Choápam Zapotec (Zapoteco de Choápam; in Veracruz Zapoteco de San Juan Comaltepec) is a Zapotec language of Oaxaca, Mexico. Historical accounts suggest that Zapotec people arrived in the area of Choapam only a generation or two before the Spanish conquest, conquering what was previously Mixe territory.
Phonology Consonants BilabialAlveolarPostalveolarPalatalVelarGlottalNasalmnŋPlosivep bt dk gʔFricatives zʃ ʒ(x)Affricatet͡s d͡zt͡ʃ d͡ʒLiquidl rGlidewj
[x] occurs as an allophone of [k] [r] has the voiceless allophone [ṛ] when in a nasal segment (e.g. rná1baˀ2 [ṛnábaˀ] (I ask)) The pronunciation of [r] is variable, sometimes pronounced as apico-alveolar and with one to several flaps, with one being the most common.
Vowels
[i], [e], [ɛ], [o], [u], [a]
The vowels [i], [u], [a], [e] and [ɛ] are nasalised when followed by 'n' at the end of a word.
Tones Choapam Zapotec has three pitches, or tones, which are high, mid, and low, indicated respectively by (superscript 3), (superscript 2), and (superscript 1), written after each syllable. Larry and Rosemary Lyman, Choapan Zapotec Phonology
References