Message #125246

[Bianca]

Grammar



Zapotecan languages are agglutinative, i.e., they add prefixes and suffixes to roots to mark grammatical functions.






Nouns and Pronouns



Nouns and pronouns vary in accordance with the relationship of speaker to object. For instance, nouns and pronouns indicate whether one speaks of, or to, a human, animal, inanimate object or a supernatural being. One can also indicate an intimate or formal, and inclusive or exclusive, relationship with the object by choice of nouns and pronouns. In some cases, gender-specfic forms of speech exist as well.

Zapotec languages distinguish between inalienable (cannot be removed or gotten rid of) and alienable (can be removed or gotten rid of) possession. Possessors follow possessed nouns, e.g., làb "sandal," làb lè "your sandal."






Verbs



Prefixes and suffixes are added to verbs to indicate voice, tense and mood.






Prepositions



Zapotec languages do not have prepositions. Instead, they use nouns denoting body parts to express spatial relations.