Mitla Zapotec


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, kw, s, ʃ, m:, n:, l:
  • Lenis: b, d, g, gw, 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 in the practical orthography.
Vowels contrast in phonation, with a difference between modal phonation, breathy phonation, and creaky phonation. For example
  • 'paper'
  • '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-, as in the following examples.

Verb morphology

Aspectual morphology

Briggs analyses Mitla Zapotec as having six aspects, each of which has an ablative 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.
habitualunrealcontinuativepotentialdefinite futurecompletive
/ɾ-baʰnː//ni-baʰnː//ka-baʰnː//gi-baʰnː//si-baʰnː//bi-baʰnː/' wake up'
/ɾ-aʰdʒ//nj-aʰdʒ//kaj-aʰdʒ//g-adʒ//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
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.