14. Lecsyony Tsëda: Chiel Chiecw caculo xnanni “Chico’s wife is taking care of her mother”

This lesson is all about possession. Section §14.1 introduces possessed noun phrases, and presents one way to express possessors. Body parts and kinship terms are usually essentially possessed, as explained in section §14.2, and other nouns can also be e-possessed (section §14.3). Possessed nouns can be used as possessors (section §14.4). Section §14.5 explains more about e-possession, and sections §14.6 and §14.7 describe how to refer to an object whose possessor is the subject of the sentence.

Ra Dizh

bai [ba’ai] rebozo, shawl

bel [bèe’ll] sister (of a female) (e-poss. only)

bets [behts] brother (of a male) (e-poss. only)

bied [biied] 1. aunt; 2. señora, señorita, ma’am (respectful term of address used to a respected person, an elder, or someone one does not know well) § e-poss. xbied

bzilo [bziloh] eye (e-poss. only)

bzyan [bzyaàa’n] sister (of a male); brother (of a female) (e-poss. only)

cader [cadeer] hip; bottom, rear end

cweteix [cwe’tèe’ix] side (of a person or animal’s body) (e-poss. only)

chiel [chìel] spouse: husband, wife (e-poss. only)

dad [da’ad] father

dadmam [da’adma’mm] grandfather

dets [dehts] back (e-poss. only)

dyag [dyahg] ear (e-poss. only)

garzi [garzììi’] guts, intestines

guecy [gue’ehcy] head (e-poss. only)

gyichicy [gyihchi’ihcy] hair

la [lah] name (e-poss. only)

lady [lahdy] clothes § e-poss. xab [x:ahb]

lany [làa’any] stomach (e-poss. only)

liaz [liihahz] house (e-poss. of yu)

lo [lohoh] face (e-poss. only)

lo nya [loh nyààa’] field § e-poss. lo zhia [loh zhihah]

lo zhia [loh zhihah] field (e-poss. of lo nya)

Mazh [Ma’azh] Tomas

na [nnaàa’] hand; forearm; front leg (of an animal) (e-poss. only)

nan [nnàaan] mother

nanmam [nna’anma’mm] grandmother

ni [ni’ih] foot; lower leg; back leg (of an animal) (e-poss. only)

Pamyël [Pá’mmyëll] Panfilo (man’s name)

pryem [prye’mm] cousin

rgap [rgàa’p] slaps (a part of someone’s body, especially the face) § perf. bdap; irr. cap

rse [rse’eh] echo of (someone’s) voice (e-poss. only)

ru [ru’uh] mouth (e-poss. only)

rran [rraan] frog

rrelo [rreloo] watch

rrestauran [rrestaura’aann] restaurant

rros [rro’s] rice

rrued [rrueed] wheel

serbes [serbe’s] beer

teix [tèe’ix] chest, trunk, side (e-poss. only)

tiu [ti’u] 1. uncle; 2. señor, sir (respectful term of address used to a respected person, an elder or someone one does not know well)

xab [x:ahb] clothes (e-poss. of lady)

xban [x:bààa’n] / xfan [x:fààa’n] tail (e-poss. only)

xbied [x:biied] aunt (e-poss. of bied)

xchyap [x:chàa’p] girlfriend (e-poss. only)

xga [x:gàa] / xja [x:jàa] wing (e-poss. only)

xquets [x:quèe’ts] kidney; gizzard (e-poss. only)

xyecw [x:yèe’cw] dog (e-poss. of becw)

zuat [zu’aht] bone (e-poss. only)

zudy [zu’ùu’dy] corte (traditional Zapotec wrap-around skirt) (e-poss. only)


Fot Teiby xte Lecsyony Tsëda. Woman wearing a zudy and girl wearing a bistied in an oxcart in San Lucas.

zhacw [zh:àa’cw] upper arm (e-poss. only)

zhan [zh:ààa’n] rear end, butt (e-poss. only)

zhi [zhi’ih] nose (e-poss. only)

zhiby [zhi’ihby] knee (e-poss. only)

zhiny [zhìi’iny] child (offspring: son, daughter) (e-poss. only)

zhinygan [zhìi’inygaàa’n] son (e-poss. only)

zhinyzhyap [zhìi’inyzhyàa’p] daughter (e-poss. only)

Xiëru Zalo Ra Dizh

1. Almost all the new vocabulary words here are e-possessed (essentially possessed forms, abbreviated “e-poss.” — they must be used with a following possessor, as explained in the lesson).

2. Most Zapotec speakers consider zhan “rear end; butt” a fairly crude or vulgar word in most contexts. Cader [cadeer] “hip; bottom, rear end” is a more polite word to use. Until you’re sure how people will react, it’s best to avoid using zhan to refer to a part of the human body. You’ll learn more about how to use words for parts of the body in sentences later in this lesson, and more about using zhan in other ways in Lecsyony Tseinyabchon.

3. Zhiny and mniny are both translated “child”, but they mean different things. Zhiny is an essentially possessed noun (as explained in section §14.2) which expresses an offspring relationship; mniny names a young human being. Just as buny “person” and mniny “child (young human)” are often used to refer to males (“man” and “boy”), zhiny sometimes is used to mean “son”. However, zhinygan is more precise and that is the way we will say “son” in this book.

4. Bied and Tiu are used not only to mean (literally) “aunt” and “uncle”, but as titles before the name of respected elders, and as terms of address to respected people or those one does not know (as discussed in sections S-2 and S-14): Bied Lia Zhuan “Aunt Juana, Señora Juana”, Tiu Pamyël “Uncle Panfilo, Señor Panfilo”.

5. Lo nya and lo zhia “field” (related words; see Lecsyony Tseinyabchon) both include lo, a form of the word “face” which is part of many nouns naming locations.

6. You’ve now learned four Zapotec words spelled bel — the words for “snake”, “fish”, “meat”, and “woman’s sister” — which can be difficult for language learners to tell apart! Because “fish” has a B vowel, it’s probably the easiest to distinguish, but in rapid conversation even that clue is not always easy to pick up. Ask your teacher to say these words and listen to you repeat them as often as you need to make sure you can hear and produce the difference.

7. Cweteix and teix both can be used to refer to the side of the body, but teix has a broader meaning, since it can also be used to refer to the trunk or chest. Some speakers also use cwe [cwe’eh] to refer to the side of the body, but we will not use this word this way in this book. (You’ll learn another meaning for cwe in Lecsyony Tseinyabchon.)

8. The new verb rgap “slaps” works just like rgub “smokes; sucks” (Lecsyony Tsëbteby). The object of this verb is always a part of someone’s body (often the face) — don’t use this verb to say “slaps (someone)”.

 

§14.1. Possessed nouns and possessors

When you use an English phrase like my head, Gloria’s sister, the man’s bull, your chair, or Pedro’s book, you express , either ownership or a more inherent relationship. In these expressions, or , sister, head, bull, chair, and book are , and I, Elena, the man, you, and Pedro are .

 

In English, we know that a noun or pronoun is a possessor by a change in its form: I changes to my, you changes to your, and ‘s is added to the end of possessors like Gloria and the man. In Zapotec, there are several ways to indicate the relationship between a noun and its possessor, but the possessor never changes its form. The possessed noun always comes at the beginning of a Zapotec possessed noun phrase, and the possessor always comes at the end. The simplest way to express is to put the word xten [x:tèe’n] between the possessed noun and the possessor:

OPTIONAL POSSESSION 1
possessed noun xten possessor
liebr xten Lia Petr
“Petra’s book”
guan xten buny “the man’s bull”
camyuny xten -a “my truck”
amiegw xten -u “your friend”

Optional possession is used to show that someone owns an item or animal that you might think of as possessed or you might not. If you see a bull or a book, it’s probably the case that someone owns it, but not necessarily: we can mention the owner, or not, as we choose. In this optional possession pattern, xten comes after the possessed noun, before the possessor. If the possessor is a pronoun, you use the same bound pronouns that you use for subjects. (Because xten has a KC vowel pattern, its pronunciation does not change when bound pronouns are added.) When these pronouns are used as possessors, their English translation changes: -a means “my”, not “I”, in the possessed noun phrase camyuny xtena, and so on.

 

There is another optional possession pattern, using xte [x:tèe’] instead of xten. This pattern is only used when the possessor is a noun phrase (a noun, with or without a modifier, or a name, but not a pronoun).

OPTIONAL POSSESSION 2
used only with noun phrase possessors
possessed noun xte possessor
liebr xte Lia Petr
“Petra’s book”
guan xte buny “the man’s bull”

There is no difference in meaning between these two patterns. Xte and xten can only be used with optionally possessed items, however, never with members of the family, parts of the body, or certain other items that Zapotec speakers always think of as essentially possessed.

 

You’ve learned the words xte and xten as “of” in earlier lessons, and this is often a good translation of these words. As you can see, however, xten and xte are used in many phrases where “of” could not be used in English (we wouldn’t say <the chair of me> for example!).

 

Possessed noun phrases can be used anywhere in a sentence that you could use an ordinary noun phrase, either as subjects or objects.

Quilya liebr xten Lia Petr.

“I am going to look for Petra’s book.”

Bdinal guan xte buny Mazh.

“The man’s bull chased Tomas.”

Rcazu gyizhily xtena e?

“Do you want my chair?”

Tarea Teiby xte Lecsyony Tsëda.

Part Teiby. Tell how you would refer to each of the items below with the possessor given, as in the example. Translate your answers, and read them aloud.

Example. “you”. Answer. gues xtenu “your pot”

a. doctor

b. “you (form.)”

c. Bied Lia Petr

d. “me”

e. Lia Glory

f. Tiu Pamyël

Part Tyop. Bcwa ni ca ni guet cuan Dizhsa.

a. Did you break Señor Panfilo’s blal?

b. I am washing her rebozo.

c. Did you sell your blanket?

d. My doctor moved.

e. I will ride Pedro’s horse.

f. Do you want my book?

g. Their horse really runs!

h. Juana’s friend warmed my coffee.

i. Take Juan’s knife away!

j. My friend broke the cook’s spoon.

§14.2. Essential possession

In Zapotec, it really doesn’t make sense to think of a concept like “sister” or “head” without remembering that a sister or a head must be possessed by someone. Although possession is optional with nouns like “bull” or “book”, with possessed nouns like “sister” and “head”, we have . Most nouns that are essentially possessed are kinship terms like “sister” (they express a family relationship with the possessor) or body parts like “head” (they name a part of the possessor, which you can also think of as showing a relationship). Below are some essentially possessed Zapotec nouns. First, some kinship terms:

bel [bèe’ll] sister (of a female)

bets [behts] brother (of a male)

bied [biied] aunt

bzyan [bzyaàa’n] sister (of a male); brother (of a female)

chiel [chìel] spouse: husband, wife

zhiny [zhìi’iny] child (offspring: son, daughter)

zhinygan [zhìi’inygaàa’n] son

zhinyzhyap [zhìi’inyzhyàa’p] daughter

And next, some body part words:

cweteix [cwe’tèe’ix] side (of a person or animal’s body)

dets [dehts] back

dyag [dyahg] ear

gueicy [gue’ihcy] head

lany [làa’any] stomach

teix [tèe’ix] chest, trunk, side

zuat [zu’aht] bone

zhan [zh:ààa’n] rear end, butt

zhiby [zhi’ihby] knee

zhacw [zh:àa’cw] upper arm

(There are also some other essentially possessed nouns, like zudy [zu’ùu’dy] “corte (traditional Zapotec woman’s wrap-around skirt)”, which are not kinship terms or body parts. You’ll learn a few more of these later in this lesson. As noted earlier in the lesson, zhan is a word that you need to know the meaning of, but which you probably shouldn’t use in conversation till you’re a fluent speaker.)

 

When you use one of these nouns in a sentence, you must mention its possessor, because these nouns are essentially possessed (we call them , with e-possessed abbreviated as “e-poss.”). Xte and xten are never used with e-possessed nouns. Here’s the pattern used for essential possession:

ESSENTIAL POSSESSION 1
e-possessed noun possessor
bel Lia Glory “Gloria’s sister”
bets buny “the man’s brother”
zhinygan -ëb “her son”
guecy -a “my head”
cweteix cabai “the horse’s side”

E-possessed nouns have to be used with a possessor. In a possessed noun phrase with an e-possessed noun, the possessor comes right after the e-possessed noun, as shown above. Possessors may be noun phrases, like Lia Glory or buny, or bound pronouns, like –a. (If the e-possessed noun is a phrase consisting of two words, the possessor goes after the second word.)

 

Zapotec speakers often do not even like to say e-possessed nouns without mentioning a possessor. If you ask a speaker how to say an e-possessed word like “stomach”, he or she may say lany buny “a person’s stomach”, to avoid saying the word by itself. Thus, if you use a word like lany without a possessor, you probably won’t be speaking good Zapotec.

 

E-possessed nouns often change their pronunciation with following bound pronouns beginning with vowels, in just the same ways that verbs do. Always use the combination form of a word before a following bound pronoun (except for a formal pronoun), just as you learned in Lecsyony Tseiny (13). Some words have other changes, just like those that verbs do. For example, guecya “my head” is pronounced [gue’ecya’].

 

The first three e-possessed nouns in the list above are the Zapotec words for brothers and sisters. As you can see, there is one term, bzyan, which is used for opposite-sex siblings (brothers of females or sisters of males), as in the following examples:

Ydeidy Bed teiby gyets bzyanëng.

“Pedro is going to give a paper to his sister.”

Cadeidy Lia Len mansan bzyanëng.

“Elena is giving the apple to her brother.”

Bdeidya liebr bzyana.

“I gave the book to my sister.” (spoken by a male); “I gave the book to my brother.” (spoken by a female)

When referring to a sibling of the same sex as the possessor, use bel for the sister of a female and bets for the brother of a male: thus, bela is how a woman says “my sister” and betsa is how a man says “my brother”. Bel is not used with male possessors, and bets is not used with female possessors.

 

Here are some more examples:

Bguad manyser zhacwu.

“The bee stung your upper arm.”

Cagapu detsi e?

“Are you slapping his back?”

Zhinyzhyapën rsudieby nyis.

“Our daughter boils water.”

Bguad manyser dyag Gyeily.

“The bee stung Miguel’s ear.”

Bdap buny gueicy Lia Len.

“The man slapped Elena’s head.”

Canaza dyag becw.

“I am grabbing the dog’s ear.”

Tarea Tyop xte Lecsyony Tsëda.

Look at the family tree below. A horizontal line between two names (–) indicates marriage, and a vertical line ( | ) from a married couple to another name or group of names indicates a line of descent from parent to children. Find the name of the person or people that fit the descriptions given after the family tree. List all the people who fit the description; if no one fits the description, or the description doesn’t make sense, then say so.

Ex: bel Lia Len. This means “Elena’s sister”, and so the answer must be Lia Da.

a. bzyan Lia Da

b. bets Wse

c. chiel Jwany

d. bets Mazh

e. bets Lia Desy

f. chiel Lia Petr

g. zhiny Jwany

h. bel Lia Da

i. zhinyzhyap Lia Petr

j. zhiny Bed

k. zhinygan Lia Zhuan

l. bzyan Mazh

Now, here are some e-possessed nouns that end with vowels:

bzilo [bziloh] eye

la [lah] name

lo [lohoh] face

ni [ni’ih] foot; lower leg; back leg (of an animal)

na [nnaàa’] hand; forearm; front leg (of an animal)

rse [rse’eh] echo of the voice

ru [ru’uh] mouth

zhi [zhi’ih] nose

This list includes some nouns, like la and rse, which are neither body parts nor kin terms. Names and voices (or their echoes) are things that are normally associated with possessors, however, so they are e-possessed too.

 

When you use a pronoun beginning with a vowel after a vowel-final e-possessed noun, the same changes occur that happen with vowel-final verb stems (as described in Lecsyony Tseiny (13)). Ni, rse, ru, and zhi are CB stems, so bound pronouns beginning with vowels are added in a separate syllable. With pronouns consisting of a single vowel, you write an extra vowel at the end of the vowel-final stem, even when that would mean two of the same vowel in a row. As “the echo of my voice” shows, the e at the end of rse becomes an i before the pronoun –a.

niëng [ni’-ëng]

“his foot”

rsia [rsi’-a’]

“the echo of my voice”

ruu [ru’-ùu’]

“your mouth”

zhii [zhi’-ih]

“her nose”

Bzilo, la, lo, and na are not CB stems, so their pronunciation with an added bound pronoun beginning with a vowel changes in the same sorts of ways that non-CB verb stems does, as these examples show:

bzilua [bziluùa’]

“my eye”

loo [lòo’]

“your name”

loo [loòo’]

“your face”

naëng [nnàa’-ëng]

“his hand”

Make sure you can pronounce the difference between “your name” and “your face”, which are spelled the same but pronounced differently! These words show that both final a and o result in final oo when informal –u is added to them. Remember, too, that when –a is added to a stem that ends in o, that o will turn into u, as happens in bzilua. As “his hand” illustrates, when the bound pronouns –ëng, -ëb, -ëm, -ën, and –ad follow a vowel-final stem, they form a separate syllable. However, these separate pronoun syllables are sometimes hard to hear, so words like naëng may sound more like <nang> to you.

 

Naa [nnaàa’] “my hand” is pronounced with a PKC vowel pattern, just like almost all other “I”/”my” forms of non-CB stems. The ordinary word for “hand”, na [nnaàa’], is pronounced the same way, but spelled differently, because it does not include the bound pronoun -a. Listen to your teacher compare the following underlined words. Do they sound the same?

Bdapëng naa.

“He slapped my hand.”

Bdapëng na Lia Glory.

“He slapped Gloria’s hand.”

The e-possessed nouns in this section always have a possessor. In the Ra Dizh they are listed as “e-poss. only”, meaning that they cannot be used without mentioning their possessor.

Tarea Chon xte Lecsyony Tsëda.

Part Teiby. Practice the possession patterns expressing the possession of each of the following items with the following possessors: 1. Bed; 2. “me”; 3. “you”, as with the example. If the picture represents a noun that is e-possessed, use the Essential Possession 1 pattern. If the picture represents a noun that is not e-possessed, use one of the Optional Possession Patterns. Translate your answers, and practice saying each one aloud.

Example. 1. dyag Bed “Pedro’s ear”; 2. dyaga “my ear”; 3. dyagu “your ear”

a.

b.

c.

d.

e.

Part Tyop. Form possessed noun phrases using the following nouns and possessors, as in the examples. If the noun is e-possessed, use the Essential Possession 1 pattern. If the noun is not e-possessed, use one of the Optional Possession Patterns. If the possessor listed is a free pronoun, use the appropriate bound pronoun on the possessed noun. Then make up a new Zapotec sentence using each possessed noun phrase. Finally, translate your sentences into English, and read each one aloud.

Example 1. Cwet (noun to be possessed); mniny (possessor).

Answer. Cwet xte mniny (or cwet xten mniny) — Bdily mes cwet xte mniny. “The teacher looked for the child’s firecracker.”

Example 2. Na (noun to be possessed); “me” (possessor).

Answer. NaaBdapëng naa. “He slapped my hand.”

noun (to be possessed) possessor
a. bai mna
b. zhinyzhyap
naa
c. bzyan Lia Len
d. amiegw danoën
e. cotony Rony
f. ru larëm
g. liebr cosiner
h. ni laëm
i. guan mes
j. dets liu

§14.3. Forming new e-possessed nouns with the x- prefix

In section §14.1 you learned how to express optional possession, by using xten or xte plus a possessor following an optionally possessed noun. Another way to talk about the possession of optionally possessed items is to change these nouns into e-possessed nouns:

xliebr Bed

“Pedro’s book”

xcuan mna

“the woman’s bull”

xcamyunya

“my truck”

xamiegwu

“your friend”

These examples use the same possessed noun phrases you saw in §14.1, but each possessed noun has a prefix x– [x:], and there is no xten or xte before the possessor, which appears right after the possessed noun, in the following pattern:

ESSENTIAL POSSESSION 2
x-    possessed noun
(e-possessed noun)
possessor
x-    liebr Bed
x-    cuan mna
x-    camyuny -a
x-    amiegw -u

When the x- prefix combines with the possessed noun, this forms a new e-possessed noun. The possessed nouns in these phrases (the ones starting with the prefix x-) are e-possessed, so they must have a possessor. Although liebr “book” is an ordinary noun, whose possessor the speaker may choose to mention or not, xliebr is an e-possessed noun. Just like the e-possessed kinship terms and body parts, an e-possessed noun like xliebr cannot be used in a sentence without mentioning the possessor, and speakers may be reluctant to say this word on its own.

 


Fot Tyop xte Lecsyony Tsëda. Man with his bulls finishing a day’s plowing.

 

Here are a few more examples:

xquet Lia Desy

“Modesta’s tortilla”

xpai mna

“the woman’s rebozo”

xtibuji

“his drawing”

You’ve probably noticed that the g’s at the beginning of guan and guet are replaced by c and qu in the e-possessed forms xcuan and xquet, the b at the beginning of bai is replaced by p in the e-possessed form xpai, and the d at the beginning of dibuj is replaced by t in the e-possessed form xtibuj. This is a regular process. Normally, g becomes c (or qu before i, e, or ë), b becomes p, and d becomes t after the x- prefix. (Once in a while these changes do not occur. The entries in the Rata Ra Dizh at the end of this book will let you know. If you don’t see any special information about possessed forms in the Rata Ra Dizh, then you’ll know that a formation is regular.)

Tarea Tap xte Lecsyony Tsëda.

Create possessed noun phrases using each of the nouns below by first turning the noun into an e-poss. noun. Then use your possessed noun phrase in a sentence. Translate your sentence into English.

a. caj

b. dadich

c. tarea

d. bistied

e. telebisyony

f. bel “meat”

g. campan

h. cart

i. coch

j. bolz

With nouns that start with more than one consonant, however, it gets more complicated. If the possessed noun begins with a consonant plus y or w, x– is added just the same way as to any other possessed noun:

xcyizhilyën

“our chair”

xcwetrëng

“their firecracker”

(The regular changes of g to c or qu, d to t, and b to p also occur. It’s a little complicated.)

 

With words that start with t, d, c, or g plus l or r, it’s a little different. These words also add only x– in the e-possessed form, but there is no change in a d or g at the beginning of the word:

xtrus Mazh

“Tomas’s underpants”

xgrabadora

“my tape recorder”

xclarinet Lia Da

“Soledad’s clarinet”

When the possessed noun starts with any other two consonants (other than rr), or with any three consonants, however, the prefix used on the e-possessed form is xa- [x:a]:

xabduayu

“your (form.) banana”

xaplum Bed

“Pedro’s pen”

xawzhyar Lia Len

“Elena’s spoon”

xablal Tiu Pamyël

“Señor Panfilo’s blal”

Possessed nouns that start with rr usually change the rr to one r after the x- prefix:

xregal Lia Zhuan

“Juana’s gift”

xresieb Tiu Chiecw

“Señor Chico’s bill”

xrompecabesa

“my puzzle”

xran mniny

“the child’s frog” (rran [rraan] “frog”)

xrestauranrëng

“their restaurant” (rrestauran [rrestaura’aann] “restaurant”)

xrosëb

“her (resp.) rice” (rros [rro’s] “rice”)

As you learned in Lecsyony Tyop, it’s often best to think of Zapotec rr as a sequence of two r’s, and a small number of words that start with rr work like other words that start with two consonants, and use the prefix xa-:

xarradyu

“your radio”

And a few words that start with rr may use both types of e-possession:

xrelua / xarrelua

“my watch” (rrelo [rreloo] “watch”)

xrued car / xarrued car

“the car’s wheel”, “the wheel of the car” (rrued [rrueed] “wheel”)

The e-possessed forms of nouns like rrady, rrelo, and rrued are listed in the Rata Ra Dizh.

 

With certain other possessed nouns, there are other pronunciation changes in the e-possessed form, either in the noun or in the x- prefix itself.

 

Before possessed nouns starting with z, the prefix x- is regularly replaced by r-, and the z becomes s:

rseinya

“my work”

(from zeiny)

The prefix r- is also regularly used instead of x- before nouns starting with s-:

rserbesa

“my beer”

(from serbes)

When the possessed noun starts with zh, its e-possessed form usually starts with x:

xilyëng

“his sheep”

(from zhily)

xomrelu

“your hat”

(from zhomrel)

xyet Tiu Pamyël

“Señor Panfilo’s cat”

(from zhyet)

(In these cases, there is no extra x- prefix: the x at the beginning of these words is a combination of the x- prefix plus the first sound in the noun word.)

 

However, when the zh at the beginning of the possessed noun is followed by i or y, that zh is sometimes replaced with ch in the e-possessed form. The ch follows the x- prefix:

xchyap Jwany

“Juan’s girlfriend”

(from zhyap)

As you can see, there is some variability in what happens with possessed forms of nouns that start with zh, so e-possessed forms of nouns beginning with zh that don’t start with x will be listed in the Rata Ra Dizh. (This example also shows that sometimes the meaning of a word occasionally can change when it is e-possessed.)

 

Below is a chart that summarizes the regular ways to make the e-possessed form of a Valley Zapotec noun.

 

These rules are a little complicated, but in fact they have very few exceptions. As mentioned earlier, b, d, and g sometimes do not change after the x- prefix (you’ll learn about one such case later in this lesson). Sometimes a word that starts with zh will have a possessed form that starts with xch rather than x. A few words that sart with rr don’t follow the rule below. And there are a few e-possessed forms that are really irregular. But most forms are regular, and the Rata Ra Dizh will list any that aren’t.

 

If you can’t figure out how to make the e-possessed form of a noun, you can just use xte or xten! This works with most nouns, although you can’t use xten with kinship terms or body parts.

Table 14.1. Making the E-Possessed Form of a Noun
If the noun starts with a vowel… Add the prefix x- to make the e-possessed form.
If the noun starts with z or s If it starts with z, change z to s. The e-possessed prefix for all these words is r-, so the e-possessed form begins with rs.
If the noun starts with zh Change the zh to x. There is no additional prefix; the e-possessed form begins with x. (With some words, instead, zh changes to ch, and the e-possessed form starts with xch.)
If the noun starts with b, d, or g plus a vowel, y, or w Change b to p; change d to t, change g to c (or qu before i, e, or ë). Then add the prefix x- to make the e-possessed form.
If the noun starts with any other consonant plus a vowel, y, or w Add the prefix x- to make the e-possessed form.
If the noun starts with t, d, c, or g plus l or r Add the prefix x- to make the e-possessed form.
If the noun starts with rr Change rr to r and add the prefix x- to make the e-possessed form.
If the noun starts with any other two consonants or any three consonants… Add the prefix xa- to make the e-possessed form.

An important thing to remember is that an e-possessed noun like those you learned at the beginning of this lesson (such as words for body parts and family members) is always e-possessed. You never have to use additional possessive markers (such as xten or x-) with these nouns. Thus, it’s never correct to say, for example, xbetsëng to mean “his brother”, since bets is an e-possessed noun already.

Tarea Gai xte Lecsyony Tsëda.

Part Teiby. Bcwa ni ca ni guet cuan Dizhsa.

a. my crow

b. Juana’s cow

c. your banana

d. our tape recorder

e. the doctor’s chapulin

f. the teacher’s computer

g. your (form.) photograph

h. our door

i. Señor Panfilo’s radio

j. Petra’s rebozo

Part Tyop. Use each of the items pictured below in an e-possessed noun phrase, with some noun or name possessors and some pronoun possessors. Then put each of your possessed noun phrases into a sentence. Read your sentences out loud to another student, and have them read their sentences to you. Can you understand each other’s sentences?

a.

b.

c.

d.

e.

With nouns that don’t refer to parts of the body or members of the family, it’s always acceptable to use a possessed phrase with xten or xte. Speakers may prefer this with some nouns, especially recently borrowed words (like brand names! – see the example in Fot Chon at the end of the lesson).

§14.4. Possessed nouns as possessors

A possessed noun may be a possessor:

Cazhuny guan xte bets Jwany.

“Juan’s brother’s bull is running.”

Mnaza ni cabai xte doctor.

“I grabbed the doctor’s horse’s foot.”

Ryulaza xchyap bzyan Lia Glory.

“I like Gloria’s brother’s girlfriend.”

A possessed noun phrase like bets Jwany, cabai xte doctor, or bzyan Lia Glory may name the possessor in any of the possession patterns you have learned, just as a simpler noun phrase like doctor or Lia Glory does.

Tarea Xop xte Lecsyony Tsëda.

Part Teiby. Bcwa ni ca ni guet cuan Dizhsa.

a. Juan’s friend’s book

b. my spouse’s face

c. the woman’s sister’s soup

d. the teacher’s student’s table

e. the doctor’s cat’s stomach

Part Tyop. Use each of the possessed noun phrases you made up in Part Teiby in a sentence. Translate each of your new sentences into English.

§14.5. More about e-possession

Exceptional e-possessed nouns. Here are some new nouns. This group includes both kinship terms and body part words:

nan [nnàaan] mother

nanmam [nna’anma’mm] grandmother

dad [da’ad] father

dadmam [da’adma’mm] grandfather

bied [biied] aunt

tiu [ti’u] uncle

pryem [prye’mm] cousin

cader [cadeer] hip; bottom, rear end

gyichicy [gyihchi’ihcy] hair

garzi [garzììi’] guts, intestines

Because these words are kinship terms and body parts, you might think you could use them as is, directly before the possessor in the Essential Possession 1 pattern (as explained in section §14.2). However, this is not the case: when you want to mention the possessor of these words, you have to add x- (or xa-) following the Essential Possession 2 pattern:

xnana

“my mother”

xnanmamëng

“her grandmother”

xbied Lia Glory

“Gloria’s aunt”

xtadëb

“his father”

xtadmamyu

“your (form.) grandfather”

xapryem Gyeily

“Miguel’s cousin”

xcadera

“my rear end”, “my bottom”, “my hips”

xcarziu

“your guts”

xcyichicyyuad

“your (form. pl.) hair”

(Notice that all the same changes in the possessed noun and the prefix x– that you learned about in section §14.3 apply to words like these too. So, for example, the possessed form of dad is xtad, and so on. However, xbied is an irregular e-possessed form, since the b in this word does not change to p.)

 

Words like this can easily be used without a possessor when they don’t have the x- prefix – for example, you know that tiu and bied can be used as polite address terms to people one doesn’t know well. The other kinship terms are sometimes used on their own as address terms (by people speaking to their own relatives) as well. However, the words in this section are never used in the Optional Possession patterns with xten or xte.

 


Fot Chon xte Lecsyony Tsëda. Zapotec women use rebozos for many things – keeping themselves warm, covering themselves for modesty, and especially holding babies.

Adding bound pronouns beginning with vowels after a diphthong. The pronunciation of xtiu before bound pronouns beginning with vowels follows a new rule. Look at the following examples, given with pronunciation guides:

xtiuyuad

“your (form. pl.) uncle”

[x:ti’uyùad]

xtiurëng

“their uncle”

[x:ti’urëng]

xtiu Lia Zhuan

“Juana’s uncle”

xtiuwa

“my uncle”

[x:ti’uwa’]

xtiuwu

“your uncle”

[x:ti’uwùu’]

xtiuwëb

“his uncle”

[x:ti’uwëhb]

Nothing unexpected happens when a formal or plural ending is added to xtiu, or when this word is used with a noun phrase as its possessor. However, when the possessor is a bound pronoun beginning with a vowel, w is added before the pronoun ending.

 

Any time you add a bound pronoun beginning with a vowel to the independent form of a word ending in a diphthong whose last sound is u, you must add w before the pronoun. Similarly, any time you add a bound pronoun beginning with a vowel to the independent form of a word ending in a diphthong whose last sound is i, you must add y before the pronoun, as in the e-possessed form of bai “rebozo, shawl”:

xpaiya

“my rebozo”

[x:paiya’]

xpaiyëb

“her (resp.) rebozo”

[x:paiyëhb]

Tarea Gaz xte Lecsyony Tsëda.

Part Teiby. Below is the family tree from Tarea Tyop. Translate the possessed noun phrases that follow the family tree into Zapotec. Then find the person or people who match that description. If no one matches the description, then say so. Two examples have been completed for you.

Ex. 1. Pedro’s daughter’s husband

Ans. chiel zhinyzhyap BedThe description applies to both Juan and Tomas.

Ex. 2. Leon’s sister’s daughter

Ans. zhinyzhyap bzyan Leony This is Gloria.

a. Panfilo’s cousin’s grandfather

b. Petra’s son’s cousin

c. Juana’s son’s wife

d. Soledad’s brother’s child

e. Elena’s brother’s wife

f. Juan’s wife’s father

Part Tyop. Choose five of the people in the family tree, and give a description in Zapotec of each of them. (There are many ways to describe each person in the family tree – choose descriptions that have not been used here.)

Here are some examples of another type of exceptional e-possessed noun:

xban [x:bààa’n] / xfan [x:fààa’n] tail

xga [x:gàa] / xja [x:jàa] wing

xquets [x:quèe’ts] kidney; gizzard

These words are e-possessed, as you’d expect from the fact that they are body parts (tails, wings, and gizzards are body parts of animals!). Like the last set of exceptional e-possessed nouns, these include the x- prefix. But unlike that previous group, this group of e-possessed nouns has no corresponding form without the x-. (Many speakers use a different pronunciation for g and b when those sounds follow x: they pronounce xg as [xj] and xb as [xf], as shown above. Which pronunciation does your teacher use? You can spell (and pronounce) words like xban and xga with xf and xj if you like, but we will use the spellings with xg and xb in this book.) These e-possessed nouns, like the ones in section §14.2, must be used with a possessor, and are specified as “e-poss. only” in the Ra Dizh.

 

Finally, here is a last group of exceptional e-possessed nouns, along with corresponding nouns that are not possessed:

e-possessed not possessed

liaz [liihahz]

yu

“house”

xab [x:ahb]

lady [lahdy]

“clothes”

xyecw [x:yèe’cw]

becw

“dog”

lo zhia [loh zhihah]

lo nya [loh nyààa’]

“field”

The e-possessed nouns here are like the others you’ve learned about in this lesson: they must be used with possessors. Each of them has a corresponding possessed noun — but that noun looks very different from the e-possessed noun. (True, the ends of the words becw and xyecw are similar — but the rest of the word does not follow the rules you learned in section §14.3; they are really irregular! And all the other pairs of words above look completely different in their possessed and unpossessed forms.)

Tarea Xon xte Lecsyony Tsëda.

Below is a list of items and possessors. For each item, make a possessed noun phrase with the possessor given. (If the possessor listed is a free pronoun, you’ll have to change it to the appropriate bound pronoun ending, of course.) Read the phrases you make up out loud. Then, translate your possessed noun phrase into English, as in the example. (Hint: sometimes your translation will depend on who you are!)

Example. zhacw (item); mes (posessor)

Answer. zhacw mes “the teacher’s arm”

item possessor
a. lady ra mna
b. tiu Lia Da
c. bzyan
naa
d. xban
zhyet
e. yu
liu
f. dad
doctor
g. becw
lai
h. pryem
Gyeily
i. xja
budy
j. dyag
laëm

§14.6. Objects whose possessor is the subject of the sentence

Look at these sentences whose objects are possessed noun phrases:

Bdichëb zhacwëb.

“He broke his arm.”

Rculoi zhinygani.

“She takes care of her son.”

Ycwanyëng betsëng.

“He is going to wake up his brother.”

Btorëng xcuanrëng.

“They sold their bulls.”

Rculozaquëng liebr xtenëng.

“She takes good care of her book.”

When you read the English translations for these sentences, you probably can imagine two ways to interpret them. He broke his arm, for example, might mean the same as He broke his own arm, or might be used when one person broke another’s arm.

 

In each of the examples, the pronoun used to indicate the subject is the same as the pronoun used to indicate the possessor of the object (in the first sentence, both are respectful -ëb, in the last, both are proximate plural -rëng, and so on). When the subject and the possessor of the object of a Zapotec sentence are both the same pronoun, the Zapotec sentence can be interpreted in the same two ways as its English translation: the subject may be the possessor of the object, but does not have to be. (Speakers will interpret the sentence differently depending on the context.)

 

However, the situation is different with sentences like the following:

Bdich mes zhacwëb.

“The teacher broke his arm.”

Rculo Bied Lia Zhwuan zhinygani.

“Señora Juana takes care of her son.”

Ycwany xapryema betsëng.

“My cousin is going to wake up his brother.”

Bto ra buny xcuanrëng.

“The people sold their bulls.”

Rculozac Lia Len liebr xtenëng.

“Elena takes good care of her book.”

In these examples, the English translations work the same as before — we can imagine that The teacher broke his arm might refer either to the teacher breaking his own arm or to his breaking someone else’s arm (in a fight, for example). The Zapotec sentences, however, do not have two meanings. Each of the Zapotec sentences here indicates only that the possessor of the object is someone different from the subject. For example, in the first sentence, for example, this possessor is also a respected person (because -ëb is used), perhaps even another teacher — but it cannot be the same as the teacher who does the breaking.

 

When the subject of a Zapotec sentence is a noun phrase (a name, a noun, or a modified noun — but not a pronoun), that subject can never be interpreted as the same as a pronoun possessor of an object of that sentence. In order to show that a noun phrase subject and the possessor of an object are the same, you need to use a special pronoun, -ni [nìi’], to indicate the possessor of the object:

Bdich mes zhacwni.

“The teacher broke his own arm.”

Rculo Bied Lia Zhuan zhinyganni.

“Señora Juana takes care of her own son.”

Ycwany xapryema betsni.

“My cousin is going to wake up his own brother.”

Bto ra buny xcuanni.

“The people sold their own bulls.”

Rculozac Lia Len liebr xtenni.

“Elena takes good care of her own book.”

These English translations may seem a bit odd, since in English we do not usually use own every time the possessor of an object is the same as the subject. The “own” translations are used here in order to make it very clear that the subject of these sentences must be interpreted as the possessor of the object. -Ni means something like “his own”, “her own”, “their own”, or “its own”. It can be used to correspond with any noun phrase subject, but it is never used when the subject is a bound pronoun.

Tarea Ga xte Lecsyony Tsëda.

Bcwa ni ca ni guet cuan Dizhsa.

a. The cook is warming his own coffee.

b. The women arrived at their (someone else’s) house.

c. The doctor hates her (someone else’s) cousin.

d. The student does his own homework.

e. The woman gets to know her (someone else’s) teacher.

f. Soledad is missing her own bag.

§14.7. Repeating subject possessors

Another way to show that a subject noun phrase possesses an object is to repeat the noun phrase as the possessor, rather than using a pronoun possessor.

Bdich mes zhacw mes.

“The teacher broke the teacher’s arm.”, “The teacher broke his own arm.”

Rculo Bied Lia Zhwuan zhinygan Bied Lia Zhwuan.

“Señora Juana takes care of Señora Juana’s son.”, “Señora Juana takes care of her own son.”

Ycwany xapryema bets xapryema.

“My cousin is going to wake up my cousin’s brother.”, “My cousin is going to wake up his own brother.”

Bto ra buny xcuan ra buny.

“The people sold the (other) people’s bulls.”, “The people sold their own bulls.”

Rculozac Lia Len liebr xten Lia Len.

“Elena takes good care of Elena’s book.”, “Elena takes good care of her own book.”

As the translations here suggest, these Zapotec sentences have two quite different meanings. In English, if you say The teacher broke the teacher’s arm, you must be talking about two different teachers. This is one interpretation of the first Zapotec sentence above. However, while this two-individual interpretation of the Zapotec sentence is possible, it’s just as likely (perhaps more so) that you are talking about a single individual, about one teacher breaking his own arm, as in the second translation. Each of the other examples works similarly.

Tarea Tsë xte Lecsyony Tsëda.

For each of the sentences you created in Tarea Ga, change the sentence so that it repeats the subject noun phrase, as presented above. Then, explain any differences in meaning between your original and new sentence, as in the example.

Example. Bdich mes zhacwi.

Answer. Bdich mes zhacw mes. In the original sentence, the teacher must have broken someone else’s arm. In the new sentence he could have broken his own arm or some other teacher’s arm.

Prefixes and Endings

-ni [nìi’] his own, her own, its own, their own
r- [r] (used to change some nouns into e-poss. nouns)
x- [x:] / xa- [x:a] (used to change some nouns into e-poss. nouns)

Abbreviations

e-poss. essentially possessed

 


Fot Tap xte Lecsyony Tsëda. Do not attempt this at home… Here’s a California license plate that says “my Mini” in Valley Zapotec! (However, not all speakers feel that using the x- prefix on this kind of borrowed word is appropriate.)

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Cali Chiu: A Course in Valley Zapotec by Pamela Munro, Brook Danielle Lillehaugen, Felipe H. Lopez, Brynn Paul, and Lillian Leibovich is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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