Zoogocho Zapotec, or , is a

Zapotec language The Zapotec languages are a group of around 50 closely related indigenous Mesoamerican languages that constitute a main branch of the Oto-Manguean language family and are spoken by the Zapotec people from the southwestern-central highlands of ...

Oaxaca Oaxaca, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca, is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of the Mexico, United Mexican States. It is divided into municipalities of Oaxaca, 570 munici ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. It is spoken in

San Bartolomé Zoogocho San Bartolomé Zoogocho is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico. The municipality covers an area of 22.96 km2. It is part of the Villa Alta District in the center of the Sierra Norte Region. The traditional music is k ...

Santa María Yalina Santa María Yalina is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico. The municipality covers an area of . It is part of the Villa Alta District Villa Alta District is located in the center of the Sierra Norte Region of the State of ...

, Tabehua, and

Oaxaca City Oaxaca de Juárez (), or simply Oaxaca (Valley Zapotec languages, Zapotec: ''Ndua''), is the capital and largest city of the eponymous Administrative divisions of Mexico, Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is the municipal seat for the surrounding munici ...

. As of 2013, about 1,500 "Zoogochenses" live in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Classes are held in the MacArthur Park neighborhood to preserve the Zoogocho Zapotec language. The language is also known as Tabehua, Yalina, Zapoteco de San Bartolomé Zoogocho, and Zoogocho.

Phonology

Vowels

There are a total of five vowels in

Zapotec. The vowel /u/ only appears in loanwords. Phonation types include: VV, VhV, V'. VV stands for double vowels that are pronounced with

creaky voice In linguistics, creaky voice (sometimes called laryngealisation, pulse phonation, vocal fry, or glottal fry) refers to a low, scratchy sound that occupies the vocal range below the common vocal register. It is a special kind of phonation in which ...

, vowels with an /h/ between them are pronounced with

breathy voice Breathy voice (also called murmured voice, whispery voice, soughing and susurration) is a phonation in which the vocal folds vibrate, as they do in normal (modal) voicing, but are adjusted to let more air escape which produces a sighing-like s ...

and vowels such as V' are

checked vowels In phonetics and phonology, checked vowels are those that commonly stand in a stressed closed syllable, while free vowels are those that can stand in either a stressed closed syllable or a stressed open syllable. Usage The terms ''checked vowe ...

Tones

Tones include high, mid, low, rising and falling. Lower tonal qualities are seen more commonly in breathy tones, while

have a higher tone quality. Although it's common for breathy to have a lower tones and checked vowels commonly have higher tones, this is considered a distinct phenomenon and tone can't be predicted based on phonation types. Example: 'weapon’

Stress

In Zoogocho Zapotec, stress is most commonly found on the penultimate syllable of a

stem Stem or STEM most commonly refers to: * Plant stem, a structural axis of a vascular plant * Stem group * Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Stem or STEM can also refer to: Language and writing * Word stem, part of a word respon ...

. In words consisting of two roots, the stress (accent) will fall on the second root. Example: 'nixtamal'; 'the tortilla'

Syllable Structure

Syllables are created according to the pattern ( C)C V(V)(C)(C). Vowels in a syllable may carry any phonation type.

Consonants

A few sounds also occur in loanwords from Spanish: /f/, /ɾ/, /ɲ/, /x/, /r/, /ɲ/, and /x/.

Morphology

Nominal Morphology

Nominal means to be categorized in a group of nouns and adjectives, the morphology occurs in a noun phrase.

Possession

Possession is indicated by placing the possessor or possessive pronoun after the item possessed (Inherent possession is the items being possessed) which is marked prenominally with prefix , the possessed nominal then is developed by a pronominal clitic or noun phrase.

Pronominal Clitic

Or noun phrase is pronounced like an affix. Clitics play a syntactic role at the phrase level.

Verbal Morphology

No tense in this language. Zoogocho Zapotec relies on 'temporal particles' , or .

Primary Aspect

Events that are still occurring, occurred, or will occur over a period of time. The continuative aspect of the examples is . The completive aspect is usually marked as or . This aspect reflects the completion of the event occurred. The potential aspect refers to an event that has not yet happened or an event that has not been specified. This aspect is marked by or . The stative aspect is referred to as the prefix or by nothing at all. This aspect has multiple uses, such as, expressing the states and conditions and habitual meaning.

Orthography

Dillawalhall Zapotec Alphabet

a, b, ch, chh, d, e, f, g, i, j, k, l, ll, lh, m, n, nh, o, p, r, rh, s, sh, t, u, w, x, xh, y, z.

Vowels

Vowels are as follows.

Consonants

Consonants are as follows.

Syntax

Sentence Structure

Zoogocho Zapotec normally uses the Verb–Subject–Object sentence structure. It is also possible to form Object–Verb–Subject or Subject–Verb–Object sentences.

Noun Phrases

Adjective-Noun Order: The ordering of adjectives and nouns. When asked to cite adjectives in isolation, native speakers will invariably put , the inanimate classifier, in front of the adjective. is used as an inanimate classifier, is a classifier for small things and is an animate classifier. These three classifiers can be used in sentences when agreeing with the head noun.

Plural Markers

can be used to mark a plural noun. Plural markers are not always present in plural noun phrases, and plurality can also be inferred from context or from verbal marking.

Demonstratives

Demonstratives follow their nouns, and either appear by themselves or with a classifier.

Determiners

The determiner is a clitic which has three main variants; , which occurs following a non-nasal consonant, which occurs after noun phrases ending in /n/ or /n̥/, and or which occur in free variation after vowels. Determiners occur at the end of a noun phrase.

References

External links

* Long C., Rebecca & Sofronio Cruz M., compilers. 1999
Diccionario Zapoteco de San Bartolomé Zoogocho Oaxaca
Coyoacán D.F.: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano.

* ttp://www.language-archives.org/language/zpq OLAC resources in and about the Zoogocho Zapotec language {{Oto-Manguean languages Zapotec languages