It has only 10% intelligibility with Texmelucan Zapotec, its closest important relative.
(Speakers of the nearly extinct Elotepec Zapotec have 70% understanding of Zaniza, but it is not known if the reverse is true,[2] so this may be a question of familiarity.)
The language is spoken in Santa María Zaniza, Oaxaca.
[5] Zaniza Zapotec words contrast low, mid, and high tones on stressed syllables.
Unstressed syllables, apart from a few pronominal enclitics, do not bear contrastive tone.