The Chinantecs inhabited Chinantla, which is a part of the state of
Oaxaca, situated in the Sierra Madre, on the frontiers of the province
of Vera Cruz. Their neighbors on the south were the Zapotecs and Mixes,
and on the north and east the Nahuas. They lived in secluded valleys and
on rough mountain sides, and their language was one of great difficulty
to the missionaries on account of its harsh phonetics. Nevertheless,
Father Barreda succeeded in writing a _Doctrina_ in it, published in
1730, the only work which has ever appeared in the tongue. The late Dr.
Berendt devoted considerable study to it, and expressed his conclusions
in the following words: “Spoken in the midst of a diversity of languages
connected more or less among themselves, it is itself unconnected with
them, and is rich in peculiar features both as to its roots and its
grammatical structure. It is probable that we have in it one of the
original languages spoken before the advent of the Nahuas on Mexican
soil, perhaps the mythical Olmecan.”[178]
The Chinantecs had been reduced by the Aztecs and severely oppressed by
them. Hence they welcomed the Spaniards as deliverers. Their manners were
savage and their disposition warlike.[179] Other names by which they are
mentioned are _Tenez_ and _Teutecas_.