§1. Part Tap

Bed rcwa teiby email lo Mazh —

As, Mazh,

Queity bzuatdya basquetbol nai, tyen byoën lo gueizh. Cwa Dyoz xnanmama, na par bicyën San Luc tyen ygatsëb. Derrepen cwa Dyoz laëb — aeropwertdi xte Meijy nu xtada chi mniëb por telefono scwel. Nai bgatsëb. Triestdani. Nyecbaza rinydilaza queityrua yninia xnanmama steby.

_{Fot Teiby xte BXTP Part Tap. Boys in San Lucas playing basketball on the plaza in front of the municipio, next to the church.}

Guzh gyicy xtada ladi, xtuxman gyanën danoën. Chi gyiquën ladi chicyru gyicyneën xnana. Na par gacneën laëb, tyen queity rgwedyëb nyec Dizhtily nyec Ingles.

U rnalazu blal ni nu San Diegw, ni rliu beiny cwen blal xte Tiu Pamyël? Byoën liaz Tiu Pamyël cuan Lia Len ba rsily. Bliuwëb blal xtenëb danoën, rapagëb blal ni rliu beiny cwen blal ni nu museu San Diegw. Reipyën laëb xte blal ni nu lainy museu. Queity gucbedi Tiu Pamyël ni reipyën laëb. Per naëb gu teiby buny Ndua ni gugan laëb tyop gwel. Binydyag gyizhi rap Tiu Pamyël blal. Uas xchi bgwii lo ra blal, blei fot blei, chiru breixi ra blal. Xi rrilo liu, xizhyi rcazi?

Rinydyau ne, chi nua ladi, uas rnalaza San Luc, chiru na ni nua re, rnalaza ladi. (Uas rcyetlaza rgyetnia xyecwa — bculozac xnana xyecwa.) Per amer gyicyën. Uas nda re na.

Xamiegwu,
Bed

Jump to pronunciation guide

§2. Ra Dizh cuan Xiëru Zalo Ra Dizh

§2.1. As with earlier parts of the story, a few parts of the story are best understood just as fixed phrases for now:

You might want to learn this one for 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. References are given, where necessary, to notes below. Verbs are listed in the habitual stem, with cross-references to perfective and irrealis stems that don’t use the regular prefixes b- (or m- before bases that begin with n) and y-.

§2.3. As in earlier parts of the story, there are a number of verbs in the list above 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 forms used here and with noun or name subjects.

§2.4. You might notice that many of the verbs here (and others you have seen in earlier parts of the story) end in ne and include the meaning “with” (or “along with”): examples above include rgyetne, ricyne, rnine, and nune. You’ll learn about the extender –ne in Lecsyony Tseinyabteby. (A few verbs that end in –ne, such as racne “helps”, don’t include the “with” meaning so directly, however.)

§2.5. Cwa Dyoz xnanmama means “God took my grandmother”. Most English speakers would not use an expression like this to say “My grandmother died”, though they might use a different softer expression like My grandmother passed away. Like English pass away, then, Valley Zapotec rca Dyoz is a polite expression that sounds less harsh than “die”. Even Valley Zapotec speakers who are not particularly religious would use rca Dyoz in the context that Pedro does in his email.

_{Fot Tyop xte BXTP Part Tap. A truck headed toward Tlacolula displays a picture of the Virgin of Guadalupe on its cargo door. In Oaxaca, there are displays of religious faith everywhere.}

§2.6. Do you see what is unusual about the sentence below?

The second part of this sentence includes a free pronoun referring to the subject following a verb, which is very uncommon in Valley Zapotec. The reason for this is that the two parts of this sentence each contrast two things (guzh versus xtuxman, xtada versus danoën). Only one of these can be in the focus position before the verb, so the other has to come after the verb. (Notice, though, that even though danoën occurs after the verb, the verb still has the bound pronoun subject –ën.)

§3. Pronunciation Guide

Beed rcwààa’ email loh Ma’azh —

A’s Ma’azh,

Que’ity bzu’ahtdya’ basquetbo’ll nài’, tye’nn byòo’-ëhnn loh guee’ihzh. Cwàa’ Dyooz x:nna’anma’ma’, nàa pahr byii’cyëhnn Sann Lu’uc tye’nn ygàa’tsëhb. Derrepe’eenn cwàa’ Dyooz làa’b – aeropwe’rtdi’ x;tèe’ Me’ijy nu’uh x:ta’ada’ chih mnnìi’-ëhb pohr telé’fohnoh scweel. Nài’ bgàa’tsëhb. Tri’estdaàa’nih. Nyèe’cbaza’ rinydilàa’za’ que’ityru’a’ ynnìi’niìia’ x:nna’anma’ma’ steeby.

Gùuzh gyi’cy x:ta’ada’ làadih, xtuhxmaan gyàa’anèe-ëhnn dannooëhnn. Chih gyii’cyëhnn làadih chi’cyru’ gyii’cynèe-ëhnn x:nna’ana’. Nàa pahr ga’cnèe-ëhnn làa’-ëhb, tye’nn que’ity rgwèe’dyëhb nyèe’c Dìi’zhtiilly nyèe’c Inglehs.

U rnalàa’zùu’ blàaal nih nu’uh Sann Die’gw, nih rllìu’ bèi’ny cwe’eenn blàaal x:tèe’ Ti’u Pá’mmyëll? Byòo’-ëhnn liahz Ti’u Pá’mmyëll cuahnn Lia Leen baa’ah rsìiilly. Bllìu’wëhb blàaal x:tèe’nëhb dannooh-ëhnn, ràa’pahgëhb blàaal nih rllìu’ bèi’ny cwe’eenn blàaal nih nu’uh museu Sann Die’gw. Re’ipyëhnn làa’-ëhb x:tèe’ blàaal nih nu’uh làa’iny museu. Que’ity guhcbèedi’ Ti’u Pá’mmyëll nih re’ipyëhnn làa’-ëhb. Pehr nnah-ëhb gu’uh te’ihby bùunny Ndùu’ah nih gugàann làa’-ëhb tyo’p gwe’ell. Binydyahg gyìizhih ràa’p Ti’u Pá’mmyëll blàaal. U’as x:chih bgwi’ih loh ra blàaal, blèe’-ih fo’t, blèe’-ih, chiru’ brèe’izhih ra blàaal. Xi rrilloh lìu’, xizhyi’ rcàa’zih?

Rinydyàu’ neh, chih nu’-a’ làadih, u’as rnalàa’za’ Sann Lu’uc, chiru’ nah nih nu’-a’ rèe’, rnalàa’za’ làadih. (U’as rcye’tlàa’za’ rgye’ehtniìa’ x:yèe’cwa’ – bculohza’c x:nna’ana’ x:yèe’cwa’.) Pehr ameer gyii’cyëhnn. U’as ndaàa’ rèe’ nah.

X:amiegwùu’,
Beed