Linguistic Geography of Huastec (teːnek)

Abstract The present paper aims to show current Huastec (teːnek) linguistic variation and its geographical distribution based on phonological, morphological, lexical and syntactic features. First, it covers the framework known as linguistic geography (geolinguistics) and describes the methodology employed in this study, which is primarily descriptive. Secondly, it presents a discussion regarding previous Huastec dialectal groupings, and the need to go further into the study of its variations. The third part shows several maps that display the variations of the isoglosses, detailing the Western and Eastern dialects' synchronic variation, as well as the linguistic data that support them. In the last section, the research focuses on the Central dialect (Tantoyuca), which has evolved independently from the other dialects at the phonological level, but which clearly shares morphological features with the Western dialect. These features are highly relevant in the grammar of the language, and vital to trace the recent history of the region.