The heavy atoms in the structure of Ba3Y2[Si2O7]2 form a pattern that directly resembles the structure of zirconium silicide Zr5Si4. This resemblance follows the common trend for other oxide materials, e.g. silicates or aluminates, that are structurally related to Zintl phases. In these oxides, the Al or Si atoms adopt the structure patterns with the same connectivity as polyanionic networks in Zintl phases. However, we can draw even more connections between these two classes of materials which can provide a useful insight for the further material design. Many of the silicate structures retain the same ratio of heavy atoms to silica and crystallize in the space groups that are direct subgroups of the corresponding Zintl phases. This can be illustrated with examples of malvianovite Mn5Si3 (P63/mcm) and apatite RE5[SiO4]3O (P63/m). Similarly, silicide U3Si2 (P4/mbm) can be a Zintl aristotype for previously mentioned fresniote Ba2Ti[Si2O7]O (P4bm) or melilite Ca2Mg[Si2O7] (P4 � 21m). In these examples, bold text emphasizes the substructures related to corresponding Zintl phases.