S-15. More Words for Body Parts

This section presents some additional words for parts of the body to supplement those you learned in Lecsyony Tsëda. As you’ll see, although most of these are e-possessed, there are a number of different ways to use them with possessors.

§1. First, here are some words that are e-possessed only. These words can’t be used by themselves. They must always be used with a possessor, and they are never used with either the prefix x- or the words xten or xte.

Here are some examples of phrases using these words:

The last example shows that a y is added when you put a bound pronoun beginning with a vowel onto one of these words, just as you learned in Lecsyony Tsëda.

Incidentally, lady “body” is pronounced just the same as lady “clothes”. Lady “body” is an e-possessed word that does not have a non-possessed equivalent. As you learned in Lecsyony Tsëda, the e-possessed form of lady “clothes” is xab. So if you see a word like ladya, you’ll know this has to mean “my body”, since lady “clothes” can’t be used with a possessor.

§2. Many body part expressions contain other body part words you know. For example, quizhacw contains zhacw “upper arm”. Below are some compound e-possessed body part expressions, each of which consists of two words.

Gyich is a form of gyichicy, and you’ll learn the word lasto in section §6 below. What other parts of these words do you recognize?

Because these words are e-possessed, they must always be used with a possessor. The possessor follows the whole phrase. If the possessor is a pronoun, it’s attached to the end of the phrase. Once again, each of these expressions is never used with the prefix x- or the words xten or xte.

Here are examples of how these compound body parts are used with possessors:

The last two examples show the same vowel changes you’ve learned about in Lecsyony Tseiny (13) and Tsëda.

§3. Some other body part words are another type of e-possessed noun that you also learned about in Lecsyony Tsëda, meaning they must always have a possessor, but unlike those given above, they use the x- prefix. Here are some examples:

Here are some examples:

These body part words are never used without possessors, and they are never used without the x- prefix or with the words xten or xte.

Xag “cheek” (section §1) looks as if it contains the possessive prefix x-. Maybe so, but this x can’t be taken off — and the form of the word without the x (<ag>) doesn’t look like a very good Zapotec word, since very few words start with vowels in Zapotec.

§4. The words below are exceptional e-possessed nouns, just like the body parts garzi “guts” and gyichicy “hair” that you learned in Lecsyony Tsëda. You can say these words on their own, as follows:

Since these are body parts, however, they are usually used with a possessor. When you mention a possessor, as with the exceptional e-possessed nouns in Lecsyony Tsëda, you need to use the x- prefix. Pulmony works completely regularly — its e-possessed form is xpulmony — but the other words change when the x- is added:

These words are never used in the optional possession pattern with xten or xte.

Here are some examples of these words used with possessors:

One time that people might use a body part word on its own, without mentioning the possessor, would be when talking with a baby or pointing to body parts. In the context of talking with a baby you might also hear the word guepy [guèe’py] — the unpossessed form of xquepy — but this word is very uncommon.

§5. Although body part words are normally not used with the optional possession word xten, there is one that is:

When you want to tell whose blood it is, you use xten or xte:

Surprisingly, though, when you name the part of the body the blood comes from, you don’t use xten or xte:

§6. There are several words for “heart” in Zapotec.

Here are some examples:

Speakers feel differently about these words. Some think that anym primarily means “soul”, and others may believe that corason is mainly used in religious contexts. What does your teacher feel is the best way to say “heart”?

§7. As you learned in Lecsyony Tsëda, xban means “tail”. Na, which means “hand” or “forearm” for people, means “front paw” or “front leg” for animals. Ni, which means “foot” or “lower leg” for people, means “back paw” or “back leg” for animals. Here are some more animal body part words in addition to those you learned in Lecsyony Tsëda:

Here are some examples:

§8. To say “left” and “right”, use the words rbes [rbe’s] and ldi [ldii]. These come after the noun they refer to, followed by the possessor, as in

You’ll learn more about using MODIFIER words like rbes and ldi in Lecsyony Tseinyabtap.