Vowel-final verb stems combine in sometimes unexpected ways with bound pronouns. These stems are introduced in section §13.1. Section §13.2 introduces CB stems, whose pronunciation guide ends with a C vowel followed by a B vowel. “I” and informal “you” subject forms of vowel-final stems are presented in section §13.3. Non-CB stems are introduced in section §13.4, with “he / she  / it” distal, “I”, and informal singular “you” subject forms of these verbs in section §13.5. Rcwa “throws”, “writes” is in section §13.6. Section §13.7 describes negatives of non-CB stems, and section §13.8 is a summary of the use of vowel-final stems.

_{Fot Teiby xte Lecsyony Tseiny (13). A blal from the Museo Regional de Oaxaca.
http://www.surf-mexico.com/states/Oaxaca/Oaxaca/oaxcity_exconvent.htm .}

Xiëru Zalo Ra Dizh

1. As you know, the number words tseiny “thirteen” and tseiny “fifteen” are spelled alike, but pronounced differently. When we write the words out, we’ll include the parenthesized figures (13) or (15) so you won’t get confused. (Hopefully you can tell these numbers apart when you hear them! If not, you should practice them some more.)

2. This lesson will introduce you to vowel-final stems (see section §13.1). Many vowel-final stems are irregular when used with bound pronouns, in spelling or pronunciation or both.

3. As you know, the Ra Dizh lists perfective and irrealis stems that are not formed with the regular b- and y- prefixes, or that change in other ways. (The Rata Ra Dizh also gives cross-references for these irregular stems.) Pronunciation guides are given for all stems with different vowel patterns from their habitual stems, or whenever there are other unexpected changes. You’ll learn more about using all the new verbs in this lesson.

4. There are several ways to say “breaks (something)” in Zapotec. Rda is used when the object someone breaks is relatively round or compact, like a pot or ceramic item. Rguich is used when the object someone breaks is relatively long, like a stick or pencil.

5. Rda and risti have irrealis forms that work differently from those you’ve seen up to now, and also have irregular progressives.

6. This lesson includes two new verbs spelled rgue (with perfective bde and irrealis que). Although these verbs are spelled the same, they are not pronounced the same. Make sure you can pronounce each one correctly. (You’ll learn more about these two verbs later on.) The two rgue verbs have perfective and irrealis stems like those of the verbs introduced in Lecsyony Tsëbteby.

7. Rinylo has a vowel-initial base, like the verb runy (Lecsyony Tsëbtyop). (You’ll learn more about vowel-initial bases in Lecsyony Tseinyabteby.)

8. Rchu yu means “moves” or “changes residence”. This new complex verb includes the word yu “house” and works like the complex verbs in Lecsyony Tsëbtyop. You can use this verb in sentences like

(Note that this sentence does not mean “The teacher made a movement.”, only “The teacher changed his residence.”)

§13.1. Vowel-final stems

Most of the new verbs in this lesson have vowel-final stems: we will refer to these vowels at the end of vowel-final stems as final vowels. Thus, the final vowel of rcha is a, the final vowel of rchu is u, the final vowel of rculo is o, and so on.

Any verb stem that ends with a vowel is a vowel-final stem. This means that if you add an extender like polite -la onto a verb, even one that ends with a consonant, the new stem will be a vowel-final stem too. Thus, rdeidy “gives” has a stem that ends with a consonant. But the polite verb rdeidyla (used in the next set of examples) has a vowel-final stem.

In most ways, vowel-final stems work like the other verbs you’ve learned up to now. The independent form of a verb with a vowel-final stem is used with a following noun phrase subject and in imperatives and formal commands:

When you add the negative ending -di onto a vowel-final stem, that verb stem does not change (unless it has a different combination form). So the verb in the sentence below is pronounced [cacyi’ihdi’], and the verb in the second sentence is pronounced [bdehdi’].

However, as you saw with the verb ca “has” in Lecsyony Tsëbtyop, many vowel-final verbs change their pronunciation either a little or a lot when bound pronouns beginning with vowels are added to them. You may recall that in Lecsyony Ga you learned that polite verb stems ending in the extender -la change their form when followed by bound pronouns beginning with vowels. Pronunciation changes in verb forms most commonly occur when bound pronouns that start with vowels are added to vowel-final stems, as you’ll see in the rest of this lesson.

§13.2. CB stems

There are two types of vowel-final stems, CB STEMS and other vowel-final stems. CB stems are vowel-final stems whose combination form vowel pattern pronunciation ends with a C vowel plus a B vowel (a checked vowel plus a breathy vowel) — examples are the CB pattern, the KCB pattern, and the KKCB pattern. CB verb stems are more regular than most other vowel-final stems. One example of a CB stem is the verb ca “has”, whose forms you learned in Lecsyony Tsëbtyop. (There are a few verbs that fit the CB pattern but that don’t work like CB verbs. One example is the verb rcwa [rcwààa’ah] “throws”, which you’ll learn more about in section §13.6 below.)

As you learned in Lecsyony Tsëbtyop, formal subject endings can be added to any vowel-final stem with no change in that stem’s pronunciation, as in

CB verbs are pronounced in their independent form before the formal endings -yu and -yuad. So bchayuad, for example, is pronounced [bcha’ahyùad], and so on.

Before all other pronoun endings, however, you use the combination form of a CB verb, which is that verb minus its final B vowel. (A KKCB verb like rcwa has a KC combination form.) When you use a CB verb with any non-formal bound pronoun, the bound pronoun is attached following the combination form of the verb. If you learned the verb ca “has” in Lecsyony Tsëbtyop, you already know many examples of this rule. Listen as your teacher pronounces verbs like the following, with “they” subject pronouns added to a CB stem:

Ycyirëb is pronounced [ycyi’rëb]. The final B vowel [ih] of the verb base cyi [cyi’ih] is not pronounced in the combination form [cyi’], which is used before the respectful plural pronoun -rëb. Similarly, bchari is pronounced [bcha’rih] and btorëng is pronounced [btòo’rëng].

The forms of rcyi “cooks” with “they” pronouns are:

Almost all CB verbs work like rcyi, rto, and rcha in terms of how they combine with bound pronouns. In the Ra Dizh, the Rata Ra Dizh, and the verb charts at the end of this book, regular CB verbs are identified as “CB verb”, which will tell you that they work in this same way. (In this section and the next we’re considering only CB stems whose last syllable is simple.)

All other bound pronouns start with vowels. Vowel-final stems work in special ways when bound pronouns beginning with a vowel (-ëng, -i, -ëm, -ëb, -ad, -ën, -u, and -a) are added to them. When bound pronouns beginning with vowels are added to a CB stem, the pronoun is pronounced as a separate syllable following the combination form of the verb (again, this is the CB verb minus its final B vowel). Here are the respectful, animal, proximate, “we”, and “you guys” subject forms of the verb rcyi [rcyi’ih] “cooks”, using the pronouns -ëb, -ëm, –ëng, -ën, and -ad:

(The respectful, animal, and proximate pronouns can each be translated as “he”, “she”, or “it”.) In each of these verbs, the final B vowel of the pronunciation guide ([ih], for the verb rcyi) drops when the pronoun is added. The hyphen in the pronunciation guide for each verb shows that the following pronoun is pronounced as a separate syllable.

_{Fot Tyop xte Lecsyony Tseiny (13).
Señora Elsa, the proprietor of the Comedor Mary café in Tlacolula.}

Three bound pronouns consist of just a vowel: distal -i, “you” informal singular -u, and -a “I”. These pronouns are always written when they follow a vowel-final stem, even if this results in a sequence of two identical vowels, as in

Verbs with bound pronoun subjects are pronounced differently from independent forms of the same verbs without pronoun subjects (thus, rcyii “he cooks” is pronounced differently from the independent form rcyi [rcyi’ih] “cooks”). Writing these verbs with two vowels at the end shows that the verbs include a bound pronoun subject.

The next section describes the way CB stems work with “I” and informal singular “you” subjects. When you learn a new CB verb, you can assume that it works as described in this section and the next one.

§13.3. CB stems with “I” and informal singular “you” subjects

When the bound pronoun -a “I” is added to a CB stem, such as rcha [rcha’ah] “warms” or rcyi [rcyi’ih] “cooks”, the pronoun -a is pronounced as a separate syllable following the verb’s combination form (as shown in the pronunciation guide with a hyphen), just like the other bound pronouns starting with vowels:

As the first example shows, two a‘s are written when the pronoun -a is added to a verb whose final vowel is a. (A full sentence example is given for verbs that don’t make much sense without an object.)

When -a is added to a vowel-final stem ending in e or o, additional changes occur. Here’s an example with the CB stem rto “sells”:

When the pronoun -a comes after a vowel-final stem ending in o, that o final vowel is replaced by u. (In a similar way, when the pronoun -a comes after a vowel-final stem ending in e, that e final vowel is replaced by i — you’ll see examples of this later.) Rto still behaves like a CB stem: the pronoun is added in a separate syllable following the combination form of the verb, but in addition, the o of the stem changes to u before -a.

CB final verbs whose subject is the informal singular pronoun -u “you” also have the pronoun added to the combination form of the stem:

Additional changes happen with informal singular “you” subject forms of verbs with final vowels o and a. When informal -u is added to a stem ending in o, the u of the pronoun changes to o to match the final vowel:

Here, the u of the pronoun changes to o to match the o of the combination form of the verb. As the example shows, the vowel pattern of the pronoun remains KC, as in its basic -u form.

Two changes happen in the informal subject form of a stem ending in a, such as rcha “warms”: both the final vowel and the -u pronoun change to o. One example of this, which you saw in Lecsyony Tsëbtyop, is coo, the “you” form of ca “has”. Here’s another:

Informal singular “you” subject forms of verbs whose stems end in o or a always end in oo.

This section and the previous one describe the normal way CB verbs with simple vowels work. When you learn a new CB verb, you can assume that it works this way. The chart of vowel-final verbs lists only the forms of CB stems that don’t work as described here.

§13.4. Non-CB stems with subject pronouns beginning with vowels

The second type of vowel-final stem is one which does not end in a C plus a B vowel — in other words, a NON-CB STEM. Non-CB stems do not change (except for combination form changes) in imperatives or plural commands or with bound pronouns beginning with consonants:

The bound pronouns that start with consonants are the formal (singular or plural) and “they” subject pronouns. All other bound pronouns start with vowels.

When a pronoun beginning with a vowel is added to a non-CB vowel-final stem, pronouns containing a vowel plus a consonant follow the combination form of the verb stem in a separate syllable, just the same way as with CB stems. Sometimes the last syllable of the verb is pronounced with the same vowel pattern as in its normal combination form, but sometimes a new vowel pattern results from the addition of the pronoun beginning with a vowel. Moreover, even though the verb final vowel and the following pronoun vowel are in separate syllables, speakers may pronounce this sequence so quickly that they may sound like a single syllable. These verbs thus sound very different from the corresponding forms of CB stems, where it’s easy to hear both the combination form of the stem and the following pronoun. (All forms of non-CB stems with vowel-initial pronouns are listed in the chart of vowel-final verb stems.)

In this section we’ll survey what happens when a non-CB stem has a proximate singular, animal singular, respectful singular, “we”, or “you guys” subject. (These pronouns — proximate singular -ëng, animal singular –ëm, respectful singular -ëb, “we” -ën, and “you guys” -ad — are all the pronouns you’ve learned so far that begin with vowels except for distal -i, -a “I” and –u informal singular “you”, which work differently from the other pronouns beginning with vowels, and are discussed in section §13.5. There are two additional pronouns you’ll learn in later lessons — the familiar pronoun (Lecsyony Tseinyabtyop) and the reverential pronoun (Lecsyony Galyabteiby) — which also work in the same way we’ll describe in this lesson.)

Here are some forms of rchu “changes, replaces” and rinylo “sees” with –ëb and –ëm subject pronouns:

The final vowel of rchu is u, and the final vowel of rinylo is o. You’ll hear these vowels most clearly in these verbs. At first you may find it hard to hear the ë of the pronoun, but listen carefully, and you’ll hear it. (Your teacher can probably exaggerate this pronunciation for you.) As you can see, a hyphen is used in the pronunciation guide once again to show that there is a break between the two syllables of the verb plus the pronoun.

With proximate singular pronoun -ëng and the “we” pronoun -ën, there are more likely to be changes from the vowel pattern of the independent form. Here are some examples with -ëng:

When -ëng is added to a non-CB stem, the vowel pattern of the stem usually changes to KC, as in the examples (or sometimes to C).

When the bound pronoun -ën “we” is added to non-CB stems with a KP vowel pattern, there’s usually no change:

With many other non-CB stems, such as rinylo, the final vowel of the “we” form usually has a PP or a KP vowel pattern.

As you listen to more verbs you’ll become more experienced in guessing which is the right pattern for the “we” subject form of a vowel-final stem.

Pronouns beginning with vowels other than ë, such as informal plural -ad, work similarly. Just as with the ë pronouns, it may be hard to hear the pronoun vowel, but you probably will be able to do so if you listen to it, as in these examples:

Usually, though, there is no change in the vowel pattern when you add -ad.

Here is another set of examples, using the verb rza “walks”:

Notice that “you guys walk” is written with two identical vowels (listen hard, and you’ll probably be able to hear both of them!).

Non-CB stems with distal subjects are pronounced as a single syllable with a CPC or CKC (or, occasionally, KC) vowel pattern:

As you listen to more Zapotec verbs, you’ll get more experience in guessing what vowel pattern a distal subject verb will be pronounced with.

A PKC vowel pattern is usually used when the bound pronoun -a “I” is added to a non-CB stem:

Such verbs are written with the added pronoun -a even when the final vowel is a, as in rzaa.

When -a is added to a vowel-final stem ending in o or e, such as rinylo “sees” or rgue “cusses”, the same additional changes occur that you saw with CB stems:

Both of these verbs are pronounced with a PKC vowel pattern, but in addition, just as you learned earlier, when the pronoun –a comes after a vowel-final stem ending in o, that o is replaced by u, as in rinylua. Rguia shows that when –a comes after a vowel-final stem ending in e that e is replaced by i. These two changes are regular, and occur whenever –a is added to a verb whose stem ends in o or e.

When the bound informal singular pronoun -u “you” is added to a vowel-final stem the new syllable that is formed usually has the vowel pattern KC or PKC:

Additional changes happen with verbs with final vowels o and a. As you saw above, when the pronoun ‑u is added to a stem ending in o, the pronoun changes to o to match the final vowel:

Also, as you know, two changes happen in the informal subject form of a stem ending in a, such as rza “walks” or rzuca “takes away”: both the final vowel and the -u pronoun change to o.

Informal singular “you” subject forms of verbs whose stems end in o or a always end in oo, with either a KC or PKC vowel pattern.

With negatives of some of the “I” and “you” verbs from sections §13.3 and §13.5, however, things are a little trickier. As you know, an e or o at the end of a verb stem changes to i or u (respectively) before the bound subject pronoun -a. Thus, with the verb rto “sells”, we get Btua “I sold”, and with the verb rgue “cusses”, we get Rguia “I cuss”. Now, ask your teacher to read the following pairs of “I” subject examples aloud.

In the negative sentences, the –dy ending follows the verb including the -a pronoun (after the ia or ua), and then there is another -a after -dy. This only happens with “I” subjects of negative vowel-final verb stems that end in e or o.

As you’ve learned, when the bound informal singular subject pronoun -u is used on a vowel-final verb stem ending in a, this a-u combination changes to oo. Thus, with the verb rza “walks”, we get rzoo “you walk”, and with the verb rzuca “takes away”, we get rzucoo “you take away”. Listen as your teacher reads the following pairs of “you” subject sentences:

In the negative sentences here, the -dy ending comes after the verb ending in oo, and then there is another -u pronoun after -dy. This only happens with informal singular “you” subjects of negative vowel-final verb stems that end in a.

§13.8. Vowel-final stems: a summary

The charts below summarize what you’ve learned about using different types of subjects with vowel-final stems.

Table 13.1 is for CB stems. The first column of the chart lists different types of subjects. The next column shows the changes that occur with a CB stem:

• When no bound pronoun subject is added to the verb stem — with a noun phrase subject or in an imperative or formal command — the stem is used without change, in its independent form (just as with stems that don’t end in vowels).
• A formal pronoun subject is added directly to the stem (just as with stems that don’t end in vowels).
• A plural pronoun subject “they” is added to the combination form of the stem (just as with stems that don’t end in vowels).
• Other bound pronouns, those that begin with vowels, are pronounced as separate syllables following the combination form of the verb.
• There are additional changes with “I” and informal singular “you” subjects: the final vowels e and o change to i and u respectively before -a, the final vowel a changes to o before -u, and -u becomes o after o.

Table 13.2 summarizes what happens with non-CB vowel-final stems. The first column of the chart lists different types of subjects. The next column shows the changes that occur with non-CB stems:

• With a noun phrase subject, the stem is used without change, in its independent form (just as with stems that don’t end in vowels).
• A formal or plural “they” pronoun subject is added to the combination form of the stem (just as with stems that don’t end in vowels).
• Changes occur with other bound pronouns, those that begin with vowels. With proximate -ëng, -ën “we”, distal -i, -a “I”, and informal -u “you”, there are often changes in the vowel pattern of the final vowel.
• There are additional changes with “I” and informal singular “you” subjects: the final vowels e and o change to i and u respectively before -a, the final vowel a changes to o before -u, and -u becomes o after o.

The changes you need to pay special attention to are those in the last group. With proximate, “we”, distal, “I” and informal “you” subjects, the vowel pattern of the stem usually changes.

When you hear a new non-CB vowel-final stem, it’s good to learn how this verb is pronounced with proximate, distal, “we”, “I” and informal singular “you” subjects. If you need to guess how such verbs are pronounced, however, the table 13.2 will give you a hint as to pronunciations to try. Zapotec vowel-final stems are complicated, and even speakers get confused about such forms occasionally. If you try one of the forms in the table, you’ll be understood. Remember, you can always find out the pronunciation of a vowel-final verb stem with a vowel-initial pronoun in the verb charts.

Formal subject pronouns are added directly to independent forms, and plural subject forms of vowel-final stems use combination forms. For the most part animal, respectful, and informal plural forms follow regular rules. The forms you need to pay most attention to for each new verb are the proximate, “we”, distal, “I”, and informal singular “you” forms — those below the heavy line in the table. These five forms are the ones that are most likely to have irregular pronunciations or spellings. All irregular forms of vowel-final verb stems with vowel-initial pronouns, as well as any other irregular forms, are listed in the verb charts.