Help with a Nahuatl word

[Budelberger, Richard]

29 messidor an CCXVI (le 17 juillet 2008 d. c.-d. c. g.), 13 h 16 : 23,2 °C...

----- Original Message -----
From: Campbell, R Joe <campbel at indiana.edu>
To: John F. Schwaller <schwallr at potsdam.edu>
Cc: Nahuat-l ((messages)) <nahuatl at lists.famsi.org>
Sent: Wednesday, July 16, 2008 4:09 AM
Subject: [Nahuat-l] Help with a Nahuatl word

> Nocnihuan,
>
>    I have a problem to present to the tribunal; actually, that's
> overly modest -- I have more than a tzontli of problems, but for
> now, I just brought:
>
>   motlaxcaloa    tortillas are made  (book 11, Florentine Codex)
>
> My problem is based on the fact that this word doesn't fit my
> framework for thinking about word formation.  I think that there
> are three apparent "verber" endings in -oa:
>
>   1.  intransitive, formed by adding -oa to a noun stem:
>
>         noun            verb            gloss
>
>         ayacachtli      nayacachoa      I use a rattle
>         camanalli       camanaloa       he makes jests
>         caxitl          ticaxoah        we use a bowl
>         quiquiztli      niquiquizoa     I sound a trumpet
>         tamalli         titamaloa       you produce tamales
>         teponaztli      titeponazoah    we play the teponaztli drum
>         tlaxcalli       nitlaxcaloa     I produce tortillas
>
>   2.  transitive, formed by changing intransitive -ihui or -ahui
>       (which *may* be formed on nouns) to -oa:
>
>
>         acalihui        it develops a groove
>         nicacaloa       I groove it
>
>         chichilihui     it turns red
>         nitlachichiloa  I color something red
>
>         ihtlacahui      it deteriorates, it suffers damage
>         nitlahtlacoa    I damage something, I sin
>
>         polihui         it vanishes, it perishes
>         ticpoloa        you destroy it, you spend it
>
>         tzetzelihui     it sifts, it drifts scattering (e.g., like snow)
>         nitlatzetzeloa  I sift something
>
>         xelihui         it splits
>         nicxeloa        I split it
>
>
>   3.  The third *apparent* -oa verber, which is normally spelled
> with -oa, is really a masquerading -ohua.  The 'hu' (/w/) does not
> contrast with its absence after /o/, so some dialects delete it and
> others insert /w/ in /oa/ sequences to form [owa].
>
>    I believe that all examples of (3) involve -hua added to '-yotl' with
> an embedded noun.  I will spell the examples in the traditional
> deceptive way (i.e., with '-oa'):
>
>
>         acatl     acayotl      acayoa     to fill up with cane
>         ahhuatl   ahhuayotl    ahhuayoa   to fill up with thorns
>         atemitl   atenyotl     atenyoa    to become lousy
>         azcatl    azcayotl     azcayoa    to become full of ants
>         exotl     exoyotl      exoyoa     it forms a bean
>         iztatl    iztayotl     iztayoa    for food to be salty
>         teuhtli   teuhyotl     teuhyoa    to become dusty
>
> Of course when the noun stem embedded in '-yotl' ends in 'l', the
> result is 'll':
>
>         ocuilin    ocuillotl    ocuilloa   to become wormy
>         acelli     acellotl     acelloa    to become full of nits
>         capolin    capollotl    capolloa   to produce cherries
>
> ***********************
>
> So that's the background.  My problem is understanding how the
> intransitive verb formation which is involved with 'tlaxcalli,
> tamalli, and ayacachtli' can occur with the object prefix 'mo-'.
> Here are all the examples I have found:
>
> motamaloa. tamales are made.
>
> momatlaxcaloa. it beats its wings together.
>
> motlaxcaloa. tortillas are made.
>
> momamatlaxcalohtiuh. it goes clapping its hands.
>    (I hope everyone likes the metaphor as much as I do.)
>
> mocuechayacachoa. it rattles its rattles.
>
> **********************
>
> I would appreciate any thoughts from anybody who is sitting around
> the cracker barrel this summer,
>
> Joe

    Peut-être est-ce nous, Occidentaux, qui ne parvenons pas à
concevoir qu'un verbe intransitif puisse sous sa forme réfléchie
avoir un sens passif. Dans sa « Grammaire », Michel Launey dit
en L. 6, § 6, « Sens du réfléchi » : « - e) réfléchi à sens passif,
très développé (v. XV, 9) » où il écrit :

        S'il s'agit d'une action effectuée par des personnes
        non précisées sur des _choses_ précises, on se
        trouve dans le troisième cas -- (...) et /cf/. L. XV, § 4 -- :
        il n'y a pas de passif, mais la tournure réfléchie :

    Suivent des exemples, malheureusement seulement des verbes transitifs.
Mais une rapide recherche dans le « Wimmer » me donne

° un verbe inanimé, « cuacualatza » :

        « mocuacualatza », on le fait bouillir.

° un verbe intransitif, « etlâza » :

        « metlâza ahnôzo motlapixahuia », on sème des haricots
        ou on les récolte - beans are sown or cast. Sah11,283.

    Alors, « motlaxcaloâ », « tortillas are made », « on fait des tortillas »...


    Budelberger, Richard.


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