Trisha Shetty (Editor)

Isthmus Zapotec

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Pronunciation
  
[dìdʒàˈzà]

Writing system
  
Latin

Region
  
Oaxaca, Mexico

ISO 639-3
  
zai

Native speakers
  
(85,000 cited 1990 census)

Language family
  
Oto-Manguean Zapotecan Zapotec Central Extended Ocotepec Isthmus Zapotec

Isthmus Zapotec, also known as Juchitán Zapotec (native name diidxazá; Spanish: Zapoteco del Istmo), is a Zapotecan language spoken in Tehuantepec and Juchitán de Zaragoza, in the Mexican state of Oaxaca.

Contents

Guevea de Humboldt Zapotec, a different language, is sometimes referred to as "Northern Isthmus Zapotec."

Sounds

The sounds of Isthmus Zapotec are:

Consonants

Plosives
p /pʰ/ t /tʰ/ c1 /kʰ/ b /b/ d /d/ g2 /g/
Fricatives and Affricates
z /z/ dx /dʑ/ x /ʑ/ s /s/ ch /tɕ/ xh /ɕ/ (except before another consonant when it is written as x)
Nasals
m /m/ n /n~ɴ/ ñ /ɴʲ/
Sonorants
r /ɾ/ l /l/ y /j/ r /r/ l /ɮ/
  • 1When a /k/ sound occurs before "e" or "i", it is spelled "qu".
  • 2When a /g/ sound occurs before "e" or "i", it is spelled "gu". Also, the sound /gw/ is written "gü".
  • 3This sound "bŕ" occurs very rarely for a bilabial trill. It occurs in words like "berenbŕ".

    • Vowels

    Plain
    a e i o u
    Laryngealized
    aa ee ii oo uu
    Checked by a glottal stop
    a' e' i' o' u'

    Syllable structure

    Isthmus Zapotec has only open syllables (that is, they must end in a vowel).

    References

    Isthmus Zapotec Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA