Lenguages of Mexico

Mexico's main language is Spanish however it is a country with a great variety of indigenous languages. There are a total of 364 indigenous languages spoken throughout the country placing it as 5th in the world.

According to the National Institute of Indigenous Languages ​​(INALI) in Mexico, there are 11 linguistic families. Each of the families spread out into 68 different groups that make up for 364 indigenous languages ​​in the country through each of their variants.

Linguistic families are considered to be those with languages ​​whose structural and lexical similarities are due to a common historical origin.

11 families:

1. Álgica.
2. Yuto-nahua.
3. Cochimí-yumana.
4. Seri.
5. Oto-mangue.
6. Maya.
7. Totonaco-tepehua.
8. Tarasca.
9. Mixe-zoque.
10. Chontal de Oaxaca.
11. Huave.

The linguistic grouping is defined as the set of linguistic variants included under the name given historically to indigenous people.

68 groups:

Several variants emerged from the 68 indigenous dialects which are defined as a form of speech that presents structural and lexical differences compared to other variants of the same linguistic group and implies a certain sociolinguistic identity, which differs of other sociolinguistic identities of other variants.

According to INALI, linguistic variants must be treated as a language in all public and social matters such as education, justice, and healthcare.

References:

https://www.inali.gob.mx/clin-inali/

https://edomex.gob.mx/internacional_lengua_materna#:~:text=M%C3%A9xico%20es%20uno%20de%20los,la%20Evaluaci%C3%B3n%20de%20la%20Educaci%C3%B3n.

https://site.inali.gob.mx/Micrositios/DILM2019/diversidad_linguistica.html#:~:text=Por%20otro%20lado%2C%20los%20registros,Nueva%20Guinea%20con%20832%20lenguas.