Zapotec belongs to the Otomanguean family, within the Zapotecan branch, related to Chatino. Like Mixtec, it is not a single language but an extensive complex of varieties, many of them mutually unintelligible, with dozens of recognized forms. Its speakers call themselves, depending on the variety, by names such as binnizá ('cloud people'), and their history is tied to the Zapotec civilization of Monte Albán.

The Zapotec people live mainly in the state of Oaxaca, in regions such as the Central Valleys, the Northern Sierra, the Southern Sierra, and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, with migrant communities elsewhere in Mexico and the United States. Altogether they number several hundred thousand speakers, making it one of the largest Indigenous linguistic groups in the country. Zapotec culture is renowned for Monte Albán, its cuisine, textiles, and festivities such as the Guelaguetza.

After the conquest of Oaxaca in the 1520s, Dominican missionaries documented Zapotec, notably the Vocabulario en lengua çapoteca by Fray Juan de Córdova (1578), one of the most important Indigenous lexicographic works of the sixteenth century. Zapotec was written with the Latin alphabet, and numerous colonial documents survive, including wills and community records. The Zapotec population was congregated into towns and subjected to tribute, though it retained local institutions.

Zapotec vitality is uneven: certain varieties, such as Isthmus Zapotec (diidxazá), maintain broad use and a notable literary tradition, while others are severely endangered. It is recognized as a national language of Mexico and appears with numerous varieties in the INALI catalogue. There are Zapotec academies, renowned poets and writers such as Andrés Henestrosa and Víctor de la Cruz, as well as bilingual education efforts and contemporary cultural production.