S-5. Counting in Valley Zapotec
§1. Valley Zapotec Counting Numbers
The Zapotec numbers from one to ten are given below. (Each number is followed by its pronunciation guide. This is the way new vocabulary will usually be presented in later units in this book.)
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teiby [te'ihby] one tyop [tyo'p] two chon [chòonn] three tap [tahp] four gai [gài'] five xop [x:òp] six gaz [gàaz] seven xon [x:òon] eight ga [gààa'] nine tsë [tsêë'] ten |
These are COUNTING NUMBERS — they’re used, as you might guess, for counting things, and also in sentences (you’ll learn more about this in Lecsyony Xon) — for now, just practice counting with them!
Now, here are the counting numbers from eleven to twenty:
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tsëbteby [tsëbteeby] eleven tsëbtyop [tsëbtyo'p] twelve tseiny [tsèe'iny] thirteen tsëda [tsëdah] fourteen tseiny [tsèèi'ny] fifteen tseinyabteby [tsèi'nyahbteeby] sixteen tseinyabtyop [tsèi'nyahbtyo'p] seventeen tseinyabchon [tsèi'nyahbchòonn] eighteen tseinyabtap [tsèi'nyahbta'p] nineteen galy [gàally] / galyd [gàallyd] twenty |
If you learn to count from one to twenty, you’ll be able to count higher than quite a few Valley Zapotec speakers (mostly younger people) — many speakers can only count from one to ten in Zapotec. (When people can’t remember a Zapotec number, they use a Spanish number.) You should note that the words for “thirteen” and “fifteen” are spelled the same but pronounced differently. (Some people occasionally mix these up!) Make sure you can say each of these correctly. If you’re ever worried that people won’t know which number you mean, you can write the digits after the number — tseiny (13) or tseiny (15).
Here’s how you count from twenty-one to forty:
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galy abteiby [gàally ahbte'ihby] twenty-one galy abtyop [gàally ahbtyo'p] twenty-two galy abchon [gàally ahbchòonn] twenty-three galy abtap [gàally ahbtahp] twenty-four galy abgai [gàally ahbgài'] twenty-five galy abxop [gàally ahbxo'p] twenty-six galy abgaz [gàally ahbgàaz] twenty-seven galy abxon [gàally ahbxòon] twenty-eight galy abga [gàally ahbgààa'] twenty-nine galy abtsë [gàally ahbtsêë'] thirty galy abtsë cuan teiby [gàally ahbtsêë' cuahnn te'ihby] thirty-one galy abtsë cuan tyop [gàally ahbtsêë' cuahnn tyo'p] thirty-two galy abtsë cuan chon [gàally ahbtsêë' cuahnn chòonn] thirty-three galy abtsë cuan tap [gàally ahbtsêë' cuahnn tahp] thirty-four galy abtsë cuan gai [gàally ahbtsêë' cuahnn gài'] thirty-five galy abtsë cuan xop [gàally ahbtsêë' cuahnn xo'p] thirty-six galy abtsë cuan gaz [gàally ahbtsêë' cuahnn gàaz] thirty-seven galy abtsë cuan xon [gàally ahbtsêë' cuahnn xòon] thirty-eight galy abtsë cuan ga [gàally ahbtsêë' cuahnn gààa'] thirty-nine tyua [tyùùa'] forty |
Even fewer speakers can count this high in Zapotec!
Here are some more numbers:
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tyua abtsë [tyùa' ahbtsêë'] fifty gayon [gayòon] / chon galy [chòonn gàally] sixty gayon abtsë [gayòon ahbtsêë'] seventy ta [tààa'] eighty / tap galy [tahp gàally] ta abtsë [tàa' ahbtsêë'] ninety teiby gaiyua [te'ihby gaiyùùa'] one hundred tyop gaiyua [tyo'p gaiyùùa'] two hundred |
As you can see, there are two quite different ways to say “sixty” and “eighty”. Either of these, though, can be used to count higher, using the pattern you see for the numbers from twenty-one to forty.
Using these numbers, and following the combination patterns above, can you say “forty-three”? “fifty-six”? “sixty-four”? “eighty-eight”?
You may hear other variations on these patterns — for example, some speakers pronounce the “and” forms with b rather than ab (for example, gayon abtsë would be pronounced gayon btsë).
Most Valley Zapotec speakers, however, use only Spanish numbers when they get this high. (You’ll learn more about using these in section IX-3.)
(Accompanying the final version of this course will be videos of several Valley Zapotec speakers counting!)
§2. Valley Zapotec Ordinal Numbers
ORDINAL numbers are used when referring to successive items in a group — for instance, the English ordinal numbers are first, second, third, and so on.
Here are the first ten Valley Zapotec ordinal numbers:
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primer [primeer] first ni rac tyop [nih rahc tyo'p] OR ni rrop [nih rrohp] second ni rac chon [nih rahc chòonn] OR ni ryon [nih ryohnn] third ni rac tap [nih rahc tahp] fourth ni rac gai [nih rahc gài'] fifth ni rac xop [nih rahc x:òp] sixth ni rac gaz [nih rahc gàaz] seventh ni rac xon [nih rahc x:òon] eighth ni rac ga [nih rahc gààa'] ninth ni rac tsë [nih rahc tsêë'] tenth |
As you can see, the Zapotec ordinal numbers are much more regular than the English ones! After primer “first”, every one can be formed by putting ni rac in front of the counting number. (There are also additional, less regular words for “second” and “third”, ni rrop and ni ryon.)
Ordinal numbers are not used by themselves, but should be used before a NOUN, a word for a person or thing — as in primer liebr [primeer li'ebr] “first book” or ni rac ga becw [nih rahc gààa' bèe'cw] “ninth dog”.
A number used for counting things.
A number used when referring to successive items in a group – for instance, the English ordinal numbers are first, second, third, and so on.
A word referring to a person, animal, or thing. See also E-POSSESSED NOUN, MODIFIED NOUN, POSSESSED NOUN, POSSESSED NOUN PHRASE.
