Isthmus Zapotec
Isthmus Zapotec, also known as Juchitán Zapotec, is a Zapotec language spoken in Tehuantepec and Juchitán de Zaragoza, in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. According to the census of 1990 it has about 85,000 native speakers, however this number is rapidly decreasing, as speakers shift to Spanish.
Guevea de Humboldt Zapotec, a different language, is sometimes referred to as "Northern Isthmus Zapotec."
Since the Ley General de Derechos Lingüísticos de los Pueblos Indígenas was passed in 2003 Isthmus Zapotec, along with all other indigenous languages of Mexico, was officially recognised by the Mexican State.
Phonology
The consonants of Isthmus Zapotec are shown below. There are two types of consonants: strong and weak. Strong and weak consonants are called Fortis and Lenis. Fortis voiceless consonants that are represented by double letter for example: nn symbolizes the fortis of /n/. Fortis consonants are also longer than lenis consonants.Consonants
The consonants for Isthmus Zapotec are as follows:This sound "bŕ" occurs very rarely for a bilabial trill . It occurs in words like "berenbŕ".
A couple consonant sounds may also be geminated.
Vowels
Isthmus Zapotec has five vowels. These occur in the three phonation types of stressed syllables: modal, checked, and laryngealized.Checked vowels sound as if they end in glottal stop; for example words such as in English "what, light take, put." The glottal stop is a vowel feature. Checked vowels can also be a slightly laryngealized during a glottal closure.
Laryngealized vowels are longer and pronounced with a creaky voice. Sometimes they are pronounced with a clear pronunciation of the vowel after a soft glottal stop. There are not breathy vowels in Zapotec.
Morphology
The verb structure for the Isthmus Zapotec is as follows: ASPECT ROOT VOWEL. The verbs of Isthmus Zapotec usually contain around seven aspects. Research conducted by Stephen A. Marlett and Velma B. Pickett suggests "that for some verbs the completive and potential aspect prefixes are added at an earlier stratum than for most verbs". In Isthmus Zapotec, the four main causative prefixes are added /k-/, /si-/, /z-/, and /Ø-/ and at times, two of them can be found in a verb. E.g. /si-k-/. The prefix /u-/ allows for the addition of the word "make" into the word "quiet" as in u-si-ganî, meaning "make quiet". The Isthmus Zapotec refer to themselves by using the first person inclusive pronoun.| Isthmus Zapotec | English |
| -eʔeda | come |
| neé | and or with |
| -eʔeda-neé | bring |
| b-eʔeda-neé-bé | he brought |
| ru-uni-neé-bé | he does with |
In Isthmus Zapotec, the verb stems can be single morphemes or they can also be compounds of two morphemes. There are three compound stems, the first two are highlighted by the above two charts. In the first chart, -eʔeda translates to
Classes of Morphemes in Isthmus Zapotec
| Isthmus Zapotec | Name Forms |
| plural of subject | |
| first person singular | |
| second person singular | |
| third person singular, humans | |
| third person singular, animals | |
| third person singular, inanimate | |
| third person singular, known subject | |
| first person plural inclusive | |
| first person plural exclusive | |
| second person plural |
An example for the morpheme, attaching it to an Isthmus Zapotec word will make the word plural. The Isthmus Zapotec word zigi when is added as a prefix will become kazigi . Zike will become kazike and diaga will become kadiaga .
| Isthmus Zapotec | Name Forms |
| yes-or-no questions | |
| questions other than yes-or-no | |
| yes-or-no questions; occurs only with -lá |
Yes/no question particles In Isthmus Zapotec are not mandatory, however, the question particle is required in these form of questions.
| Prefix | TAM |
| ri-, ru- | Habitual |
| bi-, gu- | Completive |
| ca-, cu- | Progressive |
| za-, zu- | Irrealis |
| ni-, nu-, ñ- | Potential |
| hua- | Perfect |
| na- | Stative |
| ri' | proximal |
| ca | mesioproximal |
| rica' | mesiodistal |
| que | distal |
| Categorization | Dependent Form | Independent Form |
| 1st person singular | naa | |
| 2nd person singular | lii | |
| 1st person plural inclusive | laa-nu | |
| 1st person plural exclusive | laa-du | |
| 2nd person plural | laa-tu |