R-5. Glossary of Grammatical Terms

This section defines all the words introduced in the lessons in CAPITAL LETTERS, with a reference to the lesson in which they were first introduced. (Lesson names are abbreviated with “L” preceded by the number of the lesson. For example, Lecsyony Teiby is referred to below as “L1”. Terms introduced in supplementary material at the end of units are referred to with S followed by a number. For example, S‑2 indicates “Personal Names, Titles, and Terms of Address”. Within the definition of each term, other items in the glossary are also indicated with all capitals.

A-PRONOUN. A special type of Valley Zapotec PRONOUN used to express “he”, “she”, “it”, or “they” SUBJECTS in SENTENCES with VERBS that don’t have a BOUND pronoun ENDING (and, occasionally, used to express “him”, “her”, “it”, or “them” OBJECTS) (L24).

ACCENT. A mark written over a vowel letter, such as a GRAVE ACCENT [à], an ACUTE ACCENT [á], or a CIRCUMFLEX ACCENT [ê]. Normally, accents are used only in PRONUNCIATION GUIDEs. The two dots over the letter ë are a special type of accent mark; this letter, with its two dots, is used in ordinary Zapotec spelling (L2).

ACUTE ACCENT. An ACCENT mark that rises from left to right, as in [á], [é], [í], [ó], and [ú]. An acute accent in a PRONUNCIATION GUIDE shows that the KEY SYLLABLE is not the FINAL SYLLABLE — as in all other Zapotec words — but another SYLLABLE earlier in the word, which is marked with the acute accent (L4).

ADDRESS. See TERM OF ADDRESS.

ADJECTIVE. A word used to name a quality. English examples include silly, red, and beautiful (S-2, BXTP-3, L19). See also MODIFYING ADJECTIVE, PREDICATE ADJECTIVE.

ADVERB. A word that that tells more about the event or state named by the VERB, such as how, where, or when the event or state takes place (L6).

AMBIGUOUS. Having two possible meanings (L22).

ANDATIVE. A VERB form that means “goes and …” (L17).

ANDATIVE BASE. A VERB BASE to which the andative PREFIX can be added to form an andative verb, or to which the venitive prefix can be added to form a venitive verb (thus, also called the venitive base) (L17, L21).

ANIMAL PRONOUN. A PRONOUN which is used to refer to animals (most commonly young, small, or cute animals) or to children; abbreviated as “an.” (L11).

AUXILIARY VERB. A helping verb (S-26, L23). See also NECESSITY AUXILIARY, possibility auxiliary.

B VOWEL. A vowel that sounds like an ordinary vowel combined with a sound similar to an English h. In a breathy vowel, the vocal cords vibrate while remaining apart. Breathy vowels are indicated with B in VOWEL PATTERNS (L3).

BASE. (1) The part of the VERB without any PREFIXES (such as r– or b-) or ENDINGS. For example, the base of the verb “run” is zhuny. For most verbs, the base is the same in all STEMS of the verb. However, some verbs have different bases in different stems (L6). See also ANDATIVE BASE.
(2) The part of most FREE PRONOUNS before the attached BOUND PRONOUN. For example, the PROXIMATE free pronoun laëng consists of a base la and the bound pronoun -ëng. (L17)

BASE CHANGING. Referring to a VERB that has different BASES in different STEMS (L15).

BASE CONSONANT. The CONSONANT at the beginning of a VERB base (L15).

BORROW. Take from one language and incorporate into another (L1).

BOUND. Attached. An element that is bound must always be attached to some other word. Bound PRONOUNS are different from FREE pronouns, which do not have to be attached (L7).

BREATHY VOWEL. A vowel that sounds like an ordinary vowel combined with a sound similar to an English h. In a breathy vowel, the vocal cords vibrate while remaining apart. Breathy vowels are indicated with B in VOWEL PATTERNS (L3).

C VOWEL. A vowel that ends with a GLOTTAL STOP. Checked vowels are indicated with C in VOWEL PATTERNS (L3).

CB STEM. A vowel-final STEM whose COMBINATION FORM VOWEL PATTERN ends with a C vowel plus a B vowel in the PRONUNCIATION GUIDE. Examples are the CB pattern, the KCB pattern, and the KKCB pattern. Vowel-final STEMS include both CB and NON-CB STEMS (L13).

CHANGING. See BASE CHANGING VERB.

CHECKED VOWEL. A vowel that ends with a GLOTTAL STOP. Checked vowels are indicated with C in VOWEL PATTERNS (L3).

CIRCUMFLEX ACCENT. An ACCENT mark resembling a hat, as in [ê]. In PRONUNCIATION GUIDEs, the circumflex accent replaces the two dots over the vowel ë when it is CREAKY (L3).

COMBINATION. See LETTER COMBINATION.

COMBINATION FORM. The form of a word that is used before a PRONOUN or other ENDING. It is often shorter than a word’s INDEPENDENT FORM (L3, L7).

COMMAND. An order or request. An IMPERATIVE is a type of command used in an INFORMAL situation; other types of commands are used to groups of people or in FORMAL CONTEXTS (L6, L10).

COMPARATIVE SENTENCE. A SENTENCE that compares two items, telling which has more of the quality or other feature compared, such as Juan is taller than Pedro (L24).

COMPAREE. The person or thing that the SUBJECT is compared to in a COMPARATIVE SENTENCE, such as Pedro in Juan is taller than Pedro (L24).

COMPLEX VERB. A VERB that includes more than one word, like runy comprender “understands” or runy zeiny “works”. The SUBJECT of a complex verb goes after the first word of the expression (BXTP-2, L12).

COMPOUND. A single word that is formed from two items, but that acts like a single word (L12).

CONDITION. The part of an “if” SENTENCE that expresses the determining factor, for example, If Juan goes to Tlacolula is the condition in the “if” SENTENCE If Juan goes to Tlacolula he will buy a bicycle (L23).

CONSEQUENCE. The part of an “if” SENTENCE that expresses the result, for example he will buy a bicycle is the consequence in the “if” SENTENCE If Juan goes to Tlacolula he will buy a bicycle (L23).

CONSONANT. A sound made with the stream of air coming from the lungs interrupted at some point by contact or constriction between the tongue and some other part of the mouth, between the two lips, or between other speech organs (L2). See also BASE CONSONANT.

CONTEXT. The conversational situation in which a sentence is used, including what information both the speaker and hearer had at the time and what had been said before in the conversation (L5).

COUNTING NUMBER. A number used for counting things (S-5, L8).

CREAKY VOWEL. A VOWEL during whose pronunciation one end of the vocal cords vibrates irregularly, while the other end is closed, producing a low‑pitched creaky sound along with the VOWEL. Creaky vowels sound like someone talking much lower than their normal tone of voice, or maybe like someone whose voice hasn’t limbered up yet in the morning. In the PRONUNCIATION GUIDE, Valley Zapotec creaky vowels are written with a GRAVE ACCENT. Creaky vowels are indicated with K in VOWEL PATTERNS (L3).

CROSS REFERENCE. The part of the entry of a word in the Ra Dizh and the Rata Ra Dizh that directs you to look at another main entry. For all VERBS, main entries contain a listing of all IRREGULAR forms of these verbs, along with other information. Each of these irregular forms is also listed separately, with a cross‑reference to the main entry. The PRONUNCIATION GUIDE is shown for every entry, and for any of the IRREGULAR forms that have a different VOWEL PATTERN from the main entry. The cross‑reference entries usually do not include translations, although if there are two words in the Rata Ra Dizh that are spelled the same, their entries will always include translations (L11).

D-BASE VERB. A VERB which has a VOWEL-INITIAL BASE in the HABITUAL and IRREALIS STEMS, but a BASE starting with d in the PERFECTIVE and in every STEM for “we” forms (L15, L16).

DEFINITE. A VERB form used to express a certain future that the speaker is more confident about than an IRREALIS future; abbreviated as “def.” (S-24, L22).

DEPENDENT SENTENCE. A type of SENTENCE that occurs as part of another sentence (L16).

DIALECT. A distinct variety of a language. Typically, speakers of one dialect can differentiate other varieties, but they are all still understandable – or MUTUALLY INTELLIGIBLE – with each other (L1).

DIMINUTIVE. A form of a NOUN used to refer to someone or something little, cute, or dear, such as doggie in English; abbreviated as “dim.” (L24).

DISTAL PRONOUN. A PRONOUN used to refer to someone or something relatively far away or out of sight; abbreviated as “dist.” (L7).

DIPHTHONG. A sequence of two different VOWELS (vowels written with different letters) in the same SYLLABLE (L2).

DIPHTHONG SYLLABLE. A SYLLABLE which contains a DIPHTHONG (L2).

E-POSSESSED NOUN. A POSSESSED NOUN that requires ESSENTIAL POSSESSION (BXTP-1, L14).

ENDANGERED LANGUAGE. A language which is losing speakers more rapidly than it is gaining them (L1).

ENDING. An element that is added to the end of a word to form a new word, as with English ‑ed, as in kissed. Like a PREFIX, an ending cannot be used on its own, but rather must be attached to another word (L2, L5).

ESSENTIAL POSSESSION. The relationship between a POSSESSED NOUN and the person (or thing) that that item belongs to, in cases where the POSSESSED NOUN must be thought of as belonging to someone (or something). Mentioning the POSSESSOR is required for cases of essential possession in Zapotec. 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) (L14).

EXTENDER. An ENDING used to form a longer VERB STEM (L9).

FALLING TONE. A tone that starts off higher than it ends, with the pitch falling throughout the length of the VOWEL (L3).

FAMILIAR PRONOUN. A PRONOUN used primarily by male speakers, who use these most commonly to refer to adult men, usually other community members who the speaker knows; abbreviated as “fam.” (L17).

FINAL. At the end of the word (L2).

FOCUS. Emphasis (signaled in Zapotec by putting an element of the SENTENCE before the VERB) (L5).

FORM. See COMBINATION FORM, INDEPENDENT FORM.

FORMAL. Used to show respect for the person one is talking to; abbreviated as “form.”. Formal “you” PRONOUNS are used with talking with your elders or people you respect (or whose position you respect). A respectful Zapotec child always uses formal pronouns with grandparents and other older relatives, and most use them with their parents (S-3, L9).

FORMAL VERB. A VERB that can only be used with FORMAL SUBJECT. Formal verbs have completely different STEMS from the corresponding non-formal VERBS (L16).

FORTIS. Tensed, tight, or forceful (referring to the pronunciation of a CONSONANT sound). Every consonant is Zapotec is considered either LENIS or fortis. Fortis consonants take longer to say than lenis ones, but the same VOWEL or vowel sequence sounds longer before a lenis consonant than it does before a fortis consonant (L4).

FREE. Independent, not attached. PRONOUNS are free if they do not have to be attached to another word, in contrast to BOUND pronouns (L7).

GENDER NEUTRAL. Able to refer to any gender. Unlike English singular PRONOUNS, which are specified as masculine (for instance, “he”), feminine (“she”), or inanimate (“it”), Valley Zapotec pronouns are gender neutral. (L7)

GLOTTAL STOP. A sound made by completely closing the folds of the glottis (the opening between the vocal cords at the top of the larynx), cutting off the flow of air from the lungs into the mouth without bringing together the lips or any other part of the mouth. The glottal stop is the sound that we pronounce in the middle of the English word uh‑oh (meaning “oops”). A CHECKED VOWEL ends in a glottal stop. The glottal stop is not written in Valley Zapotec spelling, but in Valley Zapotec PRONUNCIATION GUIDEs this sound is indicated with a ‘ (apostrophe) (L3).

GRAVE ACCENT. An ACCENT mark that lowers from left to right, as in [à], [è,], [ì], [ò], [ù]. A grave accent in a PRONUNCIATION GUIDE shows that the VOWEL it marks is a CREAKY VOWEL. To mark the VOWEL ë as creaky, a CIRCUMFLEX is written over the VOWEL instead of a grave accent (L3).

GUIDE. See PRONUNCIATION GUIDE.

HABITUAL. A VERB form that refers to something that happens regularly, usually, or normally, such as something that happens every day; abbreviated as “hab.”. (With some verbs, the habitual form is used in place of the PROGRESSIVE, or to refer to an ongoing state.) In this book, verbs are generally listed in their habitual form in the Ra Dizh and the Rata Ra Dizh. All habitual verbs in Zapotec begin with the PREFIX r‑ (L5).

HIGH TONE. A tone that is on the high end of the normal range of a speaker’s voice (L3).

IDENTIFICATIONAL SENTENCE. A SENTENCE that tells that one person or thing is the same as another or that gives the category something belongs to. The following are identificational sentences: I am a teacher; that person is a waiter (S-12, L19).

IDIOM. A special combination of words whose meaning is not exactly what you’d expect from the component parts (L16). See also INVERSE IDIOM, reverential idiom.

IMPERATIVE. A VERB form used to give a COMMAND; abbreviated as “imp.” (L6).

INANIMATE. Non-living (referring to an item that is not an animal or human being) (L7).

INCOMPLETIVE. A form of certain motion VERBS that expresses incomplete motion and may have a number of different English translations, depending on the CONTEXT in which it is used; abbreviated as “inc.”. Out of a particular context, the incompletive usually expresses a past PROGRESSIVE meaning (L21).

INDEFINITE. Not specific or identifiable (L6).

INDEPENDENT FORM. The simplest form of a word, without any added ENDINGS. It refers to the way the word is pronounced on its own, without any of the changes you might hear if it was used in a SENTENCE. The words listed in the Rata Ra Dizh are in the independent form. When endings are added to a word, they must be added to its COMBINATION FORM (L3, L7).

INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE. A language spoken by the inhabitants of an area before any outside contact (L1).

INFINITIVE. The form of a Spanish VERB that is listed in dictionaries, ending in ‑ar, ‑er, or –ir. The infinitive form of the Spanish verbs is the one that can be borrowed into Zapotec and used in SENTENCES along with another Zapotec verb, usually runy (L12).

INFORMAL. Casual, not FORMAL, used when it is not necessary to show respect for the person to whom you are talking; abbreviated as “inf.”. An informal “you” PRONOUN is used with people your own age or younger, usually people you know well, and when talking with people you do not respect. Conservative Valley Zapotec speakers do not use the informal “you” when addressing their parents (S-3, L8).

INTELLIGIBLE. See MUTUALLY INTELLIGIBLE.

INVERSE IDIOM. A type of IDIOM in which the SUBJECT and the OBJECT seem to be backwards relative to the corresponding English SENTENCE pattern. What is usually expressed as the subject in English is expressed as the object in a Zapotec inverse idiom; and what usually is expressed as the object in English is expressed as the subject in Zapotec (L16).

IRREALIS. A VERB form that refers to an event or state that is not real or not yet real; abbreviated as “irr.”. The most common use of an irrealis verb is to refer to the future, but there are several other uses (L10).

IRREGULAR. Not following the regular patterns of the language (L6).

K VOWEL. A VOWEL during whose pronunciation one end of the vocal cords vibrates irregularly, while the other end is closed, producing a low‑pitched creaky sound along with the VOWEL. Creaky vowels sound like someone talking much lower than their normal tone of voice, or maybe like someone whose voice hasn’t limbered up yet in the morning. In the PRONUNCIATION GUIDE, Valley Zapotec creaky vowels are written with a GRAVE ACCENT. Creaky vowels are indicated with K in VOWEL PATTERNS (L3).

KEY SYLLABLE. The FINAL SYLLABLE of a word in its INDEPENDENT FORM. The PRONUNCIATION GUIDEs of most key syllables contain two or three VOWELS (L3).

LANGUAGE. See ENDANGERED LANGUAGE, INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE.

LENIS. Relaxed (referring to the pronunciation of a CONSONANT sound). Every consonant in Zapotec is considered either lenis or FORTIS. Lenis consonants take less time to say than fortis consonants, but the same VOWEL or vowel sequence sounds longer before a lenis consonant than it does before a fortis consonant (L4).

LETTER COMBINATION. A sequence of two letters that represents a single sound (L2).

LEVEL TONE. A tone that does not rise or fall, but remains at the same pitch throughout the VOWEL (L3).

LOANWORD. A word BORROWED from an other language (L1).

LOCATION PHRASE. A PHRASE which expresses the location of a SUBJECT or an action within a SENTENCE (L18).

LOCATIONAL VERB. A VERB that is used to tell the location of something and, very often, to tell its posture or orientation (L18).

LOW TONE. A tone that is on the low end of the normal range of a speaker’s voice (L3).

MAIN VERB. A VERB that tells the action or state that the SENTENCE is concerned with. Unlike an AUXILIARY VERB, any main verb can be used in a sentence by itself (S-26, L23).

MARKER. See QUESTION MARKER.

MASS NOUN. A NOUN referring to a non-living item that can’t be counted, usually a substance like “water” or “sand” or “money” (L21).

MODIFIED NOUN. A NOUN used with a MODIFYING ADJECTIVE or a MODIFYING PHRASE that help to specify the noun that is being referred to, or tell more about the noun (L15).

MODIFIER. A word used to tell a characteristic or a NOUN or to specify more clearly which noun is referred to in a given CONTEXT, such as blue in the PHRASE blue car (L19).

MODIFYING ADJECTIVE. An ADJECTIVE that is a MODIFIER of a NOUN, such as blue in the PHRASE blue car (L19).

MODIFYING PHRASE. A PHRASE used to specify more clearly which NOUN is referred to in a given CONTEXT (L15).

MUTUALLY INTELLIGIBLE. Understandable to each other (a characteristic of two speech varieties whose speakers can understand each other when they talk) (L1).

NATIVE PREPOSITION. A PREPOSITION that works differently from a SPANISH PREPOSITION. Most native prepositions are native Zapotec words, not words that were BORROWED from Spanish (L18).

NECESSITY AUXILIARY. An AUXILIARY VERB that is translated into English with a VERB like “must”, “should”, “ought to”, “has to”, “needs to”, or “is supposed to”, all of which express quite similar meanings of necessity (S-26, L23).

NEGATIVE. Referring to a SENTENCE that is used to deny the truth of the corresponding non-negative sentence (L7).

NEUTRAL. A VERB form that usually expresses a state of being, such as the fact that something is in a certain condition, in a certain position, or in a location; abbreviated as “neut.”. Neutral verbs often start with an n- (BXTP-1, L16, L18).

NON-CB STEM. A vowel-final STEM which does not end in a C plus a B VOWEL. Non-CB stems are one of the two types of vowel-final STEMS. Non-CB stems do not change (except in their COMBINATION FORMS) in IMPERATIVES or PLURAL COMMANDS or with BOUND PRONOUNS beginning with CONSONANTS (L13).

NOUN. A word referring to a person, animal, or thing (S-5, L5). See also E-POSSESSED NOUN, MODIFIED NOUN, POSSESSED NOUN, POSSESSED NOUN PHRASE.

NOUN PHRASE. A PHRASE referring to a person, animal, or thing (L5, L6). See also POSSESSED NOUN PHRASE.

NUMBER. See COUNTING NUMBER, ORDINAL NUMBER.

OBJECT. The NOUN, NOUN PHRASE, or PRONOUN telling who or what was affected by an event (L5). See also PREPOSITIONAL OBJECT.

ORDER. See WORD ORDER.

ORDINAL NUMBER. A number used when referring to successive items in a group – for instance, the English ordinal numbers are first, second, third, and so on (S-5).

OPTIONAL POSSESSION. The relationship between someone who owns an item (or animal) that you might think of as possessed or you might not. Mentioning the POSSESSOR is not required for cases of optional possession in Zapotec (L14).

P VOWEL. A VOWEL that is pronounced with normal PHONATION, such as the vowels in English and Spanish. Plain vowels are indicated with P in VOWEL PATTERNS (L3).

PARTICLE. A special type of ENDING that is not a PRONOUN. Particles are endings that come after a VERB (or another) STEM, but before a pronoun, if there is one (L7).

PATTERN. See VOWEL PATTERN.

PERFECTIVE. A VERB form that refers to an event that is, or can or will be, completed; abbreviated as “perf.”. A perfective verb is the normal way to refer to a past event in Zapotec. Perfective VERBS are also used as IMPERATIVES (L6).

PHONATION. The way in which the air from the lungs is expelled through the glottis (the opening between the vocal cords at the top of the larynx) while a speaker makes a VOWEL. Different phonations make the difference between Zapotec plain, BREATHY, CREAKY, and CHECKED VOWELS. (L2).

PHRASE. A sequence of words used together to express a single concept, like the water, the good boy, or this dog (L3, L5). See also LOCATION PHRASE, MODIFYING PHRASE, NOUN PHRASE, POSSESSED NOUN PHRASE, PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE, VERB PHRASE.

PLAIN VOWEL. A VOWEL that is pronounced with normal PHONATION, such as the vowels in English and Spanish. Plain vowels are indicated with P in VOWEL PATTERNS (L3).

PLURAL. Referring to more than one item or person (L3, S-3, L7).

POSSESSED. Belonging to someone (L2, L14).

POSSESSED NOUN. A NOUN that is POSSESSED, such as book in Pedro’s book (L14).

POSSESSED NOUN PHRASE. A NOUN PHRASE that contains both a POSSESSOR and a POSSESSED NOUN (L14).

POSSESSION. The relationship between an item (the POSSESSED NOUN) that belongs to someone (or something) and the person (or thing) who owns that item (the POSSESSOR). In Zapotec there are two types of possession: OPTIONAL POSSESSION and ESSENTIAL POSSESSION (L14).

POSSESSOR. The person (or thing) who owns or has an item (L2, L14).

POSSIBLITY AUXILIARY. An AUXILIARY VERB that is translated into English with “can” or “is able to”, or sometimes “may”, “knows how to”, or even “succeeds in (doing)” or “completely (does)”, all of which can express possibility (L23).

PREDICATE. In an IDENTIFICATIONAL SENTENCE, the part of the SENTENCE that the speaker is using to identify the SUBJECT. In the sentence Juan is a doctor, doctor is the predicate (III‑5, L19).

PREDICATE ADJECTIVE. An ADJECTIVE that is used a PREDICATE, such as blue in This book is blue (L19).

PREFIX. An element that is added to the front of a word to form a new kind of word. An English example is un‑, as in unable. Prefixes cannot be used on their own, but must be attached to another word (L2, S-5, L5).

PREPOSITION. A word used to tell the relationship of a NOUN PHRASE that is neither a SUBJECT nor an OBJECT to the rest of the SENTENCE; abbreviated as “prep.”. There are two types of Zapotec prepositions: NATIVE PREPOSITIONS and SPANISH PREPOSITIONS (BXTP-1, L18).

PREPOSITIONAL OBJECT. The NOUN PHRASE, name, or PRONOUN that follows a PREPOSITION, which together with the preposition forms a PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE. The prepositional object is also called the OBJECT of the preposition (L18).

PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE. A PHRASE consisting of a PREPOSITION and the NOUN PHRASE or name that follows it. Prepositional phrases are often used as LOCATION PHRASES (L18).

PROGRESSIVE. A VERB form that refers to events that are ongoing at a particular point in time; abbreviated as “prog.” (L6).

PRONOUN. A word that serves the same function as a NOUN or NOUN PHRASE in a SENTENCE (as a SUBJECT or OBJECT), but that refers either to participants in the conversation (I and me refer to the speaker, you to the hearer) or to other people or items that can be identified by those participants without their names being mentioned. Examples of pronouns in English are I, me, you, he, him, she, her, and it. All Zapotec pronouns have both BOUND and FREE forms (L4, L7). See also a-pronoun, ANIMAL PRONOUN, DISTAL PRONOUN, FAMILIAR PRONOUN, PROXIMATE PRONOUN, RESPECTFUL PRONOUN, REVERENTIAL PRONOUN.

PRONUNCIATION GUIDE. The form which shows how the Valley Zapotec word is pronounced. The pronunciation guide is always written in square brackets (L2).

PROXIMATE PRONOUN. A PRONOUN used to refer to someone or something close by and easily visible; abbreviated as “prox.” (L7).

QUESTION. A SENTENCE used to ask for information or confirmation (L7). See QUESTION WORD QUESTION.

QUESTION MARKER. A word that comes at the end of a question to show that the SENTENCE is a question (L7).

QUESTION WORD. A word that comes at the beginning of a question that asks for specific information, such as “who”, “what”, “when”, or “why” (L7).

QUESTION WORD QUESTION. A question that begins with a QUESTION WORD, and asks for specific information, not just a “yes” or “no” answer (L7).

QUOTATION. The exact words that someone said. A quotation is placed inside quotation marks (” “) (L16).

RECIPROCAL SENTENCE. A SENTENCE in which members of a PLURAL SUBJECT direct the action of the sentence at other members of their group. Each other and one another are ways to express the same meaning in English (BXTP-8, L23).

REFERENCE. The item you are using to help specify the location of the SUBJECT in a locational SENTENCE. The reference item is the same as the PREPOSITIONAL OBJECT (L20). See also CROSS REFERENCE.

REFLEXIVE SENTENCE. A SENTENCE whose SUBJECT and OBJECT refer to the same individual (S-24, L23).

RESPECTFUL PRONOUN. A PRONOUN used to refer to anyone that you would address using a FORMAL pronoun. Respectful pronouns are never used to refer to children, to animals, or to inanimate items (L9).

REVERENTIAL IDIOM. A type of IDIOM with a REVERENTIAL PRONOUN SUBJECT that has a meaning that you can’t figure out from the individual words it contains and does not seem to refer to a reverential entity (L22).

REVERENTIAL PRONOUN. A PRONOUN used to refer to God, the saints, and other holy individuals, as well as important items needed to sustain life — water, tortillas, the sun, and the moon; abbreviated as “rev.” (L21).

REVERSIBLE VERB. A VERB for which you can interchange the SUBJECT and the OBJECT and still have a SENTENCE that makes sense (although the meaning changes, of course!), like rtaz “hit” (L15).

RISING TONE. A tone that starts off lower than it ends, with the pitch rising throughout the length of the VOWEL (L3).

SENTENCE. A complete statement that tells about an event or state and who or what was affected by it (L5). See also COMPARATIVE SENTENCE, DEPENDENT SENTENCE, IDENTIFICATIONAL SENTENCE, RECIPROCAL SENTENCE, REFLEXIVE SENTENCE.

SIMPLE SYLLABLE. A SYLLABLE whose spelling contains just one VOWEL (L2).

SINGULAR. Referring to just one item or person (S-3, L7).

SPANISH PREPOSITION. A Zapotec PREPOSITION that works differently from a NATIVE PREPOSITION. Most Spanish prepositions were BORROWED from Spanish (L18).

STEM. The part of the VERB which includes a PREFIX (such as r‑ or b‑) plus a BASE (L6). See also CB STEM, NON-CB STEM.

STOP. See GLOTTAL STOP.

SUBJECT. The NOUN, NOUN PHRASE, or PRONOUN that expresses who or what a SENTENCE is about, the one who performs the action or is in the state named by the VERB of the sentence (L5).

SUBJUNCTIVE. A VERB form that refers to a past event that never happened or to an event or state that is hypothetical; abbreviated as “sub.” (S-26, L23).

SYLLABLE. A rhythmic unit in a word. There are two types of syllables in Zapotec words: SIMPLE SYLLABLES and DIPHTHONG SYLLABLES (L2). See also DIPHTHONG SYLLABLE, KEY SYLLABLE, SIMPLE SYLLABLE.

TERM OF ADDRESS. A word used to address someone or get that person’s attention, used instead of that person’s name (S-2).

TITLE. A conventional term used along with a name when addressing or referring to that person, such as the English titles Mr., Mrs., Ms., or Miss (S-2, L5).

TONE. See FALLING TONE, HIGH TONE, LEVEL TONE, LOW TONE, RISING TONE.

TOPIC. A name or NOUN PHRASE, usually someone or something that the speaker has already been speaking about, that comes at the beginning of a SENTENCE (L22).

VENITIVE. A type of VERB that means “comes and …” (BXTP-7, L21).

VENITIVE BASE. A VERB BASE to which the VENITIVE PREFIX can be added to form a venitive verb. The venitive base is the same as the ANDATIVE BASE (L21).

VERB. The word which expresses the action or state a SENTENCE is concerned with (L5). See also AUXILIARY VERB, BASE CHANGING VERB, COMPLEX VERB, D-BASE VERB, FORMAL VERB, LOCATIONAL VERB, MAIN VERB, REVERSIBLE VERB.

VERB PHRASE. A PHRASE that functions like a VERB, a sequence of two or more words that together express a verb idea (L8).

VOWEL. A sound made with your mouth open and a continuous stream of air coming out without any obstruction (L2). See also BREATHY VOWEL, CHECKED VOWEL, CREAKY VOWEL, PLAIN VOWEL.

VOWEL-INITIAL. Beginning with a VOWEL (L12).

VOWEL-FINAL. Ending in a VOWEL (L12).

VOWEL PATTERN. The pattern of VOWEL types in the KEY SYLLABLE of a word. Vowel patterns are written as a sequence of the abbreviations for the VOWEL types in the word, using P for PLAIN VOWELS, C for CHECKED VOWELS, K for CREAKY VOWELS, and B for BREATHY VOWELS (L3, L7).

WORD. See QUESTION WORD, QUESTION WORD QUESTION.

WORD ORDER. The sequence in which the words in a SENTENCE come in relation to one another. In Zapotec the most common word order is VERB — SUBJECT — OBJECT (L5).