Though traditionally considered a single language, Ethnologue lists 14 partially mutually unintelligible varieties of Chinantec.

[2] The languages are spoken by the indigenous Chinantec people who live in Oaxaca and Veracruz, Mexico, especially in the districts of Cuicatlán, Ixtlán de Juárez, Tuxtepec and Choapan, and in Staten Island, New York.

[10][11] Example phrase: The parts of this sentence are: ca¹ a prefix which marks the past tense, dsén¹ which is the verb stem meaning "to pull out an animate object", the suffix -jni referring to the first person, the noun classifier chi³ and the noun chieh³ meaning chicken.

The rhythm and pitch of normal Chinantec speech allow speakers of the language to have entire conversations only by whistling.

Use of the whistled language is declining, as modern technology such as walkie-talkies and loudspeakers have made long-distance communication easier.