Crowhurst, Megan Jane2013-01-172017-05-112013-01-172017-05-112009-08http://hdl.handle.net/2152/19162textThis report analyzes the phonology of Betaza Zapotec, a language within the linguistic family of the Otomanguean languages of Mesoamerica that is spoken in northern Oaxaca, Mexico. The first part of this report describes the consonants of the language; the second part focuses on the vowel system; and the third section describes the suprasegmentals; tone and stress. I support my claims about the phonological system in Betaza Zapotec using data collected during the Summer of 2008 in San Melchor, Betaza Villa Alta, Oaxaca. I analyze the phonetic properties of the consonants, vowels and tones using spectrograms obtained through Praat, software for phonetic analysis. I consider the fortis/lenis opposition inherent in the consonants rather than using the traditional classification of voiced/voiceless consonants. The tone system in Betaza Zapotec involves four contrastive tones: high, low, falling, and rising. In addition there is a phonetic mid-tone which is a toneme of the high tone.electronicengCopyright is held by the author. Presentation of this material on the Libraries' web site by University Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin was made possible under a limited license grant from the author who has retained all copyrights in the works.Betaza Zapotec languageOtomanguean languagesOtomanguean languages--Phonology