Postpositions

[Frances Karttunen]

> the difference between the following:
-PA and -HUI:C (towards)  These are synonymous.  Not only are they
interchangeable, but they sometimes occur together: -pahui:c
-I:CAMPA and -TEPOTZCO (behind) Again, they are synonymous.
-ICPAC and -PAN (on) -icpac has more of the sense of 'on top of' and -pan
'on the surface of.' -pan is also used with time expressions (i:pan xihuitl
1562 'in the year 1562'), but -icpac is not.
-I:XPAN and -I:XCO (in front of  [in the face of]) -i:xpan is used for 'in
the presence of.'  -i:xco means 'on one's face, on the surface of something'
-NA:HUAC, -TITLAN, -HUAC and -TECH (near) -na:huac means 'adjacent to,
within hearing distance of.' -titlan is used in place names and means 'at
the base of, next to, among' (Tepe:titlan  would be a place in the
foothills, for instance.)  I don't think you will find any -huacs.  -tech
has to do with things being together.
-NEPANTLAH and -TZA:LAN (between) -nepantlah is 'in the middle.' -tza:lan is
'between.'  That is, something is -nepantlah when it stands between two
other entities.  -tza:lan refers more to the space between two entities.

And, further, what happens when you add a possessive prefix ending in "O"
(or "I") to a postposition starting with "I"? MOICAMPA, TOIXPAN, NOIXCO....
and IICPAC...

It's a matter of relative strength of vowels.  Long vowels are stronger than
short vowels, so if the postposition begins with a long vowel (-i:campa,
-i:xpan, -i:xco), the o of mo-/to- loses and drops out (mo-i:xpan >
mi:xpan). If you add possessive i:- to a postposition beginning with either
i- or i:-, you really can't get a "longer" i:-, so you end up with, for
instance, i:-i:xco > i:xco; i:-icpac > i:cpac.

If the postposition begins with a short i, the o of mo-/to- wins out:
mo-icpac > mocpac.


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