Mitla Zapotec

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Mitla Zapotec
(San Pablo Villa de Mitla)
Didxsaj
Pronunciation [didʒˈsaʰ]
Native to Mexico
Region Mitla Valley, Oaxaca
Native speakers
(20,000 cited 1983) [1]
Oto-Manguean
Language codes
ISO 639-3 zaw
Glottolog mitl1236

Mitla Zapotec, or Didxsaj, [2] is an Oto-Manguean language of Oaxaca, Mexico.

Contents

Guelavia Zapotec is reported to be 75% intelligible, but the reverse is apparently not the case. [1]

Phonetics, phonology, and orthography

Mitla Zapotec has the following consonants: [3]

/f/ is rare in native words.

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

Noun morphology

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

re=guejdx

[re=ge̤dʒ]

PL=village

re=guejdx

[re=ge̤dʒ]

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). [4]

x-cojb

[ʃ-ko̤b

POSS-dough

Maria

maria]

Maria

x-cojb Maria

[ʃ-ko̤b maria]

POSS-dough Maria

'Maria's dough'

x-cu'n=reni

[ʃ-kuʔn=ɾeni]

POSS-tortilla=3pl

x-cu'n=reni

[ʃ-kuʔn=ɾeni]

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. [5]

habitualunrealcontinuativepotentialdefinite futurecompletive
/ɾ-baʰnː//ni-baʰnː//ka-baʰnː//gi-baʰnː//si-baʰnː//bi-baʰnː/' wake up'
/ɾ-aʰdʒ//nj-aʰdʒ//kaj-aʰdʒ//g-adʒ/ [6] /s-aʰdʒ//guʰdʒ/' get wet'
/ɾ-uʰn//nj-uʰn//kaj-uʰn//g-uʰn//s-uʰn//b-eʰn/' do, make'

Person marking

Person marking is shown with a set of post-verbal clitics, which are used for both subjects and objects [7]

singularplural
1st person=ǽ=nú
2nd person=lu=tú
3rd personordinary=ni=reni
respect=bá
male to male=xí

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. 1 2 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.
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