Tlapanec language

Tlapanec
Me̱ꞌpha̱a̱
Native to	Mexico
Region	Guerrero, Morelos
Ethnicity	Tlapanec
Native speakers	150,000 (2020 census)[1]
Language family	Oto-Manguean Tlapanecan Tlapanec
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Variously: tcf – Malinaltepec (east) tpc – Azoyú (south) tpl – Tlacoapa (central) tpx – Acatepec (west)
Linguist List	qpc Tlapanec
Glottolog	subt1249  Tlapanec + Subtiaba
ELP	Tlapanec
Tlapanec (Ochre, number 13) and the rest of the modern Oto-Manguean languages

Tlapanec /ˈtlæpənɛk/, or Meꞌphaa, is an indigenous Mexican language spoken by more than 98,000 Tlapanec people in the state of Guerrero.^[2] Like other Oto-Manguean languages, it is tonal and has complex inflectional morphology. The ethnic group themselves refer to their ethnic identity and language as Me̱ꞌpha̱a̱ [meʔpʰaː].^[3]

Before much information was known about it, Tlapanec (sometimes written "Tlappanec" in earlier publications) was either considered unclassified or linked to the controversial Hokan language family. It is now definitively considered part of the Oto-Manguean language family, of which it forms its own branch along with the extinct and very closely related Subtiaba language of Nicaragua.^[4]

Meꞌphaa people temporarily move to other locations, including Mexico City, Morelos and various locations in the United States, for reasons of work.