S-4. Valley Zapotec Greetings and Useful Expressions
§1. Some basic greetings in Valley Zapotec
The basic greetings that Valley Zapotec speakers use when meeting people on the street, particularly with those they do not know well, are related to the time of day. Listen to your teacher and to the recordings that accompany this course, and practice these greetings so that you can use them automatically, at the proper time.
The four greetings below are given both in Valley Zapotec spelling (as introduced in Lecsyony Tyop) and with pronunciation guides (in the right-hand column), as explained in Lecsyony Chon and Lecsyony Tap. (Your teacher will help you with these. If the pronunciation guides seem mysterious to you now, just concentrate on the pronunciation.)
The first greeting is used from early morning (before dawn) till just before noon.
| Zac rsily! | “Good morning!” | [za’c rsìii’lly!] | |
| or | Zacarsily! | [za’carsìii’ly!] |
As you can see, there are two ways to pronounce this greeting, depending on whether you run the words together or not. (Many Valley Zapotec expressions work this way.)
The second greeting is used around noontime, from just before noon to 1 pm or so.
| Zac laizhi! | “Good midday!” | [za’c laizhih!] |
The third greeting is used all afternoon, from about 1 pm until it begins to get dark.
| Zac wzhi! | “Good afternoon!” | [za’c wzhih!] | |
| or | Zacawzhi! | [za’cawzhih!] |
Again, there are two ways to say this greeting.
The fourth greeting is used after dark.
| Zac wxiny! | “Good evening!” | [za’c wxi’ihnny!] | |
| or | Zacawxiny! | [za’cawxi’ihnny!] |
Once again, there are two ways to say this, depending on whether you separate the two parts or not.
§2. More Valley Zapotec greetings
When Valley Zapotec speakers meet each other on the street, they may begin with greetings based on the time of day, but then they often move on to ask about health.
Listen to your teacher and to the recordings that accompany this course, and practice these expressions so that you can use them automatically.
The basic health greeting in Valley Zapotec is
| Xa nuu? | “How are you?” | [x:a nu’-ùu’?] |
Two common (equivalent) responses to this inquiry are
| Gwenag. | “Fine.” | [gweenahg] | |
| Izyla. | “Fine.” | [ihzylààa’] |
Valley Zapotec speakers feel it’s very important to speak respectfully. If you want to ask an older person or someone to whom you should show respect (such as a priest or teacher) the same question, here is how to do it:
| Xa nuyu? | “How are you (formal)?” | [x:a nu’yuu’?] |
In this book, we will put “(formal)” (or the abbreviation “(form.)”) after any “you” that should be used when speaking to someone you should address formally. You’ll learn more about this in Lecsyony Ga.
You can use similar questions to ask about the health of people’s family members. Here are some examples:
| Xa nu xtadu? | “How is your father?” | [x:a nu’uh x:ta’adùu’?] | |
| Xa nu xnanu? | “How is your mother?” | [x:a nu’uh x:nna’anùu’?] | |
| Xa nu zhinyu? | “How is your child?” | [x:a nu’uh zhìi’inyùu’?] |
Valley Zapotec makes more distinctions in terms for brothers and sisters than speakers of English or Spanish do. The way you ask the following questions depends not only on the sex of the person you are referring to (the brother or sister) but also on the sex of the person you’re talking to:
| Xa nu betsu? | “How is your brother?” (used when talking to a male) |
[x:a nu’uh be’tsùu’] | |
| Xa nu belu? | “How is your sister?” (used when talking to a female) |
[x:a nu’uh bèe’llùu’] | |
| Xa nu bzyanu? | “How is your brother?” (used when talking to a female) |
[x:a nu’uh bzyaàa’nùu’] | |
| Xa nu bzyanu? | “How is your sister?” (used when talking to a male) |
[x:a nu’uh bzyaàa’nùu’] |
You might notice that there are no questions above asking about the health of a husband or wife. It’s generally considered inappropriate to ask about the health of someone’s spouse.
Listen to your teacher and the recordings, and practice using all these expressions.
Picture 1. A cali chiu (bicycle taxi) on market day in Tlacolula.
The wall of the church is in the background.
§3. Still more Valley Zapotec greetings
When Valley Zapotec speakers meet each other on the street, they may begin with greetings based on the time of day and people’s health. The greetings below are also used very frequently, however, and may even be used to begin a greeting conversation (especially among friends). Listen to your teacher and to the recordings that accompany this course, and practice these expressions so that you can use them automatically. (This section is not currently on the recordings.)
A very common way to continue a greeting conversation is to inquire about the reason why someone is away from home. Which expression you use depends on whether you think the person you’re talking to is on his or her way to do something or on his or her way home after doing something.
| Cali chiu? | “Where are you going?” | [cali chìu’?] | |
| Cali gweu? | “Where did you go?” | [cali gwèu’?] |
Use Cali chiu? if you know that the person is on the way somewhere from his or her house, and Cali gweu? if you assume that the person is on his or her way home.
These greetings seek no more information than the English expression How are you? (which is normally answered Fine, regardless of how you are really feeling!). If you want, you can answer these questions with a complete, truthful answer (you’ll learn how to do this later in this book). But here are some common social responses that are polite without really conveying any information:
| Mandad. | “On an errand.” | [mandaad] | |
| Nezgag. | “Just around.” | [nehzgahg] |
Fuller answers to Cali chiu? might be
| Chaa mandad. | “I’m going on an errand.” | [cha’-a’ mandaad] | |
| Chaa teiby mandad. | “I’m going on an errand.” | [cha’-a’ te’ihby mandaad] | |
| Chaa nezgag. | “I’m just going around.” | [cha’-a’ nehzgahg] |
Fuller answers to Cali gweu? might be
| Gwaa mandad. | “I went on an errand.” | [gwa’-a’ mandaad] | |
| Gwaa teiby mandad. | “I went on an errand.” | [gwa’-a’ te’ihby mandaad] | |
| Gwaa nezgag. | “I just went around.” | [gwa’-a’ nehzgahg] | |
| Gwaa ruc ca. | “I was just going around here.” | [gwa’-a’ ru’c cah] |
The questions Cali chiu? and Cali gweu? are informal; use these to people your own age or younger, or older people you know very well and who you know will not consider it disrespectful for you to address them informally. If you want to ask an older person or someone to whom you should show respect (such as a priest or teacher) the same questions, here is how to do it:
| Cali chieyu? | “Where are you (form.) going?” | [cali chieyuu’?] | |
| Cali gweyu? | “Where have you (form.) been?” | [cali gwehyuu’?] |
(All these questions are used just when speaking to one person. Valley Zapotec also makes a distinction between talking to one person and talking to more than one, but these questions are most appropriate for speaking to just one person.)
The questions and answers here use forms of the verb ria [rihah] “goes”, which you’ll learn more about in later lessons. Try to practice using all these expressions so you’ll become more familiar with them.
§4. More things to say in Valley Zapotec
Below are some more greetings and other expressions that you may find useful in using Valley Zapotec. Listen to your teacher and to the recordings that accompany this course, and practice these expressions so that you can use them automatically.
§4.1. The way you thank someone differs according to whether the person you are talking to is someone you should address respectfully or not. To say “thank you” to a friend your own age or someone younger than you, say
| Xtyozën liu. | “Thank you.” | [x:tyoozëhnn lìu’] |
If you want to thank an older person or someone to whom you should show respect (such as a priest or teacher), you say
| Xtyozën yu. / Xtyozën yëbu. | “Thank you (form.).” | [x:tyoozëhnn yu’uu’] / [x:tyoozëhnn yëbu’uu’] |
“Thank you” is also different when you are talking to more than one person:
| Xtyozën laad. | “Thank you.” (used when talking to more than one) |
[x:tyoozëhnn làa’-ahd] | |
| Xtyozën yuad. | “Thank you (form.).” (used when talking to more than one) |
[x:tyoozëhnn yùad] |
§4.2. Here are some additional greetings that you can use with Valley Zapotec speaking friends. These are more informal than the greetings given earlier.
| As nia. | “Hi there!”, “Hey!” | [a’s nniìa’] | |
| As. | “Hi!”, “Hey!” | [a’s] |
To a good friend, one may say
| As, buny. | “Hey there!” | [a’s bùunny] |
A male may greet another male by saying
| As, gwuale. | “Hey, man!” | [a’s gwu’alle’eh] |
§4.3. Here are some ways to say goodbye.
| Yzhajaën. / Yzhagaën |
“Goodbye, See you later.” | [yzhàaja’ëhnn] / | |
| [yzhàaga’ëhnn] |
This expression literally means something like “See you later”, but it’s the usual way everyone says goodbye, both formally and informally.
An informal way to end a conversation is
| A zaa buas. | “Well, I’ve got to go.” | [a za’-a’ buahs] |
If someone says this to you, an informal response is
| Yzhajaën buas. | “Okay, see you later.” | [yzhàaja’ëhnn buahs] |
