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<TITLE>Re: Postpositions</TITLE>
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> <FONT SIZE="2">the difference between the following:</FONT> <BR>
<OL><LI>-<FONT SIZE="2">PA and -HUI:C (towards) These are synonymous. Not only are they interchangeable, but they sometimes occur together: -pahui:c
<LI></FONT>-<FONT SIZE="2">I:CAMPA and -TEPOTZCO (behind) Again, they are synonymous.
<LI></FONT>-<FONT SIZE="2">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.
<LI></FONT>-<FONT SIZE="2">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'
<LI></FONT>-<FONT SIZE="2">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.
<LI></FONT>-<FONT SIZE="2">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.<BR>
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<FONT SIZE="2">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...</FONT> <BR>
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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.<BR>
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If the postposition begins with a short i, the o of mo-/to- wins out: mo-icpac > mocpac.<BR>
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