Zoogocho Zapotec

Zoogocho Zapotec, or Diža'xon, is a Zapotec language of Oaxaca, Mexico.

Zoogocho Zapotec
(San Bartolomé Zoogocho)
Diža'xon
Pronunciation	[diʒaʔˈʐon]
Native to	Mexico
Region	Northern Oaxaca
Native speakers	(1,400 cited ca. 1991) (1,000 in Mexico)
Language family	Oto-Manguean Zapotecan Zapotec Sierra Norte Zoogochoan Zoogocho Zapotec
Dialects	Zoogocho Yalina Tabehua
Language codes
ISO 639-3	zpq
Glottolog	zoog1238

It is spoken in San Bartolomé Zoogocho, Oaxaca, Santa María Yalina, Tabehua, and Oaxaca City.

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

	Front	Back
Close	i	(u)
Mid	e	o
Open	a

There are a total of five vowels in San Bartolomé Zoogocho 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, vowels with an /h/ between them are pronounced with breathy voice and vowels such as V' are checked vowels.

Tones

Tones include high, mid, low, rising and falling. Lower tonal qualities are seen more commonly in breathy tones, while checked vowels 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: yáhà 'weapon’

Stress

In Zoogocho Zapotec, stress is most commonly found on the penultimate syllable of a stem. In words consisting of two roots, the stress (accent) will fall on the second root.

Example: niihe 'nixtamal'; yeten 'the tortilla'

Syllable Structure

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

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Retroflex	Velar	Labio- velar	Uvular	Glottal
Plosive	voiceless	p	t			k	kʷ		ʔ
	voiced	b	d			ɡ
Affricate	voiceless			tʃ
	voiced			dʒ
Fricative	voiceless		s	ʃ	ʂ
	voiced		z	ʒ	ʐ			ʁ
Nasal	voiced	m	n
	voiceless		n̥
Rhotic			(ɾ)
Lateral	voiced		l
	voiceless		l̥
Approximant				j			w

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.

(1)

x-migw=a'

POSS-friend=1SG

x-migw=a'

POSS-friend=1SG

'my friend'

(2)

x-kuzh

POSS-pig

lalo

lalo

x-kuzh lalo

POSS-pig lalo

'Lalo’s pig'

(3)

xtaobe'

x-dao=be'

POSS-corn.tassel=3SG.INF

x-dao=be'

POSS-corn.tassel=3SG.INF

'his corn tassel'

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 x-, 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' za, ba, na, gxe, or neghe.

Primary Aspect

Events that are still occurring, occurred, or will occur over a period of time. The continuative aspect of the examples is dx-.

(13)

dx-e-ban-e'

CONT-FREQ-wake=3F

yogo

every

zhaha

day

dx-e-ban-e' yogo zhaha

CONT-FREQ-wake=3F every day

'She wakes up every day.'

(14)

bi

what

dx-aog

CONT-eat

zxoana

Juan

bi dx-aog zxoana

what CONT-eat Juan

'What is Juan eating?'

The completive aspect is usually marked as b-, gw-, gud-, or g-. This aspect reflects the completion of the event occurred.

(18)

b-e-ban=e'

COMP-FREQ-wake=3F

b-e-ban=e'

COMP-FREQ-wake=3F

'She used to wake up.'

(19)

ga

where

gud-ao=be'

COMP-eat=3SG.INF

yet

tortilla

ga gud-ao=be' yet

where COMP-eat=3SG.INF tortilla

'Where did he eat the tortilla?'

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 gu- or gw-.

(22)

gw-e-ban=e'

POT-FREQ-wake=3F

gw-e-ban=e'

POT-FREQ-wake=3F

'She will wake up.'

(23)

dx-bez=a’

CONT-hope=1SG

w-aow

POT-eat

bidao

child

yeth

tortilla

dx-bez=a’ w-aow bidao yeth

CONT-hope=1SG POT-eat child tortilla

'I hope the kid eats the tortilla.'

(24)

bate'

when

y-egh=o'

POT-drink=2S

nis

water

bate' y-egh=o' nis

when POT-drink=2S water

'When are you going to drink water?'

The stative aspect is referred to as the prefix n- or by nothing at all. This aspect has multiple uses, such as, expressing the states and conditions and habitual meaning.

(28)

m-ban=a'

STAT-live=1SG

m-ban=a'

STAT-live=1SG

'I am alive.'

(29)

kuzh

pig

la

FOC

n-dxe=be'

STAT-carry=3SG.INF

ke?

no

kuzh la n-dxe=be' ke?

pig FOC STAT-carry=3SG.INF no

'He’s carrying a pig, right?'

(30)

nake

how

gud-itgh=le

COMP-play=2PL

kate

when

n-ak=le

STAT-be=2PL

bidao=na'

child=DET

nake gud-itgh=le kate n-ak=le bidao=na'

how COMP-play=2PL when STAT-be=2PL child=DET

'How did you all use to play when you were children?'

(31)

Maria

Maria

n-ak-dx=e'

HAB-be-more=3F

benhe

person

zxen

large

ka

than

xoan

Juan

Maria n-ak-dx=e' benhe zxen ka xoan

Maria HAB-be-more=3F person large than Juan

'Maria is larger than Juan.'

Table 4.1 Conjugation in gw-

	Conjugation in gw-
Potential	gw-
Completive	b-
Continuative	dx-
Stative	n-

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.

Letter(s)	Example
A/a, E/e, I/i, O/o	ba "grave", de "ash", bi "No, negation", do "rope"
A'/a', E'/e', I'/i', O'/o'	la' "Oaxaca", ye' "skin disease", li' "sting", yo' "home"
A'A, a'a, E'E, e'e, I'I, i'i O'O/u'u	za'a "corn", ze'e "wall", zi'i "it is heavy", yo'o "let’s go"

Consonants

Consonants are as follows.

Letter(s)	Examples
B/b	beb "ash", bid "bug"
CH/ch	chop "two", bach "already"
CHH/chh	chhak "something being done", nhachh "then", chho' "tos"
D/d	da "see", de "ash", déd "away", dé "there"
F/f	yej fre "Brugmansia arborea"
G/g	ga "nine", bgab "ladder", go "sweet patato", nhaga' "my ear"
J/j	jed "hen", bej "well", jia "rooster", yetj "cane"
K/j	ka' "so", beko' "dog", ki "so", nhake' "is", nhaka' "am"
L/l	lao "aguave stalk flower", bel "snake", bél "fish", lí "certain"
LL/ll	lli' "down, south", lla "day", bell "tiger", yill "scar"
LH/lh	lhao (rhao) "your number", lhillo' (rhillo') "your house", lhe' (rhe') "you", zilh (zirh) "in the morning"
M/m (rare)	mechho "money", llome (llom) "basket", dam "owl"
N/n	na' "today, now", ne' "ten", bene' "person"
NH/nh	nhi "here", nhile "nixtamal", nha' "there", nholhe "mother", bnha' "I washed", benhi' "clarity"
P/p (rare)	padioxh "greeting", tap "four", pita' "rainbow"
R/r (In loanwords, rare)	eob "at", ros "pink, rice", rós "pink"
RH/rh (rare)	rhiz "little", rhito "daisy"
S/s	sib "high (wall, house, tree)", sa'o "piece of glass", bes "irrigation", bsa' "scrape/set in motion", nhis "water"
SH/sh	shi "10", sha' "casserole", shod (shud) "buzzard", gash "Amarillo", bsha' "changes"
T/t	tap "four", to "one", bat "when", btao "corn"
W/w	wí "orange", wag "firewood", wekoell "musician", weya' "dance", tawa' "my grandmother", wenllin "worker"
X/x	Xjollo' "Zoogocho", xao "your father", xop "six", bex "tomato", bxin "vulture", bxide' "scourer"
XH/xh	chiko' "your dog", xhis "barañas", bxhidw "kiss", xhiga' "jicara", xop "six"
Y/y	ya "iron", yag "tree", beye' "ice", laya' "my tooth", yade "Yaté"
Z/z	za "bean", beza' "vixen", nhez "path", bzinha' "mouse"

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.

Sentence Structure

Verb Subject Object (VSO)	Object Verb Subject (OVS)	Subject Verb Object (SVO)
dx-aogo CONT-eat be'ko' dog yet tortilla dx-aogo be'ko' yet CONT-eat dog tortilla 'The dog is eating tortillas.'	yet tortilla dx-aogo CONT-eat be'ko' dog yet dx-aogo be'ko' tortilla CONT-eat dog 'Tortillas, the dog is eating.'	be'ko'=n' dog=DET dx-aogo CONT-eat yet tortilla be'ko'=n' dx-aogo yet dog=DET CONT-eat tortilla 'It’s the dog that’s eating tortillas.'

Noun Phrases

Adjective-Noun Order: The ordering of adjectives and nouns.

When asked to cite adjectives in isolation, native speakers will invariably put da, the inanimate classifier, in front of the adjective.

Da is used as an inanimate classifier, bi is a classifier for small things and be is an animate classifier. These three classifiers can be used in sentences when agreeing with the head noun.

Plural Markers

Ka 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; en', which occurs following a non-nasal consonant, na' which occurs after noun phrases ending in /n/ or /n̥/, and n or na' which occur in free variation after vowels. Determiners occur at the end of a noun phrase.

References

• Sonnenschein, Aaron Huey (2005). A descriptive grammar of San Bartolomé Zoogocho Zapotec. Munich: Lincom Europa. ISBN 9783895868030.

External links

• Long C., Rebecca & Sofronio Cruz M., compilers. 1999. Diccionario Zapoteco de San Bartolomé Zoogocho Oaxaca. Coyoacán D.F.: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano.
• Zoogocho Zapotec language resources
• OLAC resources in and about the Zoogocho Zapotec language