Mitla Zapotec, or Didxsaj,Stubblefield & Stubblefield (1991:18) 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 [flap r], r [trill 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 [gi̤ts] 'paper' [bḛts] '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- (spelled in the popular orthography), as in the following examples (cited first in practical orthography, then in IPA).
Verb morphology Aspectual morphology Briggs analyses Mitla Zapotec as having six aspects, each of which has an ablative ('go and V') and non-ablative variant. They are
continuative, e.g., 'to take' 'he continually takes' habitual, e.g., 'to see' 'he habitually sees' completive, e.g., 'to begin' 'he began' potential, e.g., 'to close' 'he is going to close it' unfulfilled, e.g., 'to finish' 'he didn't finish' incomplete, e.g., 'to invite' 'he will invite'
The following example shows the aspectual inflection of three verbs in Mitla Zapotec.Stubblefield & Stubblefield (1991:211,218) habitual unreal continuative potential definite future completive /ɾ-baʰnː/ /ni-baʰnː/ /ka-baʰnː/ /gi-baʰnː/ /si-baʰnː/ /bi-baʰnː/ ' wake up' /ɾ-aʰdʒ/ /nj-aʰdʒ/ /kaj-aʰdʒ/ /g-adʒ/The stem loses the aspiration feature in this form. /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
singular plural 1st person =ǽ =nú 2nd person =lu =tú 3rd person ordinary =ni =reni respect =bá male to male =xí
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.
References
Briggs, Elinor. 1961. Mitla Zapotec grammar. Mexico City: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano and Centro de Investigaciones Antropológicas de México. Stubblefield, Morris and Carol Stubblefield. 1991. Diccionario Zapoteco de Mitla. Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, Mexico. Stubblefield, Morris & Carol Stubblefield, compilers. 1994. Mitla Zapotec texts. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
External links OLAC resources in and about the Mitla Zapotec language