Tlein ticmati?

[r. joe campbell]

M2 wrote:
> 
> "quinhualcuepcayotilique," which D. and A. translated "[the Spaniards]
> gave them gifts in return".
> 
> 

Michael, Galen, and Mochintin:


My suggested answer is contained in the comment on #91 below:

FC, Book 12, p. 6:
      
     90.  in izquitlamantli in in quimonmacaque,
       all these various things they presented to [the spaniards.
***    the singular noun "izquitlamantli" is represented in the verb
        by "qui-", which is 'covered up' by "quim-".


      
     91.  quinhualcuepcayotilique,
       [these] gave them gifts in return.
***    Parallel to 90 and 92, "quinhualcuepcayotilique" has an implicit
        "qui-" (direct object), which is 'covered up' by "quim-".
        "quin-" is therefore the indirect object, marked again by
        the benefactive "li[a]".

      
     92.  quinhualmacaque cozcatl, xoxoctic, coztic: iuhquinma
          in apozonalnenequi:
       they offered them green and yellow necklaces which resembled
          amber.
***    the singular noun "cozcatl" is represented in the verb
        by "qui-", which is 'covered up' by "quim-".
      
=================================

My Detour in Analysis:

   As Michael and Galen have pointed out, the "-ti[a?]" must surely 
be a "verber" (one of the verb formatives that Nahuatl includes in 
its toolbox to make verbs from nouns).  I sat down to ponder the 
problem last night and looked at some old notes, which turned out to 
be a mistake, since I had made them many layers of innocence ago. |8-)

   Nahuatl has two "-ti" verb formatives:

1  -ti  'be or become like the entity referred to by the base noun'

        acah            someone
        nacahti         I become someone

        ahtleh          nothing
        ahtlehtiz       he will become nothing

        calpixqui       steward
        ticalpixcatiz   you will become a steward
          (with the regular appearance of "-ca" in 'protected position'
           instead of '-qui')

2  -ti  'have the entity referred to by the base noun'

        a:pi:ztli       hunger
        na:pi:zti       I behave like a glutton; I eat without filling up

        caquiztli       sound
        caquiztiz       it will have a sound; it will be heard


  (I'll refer to these "verbers" as "ti-1" and "ti-2")

"ti-1" normally takes a "-lia" causative
and
"ti-2" normally takes a "-a" causative

*ti-1*

        a:tl            water
        nica:tilia      I melt it; I cause it to become like water

        ahtleh          nothing
        ninahtlehtilia  I humiliate myself

        centetl         one
        niccentetilia   I join it (with something else), I unite it;
                         I cause it to become one



*ti-2*

        a:huitl         aunt
        nimitza:huitia  I provide you with an aunt

        a:xi:cyo:tl     whirlpool (water-navelness)
        ma:xi:cyo:tia   it develops whirlpools

        mecatl          rope
        momecatia       he provides himself with a concubine


   I considered the possibility that in the word "quinhualcuepcayotilihque",
the sequence "tili" represented <ti-1 + causative>.  Since "-cuepcayo:tl"
means something like "returned thing" (abstract), that would mean 
that 'they' caused 'them' ("quin-") to become a returned thing.

   Obviously, the solution suggested in #91 above (i.e., that "-tili" 
represents <ti-2 + benefactive>) is semantically superior (they provided
them with a returned thing) and the form problem is resolved by the
principle in Nahuatl grammar that forbids the overt representation of more
than one specific projective object prefixes (e.g., there are no sequences
of "qui-" and "quim-"). 

Saludos,

Joe

p.s.  Some data follows....


=================================

Molinas and the FC:

The following data is undoubtedly messy and still full of errors and things
still unthought-out, but it tends to corroborate the pattern of 
one-argument-verbs occurring *without* the benefactive "-li[a]" and
two-argument-verbs occurring *with* the benefactive suffix.

  cuecuepcayotililo , ne-.  there is continual reciprocating. <p53-dupl-
    cuepa---ben-lo:1>. FC

  cuepcayotia , qui-.  he takes reprisal. <p33-cuepa-ca:5-yo:tl1-v04-
    caus08>. FC

  cuepcayotia , quihual-.  they give it in return. <p33-hua:l-cuepa-prt1-
    ca:5-yo:tl1-v04-caus08>. FC

  cuepcayotia =nic.  embiar otra cosa en retorno. <p11-p33-cuepa-prt1-
    ca:5-yo:tl1-v04-caus08>. 55m-7

  cuepcayotia =nitla.  embiar otra cosa en retorno. <p11-p51-cuepa-prt1-
    ca:5-yo:tl1-v04-caus08>. 55m-7

  cuepcayotia =nitla=onitlacuepcayoti.  dar algo en retorno, o pagar 
    enla misma moneda. <cuepa-ca:5-yo:tl1-verb>. 71m2-5

  cuepcayotilia , nechtla-.  he repays me. <p31-p51-cuepa-prt1-ca:5-
    yo:tl1--ben>. FC

  cuepcayotilia =nitetla.  recompenssar; vengarse; daren retorno cosas 
    buenas o malas. <p11-p52-p51-cuepa-prt1-ca:5-yo:tl1-v01a-caus04>. 
    55m-17

  cuepcayotilia =nitetla=onitetlacuepcayotili.  dar algo enretorno, o 
    vengarse dela injuria; ovengarse dela injuria recebida. <cuepa-ca:5-
    yo:tl1-verb-ben>. 71m2-5

  cuepcayotiliani =tetla.  vengador; vengatiuo. <p52-p51-cuepa-prt1-ca:5-
    yo:tl1-v01a-caus04-ni1>. 55m-19

  cuepcayotililiztli =tetla.  recompenssacion; vengan‡a; venganza; o 
    retorno del bien; o mal que a otro se hizo; o recompenssa. <p52-p51-
    cuepa-prt1-ca:5-yo:tl1-v04-ben-liz>. 55m-17

  cuepcayotilique , quinhual-.  they gave them gifts in return. <p43-
    hua:l-cuepa-prt1-ca:5-yo:tl1--ben-prt1-plur01>. FC

  cuepcayotiliztli =tetla.  retorno de presente. <p52-p51-cuepa-prt1-
    ca:5-yo:tl1-v04-liz>. 55m-17

  cuepcayotiliztli =tla.  retorno assi. &c; tornaboda. <p51-cuepa-ca:5-
    yo:tl1-verb-liz>. 71m2-20

  cuepcayotiloni =tla.  embiada cosa assi; retorno assi. &c. <p51-cuepa-
    prt1-ca:5-yo:tl1-v04-caus08=0-lo:2-ni1>. 55m-7