Maintenance of a minoritized language: the case of P’urhepecha in Ichán and Tacuro, Michoacán (Mexico)

Abstract

Historically, in Mexico several factors have caused the displacement of indigenous languages in favor of the use of Spanish. However, in some villages and towns, the vitality of indigenous languages is still very high owing to the fact that they are preserved at the family level and, therefore, the intergenerational transmission communication language at the family level is not interrupted. 

The research presented here investigates the potential factors that explain the presence of the indigenous language in the daily life of the population in the purepecha communities Ichán and Tacuro (Michoacán) in most of the areas, despite bilingualism and the pressures exercised in favor of Spanish.