Misplaced Pages

Mitla Zapotec, or Didxsaj, is an Oto-Manguean language of Oaxaca, Mexico.

Guelavia Zapotec is reported to be 75% intelligible, but the reverse is apparently not the case.

Phonetics, phonology, and orthography

Mitla Zapotec has the following consonants:

• Fortis: p, t, k, k, s, ʃ, m:, n:, l:
• Lenis: b, d, g, g, z, ʒ, m, n, l
• Neutral: ɾ , r , f, x, ʔ, h, w, y.

/f/ is rare in native words.

• Mitla Zapotec has six vowels: /a, æ, e, i, o, u/. The vowel /æ/ is written ⟨ä⟩ in the practical orthography.

Vowels contrast in phonation, with a difference between modal phonation, breathy phonation, and creaky phonation. For example

• gihts 'paper'
• be'ts 'louse'

Noun morphology

Mitla Zapotec has little noun morphology. Pluralization is indicated by a plural proclitic /re=/, as in the following example

re=guejdx

PL=village

re=guejdx

PL=village

'villages'

Alienably possessed nouns have a prefix ʃ- (spelled ⟨x⟩ in the popular orthography), as in the following examples (cited first in practical orthography, then in IPA).

x-cojb

Maria

x-cojb Maria

POSS-dough Maria

'Maria's dough'

x-cu'n=reni

POSS-tortilla=3pl

x-cu'n=reni

POSS-tortilla=3pl

'their tortillas'

Verb morphology

Aspectual morphology

Briggs analyses Mitla Zapotec as having six aspects, each of which has an ablative ('go and V') and non-ablative variant. They are

1. continuative, e.g., ka' 'to take' ka-ká'-ni 'he continually takes'
2. habitual, e.g., wi 'to see' r-wi-ni 'he habitually sees'
3. completive, e.g., sloh 'to begin' gu-sloh-ni 'he began'
4. potential, e.g., sæu 'to close' gu-su-ni-ni 'he is going to close it'
5. unfulfilled, e.g., llux 'to finish' nu-llûx-ni 'he didn't finish'
6. incomplete, e.g., re 'to invite' zu-re-ni 'he will invite'

The following example shows the aspectual inflection of three verbs in Mitla Zapotec.

Person marking

Person marking is shown with a set of post-verbal clitics, which are used for both subjects and objects

The following examples show examples of verbs with aspect and person marking

Gu-kwaʔts=ǽ=lu

POT-hide=1sg=2sg

Gu-kwaʔts=ǽ=lu

POT-hide=1sg=2sg

'I am going to hide you.'

Ba-saʔN=ǽ=tú

COMPL-leave=1sg=2pl

Ba-saʔN=ǽ=tú

COMPL-leave=1sg=2pl

'I left you (pl).'

Syntax

The most basic word order is VSO. However, SVO also occurs, especially with a topicalized subject.

Zä

go

nigui=re

man=this

Zä nigui=re

go man=this

'This man went away'

Narä

I

r-hui=ä́

HAB-see=1sg

la'tu

2pl

Narä r-hui=ä́ la'tu

I HAB-see=1sg 2pl

'I see you (pl).'

R-ahp

HAB-have

byûz

child

llîbr

book

R-ahp byûz llîbr

HAB-have child book

'The child has a book'

References

1. ^ Mitla Zapotec at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
2. Stubblefield & Stubblefield (1991:18)
3. Briggs, Elinor (1961). Mitla Zapotec Grammar. p. 3-4.
4. Stubblefield, Morris and Carol (1991). Diccionario Zapoteco de Mitla. Instituo Linguistico de Verano. p. 198.
5. Stubblefield & Stubblefield (1991:211,218)
6. The stem loses the aspiration feature in this form.
7. Briggs, Elinor (1961). Mitla Zapotec Grammar. Instituto Linguistico de Verano. p. 63-4.

• "Mitla Zapotec (zaw)". Summer Institute of Linguistics in Mexico. Retrieved 2014-03-13.
• Briggs, Elinor. 1961. Mitla Zapotec grammar. Mexico City: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano and Centro de Investigaciones Antropológicas de México.
• Stubblefield, Morris and Carol Stubblefield. 1991. Diccionario Zapoteco de Mitla. Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, Mexico.
• Stubblefield, Morris & Carol Stubblefield, compilers. 1994. Mitla Zapotec texts. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics.

External links

• OLAC resources in and about the Mitla Zapotec language

• Zapotec languages