Nahuatl Word Recognition I

[R. Joe Campbell]

Fran,

On Mon, 26 Jul 1999, Frances Karttunen wrote:

> >   tzoaztli
> >
> >1. what does it mean?
>
> I think it means a snare made with cord.

*** Bingo!  (said by people who think the same thing and hope they're
right too)


> >2. *how* does it mean? (i.e., what are its meaning parts?)
>
> I only know it in derived forms.  And I think it's probably tzohuaztli.
> Maybe the same -aztli as in teponaztli, etc.?  Which leaves us with the
> tzo(hu)- part.

***I hadn't thought of "teponaztli", but *now* that you mention it, it's
an attractive idea.  I think the suffix is "-hua:ztli" as in
"tlahtolhuaztli" (throat) and "tlachpanhuaztli" (broom).  That /w/ deletes
also in "tzo:tzopa:ztli" (weaver's tool).  And I believe that the stem is
"tzontli" (the "-huaztli" instrument considered to be made of fibers).

   I thought the "tzoaztli" [tzoa:ztli] was a cute and puzzling item
because of the double deletion.  First, the /w/ "hu" deletes the /n/ of
"tzontli" -- /w/ and /y/ are both highly 'n-ivorous' -- and then the
underlying /w/ is deleted (in many dialects) in "-owa-" sequences.


> >3. is it ambiguous?


>
> No idea.

*** I don't think it is.  I just brought it up ahead of time because of
the second question I wanted to pose.

[[Hi Al]]

Joe


>
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> Fran
>
>