Tabasco-Chontal

Tabasco Chontal (Yokot'an, also called Yokot'an, sometimes Chontal Maya) is a Cholan Mayan language of the Mexican Gulf coast in Tabasco state. The Chontal Maya are direct descendants of the lowland Maya who controlled the Putun trade circuit during the Classic and Postclassic periods, linking Yucatán with the Gulf coast and the Mexican highlands. Modern Yokot'an is the closest living relative of Chol (ctu), both sharing the Cholan branch ancestry that produced Classical Mayan glyphic inscriptions. Despite intense pressure from Spanish, communities in Nacajuca and Centla maintain the language alongside traditional practices including ceremonial cacao cultivation.