The Categorial Status of Body Part Prepositions in Valley Zapotec ...

The Categorial Status of Body Part Prepositions in Valley Zapotec Languages
1. Introduction 1
This thesis examines the categorial status of body part prepositions in the Zapotec
languages of the Tlacolula Valley, drawing data from several languages, primarily
Tlacolula de Matamoros Zapotec and San Lucas Quiaviní Zapotec. I argue that the body
part terms used in locative expressions, though identical in form to the nouns for body
parts, are not syntactically nouns. I present four main types of evidence that these body
part terms have been reanalyzed and grammaticized as prepositions: syntactic evidence,
data from Colonial Valley Zapotec documents, evidence from child language acquisition,
and a proposal of a possible series of semantic changes and syntactic reanalysis.
1.1 The Languages
Zapotec languages belong to the Otomanguean stock and are spoken in Oaxaca,
Mexico, and by many immigrants in the greater Los Angeles area. This thesis presents
data from several Valley Zapotec languages: Tlacolula de Matamoros Zapotec (TMZ),
San Lucas Quiaviní Zapotec (SLQZ), San Juan Guelavía Zapotec (SJGZ), and Mitla
Zapotec (MZ). Oaxaca City (labeled Oaxaca) can be located near the southern extreme
of Mexico in Figure 1. The Tlacolula Valley, approximately 30 km to the southeast of
Oaxaca City, is presented in Figure 2.
1 Papers based on parts of this thesis will appear as Lillehaugen (to appear a and to appear
b).
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