Zaniza Zapotec (Zapoteco de Santa María Zaniza) is an Oto-Manguean language of western Oaxaca, Mexico. It is one of several Zapotec languages called Papabuco. It has only 10% intelligibility with Texmelucan Zapotec, its closest important relative. (Speakers of the nearly extinct Elotepec Zapotec have 70% understanding of Zaniza, but it is not known if the reverse is true,Egland, Bartholomew, & Cruz Ramos. 1983 . La inteligibilidad interdialectal en México: Resultados de algunos sondeos. so this may be a question of familiarity.)
The language is spoken in Santa María Zaniza, Oaxaca. As of 2003, the language had about 400 fluent speakers. It is also spoken in Santiago Textitlán.
Phonology +Zaniza Zapotec Consonants Labial Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal Nasal Plosive/Affricate Fricative Rhotic Lateral Glide
Zaniza Zapotec has five vowels , phonemic vowel nasalization, and a distinction between modal and laryngealized vowels.
Tone Zaniza Zapotec words contrast low, mid, and high tones on stressed syllables. Unstressed syllables, apart from a few pronominal enclitics, do not bear contrastive tone.
References
External links
OLAC resources in and about the Zaniza Zapotec language