Page:Appleton's Guide to Mexico.djvu/373



Spanish language, i. e., Castellano, is spoken throughout the Republic of Mexico. Some of the Indians talk Spanish, but the greater part of them have never been willing to give up the speech of their ancestors. The Mexican or Aztec dialect is spoken by a larger number of persons than any other native tongue.

The other languages are the Tarasc, Cora, Otomi, Huastec, Mixtec, Totonac, Tzapotec, Maya, Tepehuan, Popolouc, Caquiquel, Mazahua, Taraumar, and Zotzil.

There is some diiference between the Spanish of Castile and that of Mexico in the use of adjectives and nouns, e. g. , in Mexico, chico, meaning "small," is substituted for pequeño, and temblor, signifying "earthquake," is used for terremoto. There is also a slight difference in pronunciation in the two countries, e.g., the "ll" is pronounced like "y" in the word "year" in Mexico, instead of having the palatal sound. The "z" is pronounced like "s," instead of having the lisped sound of "th" in "thief." The guttural pronunciation of the jota (j) is not as strongly marked as in Spain, and the "d" is not sounded in the middle of a word. There are twenty-seven letters in the Spanish alphabet, every one of which is pronounced, except "h," which is always silent.