Zapotec poetry

A working attempt to come up with a good English translation of this beautiful poem by Esteban Rios Cruz.

Diidxa’ guicaa Julio Ubiidxa

Esteban Rios Cruz

1

Beeu chii

Beeu chii  beeu chii  October

October

napa

n-  n-  stat  apa  apa  have

have

yeló

yeló  yeló  eye

eye

lexu

lexu  lexu2  cottontail rabbit

cottontail rabbit

cadxiibi

ca-  ca-  prog  dxiibi  dxiibi  frightened

frightened

.

October has the eyes of a frightened rabbit

Octubre tiene ojos de conejo espantado.

2

Xpeeu

x-  x-  poss  peeu    moon

moon

ni

ni  ni  rel

rel

nayaanizisi’

nay-  n-  stat  aani  aani  lean, hang

lean, hang

ne

ne  ne  and

and

cannibi’

ca-  ca-  prog  nnibi’  nnibi’  move, swing

move, swing

lo

lo  lo  to, at

to, at

yaga

yaga  yaga  tree

tree

,

Its moon hangs and is swinging in the trees

Su luna brillante columpia sobre los árboles,

I'm not sure about the meaning of the -zisi' part

3

ré’

r-  r-  hab  é’  é’  drink

drink

nisa

nisa  nisa  water

water

bizé

bizé  bizé  well

well

,

ruché

ru-  ru-  hab:caus  ché  ché  madden, disturb

madden, disturb

xpiaani’

x-  x-  poss  piaani’  piaani’  light

light

ca

ca=  ca=  plur=

plur

bi’cu’

bi’cu’  bi’cu’  dog

dog

,

it drinks well water, it maddens the dogs

bebe agua en los pozos, alucina a los perros

'disturb the light' seems like an idiom, but I'm not sure; not listed in the Isthmus Zapotec dictionary

4

ni

ni  ni  rel

rel

rebeeca’

re-  re-  hab:rep  bee  bee  wake  =ca’  =ca’  =3pl

wake

xpacaanda’

x-  x-  poss  pacaanda’  bacaanda’  sleep

sleep

gueela’

gueela’  gueela’  night

night

ne

ne  ne  and

and

xquendaridúxhuca

x-  x-  poss  quenda  quenda  nomin  ri-  r-  hab  dúxhu  dúxhu  bark  =ca  =ca’  =3pl

nomin

.

that wake the night's sleep (with?) their barking

que desvelan a la noche con sus ladridos.

5

Naca’

n-  n-  stat  aca’  aca’  be

be

guisbá

guisbá  guisbá  fall?

fall?

,

bi

bi    wind

wind

cadi

cadi  cadi  not

not

gapa’

g-  g-  pot  apa’  apa  have

have

guendarietanala’dxi’

guenda  quenda  nomin  ri-  r-  hab  etanala’dxi’  etanala’dxi’  remember

remember

It is fall, the wind can't remember;

Es otoño, el viento desmemoriado

6

canazá

ca-  ca-  prog  nazá  nazá  wander

wander

nadxi’ña’

nadxi’ña’  nadxi’ña’  mischievous, naughty

naughty

cuxhuxidxi

cu-  g-  pot  xidxi  xidxi  laugh

laugh

ca

ca=  ca=  plur=

plur

diagayoo

diagayoo  diagayoo  window

window

.

it is wandering like a naughty child making the windows laugh.

deambula travieso haciendo reír a las ventanas.

More information about the author here.

Bi-replacives in Central Zapotec

When two forms of a verb root differ in transitivity in Zapotec, there are a variety of ways in which this is signaled in the morphology. The most common is a fortis/lenis alternation, where the more transitive begins with a fortis consonant and the less transitive begins with the corresponding lenis consonant.

The following are some such pairs in San Dionisio Ocotepec Zapotec
r-bè’cy r-cwè’cy 'be lain (of eggs), worn/lay (eggs), wear'
r-bè’é r-cwè’ 'be taken off, out/take off, out'
r-bééz r-cwééz 'wait for/cause to wait for'
r-dè'é r-tè'é         'be rolled up/roll up'
r-dò'         r-tò'         'be sold/sell'
r-dòòby r-tòòby 'be rolled up/roll up'
r-dxà         r-chà         'be filled/fill'
r-dxà'ág r-chà'ág 'be joined/join'
r-dxììby r-chììby 'be afraid/frighten'
r-gà'ts r-cà'ts 'be buried, hidden/bury, hide'
r-gì'í         r-quì'í 'be cooked/cook'
r-gíí'dy r-quíí'dy 'be stuck in/stick in'
r-go'         r-cò'         'be mashed, crushed/mash, crush'
r-là'         r-ldà'         'be saved/save'
r-ràyá' r-tyàyá' 'be grated/grate'
r-róób r-tyóób 'be sprinkled/sprinkle'
r-rù'         r-tyù'         'be cut (from a tree)/cut (from a tree)'
r-rúùxh r-tyùùxh 'be peeled/peel'

One of the least common is the type where the initial CV of the more transitive member is /tsi-/ or /dzi-/ and the corresponding less transitive verb has /bi-/ in this position:

r-bìcá r-dzìcá 'get out, exit/take out'
r-bìjldy r-tsildy 'be destroyed/destroy'
r-bì'íldy r-dzì'ildy 'be hung, stretched/ hang,stretch'


I've recently been looking at the reflexes of verbs with a bi- replacive in Colonial Valley Zapotec and in several Central (modern Valley and Isthmus) languages, arriving at a table like the following:

Glosses	Isthmus	Mitla	SLQuiavini	Guila	Colonial Valley	Comments
desbaratar(se), deshacer(se), descoser(se), desgranar(se) [undo, destroy]	ribiá ~ ruchiá	bihL 'to be undone' ~ tsuhL 'to undo' (destruir, descoser, desbaratar)	r-bihlly ~ r-tse'ihlly 'destroys'	biyi ‘deshacerse’ / u+tsiyi ‘destruirlo’ (TSS) | bìld ~ tsìld (Lopez Cruz)	bi(j)lla ~ chi(j)lla	*ts > ch in IZ *iL > i in IZ *iL > iy in Guila1 *L >ld in Guila2 *tsu > tsi (or sï) in Guila; tse in SLQZ; chi in IZ It is odd that TSS and LC cite different forms for Guila
extender, tender	rìbìàá ~ ruchìàá	r-biL ~ ru-tzuL		bì'ld~ tsì'ld
voltear	ribi'xhi'~rutiixhi'		not found	bishi ‘voltearse’ (B) / u+di’ishí ‘voltearlo’ (Acaus)	? texi ~ bixi 'tangle'
poner [put]	(not found)	bihb 'to be put' ~ dzub 'to put'	r-bèe'b 'gets put on'~ r-zùu'b 'puts'	bï̀ïb ~ sï̀ïb 'colocar, poner'	bijba ~ chijba
acercar(se) [get close]	(not found)	bǐg 'to lean' ~ s-tsǔg ' to make to lean' (or get close)		bḯḯg ~ sḯḯg 'acercar(se)' (LC)	biga ~ chijga	Briggs has 'lean', vs. Stubblefield acercar
spin	(not found)	biʔ ~ 'to be spun' ~ dzuʔ 'to spin'	not found	bia7 ~ u+zia7 ‘menearlo’(TSS) byée' ~ syée' 'mover, menear' (LC)	(not found)
smooth	(not found)	biL 'to be smoothed' ~ tsuL 'to smooth out'	not found		chilla ~ billa
voltear(se) [turn from]	(not found)	birě 'to turn from' ~ tsurě 'to cause to turn from'	not found			Stubblefield has the transitive as ru-s-piré [voltear]
quitar [remove]	(not found)	bikah 'to be removed' ~ dzukah 'to remove'	r-bicàa~ r-zucàa		(not found)
sacudir [shake]				bï̀ḯg ~ sï̀ḯg 'sacudir(se)'	bijga ~ chijga
clavar [stick into]				bi’ibí ‘clavarse’ (Ac) / dzibi ‘clavarlo’ (C)	not found