:
—Favor diin di ne cun’een maan di u cati tachi yinaan diin ne gua yii yicand’aa ’nun da’a chi che’e cuicu. Ndicu va daya gua da’a ca’a che’e.
T’eyan naguacuta’an vichi min:
—Chi diin ne gua cut’enu da’a chi ca’ma di. Ivi ne ga’an ya yii u, nacuvi ya nducu cati di ne ducu di. Nducue’en da’a chi va ye’en ya di ne gue’e di. U ne yitavi ya u tanducu chi yitavi ya daya ya min.
One day a mouse said to a cat: "Please leave me alone, because when I see you, I can't even go out to look for food. I'm very hungry, and I have children to feed."
The cat replied: "I'm not going to obey what you say. The master told me you're a thief because you eat everything he has in the house. They still treat me like a son and feed me. That's why I guard his house."
Source: Ama vichi nducu tiudi (The Cat and the Mouse)
Information about Cuicatec languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuicatec_language
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idioma_cuicateco
http://www.language-archives.org/language/cux
https://www.sil.org/resources/search/language/cux
http://www.language-archives.org/language/cut
https://www.sil.org/resources/search/language/cut
Amuzgo, Chinanteco, Chatino, Cuicatec. Mazahua, Mazatec, Mazatec (Chiquihuitlán), Mazatec (Jalapa), Mixtec, Mixtec (Chayuco), Mixtec (Coatzospan), Otomi, Otomi (Acazulco), Otomi (Sierra), Otomi (Temoaya), Popoloca (Northern), Tlapanec, Triqui (Chicahuaxtla), Triqui (Copala), Triqui (San Martín Itunyos), Triqui (Santo Domingo del Estero), Zapotec (Aloápam), Zapotec (Choápam), Zapotec (Güilá), Zapotec (Isthmus), Zapotec (Miahuatlán), Zapotec (Rincón), Zapotec (San Dionisio Ocotepec), Zapotec (Zoogocho)
Languages written with the Latin alphabet
Page created 30.04.26. Last modified: 30.04.26
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