Mitla Zapotec Explained

Mitla Zapotec
Also Known As:	(San Pablo Villa de Mitla)
Nativename:	Didxsaj
Pronunciation:	pronounced as /didʒˈsaʰ/
State:	Mexico
Region:	Mitla Valley, Oaxaca
Date:	1983
Ref:	e18
Familycolor:	American
Fam1:	Oto-Manguean
Fam2:	Zapotecan
Fam3:	Zapotec
Fam4:	Central
Iso3:	zaw
Glotto:	mitl1236
Glottorefname:	Mitla Zapotec

Mitla Zapotec, or Didxsaj,^[1] 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:^[2]

• Fortis: p, t, k, k^w, s, ʃ, m:, n:, l:
• Lenis: b, d, g, g^w, z, ʒ, m, n, l
• Neutral: ɾ [flap r], r [trill 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

• [gi̤ts] 'paper'
• [bḛts] 'louse'

Noun morphology

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

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).^[3]

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., 'to take' 'he continually takes'
2. habitual, e.g., 'to see' 'he habitually sees'
3. completive, e.g., 'to begin' 'he began'
4. potential, e.g., 'to close' 'he is going to close it'
5. unfulfilled, e.g., 'to finish' 'he didn't finish'
6. incomplete, e.g., 'to invite' 'he will invite'

The following example shows the aspectual inflection of three verbs in Mitla Zapotec.^[4]

habitual	unreal	continuative	potential	definite future	completive
/ɾ-baʰnː/	/ni-baʰnː/	/ka-baʰnː/	/gi-baʰnː/	/si-baʰnː/	/bi-baʰnː/	' wake up'
/ɾ-aʰdʒ/	/nj-aʰdʒ/	/kaj-aʰdʒ/	/g-adʒ/^[5]	/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^[6]

		singular	plural
1st person		=ǽ	=nú
2nd person		=lu	=tú
3rd person	ordinary	=ni	=reni
	respect	=bá
	male to male	=xí

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

Syntax

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

References

• Web site: Mitla Zapotec (zaw). Summer Institute of Linguistics in Mexico. 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

Notes and References

1. Stubblefield & Stubblefield (1991:18)
2. Book: Briggs . Elinor . Mitla Zapotec Grammar . registration . 1961 . 3-4.
3. Book: Stubblefield . Morris and Carol . Diccionario Zapoteco de Mitla . 1991 . Instituo Linguistico de Verano. 198.
4. Stubblefield & Stubblefield (1991:211,218)
5. The stem loses the aspiration feature in this form.
6. Book: Briggs . Elinor . Mitla Zapotec Grammar . registration . 1961 . Instituto Linguistico de Verano . 63-4.