Matlatzinca language

San Francisco Matlatzinca
Bot'una, Matlatzinca, Matlatzinca de San Francisco de los Ranchos
pjiekak'joo
Native to	Mexico
Region	State of Mexico (San Francisco de los Ranchos)
Ethnicity	Matlatzinca
Native speakers	1,245 (2020 census [1][1])
Revival	8a (Moribund)
Language family	Oto-Manguean[2] Western Oto-Manguean Oto-Pame-Chinantecan Oto-Pamean Matlatzincan-Ocuilteco San Francisco Matlatzinca
Writing system	Unwritten
Official status
Official language in	Mexico
Regulated by	Secretariat of Public Education (SEP)
Language codes
ISO 639-3	mat
Glottolog	sanf1262
ELP	Matlatzinca
Reach of the Matlatzinca languages at the start of the 20th century, and their probable expansion during the 16th century.

Matlatzinca, or more specifically San Francisco Matlatzinca, is an endangered Oto-Manguean language of Western Central Mexico.^[3] The name of the language in the language itself is pjiekak'joo.^[4] The term "Matlatzinca" comes from the town's name in Nahuatl, meaning "the lords of the network." At one point, the Matlatzinca groups were called "pirindas," meaning "those in the middle."^[5]

The first group or groups of Matlatzincas likely settled in the Toluca Valley around the 12th century. After other groups began to settle around and within it, the Matlatzinca territory became an important hub of economic activity. The economic activity prompted the Nahuatl language to become the dominant language in the area. At this point, Matlatzinca communities began losing their language.^[5]

Since the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, the group has lost much of their territory. As Franciscan orders began arriving in the territory and evangelizing to the natives, missionaries were forced to learn the languages and create grammars. In 1565 before epidemics ravaged the native populations of New Spain, it was estimated that there were perhaps 180,000 people who spoke Matlatzinca.^[5]

There are fewer and fewer speakers of San Francisco Matlatzinca. Even in a majority bilingual population, the use of Spanish is becoming increasingly dominant. The language is only spoken among the older generation and very few young people, and because Spanish is so necessary to know outside of the community, it has begun to replace the Matlatzinca language. In 2020, San Francisco Matlatzinca was spoken by around 1,245 people.^[5] Even though Matlatzinca is a moribund language, it is recognized as an official language of Mexico along with Spanish and dozens of other native languages. At any one time, about half the population is in the village of San Francisco Oxtotilpan and half away in Mexico City.

There is little hope that the language will persist even though younger speakers exist, but there are revitalization efforts that focus on documenting recorded audio-visual interviews, Spanish-translated materials, transcriptions, glosses, and annotated materials. This database was put together in 2019 by Enrique L. Palancar and Leonardo Carranza. Though it is not supposed to be a revitalization project exactly, the database provides materials to aid in future revitalization efforts.^[6]