Xinka

Xinka is a small language family of the Pacific slope of south-eastern Guatemala, with varieties such as Yupiltepeque, Chiquimulilla, Guazacapan and Jumaytepeque and no demonstrated link to any other Mesoamerican family. Its vocabulary carries many loanwords from Mayan and Mixe-Zoquean neighbours, above all in farming terms, evidence of long contact before the conquest.

In the early sixteenth century Xinka territory ran from the Pacific coast to the Jalapa mountains, but in 1524 the Spanish overran it, enslaving many communities and forcing the language into retreat, which accelerated after 1575. Archbishop Pedro Cortes y Larraz still recorded Xinka speech in the diocese of Taxisco during his visit of 1769.