Tzotzil
Encyclopedia : T : TZ : TZO : Tzotzil
The Tzotzil Maya of the central highlands of the Mexican state of Chiapas are an indigenous group, the direct descendants of the Classic Maya civilization. The Tzotzil language, like Tzeltal and Ch'ol, is descended from the proto-Ch'ol spoken in the late classic period at sites such as Palenque and Yaxchilan. Today, the largest Tzotzil municipalities are Chamula and Zinacantan.
The word "tzotzil" means "people of wool" (tzotz = wool in the Tzotzil language). Tzotzil people make their clothing primarily out of wool. However, according to ancient Maya language, "tzotzil" could also be translated as "bat people", given the association of their culture with this animal in the view of the Mayas.
The Tzotzil were for centuries exploited by Europeans as laborers on coffee and sugar plantations, particularly in the central valleys of the state.
With the collapse of coffee prices in the 1980s, sustainable employment has been hard for many people in the highlands to find. As both population and foreign tourism have risen, the sale of artisan goods has replaced other economic activities. Tzotziles usually sell their products in the nearby cities of San Cristobal de las Casas, Comitán, and Simojovel. Recently, and increasingly, many Maya from the highlands of Chiapas have found migration to other parts of Mexico, and illegal immigration to the United States a way to break away from subsistence farming and abysmal wages.
Issues surrounding social integration persist, especially with white people, mestizos, and westernized indigenous people (all called "ladinos"). Also, most of the enlistees in the guerrilla Zapatista Army of National Liberation are Tzotzil
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References
The Tsotsil language comes from the Mayan linguistical family and it has about 100,000 native speakers in the Highlands of Chiapas. It's spoken in the municipalities of Zinacantán, Chamula, San Andrés Larráinzar, Ch'enalho', Pantelho', El Bosque, Simojovel, Huitiupán, Chalchihuitán, Iztapa, Bochil, Soyalho', etc. And we found an important number of speakers in the City of San Cristobal de las Casas both inside the urban zone as well as in the surroundings.
Morphology and Syntax
As a Mayan language, it's an ergative language, that is, it is structured by prefixes and suffixes attached to verbal or substantival radixes. The most common and original way to structure a sentence is the following: Verb + Complement + Subject. It's remarkable that there are so few prepositions in this languages which have a very wide semantical spectrum: ta (to, by, with, in, on, at...) and k'alal (from, since, up to, to).
An on-line Tzotzil Grammar: The Tzotzil of Zinacantan *[link]
Tsotsil instead of Tzotzil
According to the reforms made by the C.E.L.A.L.I (Centro de Lengua, Arte y Literatura Indígena: "Indian Language, Arts and Literature Center") to the word Tsotsil, referring to both language and/or ethnicity should be spelled "Tsotsil" rather than "Tzotzil". They consider that this new orthographical disposition is more practical than the old one, the use of "z" has been suppressed in favor of "s". Now native Tsotsil writers, translators and biligual teachers prefer to write down "Tsotsil" and not "Tzotzil". This norm started up in 2002 and has spread throughout the several municipalities in the State of Chiapas (Mexico) where this language is spoken.
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