Conditional sentences

[John Joseph Sullivan Hendricks]

Well, I just learned how to say conditional sentences in Huastecan náhuatl,
and I thought I'd share it. For example (excuse history for the Spanish
mixted in, or don't), if you want to say, "If I had a lot of money, I would
buy a car," you would say, "Si tla nipixtos miyak tomi, nikkowaskia se
teposcarro."
1. "Si" = spanish "if"
2. "tla",= the same "tla" expressing wishes, commands, etc. that is found on
page 250 of An Analytical Dictionary of Nahuatl.
3. "nipixtos" = preterite form of "piya" + "ti" ligature, + "o" (to be
lying) + "s" (future). This is the Nahuatl equivalent of the past
subjunctive in Spanish.
    I'm not going to analyze anything else, because its in all the grammars.
What is interesting to me is the productivity of the auxiliary verb "o":
A) "-tok", nikwalantok = I am angry.
B) "-tok", ninejnentok = I have walked.
C) "-toya", ninejnentoya = I had walked.
D) "-tos", tla ninejnentos = If I had walked....

John Sullivan
Doctorado en Historia
Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas