Mayo
A language of Mexico
| Population | 40,000 (1995 census). 113 monolinguals (1995 census). Ethnic population: 100,000 (1983). |
| Region | Coastal south Sonora around Navojoa (Huatabampo); north Sinaloa (Los Mochis, Guasave, San José Ríos, north of Guamuchil). 100 villages or more. |
| Language map |
Mexico, reference number 8 |
| Dialects | 90% intelligibility with Yaqui [yaq]. |
| Classification | Uto-Aztecan, Southern Uto-Aztecan, Sonoran, Cahita |
| Language use | Government scholarships offered to young people who demonstrate Mayo proficiency. Mainly older adults. Mayo people are reticent to identify as Mayo. The more monolingual avoid contact with outsiders. Prefer Mayo. |
| Language development | Literacy rate in L1: 2%. Literacy rate in L2: 20%. Radio programs. Dictionary. Bible portions: 1962–2000. |
| Writing system | Latin script. |
| Comments | SOV; medium word length, clitics, affixes; nontonal. Peasant agriculturalists; pastoralists; fishermen. Traditional religion, Christian. |
Entries from the SIL Bibliography about this language:
Academic Publications
COLLARD, Elizabeth; COLLARD, Howard, compilers. 1962. Castellano-mayo, mayo-castellano.
HAGBERG, Lawrence R., author. 1988. "Stress and length in Mayo."
HAGBERG, Lawrence R., author. 1989. "Floating accent in Mayo."
HAGBERG, Lawrence R., author. 2000. "Glottal stop in Mayo: Consonant or vowel feature?."
HAGBERG, Lawrence R., author. 2001. "Mayo practical orthography."
HAGBERG, Lawrence R., author. 2006. An autosegmental theory of stress.
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