The name "Zapotec" is derived from Zapotlán, the former name of Ciudad Guzmán, where the language was spoken. Zapotlán was renamed Ciudad Guzmán in 1857.[1]
[In Zapotlán] they have four languages which they formerly used and use, which are called Mechoacan [Purépecha], Zayulteca, Zapoteca, and Naguas, which is Mexican [Nahuatl], which they all generally speak.[a]
Extinction
Zapotec became extinct due to the community shifting from using Zapotec to using Nahuatl as their primary language.[4] Nahuatl had become a lingua franca in the pre-Columbian era, being used as the administrative language of the Aztec Empire and as a trade language beyond the empire's borders, and was subsequently also promoted by the Spaniards after the Spanish conquest.[5] Nearby languages that went extinct in similar circumstances include Sayultec (which was also spoken in Ciudad Guzmán alongside Zapotec), Cochin, Otomi, Tiam, and Tamazultec.
Notes
^Spanish: tienen quatro lenguas de que antiguamente vsaban y vsan, que se llaman: mechoacan y çayulteca y çapoteca y naguas, ques mexicana, en la qual hablan todos en jeneral.[3]
Flores, Gerónimo (1958) [1580]. "Relación de Tuspa. Tamazula y Zapotlan". In Corona Núñez, José (ed.). Relaciones geográficas de la diócesis de Michoacán, 1579–1580 [Relaciones Geográficas of the Diocese of Michoacán, 1579–1580] (in Spanish). Vol. 2. Guadalajara.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Harvey, H. R. (1972). "The Relaciones Geográficas, 1579–1586: Native Languages". Handbook of Middle American Indians. Vol. 12: Guide to Ethnohistorical Sources, Part One. Austin: University of Texas Press. pp. 279–323. ISBN0-292-70152-7.