Zapotec languages
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 Mexico. A 2020 census reports nearly half a million speakers, with the majority inhabiting the state of Oaxaca. Zapotec-speaking communities are also found in the neighboring states of Puebla, Veracruz, and Guerrero. Labor migration has also brought a number of native Zapotec speakers to the United States, particularly in California and New Jersey. Most Zapotec-speaking communities are highly bilingual in Spanish.
Name
The name of the language in Zapotec itself varies according to the geographical variant. In Juchitán it is Diidxazá, in Mitla it is Didxsaj, in Zoogocho it is Diža'xon, in Coatec Zapotec it is Di'zhke', in Miahuatec Zapotec it is Dí'zdéh and in Santa Catarina Quioquitani it is Tiits Së, for example. The first part of these expressions has the meaning 'word'.Classification
External
Zapotec and the related Chatino languages together form the Zapotecan subgroup of the Oto-Manguean language family. Zapotec languages form part of the Mesoamerican Linguistic Area, an area of linguistic convergence developed throughout millennia of interaction between the peoples of Mesoamerica. As a result, languages have acquired characteristics from genetically unrelated languages of the area.Internal
Geographic range and dialect differentiation
Although commonly described as a language, Zapotec is a fairly extensive, if close-knit, language family. The time depth is comparable to that of the Romance languages. Dialectal divergence between Zapotec-speaking communities is extensive and complicated. Many varieties of Zapotec are mutually unintelligible with one another. There are some radical jumps in intelligibility between geographically close communities, so the varieties do not form a dialect continuum in a strict sense, though neither are there clear-cut divisions between groups of varieties. As a result, the Mexican government officially recognizes sixty Zapotec languages.Zapotec languages fall into four broad geographic divisions: Zapoteco de la Sierra Norte, Valley Zapotec, Zapoteco de la Sierra Sur, and Isthmus Zapotec. Northern Zapotec languages are spoken in the mountainous region of Oaxaca, in the Northern Sierra Madre mountain ranges; Southern Zapotec languages and are spoken in the mountainous region of Oaxaca, in the Southern Sierra Madre mountain ranges; Valley Zapotec languages are spoken in the Valley of Oaxaca, and Isthmus Zapotec languages are spoken in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. However, Valley Zapotec and Isthmus Zapotec group together, and this ignores the Papabuco and Western Zapotec varieties.
Conservative and innovative characteristics
Certain characteristics serve to classify Zapotec varieties in ways that cross-cut the geographical divisions. One of these is the distinction between disyllabic roots and monosyllabic roots. Proto-Zapotec had disyllabic roots; the vowel of the second syllable could be any one of the inventory of vowels. One innovation shared by many varieties of Zapotec is the loss of the vowel of the second syllable. The word for 'water' illustrates this fact. In conservative varieties, the vowel of the second syllable is retained: in Isthmus Zapotec and in Sierra de Juárez Zapotec, for example.In innovative varieties, the vowel of the second syllable was lost: in Amatlán Zapotec and Mitla Zapotec, for example. The loss of the vowel often resulted in palatalized consonants, and the loss of often resulted in labialized consonants. Compare the words for 'dog' in conservative varieties and innovative varieties. In this particular word Amatlán does not have a labialized consonant at the end, and the otherwise innovative variety Yatzachi keeps the final vowel:.
Another characteristic that classifies Zapotec varieties is the existence or not of a contrast between alveopalatal fricatives and retroflex fricatives. Innovative varieties have introduced the contrast while conservative varieties have not.
Phylogenetic classification
The most influential classification of Zapotec languages is due to Thomas Smith Stark, who proposed the following overall classification of Zapotec languages.Overall family tree and Central Zapotec branch
The branch of the family that contains the most languages is Central Zapotec, which includes most of the Zapotec languages of the Valley of Oaxaca and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The following figure shows the classification suggested by Smith Stark.Northern Zapotec branch
The Northern branch is shown in more detail below, again following Smith StarkMutual intelligibility and regional classification
Based on intelligibility studies, previous classifications, and the needs for literacy development, Merrill classifies the varieties as follows; several varieties often small and moribund, were not included in the principal list:;Central Zapotec
- ;Isthmus: Guevea, Isthmus Zapotec, Lachiguiri, Petapa, Quiavicuzas
- ;Valley: Quiatoni–Mitla, Albarradas, Guelavia–Güila–?Chichicapan, San Antonio Ocotlan?–Tilquiapan–Yatzeche –, ? Ayoquezco
;Sierra Norte
- ;Villa Alta: Choapan, Rincon, Tabaa, Yatee, Cajonos–Yalalag–Zoogocho–Yatzachi
- ;Ixtlán: Yareni–Atepec–Ixtlan–Sierra Juarez, Yavesia,
- ;Miahuatlan: Amatlan, Coatecas Altas, Coatlan, Loxicha, San Baltázar Loxicha–, Miahuatlan, Ozolotepec,
- ;Yautepec: San Agustin Mixtepec, San Juan Mixtepec–San Jose Lachiguiri, Quiegolani, Quioquitani, San Pedro Leapi, Xanaguia, Xanica,
- ;Papabuco: Texmelucan, Zaniza,
- ;Solteco: Solteco†, Lachixio–San Miguel Mixtepec–,
Santa Catarina Albarradas Zapotec was not listed, and presumably subsumed under Albarradas Zapotec, but intelligibility is one-way.
Other classifications
Based on forms of the personal pronouns, Operstein groups the languages as follows:- Proto-Zapotec
- *Southern Zapotec
- *Papabuco
- *
- **Solteco
- **Northern Zapotec
- **Central Zapotec
- ***Valley Zapotec
- ***Isthmus Zapotec
- Proto-Zapotec
- *Western
- *Papabuco
- *Coatec
- *Core Zapotec
- **Southern
- **Central
- **Northern
Phonetics and phonology
Fortis and lenis
In Zapotec languages, fortis typically corresponds to voicelessness and extra length in obstruents and extra length in sonorants. Lenis corresponds to voicing and less length in obstruents and less length in sonorants. In addition, stressed vowels before lenis consonants may be longer than those before fortis consonants.Retroflex consonants
Some varieties of Zapotec have a contrast between alveopalatal fricatives and retroflex fricatives. In other varieties this distinction has been lost in favor of only one or the other.Tone
Zapotec languages are tonal, as are Otomanguean languages generally. Unfortunately, materials on Zapotec languages vary widely in the quality of their tonal description and analysis.Whistling has been used by Zapotec people to communicate in a way that would not be detected by their colonizers.
Many Northern Zapotec languages, such as Sierra Juárez show a system of three level tones plus two contours. Potential aspect and 1st person singular both involve floating high tones. One example is Texmelucan Zapotec, which has four contrasting tones: three contour tones and one level tone, as shown in the figure. These tones are used for "word play" frequently.
Image:Threetonesystemtexmelucan.png|180px|center
A typical system for a Central Zapotec language has two level tones plus contours, but there are complex interactions between tone, stress and phonation type, e.g. San Lucas Quiaviní.
Phonation
Zapotec languages all display contrastive phonation type differences in vowels. Minimally they have simple vowels vs. some kind of laryngealization or creakiness; see Quioquitani Zapotec, for example. Others have a contrast between simple, laryngealized and "checked" vowels ; see Isthmus Zapotec, for example. Others have a contrast between those types and also breathy vowels. The latter varieties include Mitla Zapotec and San Lucas Quiaviní Zapotec.Stress
Varieties that are described as having stress, including Isthmus Zapotec, have it on the penultimate syllable of the root. Prefixes and clitics do not affect it. Many varieties overwhelmingly have monosyllabic roots and stress falls on that syllable.Grammar
Zapotec languages vary considerably. Some characteristics of Zapotec grammar common to the language family are: an extensive 3rd person pronoun system based on noun classes such as divinity, babies, animals, objects, etc.; a distinction in the first person plural as to inclusive and exclusive ; a frequent underspecificity of singular/plural distinctions.Word order
Clausal word order
Zapotec languages are VSO, as in the following example from San Dionisio Ocotepec Zapotec :Though the most basic order has the verb at the beginning of the sentence, all Zapotec languages have a number of preverbal positions for topical, focal, negative, and/or interrogative elements. The following example from Quiegolani Zapotec shows a focused element and an adverb before the verb:
The preverbal position for interrogatives is shown in the following example, from San Dionisio Ocotepec Zapotec. This is an example of wh-movement:
Word order in other phrases
The possessed noun precedes the possessor in Zapotec languages, as appropriate for head-initial languages:The noun also precedes a modifying phrase that is another way to indicate possessor with nouns that are not inherently possessed.
The preceding example also illustrate that Zapotec languages have prepositional phrases as expected for head-initial languages.
Quantifiers, including numbers and the word for 'one' used as an indefinite article, precede the noun.
Demonstratives, including one that means Aforementioned and is sometimes translated as a definite article, occur phrase-finally.
Descriptive adjectives follow the noun. When they occur they also typically receive the primary stress of the phrase, causing the noun to lose some phonation features. Note the loss of the breathy feature on the word /beʰnː/ in the following example.