have been more adequately named. This is the case of the Mayan languages, with an internal diversity that is arguably comparable to that found between the Nahuatl dialects, but many of whose linguistic varieties have separate names, such as Kʼicheʼ, Tzotzil or Huastec. Geographical overview Mesoamerica can be divided into smaller linguistic subareas wherein linguistic diffusion has been especially intense, or where certain families have extended to become predominant. One such subarea would be the Maya area, roughly covering the Yucatán Peninsula, Guatemala, Belize, Chiapas and Tabasco, where Mayan languages have been highly predominant. The eastern and western fringes of this area have also been home to Xincan (now extinct) and Zoquean speakers respectively, though Mayan languages have encroached upon their territory over time. The Pacific coast was also home to Tapachultec and, beginning in the postclassic period, Nawat, both of which are now extinct here. Another linguistic area is Oaxaca, which is dominated by speakers of Oto-Manguean languages, mainly Mixtec and Zapotec, both of which are extremely internally diverse. Non-Oto-Manguean languages include Tequistlatec and Huave. Huave was the original language of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, but lost territory to Zapotec. Oaxaca is the most linguistically diverse area of Mesoamerica and its contain at least 100 mutually unintelligible linguistic variants. The subarea commonly called Central Mexico, covering valleys and mountainous areas surrounding the Valley of Mexico, originally contained mostly northern Oto-Manguean (Oto-Pamean) languages; however, beginning in the late classic these languages were largely gradually displaced by Nahuatl, which is now the predominant indigenous language of the area. Otomi, Matlazinca, and Mazahua retained significant presences. The Western area was inhabited mostly by speakers of Purépecha in Michoacán, Huichol in Nayarit, and Nahuatl in Jalisco and Colima. Otomi was spoken around Autlán. The Northern Rim area has been inhabited by semi-nomadic Chichimec speakers of Uto-Aztecan languages (the Tepiman and Cora-Huichol groups) as well as Pamean (Oto-Mangue), and other languages that are now extinct. The Gulf area is traditionally the home of speakers of Totonacan languages in the northern and central area and Mixe–Zoque languages in the southern area. However, the northern gulf area became home to the speakers of Huastec in the preclassic period, and the southern area began speaking Isthmus Nahuatl in the post-classic period. The areas of Central America that formed part of Mesoamerica during the preclassic were inhabited by Lenca and Jicaquean speakers. Based on placenames, it appears that