<HTML><BODY style="word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; -khtml-line-break: after-white-space; ">Listeros,<DIV><SPAN class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </SPAN>I am playing around with the reflexive prefix "mo-" in modern Huastecan Nahuatl. First of all, it is always "-mo", never "-no" or "-to" as in Classical. There is a use of the reflexive (both in Huastecan and Classical) which can be called "formal", in which the reflexive prefix appears on a verb, but does not convey any of the three normal functions of this prefix (1. reflexive action: each of us look at ourselves in a mirror; 2. reciprocal action: we look at each other; 3. passive voice: beans are sold here.). Some common examples are: to run (tlaloa, nimo.), to get sick (cocoa, nimo.), to take a bath (altia, nim.)to take care of s.o or s.t. (cuitlahuia, nicmo.)</DIV><DIV><SPAN class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </SPAN>Now I want to compare this phenomenon (common to Huastecan and Classical) to another one which operates in the Huasteca. There are a number of reflexive verbs in which the "o" of the "-mo" prefix is lost when followed by a vowel. This also happens in Classical, but only for phonetic reasons. In the Huasteca, it only happens in order to create a new meaning, and it coexists with a form which uses an unreduced "-mo". Here are some examples: </DIV><DIV>1. izohtla (to vomit)</DIV><DIV><SPAN class="Apple-style-span"><SPAN class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </SPAN><I>nimizohtla</I>, I vomit; <I>timizohtla</I>, you vomit, etc.</SPAN></DIV><DIV><SPAN class="Apple-style-span"><SPAN class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </SPAN><I>nimoizohtla</I>, I vomit on myself; <I>timizohtla</I>, you vomit on yourself, etc.</SPAN></DIV><DIV><SPAN class="Apple-style-span"><SPAN class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </SPAN><I>nimitzizohtla</I>, I vomit on you, etc.</SPAN></DIV><DIV>2. altia (to bathe)</DIV><DIV><SPAN class="Apple-style-span"><SPAN class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </SPAN><I>nimaltia</I>, I take a bath; <I>timaltia</I>, you take a bath, etc.</SPAN></DIV><DIV><SPAN class="Apple-style-span"><SPAN class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </SPAN><I>nimoaltia</I>, I give myself an herbal bath, etc.</SPAN></DIV><DIV><SPAN class="Apple-style-span"><SPAN class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </SPAN><I>nimitzaltia</I>, I give you an herbal bath, etc.</SPAN></DIV><DIV><SPAN class="Apple-style-span"><SPAN class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </SPAN><I>nimitzahaltia</I>, I bath you, etc. (verbstem reduplicated with a saltillo) </SPAN></DIV><DIV>It looks to me that the reduced reflexive appears in these cases when an older reflexive structure looses its reflexive meaning and gives up its place to another meaning which really is reflexive. The native speakers here like the idea of looking at it as two separate verbs: for example; izohtla, nimo., and mizohtla, ni. Obviously, in the dictionary, you would explain what has happened to the original "-mo" in "mizohtla". </DIV><DIV><SPAN class="Apple-style-span"><SPAN class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </SPAN>A similar problem exists with the verb "cuitlahuia, nicmo". Native speakers don't like looking at it in this way. In general I have noticed that they do not like to have more than one object on a verb. So they prefer that the verb be "mocuitlahuia, nic". This gives forms like, "nimomocuitlahuia", "I take care of myself". You wouldn't see two reflexive prefixes together in Classical, right? In Huastecan nahuatl you won't even see a reflexive and a specific object together. Example in Classical: <I>quimocahuilih</I> <I>tlaxcalli</I>, "she left tortillas for herself"; Huastecan: <I>mocahualih tlaxcalli</I>.</SPAN></DIV><DIV><SPAN class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </SPAN>I haven't gotten around to asking the native speakers whether they like, "tlaloa, nimo", or "motlaloa, ni", but I will.</DIV><DIV><SPAN class="Apple-style-span"><SPAN class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </SPAN>There isn't a large enough quantity of verbs like this to cause a clustering problem in the dictionary. The question is, from a linguistic point of view, will word entries like: <I>maltia, ni</I>., <I>mizohtla, ni</I>., <I>mocuitlahuia, nic</I>., and perhaps, <I>motlaloa, ni</I>., seem completely idiotic? Or could this just be one manifestation of the way that agglutinative languages like nahuatl form new stems?</SPAN></DIV><DIV>John</DIV><DIV><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: auto; -khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: none; text-indent: 0px; -apple-text-size-adjust: auto; text-transform: none; orphans: 2; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; "><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: auto; -khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: none; text-indent: 0px; -apple-text-size-adjust: auto; text-transform: none; orphans: 2; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; "><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: auto; -khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: none; text-indent: 0px; -apple-text-size-adjust: auto; text-transform: none; orphans: 2; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; "><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: auto; -khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: none; text-indent: 0px; -apple-text-size-adjust: auto; text-transform: none; orphans: 2; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; "><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">John Sullivan, Ph.D.</FONT></P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Profesor de lengua y cultura nahua</FONT></P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas</FONT></P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Instituto de Docencia e Investigación Etnológica de Zacatecas, A.C.</FONT></P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Tacuba 152, int. 47</FONT></P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Centro Histórico</FONT></P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Zacatecas, Zac. 98000</FONT></P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">México</FONT></P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Oficina: +52 (492) 925-3415</FONT></P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Fax: +52 (492) 925-3416</FONT></P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Domicilio: +52 (492) 768-6048</FONT></P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Celular: +52 (492) 118-0854</FONT></P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"><A href="mailto:idiez@mac.com">idiez@mac.com</A></FONT></P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px">www.idiez.org.mx<FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"><BR class="Apple-interchange-newline"><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN></FONT></P></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></DIV></BODY></HTML>