伊斯穆斯納瓦特爾語

Isthmus Nahuatl (also Mecayapan-Pajapan Nahuatl, Náhuatl del Istmo) is one of the ~30 modern Nahuatl varieties of Mexico, spoken in three municipalities of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec area in Veracruz. The Nahuan family (descended from Classical Nahuatl nci, the literary language of the Aztec Empire) divides into Eastern Nahuan (including Isthmus) vs. Western Nahuan vs. Pochutec extinct branches. Isthmus Nahuatl is part of the eastern variant cluster, mutually unintelligible with the larger Huasteca Nahuatl (nhe) and Sierra de Puebla Nahuatl varieties. Bilingual education programs since the 1990s have produced standardized literacy materials, with Isthmus Nahuatl notable for preserving classical Nahuatl features (saltillo glottal stops, vowel length distinctions) lost in some western varieties.