cuicatl/huicatl

[idiez at MAC.COM]

Can anybody say anything about the variant in the Huasteca for the word 
"song", which is "huicatl" instead of the expected "cuicatl". I am 
familiar with different examples of /k/ softening, but in all other 
cases it becomes an aspiration. This happens 1) to the first of two 
adjacent /k/, caqui > cacqui; 2) to the third person singular specific 
object prefix, when it comes after "ni" or "ti" and before another 
consonant, for example, "nicnequi"; 3) to the /k/ after a /w/, 
"iuhquinon (from iuhqui, inon)", "in this way", and "nouhquiya (from 
no, iuhqui, ya)", "also". I also looked in the Keys' Zacapoaxtla 
vocabulary. They don't have a "cuicatl" entry for "song", but they do 
have "cuica" for "llevar, to carry s.t.".
        Back to my question. Anything on "huicatl", "song"?
John

John Sullivan, Ph.D.
Profesor de lengua y cultura nahua
Centro de Estudios Prospectivos
Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas
Director
Instituto de Docencia e Investigación Etnológica de Zacatecas, A.C.
Francisco García Salinas 604
Colonia CNOP
Zacatecas, Zac. 98053
México
Oficina: +52 (492) 768-6048
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