we, you, y'all

[r. joe campbell]

Anthonihtzin,
   The answer to both of questions is "yes".  In Mecayapan, Veracruz, the
first person prefix 'ni-' is combined with the plural suffix '-h' to yield
a first person plural exclusive (i.e., 'we, excluding you') which
contrasts with their first person plural inclusive (i.e., the """normal"""
'we', shared with all other dialects).  So:


    nipata:ni      I fly          nipata:nih   we (not incl. you) fly
                                  tipata:nih   we (general) fly

    tipata:ni      you fly

  [[Note that it is a 't' dialect -- that is, where other dialects have
the "expected" /tl/, Mecayapan, like some other eastern dialects, has
/t/]]

   The dialect of Mecayapan is described in: Carl Wolgemuth, _Grama'tica
Nahuatl del Municipio de Mecayapan, Veracruz.  Instituto Lingui'stico de
Verano: Serie grama'ticas de lenguas indi'genas de Me'xico, no. 5 (1981).

   Hopefully someone on Nahuat-l has had some direct contact with one of
the 'we-excl.' dialects.

Best regards,

Joe


On Tue, 16 May 2000, Anthony Appleyard wrote:

> J.Richard Andrews's textbook seems to say that:-
> nipatla:ni = I fly
> tipatla:ni = you(sg) fly
> tipatla:nih = we fly
> ampatla:nih = y'all fly
>
> Are there any Nahuatl dialects where the equivalent of **{nipatla:nih} is
> valid? If so, what does it mean there?
>
> Are there any Nahuatl dialects that have a separate form for "we, not
> including you"?
>
>