Basic zapotec facts
Oaxaca has a long, rich history and indigenous languages play a very important role in Oaxaca's current cultural landscape. Before Europeans came in contact with Mexico, there were hundreds of indigenous languages (Munro, Lillehaugen and Lopez 2007: 2). Oaxaca remains "one of the most linguistically diverse areas of the world" (ibid.: 3), however, this incredible linguistic diversity is in danger of disappearing. Many indigenous languages are rapidly losing speakers. When languages disappear, members of those communities may feel a loss of a source of identity and a way of expressing themselves. The world as a whole also loses a unique and irreplaceable perspective.
In Oaxaca today, the Zapotecan language family contains as many as sixty different Zapotec languages (ibid: 4). These variants of Zapotec are not always mutually intelligible. This means that a Zapotec speaker in the town of San Lucas Quiaviní might not understand a Zapotec speaker from the town of San Bartolomé Zoogocho. The specific Zapotec language we will be focusing on is Tlacolula Valley Zapotec, which includes San Lucas Quiaviní Zapotec. According to the Ethnologue, this language has approximately 28,000 speakers, most of whom are concentrated in Oaxaca's central valley or in Los Angeles (Lewis et al. 2013, http://www.ethnologue.com/).
One project we'll be working on is a talking dictionary with recordings by native speakers, translations into English and Spanish, and sometimes even with pictures! This project would be impossible without the generous support from Prof. K. David Harrison, Jeremy Fahringer, the LivingTongues Insitute, and Harrison's Laboratory for Endangered Languages. We're excited to help add to the growing list of talking dictionaries for endangered languages already in development. We'll post a link to the Tlacolula Valley Zapotec talking dictionary soon!
Thanks for reading and feel free to be in touch!
In Oaxaca today, the Zapotecan language family contains as many as sixty different Zapotec languages (ibid: 4). These variants of Zapotec are not always mutually intelligible. This means that a Zapotec speaker in the town of San Lucas Quiaviní might not understand a Zapotec speaker from the town of San Bartolomé Zoogocho. The specific Zapotec language we will be focusing on is Tlacolula Valley Zapotec, which includes San Lucas Quiaviní Zapotec. According to the Ethnologue, this language has approximately 28,000 speakers, most of whom are concentrated in Oaxaca's central valley or in Los Angeles (Lewis et al. 2013, http://www.ethnologue.com/).
One project we'll be working on is a talking dictionary with recordings by native speakers, translations into English and Spanish, and sometimes even with pictures! This project would be impossible without the generous support from Prof. K. David Harrison, Jeremy Fahringer, the LivingTongues Insitute, and Harrison's Laboratory for Endangered Languages. We're excited to help add to the growing list of talking dictionaries for endangered languages already in development. We'll post a link to the Tlacolula Valley Zapotec talking dictionary soon!
Thanks for reading and feel free to be in touch!
References and selected bibliography
- Briggs, Elinor. 1961. Mitla Zapotec grammar. Mexico City: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano and Centro de Investigaciones Antropológicas de México.
- Córdova, Fr. Juan de. 1886 [1578a]. Arte del idioma zapoteco. Morelia: Imprenta del Gobierno.
- Córdova, Fr. Juan de. 1987 [1578b]. Vocabulario en lengua çapoteca. México: Ediciones Toledo (INAH).
- García García, Angel, et al. n.d. [1998?]. Oaxaca: Distritos (Municipios, Localidades, y Habitantes). n.p. (Priv. de Rayon no. 104, Centro, Oaxaca, Oax.)
- Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig (eds.). 2013. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Seventeenth edition. Dallas, Texas: SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com.
- Munro, Pamela, Brook Danielle Lillehaugen, and Felipe H. Lopez. 2007. Cali Chiu? A Course in Valley Zapotec. Volumes 1 – 4. Lulu publishing, www.lulu.com.
- Munro, Pamela, and Felipe H. Lopez, with Olivia V. Méndez [Martínez], Rodrigo Garcia, and Michael R. Galant. 1999. Di'csyonaary X:tèe'n Dìi'zh Sah Sann Lu'uc (San Lucas Quiaviní Zapotec Dictionary / Diccionario Zapoteco de San Lucas Quiaviní). Los Angeles: (UCLA) Chicano Studies Research Center Publications.
- Stubblefield, Morris and Carol Stubblefield. 1991. Diccionario Zapoteco de Mitla. Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, Mexico.
Links
- Do you know the difference between a dialect and a language? "Todas se llaman lenguas"