Ethnologue:
Languages of Honduras
Twentieth edition data
Gary F. Simons and Charles D. Fennig, Editors
Based on information from the Ethnologue, 20th edition:
Simons, Gary F. and Charles D. Fennig (eds.). 2017. Ethnologue:
Languages of the World, Twentieth edition. Dallas, Texas: SIL International.
Online:
http://www.ethnologue.com
.
For personal use only
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may be obtained through the Copyright Clearance Center at
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Contents
List of Abbreviations
3
How to Use This Digest
4
Country Overview
6
Language Status Profile
7
Statistical Summaries
8
Alphabetical Listing of Languages
11
Language Map
14
Languages by Population
15
Languages by Status
16
Languages by Department
18
Languages by Family
19
Language Code Index
20
Language Name Index
21
Bibliography
22
Copyright © 2017 by SIL International
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, redistributed, or
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Ethnologue: Languages of Honduras
2
List of Abbreviations
A
Agent in constituent word order
alt.
alternate name for
alt. dial.
alternate dialect name for
C
Consonant in canonical syllable patterns
CDE
Convention against Discrimination in Education (1960)
Class
Language classification
CPPDCE
Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions
(2005)
CSICH
Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage (2003)
dial.
primary dialect name for
ICCPR
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966)
ILOCITP
ILO Convention on Indigenous and Tribal People no. 169 (1989)
km
kilometer(s)
L1 / L2
first language / second (or other additional) language
Lg Dev
Language development
Lg Use
Language use
m
meter(s)
P
Patient in constituent word order
pej.
pejorative
pl.
plural
S
Subject in constituent word order
sg.
singular
SIL
SIL International
SOV
Subject-Object-Verb
Type
Typological information
UNDRIP
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007)
UNSD
United Nations Statistics Division
USCB
United States Census Bureau
V
Vowel in canonical syllable patterns
VSO
Verb-Subject-Object
Ethnologue: Languages of Honduras
3
How to Use This Digest
This Ethnologue country digest provides an extract of the information about the language situation
in Honduras that is published in the 20th edition of Ethnologue: Languages of the World (see
http://www.ethnologue.com
), including some ways of presenting the information that are not
available in the online version. The digest begins with a “Country Overview” (page
6
) and
“Statistical Summaries” (page
8
) of languages and number of speakers by language size, by
language status, and by language family.
The “Alphabetical Listing of Languages” (page
11
) provides detailed information on the 10
languages listed in the Ethnologue for the country of Honduras. This includes languages that are
either indigenous to the country or which immigrated in the past resulting in well-established
multigenerational speaker communities. A complete language entry has the following form and
content:
Primary language name
[ISO 639-3 code] (Alternate names). Autonym. Country
speaker population. Population stability comment. L2 population. Monolingual
population. Population remarks. Ethnic population. Location. Status: EGIDS level.
Language function in country. Class: Linguistic classification. Macrolanguage
membership. Dialects: Dialect names. Intelligibility and dialect relations. Lexical
similarity. Type: Linguistic typology information. Lg Use: Viability remarks.
Domains of use. User age groups. Language attitudes. Bilingualism remarks. Use
as second language. Lg Dev: Literacy rates. Literacy remarks. Use in elementary or
secondary schools. Publications and use in media. Revitalization efforts. Language
development agencies. Writing: Scripts used. Other: General remarks. Religion.
Worldwide: Total population in all countries. Other countries where used.
See
http://www.ethnologue.com/about/language-info
for a full description of these information
elements. If the autonym contains the "?” character, this indicates a complex non-Roman character
that the PDF-creating software we are using is not able to render. We regret the inconvenience.
Many ways of finding languages are provided. “Languages by Population” (page
15
) lists the
languages in order of their first-language speaker populations. “Languages by Status” (page
16
)
lists the languages by their level of development or endangerment as measured on EGIDS, the
Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale (Lewis and Simons 2010). “Languages by
Department” (page
18
) lists the top-level administrative subdivisions of Honduras and the
languages located within each. “Languages by Family” (page
19
) lists the languages by their
linguistic classifications. “Language Code Index” (page
20
) gives an alphabetical listing of all the
three-letter codes from ISO 639-3 that are used in this digest to uniquely identify languages.
“Language Name Index” (page
21
) lists every name that appears in the language listings as a
primary or alternate name of a language or dialect. A total of 30 unique names are associated with
the 10 languages described in this digest.
Finally, a listing of all the published sources cited within this digest is found in “Bibliography”
(page
22
). The published sources are cited using standard in-text citations enclosed in parentheses,
Ethnologue: Languages of Honduras
4
consisting of the author’s or editor’s surname followed by the year of publication. Unpublished
sources including personal communications and unpublished reports are also acknowledged when
specific statements or facts are attributed to them. They are identified using in-text citations
enclosed in parentheses in which the year of the communication is given first, followed by the
source’s first initial and surname. In such a case, there is no corresponding entry in the
bibliography.
This digest is designed for use in both digital and print formats. The cross-references are thus
rendered as page numbers that are hyperlinks. When using the document in printed form, simply
turn to the referenced page by number. When using it in digital form, click on the blue text to jump
to the cross-referenced location.
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to supply missing information, please send your proposed change to the editor using one of the
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Full bibliographic details of published sources are especially helpful.
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Ethnologue: Languages of Honduras
5
Country Overview
Name of country
Honduras
Other names
Republic of Honduras
Population
8,215,000 (2012 UNSD)
Principal language
Spanish
Literacy rate
87% (2014 USCB)
Immigrant languages
Arabic (42,000), Armenian (1,300), Yue Chinese (1,000)
Deaf population
18,000–70,000
International conventions CDE (2013), CPPDCE (2010), CSICH (2006), ICCPR (1997),
ILOCITP (1995), UNDRIP (2007)
General references
Campbell 1997, Campbell and Oltrogge 1980, Oltrogge 1977, Rivas
1993
Language counts
The number of individual languages listed for
Honduras is 10. All are living languages. Of
these, 8 are indigenous and 2 are non-
indigenous. Furthermore, 1 is institutional, 6 are
developing, and 3 are dying.
See the next page for an explanation of the summary categories for language vitality used in the
above counts and graph.
Ethnologue: Languages of Honduras
6
Language Status Profile
The following histogram gives a graphic profile of languages in Honduras with respect to their
status of language development versus language endangerment. Each individual language that
appears in the “Alphabetical Listing of Languages” (page
11
) is included in the profile. The
horizontal axis represents the estimated level of development or endangerment as measured on the
EGIDS scale (Lewis and Simons 2010). The height of each bar indicates the number of languages
that are estimated to be at the given level. Consult “Languages by Status” (page
16
) in order to see
the specific languages for each level.
The color coding of the bars in the histogram above matches the color scheme used in the
summary profile graph on the preceding page. In this scheme, the EGIDS levels are grouped as
follows:
• Purple = Institutional (EGIDS 0-4) — The language has been developed to the point that it is
used and sustained by institutions beyond the home and community.
• Blue = Developing (EGIDS 5) — The language is in vigorous use, with literature in a
standardized form being used by some though this is not yet widespread or sustainable.
• Green = Vigorous (EGIDS 6a) — The language is in vigorous use among all generations and
remains unstandardized.
• Yellow = In trouble (EGIDS 6b-7) — Intergenerational transmission is in the process of
being broken, but the child-bearing generation can still use the language so it is possible that
revitalization efforts could restore transmission of the language in the home.
• Red = Dying (EGIDS 8a-9) — The only fluent users (if any) are older than child-bearing age,
so it is too late to restore natural intergenerational transmission through the home; a
mechanism outside the home would need to be developed.
• Black = Extinct (EGIDS 10) — The language is no longer used and no one retains a sense of
ethnic identity associated with the language.
Ethnologue: Languages of Honduras
7
Statistical Summaries
The “Alphabetical Listing of Languages” (page
11
) provides a detailed listing of all the languages
of Honduras. This section steps back from the detail to offer a summary view of the language
situation in the country. Specifically, it offers numerical tabulations of living languages and
number of speakers by language size, by language status, and by language family.
Summary by language size
Table 1 summarizes the distribution of living languages in Honduras by number of L1 speakers.
The Population range column categorizes the sizes of the languages by order of magnitude (in
terms of the number of digits in the population of first-language speakers). Consult “Languages by
Population” (page
15
) for a listing of the specific languages in each range category.
The Count column gives the number of living languages within the specified population range.
The Percent column gives the share of the count for that population range as a percentage of the
total number of languages given at the bottom of the Count column. The Cumulative column gives
the cumulative sum of the percentage of languages going from top to bottom in the column.
The Total column gives the total population of all the languages in the given range category.
The second Percent column gives the percentage of the total country population as estimated at the
bottom of the Total column. Note that if the table has a row for Unknown, representing languages
for which the Ethnologue does not have a population estimate, the calculation of population
percentage is not able to take those languages into account. The final Cumulative column gives the
cumulative sums of the population percentages going from top to bottom in the column.
Table 1: Distribution of languages by number of first-language speakers
Living languages
Number of speakers
Population range
Count Percent Cumulative
Total
Percent
Cumulative
1,000,000 to 9,999,999
1
10.0
10.0% 7,980,000
98.02777
98.02777%
10,000 to 99,999
3
30.0
40.0%
158,500
1.94704
99.97482%
100 to 999
3
30.0
70.0%
2,040
0.02506
99.99988%
10 to 99
1
10.0
80.0%
10
0.00012 100.00000%
0
1
10.0
90.0%
0
0.00000 100.00000%
Unknown
1
10.0
100.0%
Totals
10
100.0
8,140,550 100.00000
Ethnologue: Languages of Honduras
8
Summary by language status
Table 2 summarizes the distribution of living languages in Honduras by their status in terms of
language development or language endangerment. The EGIDS column categorizes the languages
by their level on the EGIDS scale. Consult “Languages by Status” (page
16
) for a listing of the
specific languages that have been assigned to each level. Note that the EGIDS level reported here
is for the status of the language in Honduras. Languages that are also used in other countries may
be assigned to a different EGIDS level in those countries.
The next six columns are as in Table 1. In addition, the Mean column gives the average
population of all the languages with the given EGIDS level and the Median column gives the
median population for the languages at that level, that is, half of the languages at that level have a
higher population and half have a lower population. If there are any languages with an unknown
population, these are ignored in the calculation of the mean and the median.
Table 2: Distribution of languages by vitality status
Living languages
Number of speakers
EGIDS
Count Percent Cumulative
Total
Percent
Cumulative
Mean
Median
1
1
10.0
10.0% 7,980,000
98.0278
98.0278% 7,980,000 7,980,000
5
6
60.0
70.0%
159,550
1.9599
99.9877%
26,592
29,000
8a
1
10.0
80.0%
990
0.0122
99.9999%
990
990
8b
1
10.0
90.0%
10
0.0001
100.0000%
10
10
9
1
10.0
100.0%
0
0.0000
100.0000%
0
0
Totals
10
100.0
8,140,550 100.0000
Summary by language family
The genetic classifications given in the language entries of the “Alphabetical Listing of
Languages” (page
11
) name 8 different top-level genetic groups. Table 3 summarizes the
distribution of living languages and their populations within these families. The columns are as for
table 2, with the exception that Cumulative is excluded since there is no inherent ordering of the
families.
Table 3: Distribution of languages by language family
Living languages Number of speakers
Language family
Count
Percent
Total
Percent
Mean
Median
Chibchan
1
10.0
990
0.0
990
990
Indo-European
2
20.0 8,011,500
98.4 4,005,750 4,005,750
Ethnologue: Languages of Honduras
9
Living languages Number of speakers
Language family
Count
Percent
Total
Percent
Mean
Median
Jicaquean
1
10.0
350
0.0
350
350
Lencan
1
10.0
0
0.0
0
0
Maipurean
1
10.0
98,000
1.2
98,000
98,000
Mayan
1
10.0
10
0.0
10
10
Misumalpan
2
20.0
29,700
0.4
14,850
14,850
Sign language
1
10.0 Unknown
Totals
10
100.0 8,140,550
100.0
Ethnologue: Languages of Honduras
10
Alphabetical Listing of Languages
Ch’orti’
[caa]. 10 (1997 R. Reeck). Copán department: along Guatemala border. Status: 8b
(Nearly extinct). Class: Mayan, Yucatecan-Core Mayan, Core Mayan, Cholan-Tzeltalan,
Cholan, Chorti-Cholti. Type: VOS. Lg Dev: Dictionary. Grammar. NT: 1997–2012. Writing:
Latin script. Map:
14
. Worldwide: Total users in all countries: 30,010. Global EGIDS level: 5
(Developing). Also indigenous in: Guatemala.
English
[eng] (Inglés). Autonym: English. 31,500 (2001). 22,500 Bay Islands English speakers on
the north coast. Islas de la Bahía department: large cities along north mainland coast. Status: 5
(Dispersed). Class: Indo-European, Germanic, West, English. Dialect: Bay Islands English.
Type: SVO; prepositions; genitives after noun heads; articles, adjectives, numerals before noun
heads; question word initial; word order distinguishes subject, object, indirect objects, given
and new information, topic and comment; active and passive; causative; comparative;
consonant and vowel clusters; 24 consonants, 13 vowels, 8 diphthongs; non-tonal; free stress;
phrasal verbs. Lg Use: Used as L2 by Garifuna [
cab
]. Lg Dev: Fully developed. Bible:
1382–2002. Writing: Braille script. Deseret Alphabet, developed in 1854 with limited usage
until 1877. Latin script, primary usage. Shavian (Shaw) script, no longer in use. Other: Non-
indigenous. Some creole influence. Map:
14
. Worldwide: Total users in all countries:
983,522,920 (as L1: 371,959,910; as L2: 611,563,010). Global EGIDS level: 0 (International).
Indigenous in: Ireland, Isle of Man, United Kingdom. Also established in: American Samoa,
Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Australia, Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Belize,
Bermuda, Bhutan, Botswana, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Brunei,
Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Caribbean Netherlands, Cayman Islands, China–Hong Kong,
Cook Islands, Curacao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji,
Gambia, Ghana, Gibraltar, Grenada, Guam, Guernsey, Guyana, India, Israel, Jamaica, Jersey,
Kenya, Kiribati, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta,
Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Micronesia, Montserrat, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands,
New Zealand, Nigeria, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Oman, Pakistan,
Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Pitcairn, Puerto Rico, Rwanda, Saint Barthélemy, Saint
Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Martin, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Vincent and the
Grenadines, Samoa, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Sint Maarten, Solomon Islands,
Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tokelau, Tonga,
Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, U.S. Virgin Islands, Uganda, United
Arab Emirates, United States, Vanuatu, Zambia, Zimbabwe. Immigrant language in: Andorra,
Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bulgaria, Chile, China–Macao, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark,
Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Italy,
Japan, Latvia, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania,
São Tomé e Príncipe, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Suriname,
Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Venezuela.
Ethnologue: Languages of Honduras
11
Garifuna
[cab] (Black Carib, Caribe, Central American Carib, Island Carib). 98,000 (Rivas 1993).
100 monolinguals. Atlántida and Colón departments; Cortes department: north coast between
Masca and Plaplaya in Gracias a Dios department; Islas de la Bahía (Roatan island)
department; cities: La Ceiba, Puerto Cortés, San Pedro Sula, and Tegucigalpa; 37 villages.
Status: 5 (Developing). Class: Maipurean, Northern, Maritime, Ta-Maipurean, Iñeri. Dialects:
Western Garifuna, Eastern Garifuna. Eastern Garifuna dialect is in Honduras and Nicaragua
(leaves out, r, and tends to shorten words), Western Garifuna in Guatemala and Belize. Related
to Island Carib [car], with Spanish [
spa
], English [
eng
], and French [fra] borrowings. Type:
VSO. Lg Use: Shifting to Spanish [
spa
] in some villages. All domains. Positive attitudes. Also
use English [
eng
], Spanish [
spa
]. Lg Dev: Literacy rate in L1: 1%–5%. Literacy rate in L2:
5%–15%. Radio. Dictionary. Grammar. Texts. Bible: 2002. Writing: Latin script. Other:
Ancestors taken from Saint Vincent Island in 1796–1797, and taken to Roatan Island. Most
went to Trujillo, Honduras in 1937. About 35 years later political troubles threatened their
existence, and they fled further east into Honduras and Belize. Later they emigrated to other
countries. Christian, traditional religion. Map:
14
. Worldwide: Total users in all countries:
175,000. Also indigenous in: Belize, Guatemala. Also established in: Nicaragua. Immigrant
language in: United States.
Honduras Sign Language
[hds] (Honduran Sign Language, LESHO, Lengua de Señas
Hondureñas). Scattered. Status: 5 (Developing). Class: Sign language. Dialects: None known.
Regional variations: deaf people along the North coast have some distinct signs from deaf
people in the southern part of the country. Lg Dev: At least 12 institutions offer primary
education for deaf Hondurans with Honduran Sign Language as their communication
philosophy.
Lenca
[len]. No known L1 speakers. Some semi-speakers (Adelaar 2007). Ethnic population:
100,000. Comayagua, Francisco Morazán, Intibucá, La Paz, Lempira, and Valle departments.
Status: 9 (Dormant). Class: Lencan. Dialects: None known. Some considered it Macro-
Chibchan. Writing: Unwritten.
Mayangna
[yan] (Sumu). 700 (1997 SIL). Ethnic population: 1,030 (McSweeney 2002). Colón
department: southeast corner; Gracias a Dios and Olancho departments: between Patuca and
Wanki rivers. Status: 5 (Dispersed). Class: Misumalpan. Dialect: Twahka. Type: SOV. Lg Use:
All ages. Lg Dev: Literacy rate in L1: 10%–30%. Dictionary. Bible: 1999. Writing: Latin
script. Map:
14
. Worldwide: Total users in all countries: 8,700. Global EGIDS level: 2
(Provincial). Also indigenous in: Nicaragua.
Mískito
[miq] (Marquito, Mosquito, Mískitu, Mísquito). Autonym: Mískitu. 29,000 (Rivas 1993).
Colón department; Gracias a Dios and Olancho departments, south, Coco river watershed;
coastal area, and northwest from Puerto Lempira. Status: 5 (Dispersed). Class: Misumalpan.
Type: SOV; articles, relatives after noun heads, word order distinguishes subject and object;
verb affixes mark person and number; ergative; passive; CVC; nontonal. Lg Use: All ages.
Also use Spanish [
spa
]. Lg Dev: Literacy rate in L1: 1%–10%. Literacy rate in L2: 5%–25%.
Ethnologue: Languages of Honduras
12
Dictionary. Grammar. Bible: 1999. Writing: Latin script. Map:
14
. Worldwide: Total users in
all countries: 143,000. Global EGIDS level: 2 (Provincial). Also indigenous in: Nicaragua.
Pech
[pay] (Paya, Seco). 990 (Rivas 1993). Ethnic population: 2,590 (Rivas 1993). Colón
department: near Caribbean coast; Olancho department: Dulce Nombre de Culmi and
Catamacas municipalities. Status: 8a (Moribund). Class: Chibchan, Chibchan B. Type: SOV.
Lg Use: Use Pech more in Agua Amarilla and La Laguna in El Carbón. Shifting to Spanish
[
spa
]. Older adults. Also use Spanish [
spa
]. Lg Dev: Grammar. Writing: Unwritten. Other:
Much community interest to preserve the Pech language, and some work is being done to
preserve it. Map:
14
.
Spanish
[spa] (Castellano, Español). Autonym: Castellano, Español. 8,128,000 in Honduras, all
users. L1 users: 7,980,000 (2011). L2 users: 148,000 (2011). Status: 1 (National). Statutory
national language (1982, Constitution, Article 6). Class: Indo-European, Italic, Romance,
Italo-Western, Western, Gallo-Iberian, Ibero-Romance, West Iberian, Castilian. Type: SVO;
prepositions; genitives, relatives after noun heads; articles, numerals before noun heads;
adjectives before or after noun heads depending on whether it is evaluative or descriptive;
question word initial; gender (masculine/feminine); definite and indefinite articles; verb affixes
mark number, person; passives; tense; comparatives; 20 consonants, 5 vowels, 5 diphthongs;
non-tonal; stress on penultimate syllable. Silbo Gomero whistled variety of Spanish used in
Canary Islands. Lg Dev: Fully developed. Bible: 1553–2012. Writing: Braille script. Latin
script, primary usage. Other: Non-indigenous. Worldwide: Total users in all countries:
527,976,150 (as L1: 436,667,750; as L2: 91,308,400). Global EGIDS level: 0 (International).
Indigenous in: Andorra, Gibraltar, Spain. Also established in: Argentina, Belize, Bolivia,
Caribbean Netherlands, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Curacao, Dominican Republic,
Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, France, Guatemala, Mexico, Morocco, Nicaragua,
Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago, United States,
Uruguay, Venezuela. Immigrant language in: Algeria, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Belgium,
Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Cayman Islands, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Finland,
Germany, Guam, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands,
New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Sint Maarten,
Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, U.S. Virgin Islands, United Kingdom, Western
Sahara.
Tol
[jic] (Jicaque, Tolpan, Xicaque). 350 (1997). Ethnic population: 19,600 (1990 Educación
Comunitaria para la Salud-Honduras). 19,000 in Yoro Department. Francisco Morazán
department: Montaña de la Flor and Yoro. Status: 5 (Developing). Class: Jicaquean. Dialects:
No distinct dialects. It may be distantly related to Subtiaba [sut] of Nicaragua (no remaining
speakers), Malinaltepec Me’phaa [tcf] of Mexico, or the Hokan languages. Type: SOV. Lg
Use: All ages. Also use Spanish [
spa
]. Lg Dev: Literacy rate in L1: 5%–10%. Literacy rate in
L2: 5%–15%. Dictionary. NT: 1993–2010. Writing: Latin script. Other: Christian, traditional
religion. Map:
14
.
Ethnologue: Languages of Honduras
13
Language Map
Ethnologue: Languages of Honduras
14
Languages by Population
In this section the languages of Honduras are listed in order of their population of first-language
speakers within the country, from highest to lowest. The entries report just the population and
status elements.
1,000,000 to 9,999,999
Spanish
[
spa
] 7,980,000 (2011). L2 users: 148,000 (2011). Status: 1 (National). Statutory national
language (1982, Constitution, Article 6).
10,000 to 99,999
Garifuna
[
cab
] 98,000 (Rivas 1993). Population total all countries: 175,000. 100 monolinguals.
Status: 5 (Developing).
English
[
eng
] 31,500 (2001). 22,500 Bay Islands English speakers on the north coast. Status: 5
(Dispersed).
Mískito
[
miq
] 29,000 (Rivas 1993). Status: 5 (Dispersed).
100 to 999
Pech
[
pay
] 990 (Rivas 1993). Ethnic population: 2,590 (Rivas 1993). Status: 8a (Moribund).
Mayangna
[
yan
] 700 (1997 SIL). Ethnic population: 1,030 (McSweeney 2002). Status: 5
(Dispersed).
Tol
[
jic
] 350 (1997). Ethnic population: 19,600 (1990 Educación Comunitaria para la Salud-
Honduras). 19,000 in Yoro Department. Status: 5 (Developing).
10 to 99
Ch’orti’
[
caa
] 10 (1997 R. Reeck). Status: 8b (Nearly extinct).
0
Lenca
[
len
] No known L1 speakers. Some semi-speakers (Adelaar 2007). Ethnic population:
100,000. Status: 9 (Dormant).
Unknown
Honduras Sign Language
[
hds
] Status: 5 (Developing).
Ethnologue: Languages of Honduras
15
Languages by Status
In this section the languages of Honduras are listed in order of their status within the country as
represented by their level on the EGIDs scale (Lewis and Simons 2010). The language entries are
reduced to just the information elements that are relevant to assessing the EGIDS level:
population, status, language use, language development, and writing.
1 (National)
Spanish
[
spa
] 7,980,000 (2011). L2 users: 148,000 (2011). Status: Statutory national language
(1982, Constitution, Article 6). Writing: Braille script. Latin script, primary usage.
5 (Developing)
Garifuna
[
cab
] 98,000 (Rivas 1993). Population total all countries: 175,000. 100 monolinguals. Lg
Use: Shifting to Spanish [
spa
] in some villages. All domains. Positive attitudes. Also use
English [
eng
], Spanish [
spa
]. Lg Dev: Literacy rate in L1: 1%–5%. Literacy rate in L2:
5%–15%. Radio. Dictionary. Grammar. Texts. Bible: 2002. Writing: Latin script.
Honduras Sign Language
[
hds
] Lg Dev: At least 12 institutions offer primary education for deaf
Hondurans with Honduran Sign Language as their communication philosophy.
Tol
[
jic
] 350 (1997). Ethnic population: 19,600 (1990 Educación Comunitaria para la Salud-
Honduras). 19,000 in Yoro Department. Lg Use: All ages. Also use Spanish [
spa
]. Lg Dev:
Literacy rate in L1: 5%–10%. Literacy rate in L2: 5%–15%. Dictionary. NT: 1993–2010.
Writing: Latin script.
5 (Dispersed)
English
[
eng
] 31,500 (2001). 22,500 Bay Islands English speakers on the north coast. Lg Use:
Used as L2 by Garifuna [
cab
]. Writing: Braille script. Deseret Alphabet, developed in 1854
with limited usage until 1877. Latin script, primary usage. Shavian (Shaw) script, no longer in
use.
Mayangna
[
yan
] 700 (1997 SIL). Ethnic population: 1,030 (McSweeney 2002). Lg Use: All ages.
Lg Dev: Literacy rate in L1: 10%–30%. Writing: Latin script.
Mískito
[
miq
] 29,000 (Rivas 1993). Lg Use: All ages. Also use Spanish [
spa
]. Lg Dev: Literacy
rate in L1: 1%–10%. Literacy rate in L2: 5%–25%. Writing: Latin script.
Ethnologue: Languages of Honduras
16
8a (Moribund)
Pech
[
pay
] 990 (Rivas 1993). Ethnic population: 2,590 (Rivas 1993). Lg Use: Use Pech more in
Agua Amarilla and La Laguna in El Carbón. Shifting to Spanish [
spa
]. Older adults. Also use
Spanish [
spa
]. Lg Dev: Grammar. Writing: Unwritten.
8b (Nearly extinct)
Ch’orti’
[
caa
] 10 (1997 R. Reeck). Writing: Latin script.
9 (Dormant)
Lenca
[
len
] No known L1 speakers. Some semi-speakers (Adelaar 2007). Ethnic population:
100,000. Writing: Unwritten.
Ethnologue: Languages of Honduras
17
Languages by Department
This index gives an alphabetical listing of the top-level administrative subdivisions within
Honduras. Under the name of each department is a list of the language communities that are
located within its area.
Atlántida
Garifuna [cab],
12
Colón
Garifuna [cab],
12
Mayangna [yan],
12
Mískito [miq],
12
Pech [pay],
13
Comayagua
Lenca [len],
12
Copán
Ch’orti’ [caa],
11
Cortés
Garifuna [cab],
12
Francisco Morazán
Lenca [len],
12
Tol [jic],
13
Gracias a Dios
Garifuna [cab],
12
Mayangna [yan],
12
Mískito [miq],
12
Intibucá
Lenca [len],
12
Islas de la Bahía
English [eng],
11
Garifuna [cab],
12
La Paz
Lenca [len],
12
Lempira
Lenca [len],
12
Olancho
Mayangna [yan],
12
Mískito [miq],
12
Pech [pay],
13
Valle
Lenca [len],
12
Ethnologue: Languages of Honduras
18
Languages by Family
This index gives an alphabetical listing of the linguistic classifications used for the languages of
Honduras. The entries in this index represent the full path in the linguistic family tree from the
highest level grouping down to the lowest. All the languages listed in the same entry are members
of the same lowest-level subgroup. The referenced page contains the main entry that describes the
language.
Chibchan, Chibchan B
Pech [pay],
13
Indo-European, Germanic, West, English
English [eng],
11
Indo-European, Italic, Romance, Italo-Western, Western, Gallo-Iberian, Ibero-Romance,
West Iberian, Castilian
Spanish [spa],
13
Jicaquean
Tol [jic],
13
Lencan
Lenca [len],
12
Maipurean, Northern, Maritime, Ta-Maipurean, Iñeri
Garifuna [cab],
12
Mayan, Yucatecan-Core Mayan, Core Mayan, Cholan-Tzeltalan, Cholan, Chorti-Cholti
Ch’orti’ [caa],
11
Misumalpan
Mayangna [yan],
12
Mískito [miq],
12
Sign language
Honduras Sign Language [hds],
12
Ethnologue: Languages of Honduras
19
Language Code Index
This index gives an alphabetical listing of all 10 three-letter codes that are used in this work to
uniquely identify languages. The referenced page contains the main entry that describes the
language. All codes listed are part of the ISO 639-3 standard; see
http://www.sil.org/iso639-3/
.
caa
Ch’orti’,
11
cab
Garifuna,
12
eng
English,
11
hds
Honduras Sign Language,
12
jic
Tol,
13
len
Lenca,
12
miq
Mískito,
12
pay
Pech,
13
spa
Spanish,
13
yan
Mayangna,
12
Ethnologue: Languages of Honduras
20
Language Name Index
This index lists every name that appears in the language listings as a primary or alternate name of
a language or dialect. The following abbreviations are used in the index entries: alt. ‘alternate
name for’; alt. dial. ‘alternate name for a dialect of’; dial. ‘primary name for a dialect of’; pej. alt.
‘pejorative alternate name for’; and pej. alt. dial. ‘pejorative alternate name for a dialect of’. Each
index entry resolves to the primary name for the language with which the indexed name is
associated, followed by square brackets containing the unique three-letter language code from ISO
639-3. The referenced page contains the main entry that describes the language. If the language
appears on a map, the entry for the primary name also lists page numbers for the maps on which
the language occurs.
Bay Islands English
, dial. English [eng],
11
Black Carib
, alt. Garifuna [cab],
12
Caribe
, alt. Garifuna [cab],
12
Castellano
, alt. Spanish [spa],
13
Central American Carib
, alt. Garifuna [cab],
12
Ch’orti’
[caa],
11
,
14
Eastern Garifuna
, dial. Garifuna [cab],
12
English
[eng],
11
,
14
Español
, alt. Spanish [spa],
13
Garifuna
[cab],
12
,
14
Honduran Sign Language
, alt. Honduras Sign
Language [hds],
12
Honduras Sign Language
[hds],
12
Inglés
, alt. English [eng],
11
Island Carib
, alt. Garifuna [cab],
12
Jicaque
, alt. Tol [jic],
13
Lenca
[len],
12
Lengua de Señas Hondureñas
, alt. Honduras
Sign Language [hds],
12
LESHO
, alt. Honduras Sign Language [hds],
12
Marquito
, alt. Mískito [miq],
12
Mayangna
[yan],
12
,
14
Mískito
[miq],
12
,
14
Mískitu
, alt. Mískito [miq],
12
Mísquito
, alt. Mískito [miq],
12
Mosquito
, alt. Mískito [miq],
12
Paya
, alt. Pech [pay],
13
Pech
[pay],
13
,
14
Seco
, alt. Pech [pay],
13
Spanish
[spa],
13
Sumu
, alt. Mayangna [yan],
12
Tol
[jic],
13
,
14
Tolpan
, alt. Tol [jic],
13
Twahka
, dial. Mayangna [yan],
12
Western Garifuna
, dial. Garifuna [cab],
12
Xicaque
, alt. Tol [jic],
13
Ethnologue: Languages of Honduras
21
Bibliography
Adelaar, W. F. H. 2007. Meso-America. In C. Moseley (ed.), Encyclopedia of the world’s
endangered languages, pp. 197–210. London: Routledge.
Campbell, L. 1997. American Indian languages: The historical linguistics of Native America.
Oxford Studies in Anthropological Linguistics 4. New York: Oxford University Press.
Campbell, L. and D. Oltrogge. 1980. Proto-Tol (Jicaque). International Journal of American
Linguistics 46:205–223.
Johnstone, P. and J. Mandryk. 2001. Operation world. Waynesboro: Paternoster Lifestyle.
Lewis, M. P. and G. F. Simons. 2010. Assessing endangerment: Expanding Fishman’s GIDS.
Revue Roumaine de Linguistique 55(2):103–120.
http://www.lingv.ro/
RRL_2_2010_art01Lewis.pdf
. Accessed 11 January 2011.
McSweeney, K. 2002. A demographic profile of the Tawahka Amerindians of Honduras.
Geographical Review 92(3):398–414.
Oltrogge, D. 1977. Proto-Jicaque Subtiaba-Tequistlateco: A comparative reconstruction. M.A.
thesis, University of Texas at Arlington.
Rivas, R. D. 1993. Pueblos indígenas y garífuna de Honduras: Una caracterización. Tegucigalpa,
Honduras: Editorial Guaymuras.
Ethnologue: Languages of Honduras
22
Document Outline - Contents
- List of Abbreviations
- How to Use This Digest
- Country Overview
- Language Status Profile
- Statistical Summaries
- Summary by language size
- Summary by language status
- Summary by language family
- Alphabetical Listing of Languages
- Language Map
- Languages by Population
- 1,000,000 to 9,999,999
- 10,000 to 99,999
- 100 to 999
- 10 to 99
- 0
- Unknown
- Languages by Status
- 1 (National)
- 5 (Developing)
- 5 (Dispersed)
- 8a (Moribund)
- 8b (Nearly extinct)
- 9 (Dormant)
- Languages by Department
- Languages by Family
- Language Code Index
- Language Name Index
- Bibliography
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