In that portion of the state of Jalisco which is known by the name of Nayarit, the Cora language is spoken. It is divided into three dialects; the Muutzicat, spoken in the heart of the mountains; the Teacuaeitzica, on the mountain slopes; and the Cora, or Ateacari, near the mouth of the Rio Nayarit, or Jesus María.[VIII'-24] The Aztec element, which is stronger and more apparent in the Cora than in any other of the three Aztec-Sonora languages, has been recognized by many of the earliest writers.[VIII'-25] The Cora language is intricate and rather difficult to learn, as indeed are the other three.[VIII'-26] Following are a few grammatical notes taken from Ortega's vocabulary.
The letters of the alphabet are a, b, ch, e, h, i, k, m, n, o, p, r, t, u, v, x, y, z, tz. The pronunciation is hard; there is no established way of expressing the gender. The names of animated beings, as well as inanimate objects form the plural by the affixes te, eri or ri, tzi or zi, and also with the preposition mea, although there are some exceptions to this rule; for example;—zearate, bee; zearateri, bees; kanax, sheep; kanexeri, sheep; ukubihuame, orator; ukubihuametzi, orators; teatzahuateakame, he who is obedient, of which the plural is teatzahuateakametzi; kurute, crane; kurutzi, cranes; teaxka, scorpion; teaxkate, scorpions. Verbal nouns designating a person who performs an action, are formed by affixing to the verb the syllable kame, or huame;—hukabihuame, advocate (he who pleads); timuacheakame, lover, (he who loves); tichuikame, singer, (he who sings).
CORA GRAMMAR AND LORD'S PRAYER.
Personal pronouns are;—neapue, nea, I; apue, ap, thou; aehpu, aehp, he; iteammo, itean, we; ammo, an, you; aehmo, aehm, they; but in conjugating the following are used:—ne, I; pe or pa, thou; te, we; ze, you; me, they. Of the conjugation of the verb, it is only stated that there is no infinitive, and the following example of the present indicative is given:
| I love, | nemuache | We love, | te muache |
| Thou lovest, | pemuache | You love, | ze muache |
| He loves, | muache | They love, | me muache |
There are plural and singular verbs;—tachuite, to give a long thing; taihte, to give long things.
Prepositions are:—hetze, tzahta, in; keme, with, for; apoan, above; tihauze, before. The peculiarity of the Muutzicat dialect is the frequent use of the letter r, which is either appended, or placed in the middle of the word at pleasure;—for huihma, they say ruihma; for earit, erarit. The Teakuaeitzicai dialect has many distinct words not used in any of the others, so that at times they are not at all understood by those speaking the other dialects. As a specimen I insert the Lord's Prayer:
Tayaoppa ( Our father ) tahapoa ( heaven ) petehbe ( be ) cherihuaca ( sanctified be ) eiia ( thy ) teaguarira; ( name; ) chemeahaubeni ( come ) tahemi ( to us ) eiia ( thy ) chianaca ( world ) cheaguasteni ( done be ) eiia ( thy ) jevira ( will ) iye ( as ) chianakatapoan ( earth ) tup up ( as ) tahapoa. ( heaven. ) Ta ( Our ) hamuit ( bread ) huima ( always ) tahetze ( us by ) rujeve ( wanting ) ihic ( to-day ) ta ( us ) taa; ( give; ) huatauniraca ( forgive ) ta ( our ) xanacat ( sin ) tetup ( as ) iteahmo ( we ) tatahuatauni ( we forgive ) titaxanakante ( our debtors ) ta ( us ) vaehre ( help ) teatkai ( that not ) havobereni ( let us fall ) xanakat ( sin ) hetze ( in ) huavaehreaka ( help ) tecai ( that not ) tahemi ( us ) rutahuaja ( reach ) tehai ( not ) eu ( what ) ene ( good ) che ( so ) enhuata ( be it. ) hua.[VIII'-27] ( )