Zacatepec Chatino verb classification and aspect morphology∗
Stéphanie Villard
University of Texas at Austin
[email protected]
1. Introduction
1.1 Chatino language
Chatino is a shallow language family, member of the Zapotecan branch of
the Otomanguean language family. It is spoken by about 29,000 people in the
Southern part of the State of Oaxaca, Mexico. The Chatino Language
Documentation Project1 adopts Boas’ tripartite division:
- Eastern Chatino, which includes Zacatepec (conservative, moribund), the
eastern and western highlands areas and Nopala.
- Zenzontepec, isolated; divergent; conservative; strong speaker base.
- Tataltepec, isolated; divergent; fairly conservative; losing speakers.
Mutual intelligibility is practically impossible across divisions and can be very
difficult within the Eastern set (Woodbury 2008).
1.2 Zacatepec Chatino
Zacatepec Chatino (ZAC) is spoken in the small village of San Marcos
Zacatepec, which counts about one thousand inhabitants. It is only spoken by the
population over 45 years of age, and as a result, it is considered highly
endangered. It is among the most conservative varieties of Chatino; contrary to
the majority of Chatino varieties, it conserves the penultimate syllables of
disyllabic roots (Villard 2008).
2. Goals of this study
In this study, the Zenzontepec (ZEN) verb classification found in Campbell
2009 is applied to the ZAC data in order to find out if the classification system
could also be valid for an Eastern Chatino variety.
This is a preliminary study of the ZAC verbal system as it was done with a
total number of two hundred verbs compared to the ZEN study, which was more
∗
Many thanks to Margarita González Hernández who patiently provided most of the data for this study
1
I gratefully acknowledge support for our work through Endangered Language Documentation Programme
grant MDP0153 to the University of Texas at Austin, offered by the Hans Rausing Endangered Language
Project at the School of Oriental and African Languages, University of London.
1
extensive and had a total of more than six hundred verbs.
3. Why the comparison between ZEN and ZAC Chatino is important for the
study of the Chatino language and Zapotecan languages in general
ZAC and ZEN are in two different branches within the Chatino language
family, but both are conservative varieties that keep the non-prominent syllable of
disyllabic roots, so comparison is straightforward.
Furthermore, because the ZEN verb classification can be applied to a large
set of the ZAC data, this result sheds light on the aspectual morphology of all the
other members of the Eastern Chatino branch, which have undergone a
monosyllabification process. The latter resulted in the emergence of complex
consonant clusters word initially obscuring the morphology and particularly the
aspectual morphology on verbs.
In addition to describe and unveil the prima facie complexities of the ZAC
verbal system, this study also provides insight into the proto-Zapotecan verb class
system as it validates the Proto-Zapotec reconstructions for one derivational
morpheme and two aspect prefixes found in Kaufman’s 1987 paper.
Table 1 shows how ZAC and ZEN conserve the penultimate syllables of
disyllabic roots2 compared with SJQ, a monosyllabic Eastern Chatino variety:
English
fish
deer
black
pineapple
Table 1: ZAC, ZEN and SJQ noun correspondences
ZAC
ZEN
SJQ
kwila3
kwina721
ngata31
ticho73
kwelà
kwinà7
ngatà
nkwi- títzù7
Kla4
Knya71
nta3
chu714
Table 2 shows how ZAC and ZEN conserve the syllables for the aspectual
morphemes compared with SJQ:
Table 2: ZAC, ZEN and SJQ verb correspondences3
English
Aspect ZAC
ZEN
He/she will open it
POT
k-osala30
k-usana
21
He/she is open it
PROG nda-sala
nde-sana
He/she open it
HAB
nd-osala30
nd-osana
SJQ
sla20
nsla1
nsla20
2
ZAC and SJQ tones are marked with numbers 0-4. O represent the highest and 4 the lowest tone. ZEN has a
different tone notation from other varieties: accent grave is high tone, the macron is mid tone, and nothing
over a vowel is unmarked tone.
3
POT: Potential aspect, PROG: Progressive aspect, HAB: Habitual aspect, COMP: Completive aspect
2
He/she opened it
COMP
4. ZEN verb classification
nga-sala21
nga-sana
sla1
Campbell’s study is the first extensive study on verbs in Chatino, and the
only successful attempt at classifying them according to aspect morphology.
It is based on Kaufman's 1987 classification of Zapotec verbs and his
reconstructed aspect markers for proto-Zapotec found in Kaufman (1993).
All previous research on verbs (Rasch 2002 for Yaitepec Chatino and Pride
and Pride 2004 for Panixtlahuaca Chatino) failed at providing a systematic
classification, and concluded that aspectual allomorphs did not seem to be rule
governed, and as a result, they had to be specified for each verb in dictionary
entries.
Table 3 shows all the ZEN aspectual morphemes:
Table 3: ZEN Aspect markers
Aspect
POT
PROG
HAB
COMP
ki-, k-, [lam]-, ∅
nte-, ntey-~nchnti-, n+ [lam]-, n-, nchnku-, nka-, nkwi-, nkay-~y-
Table 4 presents the distribution of the aspectual morphemes according to
the verb class. A description of the characteristics of each verb class is discussed
in this section below:
Table 4: ZEN Chatino Verb Classes
Class
A
B
C
Subclass Au, Ac
A2
Bc
Bt
By
C
C2
POT
kiki[lam]
y-->ch
kHAB
ntinti- n-+[lam] n+ (y-->ch)
ntiPROG
ntententench- ntey-, nchCOMP
nkankwinkunk(u)nku- nkay-, yAs we can see in Table 3 above, most aspectual morphemes end with a
vowel. Since some verbal stems start with a vowel, and vowel sequences are not
allowed in Chatino, one gets deleted in hiatus. The vowel hierarchy accounts for
which vowel gets deleted:
3
ZEN vowel hierarchy
e » u » i » a, o4
Below, the characteristics of each ZEN verb class are discussed.
Class A: It is subdivided into two sub-classes based on the completive,
where the sub-class Au/Ac verbs have nka- and the sub-class A2 verbs have nkwi.
Verb roots in class A are both transitive and intransitive, but there are many more
transitive stems in this class. This is due to the fact that a large set of intransitive
verb roots that are consonant-initial (and belong to class B) are made transitive by
prefixing u- to them.
Class B: Class B is a large class of verbs in ZEN that are consonant-initial,
and mostly intransitive. The intransitive roots from which the u-causatives are
derived reside in this class, and they show almost no inflectional irregularity. It
has three sub-classes. The sub-class Bc aspect markers are the same as class A
except for having the nku- allomorph for the completive. Class B verbs that begin
in /t/ belong to sub-class Bt, and they realize potential aspect purely by
laminalization of the stem-initial /t/. In the habitual, the stem /t/ is laminalized
and preceded by [n]. The sub-class By verbs are distinct in that the /y/ of the stem
changes to [ch] in the potential. The habitual is a fusion of the nti- aspect marker
with the /y/ of the stem, which yields nch-.
Class C: verbs are unique in having the potential marker k- and the
progressive marker nch-, with its alternant ntey- in sub-class C2. Sub- class Ca
shares the completive marker nku- with class B, and sub-class C2 verbs take the
y- completive marker that has the nkay- alternant (Campbell 2009).
5. ZAC Aspectual Morphology
Table 5 presents all the aspect markers found so far in Zacatepec Chatino:
POT
PROG
HAB
COMP
Table 5: ZAC Aspect markers
k-, ti-, [lam]-, ∅
nda-, ndi-k-, ngyndi-, n+[lam]-, ngyn-, ngo-, nga-, ngwi-, ngy-, ngay-~y-
The notation [lam] stands for laminalization, a process that occurs in ZAC
when apico-dental sounds /t, n, l, s/ are preceded by the vowel /i/. Both ZEN and
4
/a/, /o/ cannot be ranked with respect to one another because they happen to never occur in hiatus.
4
ZAC show a laminalization process in the POT and HAB, and the latter is
probably due to the effect of an historic ki- and ndi- aspectual prefix (Campbell
2009). The /i/ in the POT marker ki- remained in ZEN but got lost in ZAC, and
the laminalization in ZAC is a trace of its existence.
Furthermore, The ti- POT marker is also a trace of the historic ki- as the
latter is the underlying form for ti-; ti- is the result of a dissimilation process when
two velar sounds co-occur in a root and in an aspect morpheme. This phenomenon
is also found in Yaitepec, another Eastern Chatino variety (Rasch 2002).
The ndi-k- PROG marker seems to be a combination of PROG + POT
morphemes. Since the POT k- seems to be underlying ki-, it could be one way to
explain why /a/ surfaces as /i/, i.e. to satisfy a historic vowel harmony rule across
syllables. ndi- only surfaces as such instead of as nda- when the verbal root starts
with a velar stop /k/ followed by an /i/ or a /y/.
Finally, The ngay- and y- markers in the COMP freely alternate. The
morpheme ngay- appears to be a combination of nga- + y-, which is a COMP
double marking. The latter seems to be loosing ground as speakers prefer using
the y- morpheme instead.
Similarly to ZEN, most aspectual morphemes end with a vowel, and the
vowel hierarchy stated below accounts for which vowel gets deleted when a root
is also vowel initial:
ZAC vowel hierarchy
e>>o5>>i>>a
ZAC vowel hierarchy is similar to ZEN except that [o] is not included in the
hierarchy above since it only occurs in final syllables, and verbs in ZAC are
mostly disyllabic. -o 'to grind', is the only monosyllabic verb in the corpus that
contains an [o], but its conjugated forms seem to be irregular:
POT k-o3+, PROG nd'y-o13, HAB ndi-y-o3+, COMP ngay-o32 ~ y-o32.
The occurence of the glide in PROG, HAB and COMP prevents the occurrence of
/i/ and /a/ with [o] in a hiatus.
/o/ dominates /i/, this can be seen in HAB forms starting with /o/ where /i/
gets deleted.
/i/ dominates /a/, this can be seen in HAB forms starting with /a/, where /a/
gets deleted.
6. ZEN classification applied to ZAC verbs
5
/o/ in ZAC has 2 phonetic realizations: [o] in final syllables and [u] elsewhere, so in this vowel hierarchy /o/
has the following phonetic realization: [u].
5
The ZAC verb classes are shown in table 6 below:
Table 6: ZAC Chatino Verb Classes
Class
A
B
Subclass Ao Aj Ac A2
Bk By
Bc
C
∅
POT
k[lam]∅, ti- k[lam]HAB
ndindi- ngndiPROG
ndanda- ndi-k- ndaCOMP
ngangwinngyngongo-
C
C2
kndingyngay-/y-
6.1 Class A
This class contains transitive and intransitive verbs. Class Ao is made of
verbs that are made transitive by adding an -o- morpheme to their stem. Class A
verbs share the same aspect markers except for those in class A2 that take ngwimarker in the COMP. For the POT, Ao verb class takes the k- marker because
they start with the transitivizer morpheme -o-. Ac and A2 start with a coronal that
gets laminalized, result of the occurence of the historic POT marker ki-. The Aj
class does not undergo the laminalization process because the verbs start with a
glottal fricative, which cannot be laminalized (only coronals are laminalized) so
they take the ∅ morpheme for POT aspect marking.
Tables 7, 8, 9 and 10 present examples for respectively Class Ao, Aj, Ac and A2
verbs:
Table 7: Class Ao
English
hit it
write it
count it
open it
burn it
tie it
remove it
sweep it
weave it
water it
Stem
-o-ji7in21
-o-ka7an21
-o-lakwa30
-o-sala21
-o-takin30
-o-sakan721
-o-lo31
-o-lokwa21
-o-tajlya721
-o-jilya30
POT
k-o-ji7in30
k-o-ka7an30
k-o-lakwa3
k-o-sala30
k-o-takin3
k-o-sakan73
k-o-lo3
k-o-lokwa31
k-o-tajlya731
k-o-jilya3
PROG
nda-ji7in32-21
nda-ka7an32-21
nda-lakwa32-30
nda-sala32-21
nda-takin 32-30
nda-sakan7 32-21
nda-lo 32-13
nda-lokwa32-21
nda-tajlya732-21
nda-jilya32-30
HAB
nd-o-ji7in30
nd-o-ka7an30
nd-o-lakwa3
nd-o-sala30
nd-o-takin3
nd-o-sakan73
nd-o-lo3
nd-o-lokwa31
nd-o-tajlya731
nd-o-jilya3
COMP
nga-ji7in21
nga-ka7an21
nga-lakwa30
nga-sala21
nga-takin30
nga-sakan721
nga-lo31
nga-lokwa21
nga-tajlya721
nga-jilya30
If we compare Table 6 and Table 7, we can see that there is a problem with
6
the COMP markers nga- and nda- with class Ao: in vowel hierarchy, o > a, but
the opposite happens in this class. The same phenomenon was documented in
ZEN, and Campbell 2009 explains the presence of the vowel /a/ in this class
because of the -u- morpheme behaving as an historical /o/, which is consistent
with the pro-Zapotec form *-o or *-ok. Considering the Zapotecan vowel
hierarchy proposed by Kaufman (1987), e >> u/o >> a >> i, we can assume that
Campbell's explanation would also be valid for ZAC if /o/: [o] is in fact at the
bottom of the hierarchy just as is the case for ZEN, but the lack of data does not
allow us to check this.
Also note that Campbell 2009 cites a similar phenomenon in Chichicapan
Zapotec.
Table 8: Class Aj
English
whistle
hit it
massage it
ask (for it)
borrow it
swallow it
Stem
-jigwi21
-jikwan721
-jikwi21
-jinyan21
-jinyi7
-jikwin721
POT
jigwi30
jikwan730
jikwi30
jinyan30
jinyi730
jikwin730
PROG
nda-jigwi32-21
nda-jikwan732-21
nda-jikwi32-21
nda-jinyan32-21
nda-jinyi732-21
nda-jikwin732-21
HAB
ndi-jigwi30
ndi-jikwan730
ndi-jikwi30
ndi-jinyan30
ndi-jinyi73
ndi-jikwin730
COMP
nga-jigwi21
nga-jikwan721
nga-jikwi21
nga-jinyan21
nga-jinyi73
nga-jikwin721
Class Aj is a small class of verbs. All the verbs in this class start with the
glottal fricative j, hence the name Aj. Aj verbs take the ∅ POT morpheme as they
start with a non-coronal consonant.
Table 9: Class Ac
English
lick
confess
scream
laugh
run
fight
Stem
-le7e3
-ne3
-si7ya21
-sityi21
-sona3
-son21
POT
lye7e3
nye3
xi7ya30
xityi30
xona3
xon30
PROG
nda-le7e32-13
nda-ne32-13
nda-si7ya32-21
nda-sityi32-21
nda-sona32-13
nda-son32-21
HAB
ndi-lye7e3
ndi-nye3
ndi-xi7ya30
ndi-xityi30
ndi-xona3
ndi-xon30
COMP
nga-le7e13
nga-ne13
nga-si7ya21
nga-sityi21
nga-sona13
nga-son21
Class Ac verbs are consonant initial. This class is fairly homogenous
semantically as the majority of its verbs seem to fall under bodily function. Also,
because the Ac verb roots are consonant initial the aspect markers appear
unaltered.
7
Table 10: Class A2
English
respond
cook it
strectch it
remove it
boil it
undo it
Stem
-sakwen13
-sikwan13
-siwinyi13
-siwityi13
-slakwi13
-saka13
POT
xakwen13
xikwan13
xiwinyi21
xiwityi21
xlyakwi21
xaka13
PROG
ndi-xakwen13
ndi-xikwan13
ndi-xiwinyi21
ndi-xiwityi21
ndi-xlyakwi21
ndi-xaka13
HAB
ndi-xakwen13
ndi-xikwan13
ndi-xiwinyi21
ndi-xiwityi21
ndi-xlyakwi21
ndi-xaka13
COMP
ngwi-xakwen13
ngwi-xikwan13
ngwi-xiwinyi21
ngwi-xiwityi21
ngwi-xlyakwi21
ngwi-xaka13
Class A2 verbs PROG marker nda- surfaces as ndi- in order to satisfy a
vowel Harmony rule. The /i/ is probably due to the presence of a historic POT
marker -ki. So at an earlier stage it was nda- + ki- and [lam] of initial consonant,
giving *ndi-ki-xakwen, and after the ki- was lost: ndi-xakwen. The reason behind
the occurrence of the POT together with the PROG marker is unclear but the same
phenomenon is found in class A2 in ZEN.
6.2 Class B
Class B verbs are consonant initial and mostly intransitive. It is divided into
4 subclasses. By is y initial, Bc verbs start with apico-dentals /l, n, t, s/, and finally
Bk start with /k/.
Table 10: Class By
English
be opened
be thrown
away
wilt
be removed
(grain)
be revived
Stem
-yala30
-yalo3
POT
k-yala30
k-yalo3
PROG
ndi-k-yala21
ndi-k-yalo13
HAB
ng-yala30
ng-yalo3
COMP
ng-yala30
ng-yalo3
-yanan2
-yokwa731
k-yanan2
k-yokwa731
ndi-k-yanan2
ndi-k-yokwa731
ng-yanan2
ng-yokwa731
ng-yanan2
ng-yokwa731
-yo7o32
k-yo7o32
ndi-k-yo7o32-32
ng-yo7o32
ng-yo7o32
Class By shows the same interesting pattern in the PROG as in class A2: the
POT marker k- appears between the PROG marker and the verbal stem. Contrary
to class A2 this phenomenon is not found in ZEN verbs in the PROG in class By.
Also, the HAB and COMP seem to be homophonous (segments and tone).
Table 11: Class Bc
English
be counted
be blessed
be cut
Stem
-lakwa3
-nakwan21
-si7yo21
POT
lyakwa3
nyakwan3
xi7yo30
PROG
nda-lakwa32-3
nda-nakwan32-21
nda-si7yo32-21
HAB
ndi-lyakwa3
ndi-nyakwan3
ndi-xi7yo30
COMP
ngo-lakwa3
ngo-nakwan21
ngo-si7yo21
8
go out
-to7o21
tyo7o30
nda-to7o32-21
ndyo7o30
ngo-to7o21
Table 13: Class Bk
English
be scratched
be warned
be cooled
be lost
be softened
Stem
-kilya3
-kitza731
-ko7wa31
-kona721
-kotyi21
POT
kilya3
kitza73
ti-ko7wa2
ti-kona730
ti-kotyi30
PROG
ndi-kilya13
ndi-kitza731
nda-ko7wa2
nda-kona732-21
nda-kotyi32-21
HAB
ndi-kilya13
ndi-kitza73
ndi-ko7wa2
ndi-kona730
ndi-kotyi30
COMP
ngilya3
ngitza731
ngo7wa31
ngona721
ngotyi21
Class Bk verb roots are /k/ initial, and the latter fact results in aspectual
morphemes alterations. In the POT, the forms taking a ti- morpheme follow the
dissimilation rule between two /k/ mentioned earlier in this description. The forms
with the ∅ POT morpheme may have occurred with the morpheme ti- at an earlier
stage. In the PROG, the vowel harmony rule with /i/ applies in the scratch and
warn forms.
Class C
Class C verbs have the same aspect marker in POT, PROG and HAB but
differ in the COMP where Ca has -ngo and C2 has -nga-y~y-.
Table 14: Class Ca
English
be cooked
leak (drop)
grow
get wet
explode
Stem
-ake731
-akwa731
-alo32
-atza732
-atzo2
POT
k-ake73
k-akwa73
k-alo3
k-atza73
k-atzo3
PROG
ngy-ake713
ngy-akwa713
ngy-alo32
ngy-atza732
ngy-atzo2
HAB
ndi-ke73
ndi-kwa73
ndi-lyo3
latza73
ndi-cho3
COMP
ngo-ke731
ngo-kwa731
ngo-lo32
ngo-tza732
ngo-tzo2
Ca verbs are intransitive and get their name from the initial vowel /a/ of
their stem.
Table 15: Class C2
English
get dressed
throw up
kill it
cry
Stem
-ako732
-akwen32
-ojwi3
-ona32
POT
k-ako73
k-akwen3
k-ojwi3
k-ona3
PROG
ngy-ako713
ngy-akwen2
ngy-ojwi13
ngy-ona13
HAB
ndi-ko73
ndi-kwen3
nd-ojwi13
nd-ona3
COMP
nga-y-ako732
nga-y-akwen32
nga-y-ojwi3
nga-y-ona32
C2 verbs start by vowel /a/ or /o/ and are mainly transitive. They are
unusual in the COMP and take -nga-y- or y- as an aspectual marker. The latter
freely alternate.
9
7. Conclusions
ZEN and ZAC have a very similar verbal system, and comparison between
both systems is facilitated by a conservative morphology for both languages.
We have seen that ZEN verb classification presented in Campbell 2009 is
applicable to a large set of ZAC verbs but there still exist numerous examples that
do not seem to fit within the classification proposed in this paper.
The results of this study have important repercutions both in the field of
study of Chatino Languages and Zapotecan languages. It confirms Campbell's
system as valid for another Chatino variety, and it also approves the reconstructed
proto-Zapotecan forms by Kaufman 1987; POT: *k- and *ki- , COMP: *kwe- and
derivational morpheme: *-o-.
Furthermore, because tone is so prominent in ZAC grammar, one would
assume that it certainly plays an important role in the classification of verbs. The
fact that class A2 verbs have the same tone across the board, and that class By
verbs seem to be homophonous in HAB and COMP lead to think that tone should
be factored in when attempting to propose an accurate verbal classification for the
language.
The semantics of the verbs is another feature that was disregarded in the
classification of the verbs. The semantic homogeneity of verbs in class Ac
suggests that semantics could also be a factor in verbal classification.
To conclude, to account for the great majority of ZAC verbs, a holistic
approach that would consider morphology, tone and semantics would present a
more accurate verbal classification.
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Appendix:
Phonemic inventory of ZAC Chatino
Zacatepec Chatino has 4 vowel phonemes realized in 4 different rimes:
(oral, nasal, glottal and nasal+glottal) as shown in table below:
There are 19 consonant phonemes. Table 3 below presents the graphemes
for all the consonants (consonants between () are non-native:
Tonal system
This tonal system has three basic levels of pitch 1, 2, 3 (where 1 is the
highest and 3 the lowest) and a super high pitch level is also found in one tone
11
group and in sandhi forms. It includes level tones as well as contour tones.
There exist 9 tone categories (2, 3, 3+2, 21, 32, 31, 30, 13 and 30-3) that
apply to words and distinguish between lexical items, and also carry grammatical
function such as person marking. Tone categories refer to a set of tones aligning
to the mora and creating sandhi in phrasal contexts. In ZC, monosyllabic and
disyllabic words are dimoraic. Also, it appears that not all moras carry a specific
tone. As a result, some words can be specified for tone on each mora, some for
only one mora and some others not specified for tone at all. When a mora is
unspecified for tone, its pitch level can either be low or reflect whatever level of
the preceding word. (Villard 2008).
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References
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Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 15, No 1 pp.78-86.
-Campbell, Eric. 2009. Zenzontepec Chatino Aspect Morphology and Zapotecan
Verb Classes. Master's Thesis. University of Texas at Austin.
-Kaufman, T. 1987. Otomangean Tense/Aspect/Mood, Voice, and
Nominalization Markers. ms.
---------------. 1993. Proto-Zapotec(an) Reconstructions. ms.
-Pride, K. & L. Pride. 2004. Diccionario chatino de la zona alta. Tlalpan, D.F.,
México: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, A.C.
-Rasch, J. 2002. The Basic Morpho-syntax of Yaitepec Chatino. Ph.D. thesis,
Rice University, Houston, TX.
-Smith Stark, T. C. 2002. “Las clases verbales del zapoteco de Chichicapan”. In
Estrada Fernández, Z. & R. M. Ortiz Ciscomani (eds.) “VI Encuentro
Internacional de Lingüística en el Noroeste: memorias, Tomo 2”, Hermosillo:
Editorial UniSon, pp. 165–212.
-Villard, Stéphanie. 2008. Grammatical Sketch of Zacatepec Chatino. Master's
Thesis, UT Austin, Department of Linguistics.
Stéphanie Villard
Department of Linguistics
University of Texas at Austin
1 University Station B5100
Austin, TX 78712-1196
USA
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