And the sound represented by the crossed “I” symbol closely resembles the sould of the letter “I” in English words “kit” or “mitt.” Notice in the samples of text that the written Mixtec may or may not capitalize the beginning of sentences or punctuate using question or exclamation mark. An apostrophe (‘) mid-word is used to indicated a glottal stop, meaning that air is abruptly cut off before going on to articulate the following syllable. The letter “x” is pronounced like the English “sh” “n” is pronounced before consonants, such as in the word “ndute” (water). For example, a repeating vowel, such as in the words “staa” or “yuu” is articulated for a slightly extended length of time. Mixtec pronunciation roughly follows Spanish pronunciation, but has some unique features. The Academy for the Mixtec Language ( Ve’e Tu’un Savi in Mixtec, literally, “House of the Voice of the Rain”) formed in 1989 to preserve the Mixtec language and to develop a standardized written alphabet. Nevertheless, when Mixtecs who speak various regional variants gather, they typically speak Spanish with one another. Reading comprehension across even the most dissimilar variations, however, is estimated to be at least 50% (Bartolomé, 1999). Tortillas are called dita, xita, jita, ista, staa, and ita, depending on the area. For example, water is called ndute by some, others call it chikui. Residents of settlements separated by a few miles may only understand about 10-25% of what each other says. By some estimates there are thirty or even fifty variations of the language, some of which are very different from one another. It is misleading to talk about Mixtec language as a single, uniform system of oral and written communication. A forerunner of contemporary Mixtec appeared some 7,000 years ago (Bartolomé, 1999). Proto-otomanguean, the mother language, was spoken by hunters and gatherers in the region over 10,000 years ago. Mixtec belongs to the Otomanguean group of Mesoamerican languages.
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