The Project

Ticha is an online, digital explorer for a corpus of Colonial Zapotec texts. (The name ticha — pronounced [ˈti.tʃə] — comes from the Colonial Valley Zapotec word for 'word', which can also mean 'language' and 'text'.) Zapotec languages are indigenous to Mexico. There is a large corpus of alphabetic texts written in Zapotec languages, the earliest dated to 1565 (Oudijk 2008:230). Reading and interpreting these colonial documents can be extremely difficult because of the challenges of early Zapotec orthography, vocabulary, grammar, and printing conventions, yet the documents contain rich linguistic, historical, and anthropological information.

Ticha allows users to access and explore many interlinked layers of these texts, including images of the original documents, transcriptions, translations into English and modern Spanish, linguistic analysis (including morphological interlinearization), and commentary. Ticha is innovative in bringing together data analyzed in FLEx (Fieldworks Language Explorer) a system for lexical and grammatical analysis, with current TEI standards (Text Encoding Initiative) for paleographic and translational representations of texts. Ticha seeks to make this corpus of Colonial Zapotec texts accessible to scholars in diverse fields (including linguistics, anthropology, and history), Zapotec community members, and the general public.

 

Mission Statement

Ticha (pronounced [ˈti.tʃə] from the Colonial Valley Zapotec word for 'word,'  'language,' or 'text') is an international effort to document and promote Zapotec languages and knowledge through workshops, events, and online resources provided to the public at no cost. A Zapotec Advisory Board guides the priorities of our diverse team, which includes academics, librarians, technologists, and undergraduate and graduate students with expertise in linguistics, history, digital scholarship, and Zapotec language and culture. We make Zapotec-language dictionaries, pedagogical materials, and historical documents available to diverse stake-holders, while centering Zapotec audiences.

 

Core Values

Respect
We center Zapotec needs, knowledge, and culture while engaging technology, people, and historical materials with care.
Responsiveness
We seek, solicit, and iterate on feedback and direction from Zapotec individuals and communities. The “Zapotec agenda” (i.e. community priorities) shapes our initiatives.  
Restoration
Zapotec languages are living language today that are a source of identity and joy to buny dizhsa ‘Zapotec people’ in Oaxaca and diaspora. We identify and digitally repatriate Zapotec language resources and knowledge that are currently inaccessible to Zapotec people.
Right relationship
We collaborate across disciplines, institutions, and borders and recognize the cultural, historical, and economic differences between our team members and our community partners. We seek to understand and support each other in right relationship.
Reciprocity
We situate our work on Ticha within the Zapotec framework of galguez ‘reciprocity’ understanding that we have received gifts of expertise, labor, and time and seek to in turn offer time, labor, and resources to Zapotec communities. For this reason, we also ensure Ticha resources are available publicly at no cost.

 

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