Juchitán Zapotec: Orthography and Phonology

An overview of the writing system and the sounds of Juchitán Zapotec for people interested in studying the language. Download a chart of the International Phonetic Alphabet for help with some of the sounds. In English and Spanish.

Transcript

1. The orthography and phonology of Juchitán Zapotec for language learners La ortografía y la fonología del zapoteco de Juchitán para estudiantes del idioma
2. Los consonantes / Consonants La mayoría de las letras y sus sonidos son iguales a los del español. Incluso los siguientes: Most of the letters and their sounds are similar to those of Spanish. These include the following: b c ch d f g h j k l m n ñ p q r rr s t y
3. Sin embargo, hay unos consonantes que no se encuentra en el español. Son: However, there are several consonants that are not found in Spanish. They include: dx nn x xh z
4. DX La DX se pronuncia [ʤ], como la J del Inglés. DX is pronounced [ʤ], like the English J in “John.”
5. NN La NN se pronuncia [nː], como un a N más larga. NN is pronounced [nː], like an extra-long N.
6. X La X se pronuncia [ʒ] como la G de la palabra francés “rouge.” X is pronounced [ʒ] like the G in the French word “rouge.”
7. XH La XH se pronuncia [ʃ] como la SH de la palabra “short.” XH is pronounced [ʃ] like the SH in the English word “short.”
8. Z La Z se pronuncia [z]. Es parecido a la S pero sonora, que quiere decir que se pronuncia con la voz. X is pronounced [z] like the Z in “zebra.”
9. Las vocales sencillas / Simple Vowels El Zapoteco de Juchitán tiene 3 clases de vocales: sencillas, cortadas, y quebradas. Las vocales sencillas se escribe y se pronunica igual que las vocales del español. Juchitán Zapotec has 3 kinds of vowels: simple, checked, and creaky. The simple vowels are pronounced as in the bolded letter of the following English words: Father, Center, Pique, Open, Tube. a e i o u
10. Las vocales cortadas / Checked Vowels Las vocales cortadas vienen combinadas con una [ʔ]. Checked vowels are followed by a glottal stop [ʔ]. This is the sound (or non-sound) that comes between the two syllables in “uh-oh.” a’ e’ i’ o’ u’
11. Las vocales quebradas / Creaky Vowels Las vocales quebradas son más largas que las vocales sencillas y se pronunica como si te doliera la garganta. Creaky vowels are longer than simple vowels and are pronounced as if you have a scratchy throat. aa ee ii oo uu
12. ¡Suerte! / Good Luck! Ahora vas a escuchar y aprender unas palabras con los sonidos que acabas de repasar. Now you will hear and learn words with the sounds you have just learned about.