§1. Part Tyop

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Chiecw na xtad Lia Len cuan Bed. A guc tsë iaz cayuny Chiecw zeiny xte meser rrestauran ni la Yagul ni na West Los Angl. A na Chiecw syudadan xte Stados Unied. A guc tyop chon beu nune Chiecw Lia Len cuan Bed.

Rni Chiecw —

Ra mniny re deplan queity racbedirëng rata raprëng re!

Uaszuatsa, chi bzenya re nadota zicyizy ni nu Bed nua. Swert gupa — biedne Tiu Ponzy naa, xtadambaly xtada. Lainy autobuas bzenyën Tijwan cuan laëb. Tiu Ponzy bzhiel coyot ni bteidy danoën, chiru maru zyeiny muly mnabi. Bdeidyën muly lai, tyen bliu coyot teiby pistoly danoën. Chiru blelazi danoën ricy, chiru brica ra myegr ricy, chiru bzhunyën. Lo nya bcwatsloën lo myegr, chiru mnabën teiby abenton par Los Angl. Chi bzenyën ricy, laty nu bets Tiu Ponzy, bzhiela zeiny xte ni rguiby plad, per chiru mnaz myegr naa, bzicyi naa Meijy.

Chi bicya, queityru xi problemdi gupa. Bseidya Ingles, chiru beinya zeiny xte meser, chiru a guc chon iaz ni guca syudadan. Duar beinya zeiny, chiru bxela muly par ra ni byan Ndua. Uas rnalaza chiela, ucdi naa nu chiela re, per na par yculo chiela xnanëng, tyen racxuëb. A guc gan nu ra mniny re tyen a naca syudadan. Maru mejor nu ra mniny cuan naa. Daru chu zhi chune Lia Zhuan danoën re. (Per uas duari — tyen queity rgwedyëng nyec Dizhtily nyec Ingles.)

Ra zhinya rata raprëng re, rgyana larëng, chiru rxela larëng scwel zac. A cayunberëng amiegw, chiru caseidyrëng Ingles. Queity nadi par gunydirëng zeiny. Daru chu zhi gacrëng estudian xte unibersida! Tu gan, steby zhi…zicy na estad re axta ni queity raly re zale gac gobernador.

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§2. Ra Dizh cuan Xiëro Zalo Ra Dizh

§2.1. A few sentences in the story are best to learn just as fixed phrases for now:

Here’s another form of the first sentence that you can use in conversation:

§2.2. Below are the other new vocabulary words and expressions used in this part of the story. You’ll learn more about using many of these words in later lessons. Most verbs are listed in the vocabulary in the habitual form (beginning with r-; note that a habitual verb beginning with rr has a base beginning with r). Therefore, if the story contains a verb in the perfective (b–), progressive (ca-) form, or irrealis (y-) form, you can remove that prefix and substitute r- to form the habitual form of the verb listed below. (Any verb that works differently has all forms used in the story listed separately below.) References are given, where necessary, to notes below or in Blal xte Tiu Pamyël, Part Teiby (abbreviated BXTP 1). In this Ra Dizh, “…” means that something must appear between parts of an entry.

_{Fot Teiby xte Blal xte Tiu Pamyël, Part Tyop. The Valle de Oaxaca Restaurant in the Mar Vista area of West Los Angeles, a restaurant very similar to the one where Chico works.}

_{Fot Tyop xte Blal xte Tiu Pamyël, Part Tyop. The ball court at Yagul (one of the largest in Mexico), the precolumbian archeological site near Tlacolula that Chico’s restaurant is named for. Some scenes of the 2006 movie Nacho Libre were shot at Yagul.}

§2.3. As in BXTP 1, there are a number of verbs in the list that are irregular, which you won’t learn to use with pronoun subjects until later lessons. (Almost all of these, you might notice, are verbs that have bases that either begin or end with vowels, or both. These tend to be the most irregular verbs in Zapotec.) For now, don’t use these verbs yourself except in the stem forms used here and with noun or name subjects. A verb entry like runy zeiny “works” is a COMPLEX VERB, whose subject goes after the first word of the entry (you’ll learn more about these in Lecsyony Tsëbtyop). As noted in BXTP 1, NEUTRAL verb often begin with n (you’ll learn more about these in Lecsyony Tseinyabchon).

§2.4 Nu (a NEUTRAL verb; see BXTP 1) “is”, “lives with”, “is located inside” is used to refer to age in sentences like

§2.5. Figuring out words that are spelled alike but that sound different or are used differently can be tricky, both in English and in Zapotec. You know the word ricy [ri’cy] — this chapter of the story introduces the new word ricy [ri’ihcy] “returns”. Obviously, these two words can be used together, as in a sentence like

If your teacher pronounces this sentence, you will hear that it begins [ri’cy ri’ihcy] – “there” plus “returns”. But in fact you can figure this out even if you don’t hear the sentence. The subject Jwany must come right after the verb. We know that adverbs can come at the beginning of a sentence, before the verb – so the first ricy here must be “there”, and the second one must be “returns”.

In fact, the habitual verb ricy is not used in this chapter of the story – all the ricy‘s in the story are “there”. A form of the verb ricy is in this sentence:

It’s easy to tell that this is the verb, not the adverb, since the habitual prefix r- has been replaced here by the perfective prefix b-.

§2.6. An adjective like duar can be used with a bound subject pronoun, as in duari “it’s hard”. You’ll learn more about this in Lecsyony Tseinyabchon.

§3. Xa Rni Buny Ra Dizh

pa’rt tyo’p

Chie’cw nàa x:ta’ad Lia Leen cuahnn Beed. a guhc tsêë’ iihahz cayuhny Chie’cw zèèi’ny x:tèe’ meseer rrestaura’ann nih laa Yagu’ll nih nàa We’st Los A’nngl. a nàa Chie’cw syudada’nn x:tèe’ Stadohs Uniied. a guhc tyo’p chòonn be’eu nu’uhnèe Chi’ecw Lia Leen cuahnn Beed.

rnnììi’ Chie’cw —

ra mnìi’iny rèe’ depla’nn que’ity rahcbèedi’rëng ra’ta’ ràa’prëng rèe’!

u’suatsa’, chih bzehnnya’ rèe’ nadòo’ta’ zi’cyihzy nih nu’uh Beed nu’-a’. swe’rt gùu’pa’ — bìe’dnèe Ti’u Po’nnzy nàa’, x:ta’admbaaly x:ta’ada’. làa’iny autobuahs bzehnnyëhnn Tijwa’nn cuahnn làa’b. Ti’u Po’nnzy bzhìel coyo’t nih btèèi’dy dannooh-ëhnn, chiru’ maaru’ zyèiny mùuully mnàa’bih. bdèi’dyëhnn mùuully la’ài, tye’nn blìu’ coyo’t te’ihby pisto’lly dannoohn. chiru’ blelàa’zih dannooh-ëhnn ri’cy, chiru’ bricàa ra mye’gr ri’cy, chiru’ bzh:ùu’nnyëhnn. loh nyààa’ bcwa’tsloon loh mye’gr, chiru’ mnàa’bëhnn te’ihby abentoon pahr Los A’nngl. chih bzehnnyëhnn ri’cy, lahty nu’uh behts Ti’u Po’nnzy, bzhìela’ zèèi’ny x:tèe’ nih rguìi’by plaad, pehr chiru’ mnàa’az mye’gr nàa’, bzi’ihcyih nàa’ Me’ijy.

chih bi’icya’, que’ityru’ xi proble’mmdi’ gùu’pa’. bsèi’dya’ Ingle’s, chiru’ bèi’inya’ zèèi’ny x:tèe’ meseer, chiru’ a guhc chòonn iihahz nih gu’ca’ syudada’nn. duuar bèi’nya’ zèèi’ny, chiru’ bxèe’lla’ mùuully pahr ra nih byàa’an Ndùu’ah. ua’s rnalàa’za’ chìe’la’, u’cdi’ nàa’ nu’uh chìe’la’ rèe’, pehr nàa pahr yculoh chìe’la’ x:nna’anëng, tye’nn rahcx:ùub. a guhcgaan nu’uh ra mnìi’iny rèe’ tye’nn a nàa’ca’ syudada’nn. maaru’ mejoor nu’uh ra mnìi’iny cuahnn nàa’. dàa’ru’ chu’uh zh:ih chu’uhnèe Lia Zh:ùaan dannooh-ëhnn rèe’. (pehr ua’s duarih – tye’nn que’ity rgwèe’dyëng nyèe’c Dìi’zhtiilly nyèe’c Ingle’s.)

ra zhìi’inya’ ra’ta’ ràa’prëng rèe’, rgyaàa’na’ làa’rëng, chiru’ rxèe’lla’ làa’rëng scweel za’c. a cayunybèerëng amie’gw, chiru’ casèei’dyrëng Ingle’s. que’ity nàadi’ pahr guunydi’rëng zèèi’ny. Dàa’ru’ chu’uh zh:ih ga’crëng estudi’aann x:tèe’ unibersidaa! Tu gàann, steeby zh:ih…zi’ihcy nàa estaad rèe’ a’xta’ nih que’ity ràally rèe’ zalle’eh ga’c gobernadoor.

§4. Video Recording