The land remembers: landscape terms and place names in Lowland Chontal of Oaxaca, Mexico

This paper examines landscape terminology and place names of the Chontal region in the state of Oaxaca in southern Mexico, with a focus on terms from Lowland Chontal, a highly endangered language spoken near the Pacific coast. In addition to the linguistic analysis, the paper presents a general description of the physical geography of the area and how it relates to settlement patterns and subsistence activities, with specific detail of the territorial organization of Huamelula as a sociopolitical unit and of the importance of sacred sites. The analysis serves both to anchor the Chontal speakers as long-time residents deeply engaged with the elements of their landscape and to document in part the dynamics of the multilinguistic and multiethnic history of the region.