What is Tol?

Tol is an indigenous language spoken in remote areas of the departamentos of Francisco Morazán and Yoro, Central Honduras, but language experts are still in doubt about its genetic affiliation, that is, which other languages it is related to. It has been more than 20 years since the last studies of Tol were published (Ronald Dennis 1990) and the closest to a reference grammar published on the language is a synthesis of earlier work by Dennis Holt (1999). Ronald Dennis estimated the number of Tol speakers at around 250, but he mentions nothing about the vitality of the language, sociolinguistic situation, speaker attitudes or anything of the sort, and Dennis is the last investigator to have worked on Tol in the field.