WHERE the fuck this at I need it RIGHT NEOW

In short, it’s QUIALANA Zapotec. Maybe I should’ve just done what my grandma does when someone says some shit and just thrown my shoe at the judge lol

Things are different now because we have so much technology. There are records in the form of videos and recordings that speakers make. Speakers ARE starting to write their language however they can. Though the truth remains that most speakers are shifting to Spanish, and quickly.

In any case, their story is worth being told. It’s human history, and it’s at risk at being lost forever. It’s not written, and while there are so many revitalization efforts happening right now, if the language is lost what then?

I don’t know if I did a good job of convincing the judge that different speech forms are more than just dialects. Especially when the word dialect has such an… impact in these regions and on indigenous Mexican languages. Mind you, I intentionally avoided using the word dialect in my presentation.

This language IS A LANGUAGE. It’s tied to the unique identity of the people there. I had checked out a copy of Munro & Lopez’ Quiaviní dictionary and gave it to my partner’s mom and she was so amazed with it. “I wish we had something like this in my pueblo,” she said as she sifted through the pages.

My work is focused on San Bartolomé Quialana Zapotec. There’s an online talking dictionary, but as far as I know and can find, it’s not described. It’s my partner’s home language and she wasn’t taught the language for a myriad of reasons. It’s important to ME for that reason.

I refuse to self correct this is my language this is me 🫵🏽 maybe I’ll start saying las unas lol

Cómo que la suna? NOOOOO mom, LAS UNA. Si son las dos las tres las once las doce… también LAS UNA

Translation for the Spanish: “Zapotec doesn’t have vowels”

Interesting to see what’s happening! I want to start moving towards writing in a more standard orthography soon. I wonder how she’ll respond to the new symbols lol

Am so exited!!! :00