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At 07:14 PM 10/16/2006, you wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">I'm embarrassed to ask, but can
certain syllables become long by<br>
'position' like they can in Latin (admittedly a wholly different<br>
language)? Is the most important thing about poetry in
Classical<br>
Nahuatl the metrification of syllabic feet, that is, the way 'feet'<br>
are divided into predictable series of long and short syllables<br>
(disregarding syllabic stress)?<br><br>
When the Spanish missionaries introduced their hymns, were any<br>
of these translated into Nahuatl?</blockquote><br><br>
<br>
These are really important questions, and unfortunately know one knows
all of the answers. <br>
Syllables do not seem to become long, and the metre is not entirely
clear, unlike European models with iambic pentameter, or in Spanish where
we measure the number of syllables in the line.<br><br>
Fran Karttunen and Jim Lockhart considered many of these questions
in their article in Estudios de Cultura Nahuatl:<br><br>
Karttunen, Frances and James Lockhart, “La estructura de la poesía
Nahuatl vista por sus variantes,” <i>Estudios de Cultura Nahuatl</i>,
vol. 14 (1980), pp. 15-64.<br><br>
You can also see my article "The Pre-Hispanic Poetics of Sahagun's
<i>Psalmodia Cristiana</i>, also in ECN vol. 36 (2005), pp.
67-86.<br><br>
We know that some European hymns were translated into Nahuatl, but the
most famous are Sahagun's Nahuatl hymns in the Psalmodia<br><br>
<x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
John F. Schwaller<br>
President<br>
SUNY Potsdam<br>
44 Pierrepont Ave.<br>
Potsdam, NY 13676<br><br>
315-267-2100<br>
315-267-2496 fax<br>
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