A Linguistic Analysis and Translation of the Zapotec Text in Arte en lengua zapoteca

FAIN: FT-61479-14

Brook Danielle Lillehaugen
Haverford College (Haverford, PA 19041-1392)

Zapotec, an indigenous language spoken in Mexico, has a long record of alphabetic texts, the earliest dated 1565. The Colonial Zapotec language materials, however, are understudied, as interpreting early documents written in Zapotec can be extremely difficult due to challenges of orthography, grammar, and printing conventions. My project is a linguistic analysis and translation of the Zapotec text in Arte en lengua zapoteca (Córdova 1578b). The Arte is by far the most extensive grammar written on the Zapotec language during the colonial period, but has remained underused. This text, which overtly addresses the grammar of the language, is likely to clarify important structural questions and facilitate translation of the entire Colonial Zapotec corpus, including archival documents such as wills and bills of sale. The analysis and translation of this text is an important step in opening up a corpus currently accessible to only a small group of experts to the larger public.

Associated Products

Ticha: a digital text explorer for Colonial Zapotec / transcription and annotation of Arte en lengua zapoteca (Web Resource)
Title: Ticha: a digital text explorer for Colonial Zapotec / transcription and annotation of Arte en lengua zapoteca
Author: Brook Danielle Lillehaugen
Author: George Aaron Broadwell
Author: Michel R. Oudijk
Author: Laurie Allen
Author: Enrique Valdivia
Abstract: A transcription and annotation of Cordova's 1578 Arte en lengua zapoteca.
Year: 2014
Primary URL: http://ds.haverford.edu/ticha/arte_original.html
Primary URL Description: Transcription and annotation of Arte en lengua zapoteca (Cordova 1578).
Secondary URL: http://ticha.haverford.edu
Secondary URL Description: Ticha: a digital text explorer for Colonial Zapotec

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