Answer Key: Numbers

VNo. Tǒbi.vel.chäga. 1

Dos. Tǒpa.l.cato. 2

Tres. Chǒna.l.cäyo. 3

Quatro. Täpa.l.tǎa. 4

Possible answers may include periods between the words, accent marks, or ornate lettering.

16. chino-bi-tobi

Fifteen-and-one = 15+1 = 16

17. chino-bi-topa

Fifteen-and-two = 15+2 = 17

or chino-bi-cato

Fifteen-and-two(set B) = 15+2 = 17

or ce-chona qui-zaha calle

Another three will walk to twenty = 3 more until 20 = 20-3 = 17

18. chino-bi-chona

Fifteen-and-three = 15+3 = 18

or ce-topa calle

Another two until twenty= 20-2 = 18

or ce-topa qui-zaha calle

Another two will walk to twenty= 2 more until 20= 20-2= 18

19. chino-bi-tapa

Fifteen-and-four = 15+4= 19

or ce-tobi calle

Another one until twenty = 20-1 = 19

or ce-tobi qui-zaha calle

Another one will walk to twenty = 1 more until 20 = 20-1 = 19

20. calle

Twenty

21. calle-bi-tobi

Twenty-and-one = 20+1= 21

22. calle-bi-topa

Twenty-and-two = 20+2= 22

or calle-bi-cato

Twenty-and-two(set B)= 20+2= 22

23. calle-bi-chona

Twenty-and-three= 20+3= 23

or calle-bi-cayo

Twenty-and-three(set B)= 20+3= 23

24. calle-bi-tapa

Twenty-and-four= 20+4= 24

25. calle-bi-cayo

Twenty-and-five= 20+5= 25

26. calle-bi-xopa

Twenty-and-six = 20+6= 26

27. calle-bi-cache

Twenty-and-seven= 20+7= 27

28. calle-bi-xono

Twenty-and-eight= 20+8= 28

29. calle-bi-ga

Twenty-and-nine= 20+9= 29

30. calle-bi-chij

Twenty-and-ten= 20+10= 30

Zapotec seems to use 15 and 20 as anchor numbers (base 15 or 20). English and Spanish use 10 as an anchor number (base 10), counting how many after multiples of ten each number is. All of these languages seem to use multiples of 5 as their bases, most likely due to the number of fingers we have, but the difference is which multiple of 5 is used. Answers will vary.

31. callebichijbitobi

calle-bi-chij-bi-tobi

twenty-and-ten-and-one (20+10+1= 31)

32. callebichijbitopa

calle-bi-chij-bi-topa

twenty-and-ten-and-two (20+10+2= 32)

33. callebichijbichona

calle-bi-chij-bi-chona

twenty-and-ten-and-three (20+10+3= 33)

35. callebichino

calle-bi-chino

Twenty-and-fifteen ((20+15= 35)

40. toua

Forty

41. touabitobi

toua-bi-tobi= Forty-and-one= 40+1= 41

50. touabichij

Toua-bi-chi= forty-and-ten= 40+10= 50

51. touabichijbitobi

toua-bi-chij-bi-tobi= forty-and-ten-and-one= 40+10+1= 51

60. cayona

Sixty

100. cayoa

One hundred

120. xopalalle

xopa-lalle= six-twenty= 6×20= 120

130. xopalallebichij

xopa-lalle-bi-chij= six-twenty-and-ten= 6×20+10= 130

140. cachelalle

cache-lalle= seven-twenty- 7×20= 140

200. chija

Two-hundred

400. tobiela

tobi-ela= one-four hundred= 1×400= 400

500. tobiela cayoa
Tobi-ela cayoa= four hundred one hundred= 400+100= 500

600. tobiela chija

Four hundred two hundred= 400+200= 600

800. topaela

topa-ela= two-four hundred- 2×400= 800

1000. catoela chija

cato-ela chija= two(set B)-four hundred two-hundred= 2×400+200= 1000

1600. tapaela

tapa-ela= four-four hundred= 4×400= 1600

2000. cayoela

cayo-ela= five-four hundred= 5×400= 2000

4000. chijela

chij-ela= ten-four hundred= 10*400= 4000

8000. chagaçoti or tobiçoti

chaga-çoti= one(set B)-eight thousand= 1×8000=8000

tobi-çoti= one(set A)-eight thousand= 1×8000=8000

24000. chonaçoti

chona-çoti= three-eight thousand= 3×8000=24000

Tapa ella chela cayona bixopa

4       400           60         and 6

tapa ella chela cayona bi-xopa=

four-four hundred sixty-and-six= 4×400+60+6= 1666

74

cayonabichijbitapa= 60+10+4= 74

86

cayonabicallebixopa

97

cechona quizaha cayoa= 3 will walk to 100= 100-3= 97

124

Cayoa callebitapa

136

Cayoa callebichijbixopa

402

tobielabitopa= 400+2= 402

10-14: base 10

15-19: base 15

20+: base 20

The Mayan number system used dots and bars. It is base 20, similar to some numbers in the Zapotec number system. These dots and bars (5 dots equals one bar) are combined in ways similar to the Zapotec numerical system,  where they add numbers to the bases to make a larger number. So you could have a number like 425, and the bars would be stacked on top of each other, the top being the 400s place (so one dot) the middle being the 20s place (one dot) and the bottom being the 1s place, so a bar (equaling 5).

Although similarities can be seen, in today’s spoken version, vowels at the end are almost always omitted, and ‘bi’, which in the Colonial written version was used as ‘and’ is not used in the modern version. The numbers seemed to have changed by losing the vowels at the end and having a more drawn out sound in the middle. Also instead of calle (or starting with a c) these numbers start with a g, so this can show us the spelling and pronunciation of the word for 20 has changed. Answers may vary.

Answers may vary based on language. Possible answers may talk about bases and how numbers are constructed.

In English, higher numbers are made up of parts similar to Colonial Valley Zapotec. However, the English number system is based on multiples of 10, while this version of Zapotec uses 20 as the base number.

In Isthmus Zapotec, the names of the numbers themselves are very similar to Colonial Valley Zapotec, with some variation. Additionally, 20 is used as a base number, with forty being two times twenty, sixty being three times 20, and so on. This is the same as Colonial Valley Zapotec. There are differences between the spelling between the variants: c could be used in place of g, because they are minimal pairs (two sounds that differ by only one feature).

Here are numbers in Isthmus Zapotec

1 – tobi

2 – chupa

3 – chonna

4 – tapa

5 – gaayu’

6 – xhoopa’

7 – gadxe

8 – xhono

9 – ga’

10 – chii