Nahuatl text from Guerrero

[S. Moraleda]

  Mark,
  Thanks a lot for your comments. I really appreciated your response.
  I found it amazing that the discussion under the same subject was diverted
into the translation of a text on lice! Evidently no one (except you!) was
interested in analyzing such a basic text as the one I had asked help with!

  However, I did read a few responses concentrating on the dating of the
text.

  Occepa, tlahzocamati,
  Susana

  ----- Original Message -----
  From: "Mark David Morris" <mdmorris at INDIANA.EDU>
  To: <NAHUAT-L at LISTS.UMN.EDU>
  Sent: Saturday, October 30, 2004 2:40 AM
  Subject: Re: Nahuatl text from Guerrero


  > Susana,
  >
  > So far, it looks like you're doing well with the translation.  I am
almost
  > wholly unfamiliar with the particulars of Nahuatl in Guerrero.  I will
  > offer a couple of tips that might help resolve your questions about the
  > text.  First, it is always helpful to put the text into semantic order,
  > i.e. make word divisions.  Second, I think you'd want to translate
  > ihiyotia as "suffer" as in suffering the cares and fatigues of this
  > world.  I don't know why timoyolitih has a final aspiration but I think
  > the context would best suggest second person singular (you) as the
  > subject. The -ko is the singular (usually) "come" that modifies the
verbs
  > of lines 1-3, as you noted in your translation.  I think the "mo" is
more
  > reflexive than reverential, although I, personally, don't really
recognize
  > a fast distinction between the two, but think instead of different
  > connotations of indirectness.  Consider, for example, that often the
  > over-use of the reflexive in Mexican Spanish is not exactly to describe
  > the type of action, but to give the speech courtesy, e.g. "se solto el
  > alambre del poste y los cochinitos se metieron en la milpa."  In this
  > case, however, I think it mostly is signaling the action in the subject.
  > Finally, I think the text plays with the double sense of nemi as live
and
  > walk/move, nenemi usually being used to talk about walking around while
  > yoli refers to being quick with life, animate, so there is some kind of
  > metaphysical significance in juxtaposing the two.   Mark Morris