User:Flyinghippo17/sandbox

Addition to 1st Paragraph already published:

"Zaniza Zapotec (Zapoteco de Santa María Zaniza) is an Oto-Manguean language of western Oaxaca, Mexico" in the Sola de Vega district. Native Zaniza Zapotec speakers use the words /ɾiʐ ziniz/ 'word/language of Zaniza' or /ɾiʐ-n/ 'our word/language' to refer to Zaniza Zapotec.

Natalie Operstein is a linguist focused on Zaniza Zapotec (henceforth ZZ) and has written a grammar sketch outlining the linguistic details of ZZ.

Consonantal Phonology
ZZ consonants are given in the chart below. The labiodental fricative /f/ is only found in recently borrowed Spanish words. There are distributional gaps in ZZ as seen from the following: /p/, /ʒ/, /h/ and /hw/ do not occur word initially; /k/ and /kw/ do not occur non-initally; non-initial /ɾ/ is rare; /m/ is rare in all positions.

Consonant Phoneme Inventory * Borrowed Spanish consonant

Vowel Phonology
ZZ only has five vowel qualities (see chart below). Due to Spanish loan words, ZZ also includes the nasalized Spanish vowels /ĩ/, /ã/, and /õ/; however there are no diphthongs. The /o/ and /o'/ are rare in native ZZ words.

Zaniza Zapotec Vowel Chart

* The raised comma after the vowel denotes the laryngealized vowel which is distinguished from the modal, illustrated below.

Word Order
ZZ has a basic word order of Verb, Subject, Object (VSO). See example below.

Note: For all examples, the corresponding ZZ word and morphemic translation match the lexical category to which it belongs in each sentence. Verbs are bolded; subjects are italicized, and objects are in underscored.

Intransitive verb clauses follow the pattern VS, while transitive verb clauses follow the patter VSO. Moreover, the subject can be included in the verb as a pronominal suffix.

Transitive Verb Clause

Intransitive Verb Clause

Deviations from this order occur when the emphasis or focus is expressed in the position before the verb. More than one word may be utilized. See examples below.