S-12. Words for People
§1. Below are some words for different types of people, many of which you already know.
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bangual [banguual] old person bdo [bdòo’] baby buny [bùunny] person; man buny mna [bùunny mnnààa’] woman buny nguiu [bùunny nguìu’] man lia [lia] girl mna [mnnààa’] woman mniny [mnìi’iny] child; boy nguiu [nguìu’] man zhyap [zh:yàa’p] girl |
There is no real difference between buny mna and mna or buny nguiu and nguiu. Most speakers use all four expressions.
§2. Now, here are some words for various professions, occupations, and other types of people:
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bxuaz [bxu’ahz] priest bzhya [bzh:yàa] witch doctor [doctoor] doctor estudian [estudi’ann] student maestr [ma’estr] master bricklayer mes [me’s] teacher meser [meseer] waiter; waitress ni rculo zhily [nih rculoh zhi’ìilly] shepherd ni rcwa chies [nih rcwààa’ah chie’s] person who knows black magic ni rguiby plad [nih rguìi’by plaad] dishwasher ni rguieb laidy [nih rguìeb laihdy] tailor ni runyzeny [nih ruhnyzeèe’ny] ghost pristen [prihste’enn] presidente municipal (roughly the equivalent of a mayor) |
§3. The new words can be used in many different types of sentences. Here are some examples that could be used to identify or classify people:
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Mna mes re. |
“That teacher is a woman.” |
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Mes mna re. |
“That woman is a teacher.” |
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Meser buny. |
“The person is a waiter.” |
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Ni rcwa chies buny mna re. |
“This woman is a person who knows black magic.” |
Sentences like these are sentences (they tell what category something or someone belongs to). They use the following pattern, which you can practice with the words above:
| predicate (noun phrase) |
subject (noun phrase or independent pronoun) |
| Mna | mes re. |
| Mes | mna re. |
| Meser | buny. |
| Ni rac chies | buny mna re. |
These sentences end with the subject (mes re, mna re, buny, buny mna re). They begin with the , the noun that you are using to identify the subject with. In English, identificational sentences like these (like the translations above) include the word is, but you don’t have to use a word like this in Zapotec. (Although a noun plus re subject phrase usually comes at the beginning of a Zapotec sentence, that’s not the usual pattern with identificational sentences. )
A name can be the subject of an identificational sentence too, as in
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Buny San Luc Lia Len. |
“Elena is a San Lucas person.” |
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Ni rcwa chies Bied Lia Pam. |
“Señora Panfila is a person who knows black magic.” |
You should practice making up additional identificational sentences like these using the new vocabulary and other words you know.
You’ll learn much more about identificational sentences in Lecsyony Tseinyabtap.
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.
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.
