Language

The Zapotecan language is part of the Otomanguean stock, which is comprised of seven different families of languages. Out of the seven different languages, the Zapotecan family has one of the largest amounts of speakers. Zapotecan itself has two different languages that make subfamilies, Chatino and Zapotec. These languages are spoken in the state of Oaxaca which is located on the Pacific coast of Mexico. The most popular of these variants of the Zapotecan language is Isthmus and Zapotec.

There are over 60 variants of Zapotecan.

Most of the Otomanguean languages are labeled as tonal. This means that the way one pronounces a word is very important since a change in the pitch of one word could turn it into a different word. There are two different types of vowels that are used in this language, one is called checked vowels and the other is called laryngealized vowels.

When pronouncing a word with a check vowels, the speaker must close their vocal cords promptly at the end of that vowel. However, there are two different forms of laryngealized vowels. For one of the types, the sound is produced with a brief pause in the middle of producing the sound of the vowel. The other type of laryngealized vowels are created when the speaker creates a  tone that sounds like a creaky voice.

The video below is how to count to ten in the Zapotec language. As you can see here, the pitch and tone when pronouncing the words is important and specific.

Works Cited

2013 Zapotec Peoples. World News Network. Electronic Document.                          http://wn.com/zapotec_peoplesorderby=relevance&upload_time=today#/biography
Accessed March 24, 2013.

2013 Zapotecan Family. Summer Institute of Linguistics in Mexico. Electronic Document.     http://www-01.sil.org/mexico/zapoteca/00i-zapoteca.htm Accessed March 30, 2013.

Cruz, Jesse
     2011 Yalalag: How to Count to 10 in Zapotec. Electronic document, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blH0HwmYd6w Accessed March 30, 2013.


By Jessica Horowitz