The Zapotec / ˈ z æ p ə t ɛ k / languages are a group of around 50 closely related indigenous Mesoamerican languages that constitute a main branch of the Oto-Manguean language family and are spoken by the Zapotec people from the southwestern-central highlands of Mexico . A 2020 census reports nearly half a million speakers, with the majority inhabiting the state of Oaxaca . Zapotec-speaking communities are also found in the neighboring states of Puebla , Veracruz , and Guerrero . Labor migration has also brought a number of native Zapotec speakers to the United States , particularly in California and New Jersey . Most Zapotec-speaking communities are highly bilingual in Spanish.
37-512: Huatulco ( Spanish pronunciation: [wa'tulko] ; wah-TOOL-coh ), formally Bahías de Huatulco , centered on the town of La Crucecita , is a tourist development in Mexico . It is located on the Pacific coast in the state of Oaxaca . Huatulco's tourism industry is centered on its nine bays, thus the name Bahías de Huatulco, but has since been unofficially shortened to simply Huatulco. Huatulco has
74-631: A compound). Zapotec and the related Chatino languages together form the Zapotecan subgroup of the Oto-Manguean language family . Zapotec languages (along with all Oto-Manguean languages) form part of the Mesoamerican Linguistic Area , an area of linguistic convergence developed throughout millennia of interaction between the peoples of Mesoamerica. As a result, languages have acquired characteristics from genetically unrelated languages of
111-702: A later legend, set an enormous and indestructible cross. Various people have passed through this area, including the Chatmos , the Zapotecs and the Mexicas . After the Spanish Conquest, Huatulco thrived as a port under Hernán Cortés 's control serving as a vantage point for Spanish galleons and a distribution centre for supplies on the Pacific coast. The latter half of the 16th Century saw Huatulco attacked by Francis Drake and Thomas Cavendish —both of whom left their prints on
148-460: A marina for large and small yachts along with three principal beaches; Chahué, Esperanza and Tejón. Even though these are wide beaches, their moderate surf makes them less-visited than those in Santa Cruz. Three km east of Chahué is Bahía Tangolunda, which has five beaches; Ventura, Manzanillo, Tornillo, Tangolunda and Rincón Sabroso. Here the water varies between cobalt blue and emerald green. Most of
185-629: A small-town feel about it and is rarely crowded with tourists exception in the Christmas and Easter holiday periods. About 80% of all tourism in Bahias de Huatulco is domestic in nature. Only about 20% of Huatulco's tourism is foreign, mainly because international air access is limited. Bahias de Huatulco has a small international airport just 20 minutes from the main resorts in Tangolunda Bay. This airport has recently increased tourism, and helped to popularize
222-599: A sustainable tourist area. Huatulco was the first sustainable tourist community in the Americas and the third worldwide, after Bali in Indonesia and Kaikōura in New Zealand, to receive this prestigious award because of its development programs for a culture environmentally friendly to conserve its natural resources. Bahía Órgano is named for the cacti that grow there. It is 240 meters long and only accessible by boat. Bahía Maguey
259-558: A wide variety of accommodation from rooms for rent, small economy hotels, luxury villas, vacation condominia, bed and breakfasts, as well as several luxury resorts standing on or near the shores of Tangolunda Bay. The Camino Real Zaashila (formerly the Omni Zaashila), Quinta Real Huatulco, Las Brisas (formerly a Club Med), Dreams Resort & Spa (formerly the Royal Maeva then the Gala hotel), and
296-687: Is Diidxazá [didʒaˈza] , in Mitla it is Didxsaj [didʒˈsaʰ] , in Zoogocho it is Diža'xon [diʒaʔˈʐon] , in Coatec Zapotec it is Di'zhke' [diʔʒˈkeʔ] , in Miahuatec Zapotec it is Dí'zdéh [diʔzdæ] and in Santa Catarina Quioquitani it is Tiits Së [tiˀts sæ] , for example. The first part of these expressions has the meaning 'word' (perhaps slightly reduced as appropriate for part of
333-403: Is Bahía de Santa Cruz, which is just south of the town of La Crucecita. It is also the center of commercial and tourist activities, with a large pier where cruise ships dock. Many resort offerings can be found here such as hotels, craft shops, discothèques, bars, restaurants, excursion agencies, sailboat excursions as well as scuba diving, snorkeling and jet skis for rent. The Capilla de Santa Cruz
370-639: Is a much longer road with many curves due to the mountainous terrain. Bahias de Huatulco has an airport, the Bahías de Huatulco International Airport , which is served nationally by Aeromexico , Interjet , Volaris and Magnicharters from other Mexican airports. Several airlines also fly here from the U.S. and Canada. Huatulco's new International Airport (HUX) has increased tourism not only in Huatulco, but in other nearby beaches like Mazunte and Zipolite . Every day flights arrive from Mexico City, bringing tourists to
407-432: Is about 1/2 km long and is accessible by car. Both these bays have fine, white sand and waters of various colors of blue and green. Bahía Cacaluta and Bahía Chachacual are only accessible by boat, and there are absolutely no human constructions of any kind. Bahía San Agustín is the furthest west and the largest of all the bays. It has 1 km of beaches between 20 and 80 meters wide. There are also small islets inside
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#1732852637027444-595: Is in front of the park in the center of town. In the cupola of the church is a 20-metre (66 ft) tall painting of the Virgin of Guadalupe , which is the largest in the world. This article about a location in the Mexican state of Oaxaca is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Zapotec language The name of the language in Zapotec itself varies according to the geographical variant. In Juchitán (Isthmus) it
481-566: Is known for the organic coffee it produces called "Pluma Hidalgo," and it is surrounded by waterfalls and ravines. Finca La Gloria is known for the butterfly sanctuary "Mariposorio Dain Biguid", where dozens of species of butterflies can be seen and the "Llano Grande Falls". The Río Copalitilla has its source here as well. The Festival Música por la Tierra (Music Festival for the Earth) features music and culture in an event designed to raise awareness about
518-535: Is one of the best and easiest to access. Playa El Mojon can, at certain times of the year, have some decent waves for surfing and is also a great location to explore. To the west of Santa Cruz, the beaches are less developed; in fact most of this area belongs to the Parque Nacional (National Park) Huatulco . This is a protected area (Área Natural Protegida) created in 1998. It contains 6,375 hectares of lowland jungle and 5,516 hectares of marine areas, encompassing
555-572: Is the loss (or partial loss) of the vowel of the second syllable. The word for 'water' illustrates this fact. In conservative varieties, the vowel of the second syllable is retained: /nisa/ in Isthmus Zapotec and /inda/ in Sierra de Juárez Zapotec, for example. In innovative varieties, the vowel of the second syllable was lost: /nis/ in Amatlán Zapotec and Mitla Zapotec, for example. The loss of
592-501: Is where many weddings and baptisms are celebrated next to the sea. Playa Santa Cruz is the best known of the beaches here. It is 250 meters long, with soft white sand and turquoise blue water. Heading east from Santa Cruz are the bays of Bahía Chahué , Bahía Tangolunda and Bahía Conejos . These are the more developed areas of Huatulco. Bahía Chahué is 2 km east of Santa Cruz and its name means "fertile or moist land" in Zapotec . It has
629-603: The Mexican state of Oaxaca . It is the community closest to the bays but it is only 4 km (2.5 mi) from Federal Highway 200 . It has grown along with the development of tourism in the area. The town is within the Santa María Huatulco municipality, which is part of the Pochutla District in the Costa Region of Oaxaca, Mexico . The town church, Parroquia Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe y de la Santa Cruz ,
666-664: The Barceló (formerly the Sheraton hotel) are examples of the most popular larger resorts in the area. Huatulco is located where the foothills of the Sierra Madre del Sur mountains meet the Pacific Ocean , approximately 400 kilometres (250 mi) east of Acapulco, Guerrero . The population is 50,000. Legends say the Toltecs and Quetzalcoatl came from this area. Quetzalcoátl, according to
703-456: The Pacific Coast backpacker route through Huatulco, Zipolite , Mazunte , and Puerto Escondido .The peak season for foreign tourism is typically from December through April. Huatulco was declared a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2006 . Bahias de Huatulco is divided into four main districts. Tangolunda is the area where the large upscale resorts are located; Santa Cruz is a small town with
740-453: The Papabuco and Western Zapotec varieties. Certain characteristics serve to classify Zapotec varieties in ways that cross-cut the geographical divisions. One of these is the distinction between disyllabic roots and monosyllabic roots. Proto-Zapotec had disyllabic roots; the vowel of the second syllable could be any one of the inventory of vowels. One innovation shared by many varieties of Zapotec
777-490: The area. Although commonly described as a language, Zapotec is a fairly extensive, if close-knit, language family. The time depth is comparable to that of the Romance languages . Dialectal divergence between Zapotec-speaking communities is extensive and complicated. Many varieties of Zapotec are mutually unintelligible with one another. There are some radical jumps in intelligibility between geographically close communities, so
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#1732852637027814-410: The bay itself. Large portions of the Bahias de Huatulco resort area are located within an "ecological zone"; much of the area is protected from future development, and the area is serviced by modern water and sewage treatment plants so that no waste goes into its pristine bays. In Huatulco there is a wide diversity of seafood along with traditional foods such as tlayuda , mole Oaxaqueño, cecina , and
851-566: The bays of Bahía Maguey, Bahía Órgano, Bahía Cacaluta, Bahía Chachacual and Bahía San Agustín. In these bays live the most important coral communities of the Mexican Pacific. 723 species of animals live in the park as well as a number of species of colorful fish, and it is open to scuba diving, bird-watching and hiking. In 2005, Huatulco was awarded the Green Globe (now called EarthCheck Sustainable Destinations ) International Certification as
888-491: The bays, which is open to the public. The name means "place of copal " and covers an area of about thirty five hectares. It is believed to have been on the border between Zapotec and Mixtec dominions. Landmarks of the site include a main temple, a temple dedicated to a serpent god, a Mesoamerican ball court and a site museum. Sunshine can be expected about 330 days a year with the average temperature of 28 °C (82.4 °F). The dry season extends from December to May and
925-473: The environment. The event features a number of rock and popular music groups. Although there have been improvements in infrastructure, Bahias de Huatulco is not as easy to get to as other resorts such as Cancun. The drive south from Acapulco on Federal Highway 200 has over 300 speed bumps. Driving from the state capital of Oaxaca city is not any easier because Federal Highway 175 is also full of speed bumps. Federal Highway 190 has fewer speed bumps, but it
962-419: The exotic chapulines (edible insects). Local seafood is available for purchase and consumption on most of the nearby beaches, especially La Entrega and Maguey. In La Crucecita , the downtown area and the area near the main park has many local restaurants. The Universidad del Mar has its campus in Huatulco. The Bocana del Río Copalita is a 2,500-year-old archaeological site located about ten kilometers from
999-1307: The family that contains the most languages is Central Zapotec, which includes most of the Zapotec languages of the Valley of Oaxaca and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The following figure shows the classification suggested by Smith Stark (2007). Solteco Zapotec Lachixío Zapotec El Alto Zapotec Papabuco ( Elotepec Zapotec , Texmelucan Zapotec , Zaniza Zapotec ) Northern Zapotec → ( see below for details ) Cis-Yautepec Zapotec ( Mixtepec Zapotec , Quiegolani Zapotec , Lapaguía Zapotec , Xanaguía Zapotec , Xanica Zapotec , Tlacolulita Zapotec ) Coatec ( Coatecas Altas Zapotec , Miahuatlán Zapotec , Ozolotepec Zapotec ) Albarradas Zapotec Mitla Zapotec Antequera Zapotec Guevea de Humboldt Zapotec Petapa Zapotec Lachiguiri Zapotec Quiavicuzas Zapotec San Baltasar Chichicapan Zapotec [sic] San Pablo Güilá Zapotec & San Dionisio Ocotepec Zapotec Western Tlacolula Valley ( San Juan Guelavía Zapotec , San Lucas Quiaviní Zapotec , Santa Ana del Valle Zapotec , Tlacolula de Matamoros Zapotec ) Zaachila Zapotec Isthmus Zapotec Ocotlán Zapotec Western Ejutla Zapotec Quiatoni Zapotec The Northern branch
1036-452: The final vowel: /bekoʔ/ . Another characteristic that classifies Zapotec varieties is the existence or not of a contrast between alveopalatal fricatives and retroflex fricatives. Innovative varieties have introduced the contrast while conservative varieties have not. The most influential classification of Zapotec languages is due to Thomas Smith Stark, who proposed the following overall classification of Zapotec languages. The branch of
1073-407: The improvement of roadways and other infrastructure. It also has populated areas mixed with "green zones" to make the area ecologically friendlier. In addition to the beaches, there are small communities of Bahias de Huatulco, such as Santa Cruz , La Crucecita , or old Santa María Huatulco (the municipal seat). Transportation between the communities is available by bus or taxi. The entire area has
1110-622: The larger hotels are located on this bay. Residencial Conejos is 4 km east of Tangolunda and has some of the larger residential homes in the area, some of which are vacation rentals. The mouth of the Río (River) Copalita is slightly east of Bahía Conejos and it has a long zone of beaches. To the east of Río Copalita are beaches stretching all the way to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec . Two of these beaches are Barra de la Cruz and Playa Mojon. Some great surfing waves can be found from these beaches. Barra de la Cruz
1147-411: The local beaches. This airport and new road construction projects have made Oaxaca's Pacific Coast an increasingly popular destination for Mexican and international tourists. 15°51′N 96°20′W / 15.850°N 96.333°W / 15.850; -96.333 La Crucecita, Oaxaca La Crucecita , along with Tangolunda and Santa Cruz, comprise the resort area known as Huatulco , in
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1184-400: The main marina and Santa Cruz beach; La Crucecita, is another small town just inland from the beach area which provides support services to the area, and Chahué is an area between Santa Cruz and Tangolunda. The Bahias de Huatulco are a series of nine bays and numerous small coves stretching along 26 kilometers of jagged coastline, including 36 white sandy beaches. The most centrally located bay
1221-567: The mountainous region of Oaxaca , in the Northern Sierra Madre mountain ranges; Southern Zapotec languages and are spoken in the mountainous region of Oaxaca, in the Southern Sierra Madre mountain ranges; Valley Zapotec languages are spoken in the Valley of Oaxaca, and Isthmus Zapotec languages are spoken in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec . However, Valley Zapotec and Isthmus Zapotec group together (as Central Zapotec), and this ignores
1258-405: The rainy season is from June to November. The amount of precipitation has a definite effect on the local vegetation, being brownish in the dry season and very green in the rainy season. There are a number of coffee plantations which are still in operation and give tours, including Finca (farm) Las Nieves, Finca Monte Carlos, Finca Margaritas, Finca El Pacífico and Finca La Gloria. Finca El Pacífico
1295-557: The region's history and legends that continue to this day. Until resort development began in the 1980s, Huatulco was little known except as a coffee-growing area. In 1984, FONATUR (Fondo Nacional de Turismo), a government agency dedicated to the development of tourism in Mexico, acquired 21,000 hectares of land to develop a tourism center, similar to that in Cancún . The existing population was relocated to Santa María Huatulco . The plan resulted in
1332-512: The varieties do not form a dialect continuum in a strict sense, though neither are there clear-cut divisions between groups of varieties. As a result, the Mexican government officially recognizes sixty Zapotec languages. Zapotec languages fall into four broad geographic divisions: Zapoteco de la Sierra Norte (Northern Zapotec), Valley Zapotec, Zapoteco de la Sierra Sur (Southern Zapotec), and Isthmus Zapotec . Northern Zapotec languages are spoken in
1369-421: The vowel /i/ often resulted in palatalized consonants, and the loss of /u/ often resulted in labialized consonants. Compare the words for 'dog' in conservative varieties (Isthmus /beʔkuʔ/ , Sierra de Juárez /bekuʔ/ ) and innovative varieties (Amatlán /mbak/ and Mitla /bæʔkʷ/ ). In this particular word Amatlán does not have a labialized consonant at the end, and the otherwise innovative variety Yatzachi keeps
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