Yatzachi Zapotec is an Oto-Manguean language of the Zapotecan branch, spoken in northern central Oaxaca, Mexico. 2,500 self-reported being Yatzachi speakers for the 1990 Mexican census, but the actual number of speakers is unknown. The Yatzachi dialect belongs to the Villa Alta group of Zapotec dialects, of which the main dialect is San Bartolomé Zoogocho. The degree of mutual intelligibility between Yatzachi and the San Bartolomé Zoogocho dialect is estimated to be around 90 percent.
Phonology
Vowels Yatzachi Zapotec has six vowels. The a, e, and i are the same as these vowels in Spanish. In earlier forms of Zapotec, there was a sound between o and u, which in the case of Yatzachi Zapotec was closer to the o sound, but in other Zapotec dialects was more of a u sound. In the modern Yatzachi dialect, both the o and the u sound exist, although the u is only found in Spanish loanwords.
In addition, Yatzachi Zapotec has a schwa sound. This sound is more neutral and has a tendency to adapt to the adjacent sounds and is not used in stressed syllables. It is often difficult to distinguish between the schwa and e sound, however minimal pairs exist such as in zide´ "wine" and zidə´ "sticky," making a distinction between the two sounds necessary.
FrontCentralBackClose Mid Open
Consonants In Yatzachi Zapotec, it is easier to think of consonants as having a distinction between fortis and lenis rather than voiced and voiceless. Fortis describes sounds that require a greater effort to articulate, while lenis describes sounds that require lesser effort. Voiced sounds are lenis, and sounds that are either voiceless or aspirated are considered fortis.
A distinction between aspirated and non-aspirated sounds occurs on the consonants ch, x, l, and n. Yatzachi Zapotec also contains many Spanish loanwords, and thus borrows letters from Spanish orthography to write these sounds, such as ñ and ll [ʎ]. The digraph rr (also borrowed from Spanish) is used when the trilled r occurs medially in a word, however a single r is used to represent the trill at the beginning or end of a word. Elsewhere, a single r represents a tap consonant. Zapotec also features rounded or labialized consonants which are written as digraphs with the consonant followed by a w such as jw, gw, and cw. The places of articulation are identical to j, g, and c, respectively. Occasionally the w is replaced by u which is more in accordance with Spanish orthography in which w does not normally exist. The saltillo, or glottal stop, is found after vowels or the sound n and counts as a distinct phoneme, as illustrated with the minimal pairs ga "new," and ga´ "green."
In the table below, the bold letters represent the way the sound is written according to Yatzachi Zapotec orthography, and the symbols in brackets reflect the sound as written in the International Phonetic Alphabet.
Labial Dental Alveolar Alveopalatal Retroflex Palatal Velar Uvular Glottalunrounded roundedPlosivefortisp t c cw lenisb d g gw ´ Fricative fortisf s y xʰ š j jw ʝ lenisz x ž Affricate fortisch lenisch Nasal fortisn ñ lenism n Lateral fortisl lenisl ll Rhotic fortisr ; rr
Tone
The Villa Alta Zapotec dialects have three tones: high /1/, mid /2/, and low /3/. The differences in these tones can be identified with the use of contrastive sets. The idea of contrastive sets is similar to the use of minimal pairs to identify phonemes. For example, de3za1n ya1 "a lot of bamboo" versus de3za1n ya2 "many steam baths". In this case, the difference between the high and mid tones is shown in the last syllable.
Morphology
Nouns
Gender and Number
Most Zapotec nouns do not vary morphologically in gender or number. There are two ways to tell whether a given noun is plural; (1) the noun is accompanied by a quantifier such as a number, or (2) if a noun is the subject of a sentence, then the verb of the sentence will be in the plural form.
Certain nouns in Zapotec have the ability to use affixes that indicate possession; however, there are others that are invariable in this respect. For example, the word bia
bia chʰe Bed "Pedro's animal" bia chʰebo' "his animal"
In the second case, the preposition chʰe, "of" carries an inseparable pronoun that indicates that "of" is being used to show possession of the third person singular.
This is also the case with certain nouns that are obligatorily possessive, such as body parts or family members, which technically must always belong to someone. In this case, the owner is indicated either with an inseparable pronoun or a noun that follows the verb.
yichʰʝa' "my head" yichʰʝo' "your head" yichʰʝe' "his head"
Other nouns mark possession with the prefix x-. This indicates that the object named belongs to someone. The owner is indicated by either a pronoun attached to the noun or by a noun that follows it.
xʝeid "(someone)'s hen" xʝeid Masə "Max's hen" xʝeida' "my hen"
Verbs
Aspectual Markers
In Zapotec languages, the aspect of the verb is denoted by a prefix or prefixes. The aspect describes how and when an action occurs. It indicates whether the action continues for some time or ends in a given moment. Although the prefixes are called aspect markers, they really are tense markers as well.
Continuative Aspect All verbs in the continuative aspect begin with the morpheme ch, which refers to an action that is still occurring while the speaker is talking. For example, Ch-aobo "He is eating lunch."
It can also refer to a habitual action, as in Ch-aocho yoguə' ža. "We eat every day." Or, to an incomplete action in the past, such as Ch-yiba. "I was washing the clothes." It can also refer to an action that will continue at some time in the future, for example, Chexa šə ba-ch-əsə'ətase' catə' əžina' liža'aque'? "What will I do if they are already sleeping when I arrive at their house?" It is also used for the negation of any of the four circumstances already mentioned, as in the cases of Bito ch-le'ida'an. "I don't see him," or Bitoch ch-a'a scuel. "I am not going to the school now."
Stative Aspect In general, verbs in the stative aspect begin with the prefix n. However, some begin with other letters. In roots that begin with b, the stative morpheme is m. Stative verbs that indicate position begin with other letters, although there does not seem to be a pattern. Stative verbs describe the state of being of the person, place, animal, or thing that is being spoken about. Not every verb can be in the stative aspect. The following are examples of some stative verbs. N-one'en segur. "He has it hidden away." Ne'e m-ban bi'i nga catə' gata'. "When I die this boy will continue living." Yoguə' ža con chi' benə' golən'. "The elder spends all of his days seated."
Completive Aspect All of the verbs in the completive aspect begin with b, gw, g, or ʝ. However, not all of the verbs that begin with gw or g are in the completive aspect. The completive aspect indicates a finished action. Finished actions can be discussed in the continuative, stative, or completive aspects. When such actions are discussed in the continuative or stative aspects, the focus is on the duration of the action rather than its completion. In the completive aspect, the most important part is the fact that the action is now finished. The following are examples of verbs in the completive aspect. Note how it is difficult to see an underlying pattern among the verbs due to the high degree of allomorphy, seen in the following examples: Bseda'. "I studied." Gwatsbo'. "He slept." Bzoʝe. "He wrote." Ze'e gotəb. "(The animal) just died." Gwzoe' neʝe. "He was here(imperfect)."
In the examples, it is worth noting that some of the verbs are in the simple past (preterite) tense, while others are in the imperfective aspect. However, in Zapotec languages, the continuative or stative aspects are used to convey the simple past. Potential Aspect Normally, verbs in the potential aspect correspond to actions in the future; however, there are exceptions. The verbs don't begin with a common letter, rather the letter varies according to the type of verb. In this aspect, the verb expresses, hope, doubt, uncertainty, desire, or an unrealized action in the future, such as: Chene'ebo šeʝbo' tiend. "He wants to go to the shop." or Cheyalə' ye'eʝcho nis yoguə' ža. "We must drink water every day."
Secondary Aspect Markers Approximative Aspect Many, but not all, verbs in Zapotec have the ability to denote approximation, or movement toward the speaker. All of the verbs in this aspect use the prefix -edə- inserted after the main aspect morpheme. The following table shows the approximative morpheme in each of the four primary aspects.
Continuative Stative Completive Potentialch-edə-z-edə-b-edə-y-edə-ch-edə-chogue'enz-edə-chogue'enb-edə-chogue'eny-edə-chogue'enHe comes to cut it.He has come to cut it.He came to cut it.He will come to cut it.
Separative Aspect The separative aspect indicates separation, or movement away from the speaker. This aspect is denoted with the morpheme -ʝ-. The separative aspect is not applicable to all verbs, but is applicable to the same set of verbs that can be put in the approximative aspect.
Continuative Stative Completive Potentialch-ʝ-z-ʝ-b-ʝ-y-ʝ-ch-ʝ-tasəbz-ʝ-tasəbb-ʝ-tasəby-ʝ-tasəb(The animal) goes to sleep.(The animal) has gone to sleep.(The animal) went to sleep.(The animal) will go to sleep.
Frequentative Aspect In general, the frequentative aspect indicates an action that is repeated several times. All of the verbs in the frequentative aspect use the letters e or o. The e is a very common frequentative aspect morpheme, while the o is rare. The e or o is found immediately after the primary aspect morpheme. A verb in the stative aspect cannot also be in the frequentative aspect.
Continuative Completive Potentialch-e-b-e-y-e-ch-e-žinchob-e-žinchoy-e-žinchoWe arrive again.We are arriving again.We will arrive again.
Continuative Completive Potentialch-o-b-o-y-o-ch-o-xonʰʝəbb-o-xonʰʝəby-o-xonʰʝəb(The animal) runs away again.(The animal) ran away again.(The animal) will run away again.
Repetitive Aspect When the speaker talks about something that has happened and wants to highlight the fact that the action has been repeated, he/she uses a verb in the frequentative aspect followed by a verb in the repetitive aspect. All of the verbs in the repetitive aspect use the morphemes -ez-, -oz-, or -os-. The choice of which morpheme to use is usually at the discretion of the speaker, although some verb roots have only one form in that aspect. When paired with the repetitive aspect, the continuative aspect morpheme is ch-, the completive aspect morpheme is g- or b-, and the potential aspect morpheme is y-
Continuative Completive Potentialch-ez-/ch-oz-/ch-os-b-ez-/b-oz-/b-ez-y-ez-/y-oz-/y-os-ch-ez-selə'əbo'onb-os-selə'əbo'ony-oz-xibo'onHe sends it again.He sent it again.He will clean it again.
Verb Roots that Begin with a Consonant
In all roots that begin with a consonant, the form of the root itself never changes in any aspect. In the table below, the verb chsedbo, "to study," is shown in its simple form and the approximation aspect: ContinuativeStativeCompletivePotentialSimple3rd pers. sgch-sed-bo'n-sed-bo'b-sed-bo'gw-sed-bo'3rd pers. plchəsə'ə-sed-bo'zʝən-sed-bo'besə'ə-sed-bo'yesə'ə-sed-bo'Approximative3rd pers. sgchedə-sed-bo'zedə-sed-bo'bedə-sed-bo'yedə-sed-bo'3rd pers. plchedəsə'ə-sed-bo'zedəsə'ə-sed-bo'bedəsə'ə-sed-bo'yedəsə'ə-sed-bo'
Verb Roots That Begin with a Vowel
The verbs with roots that begin with a vowel do not change except when used with the approximative, frequentative, and repetitive aspects. The verb chenebo, "to hear," is shown below: