Native Mexican languages and cultures
Vídeo: Diversidad de lenguas y culturas
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Hear the linguist Almandina Cárdenas tell about the dizzying number of ethnic languages in Mexico such as Zapoteco, Mixteco, Tzetzal, Tzotzil and Náhuatl amongst others.
Each language offers a new perspective on reality, but unfortunately the abundance of ethnic languages wasn't always held in such high esteem in Mexico as they should have been.
Vocabulario al capítulo
- Sustantivos
dignidad f
diversidad f
gama de tonalidades f
hablante
idioma m = lengua f
ignorancia f
indígena m/f
lástima f -
mundo m
pobreza f >< riqueza f
índice m
Verbos
conservar>< perder
considerar
enseñar >< aprender
respetar
saber (hablar) -
valorar
adjetivos y otros
difícil >< fácil
diverso
inculto
joven
marginado
mayor >< menor
superior >< inferior
Native languages and cultures in Mexico
As linguist Almandina Cárdenas explains in the video, Mexico is one of the countries in the world with greatest biodiversity and one of the richest when it comes to languages and cultures.
Especially the two states of Chiapas and Oaxaca houses many different ethnic groups each with their own language, crafts and traditions.
Biodiversity is a huge resource that has already been discovered by the pharmaceutical and food industries: many active substances in medicine have been found by studying the use of plants in different cultures.
The traditional designs made by skilled Mexican craftsmen have been discovered by the fashion industry, sometimes with grotesque consequences, as when a French designer patented local designs and then demanded that the women she copied them from should pay her for the of use their own cultural heritage.
Unfortunately, the living representatives of the cultures and their different languages are not always held in as high esteem in everyday life of Mexico as are the monuments.
However a new generation of young people are taking pride in their language and cultural heritage. Hear them tell about their live and culture in the next chapters: first in Chiapas, then in Oaxaca
Diversidad biológica
How much did you understand?
1)Por el momento existen 368 lenguas en México
Según la manera de contarlas 68 o 368 lenguas som habladas en México
2)El Zapoteco se habla en Chiapas
El Zapoteco se habla en Oaxaca
3)El Tzotzil es un idioma azteca
El Tzotzil es un idioma Maya y se habla en Chiapas
4)En la escuela los mexicanos aprenden sobre las lenguas indígenas
En la escuela los mexicanos no aprenden nada sobre las lenguas indígenas y muchos mexicanos no conocen la enorme riqueza de idiomas del país.
5)Sólo un 7 por ciento de la población mexicana declara hablar un idioma indígena
Muy poca gente declara hablar un idioma indígena en el censo porque por el momento la riqueza de idiomas no es valorada por todos lados