Nahuatl Word 4

[r. joe campbell]

On Wed, 4 Feb 2004, Galen Brokaw wrote:
> Joe,
> Is there a spelling mistake in this one too?
> Specifically, could you spell it: nitlateteuhana?
>
> Galen
>

Galen,

   If Nahuatl spelling were determined only by the phonemes and their
various juxtapositions, the spelling would be  nitlatetehuana.  In
fact, the form that I presented as Molina's contained an error
(Molina: nitlateteuana), since Molina usually spelled /w/ as 'u'.  (I
handle Nahuatl words in a regularized spelling which is similar to the
Carochi/Andrews/Karttunen orthography, except for not supplying vowel
length or glottal stops which are not in the original text.)

   Your spelling (which I like, but still have some reservations about)
(i.e. nitlateteuhana) is the kind alluded to in Andrews (rev. ed.), p. 31,
para. 2.5:  "Spelling at Points of Internal Open Transition.  When two
stems are joined by compounding ... their boundaries, as a rule, are
preserved by open transition; that is, a slight but audible space is left
between the adjacent sounds. This has several consequences: ... ... (2) a
stem-final consonant has the sound it would have in vocable-final position
(e.g., [kwaw + e:watl], {my keyboard characters can't allow me reproduce
Andrews' transcription with fidelity} where the /w/ of [kwaw] is
voiceless). Written texts recognize open transition by spelling a
stem-final consonant in such a context as if it were vocable-final:
cuauhe:huatl (not cuahue:huatl)..."

   Since I don't believe that orthographic records are an anywhere near
foolproof way of inferring low-level phonetic facts like the devoicing
of /w/, I have doubts about "a slight but audible space" being left
after the /w/s in question.  "Open juncture" has been a problem for
linguists, partly because there has not been agreement on what it was.
Some linguists have assumed that the term was to be taken literally --
that it really involved a *space* (read, "silence", "pause", etc.).
Some linguists have suggested that juncture was some sort of operator
which was "present", but might or might not be audible, the likelihood
of its presence inferred by indirect means (as are many "facts" about
our world).

   When I say "I have doubts", that probably leaves doubt as to what I
mean.  I *don't* believe (until someone shows a good reason) that we
have any way of detecting the degree of voicing in intervocal /w/ in
"classical" Nahuatl.
   All of my tapes are of such bad quality... >8-)

   But that's another story...

   Since my server saw fit to drop me and the first version of my
comments, I saw your second message and I'm composing off-line to
protect myself from the malice up there -- I'll upload and send it off
while it's not looking.

   I agree that the -teteuh- sequence could be a reduplication.  In
fact, whenever I see two identical syllables in Nahuatl, it's my first
candidate for interpreting the morphological structure, as in:

   qui-tlatlalia     he repeatedly places it

On the other hand, sometimes the structure dictates that it shouldn't
be regarded as reduplication:

    ni_tlatla_palaquia  I apply color to something
       ------

where  tlapa:lli (tla-pa:-l-li)  is an embedded noun, acting as an
 adverb on the verb -aqui-a; nitla- is, of course, the subject with
 its tla- being the object pa:.

           tla-pa:-l
    ni-tla-         aqui-a


************************
*  Just an aside:
*
* I would look around at the occurrences of -teuh  that need to be
* eliminated in the consideration of the element preceding it:
*
*   ocualanteuh       he got up angrily and went away
*
*   o-cualan(i)-t(i)-ehua(a)  a compound verb
*
*************************
* and, of course, noteuh (my stone)
*
*************************
I have found:

  amateuhtlalili , tla-.  something that is fashioned like paper. <p51-
    a:matl-teuh-tla:lia:-l1>. FC
    (very likely an error for tla-amateuhtlalilli)
  choquizcuauhteuhtlaza =nino.  llorar con golpes. <p11-p54-cho:ca-liz-
    cuahuitl-teuh-tla:za>. 55m-12
  cihuateuh.  mugerilmente. <cihua:tl-teuh>. 55m-14
  cozcateuh.  like a jewel; like a necklace; like a precious necklace.
    <co:zcatl-teuh>. FC
  cozcateuhtlamatizque , ti-.  we shall love him like a precious
    necklace. <p21-co:zcatl-teuh-p51-mati-z-plur01>. FC
  ichcateuhtic.  flueco de lana. <ichcatl-teuh-tic>. 55m-10
  macuexteuh.  like a bracelet. <ma:itl-cuextli-teuh>. FC
  macuexteuhtlamatizque , ti-.  we shall love him like a precious stone
    necklace. <p21-ma:itl-cuextli-teuh-p51-mati-z-plur01>. FC
  mati =cozcateuh quetzalteuh ipan nimitz.  tener en gran estima el
    padre a su hijo. <co:zcatl-teuh quetzalli-teuh poss-pan p11-p32>.
    71m1-20
  ocholteuhtlalia , nitla-.  I form something cluster-like. <p11-p51-
    ochoa-l1-teuh-tla:lia:>. FC
  ohocholteuhca.  like clusters. <dupl-ochoa-l1-teuh-->. FC
  quetzalteuh.  like a precious feather. <quetzalli-teuh>. FC
  temicteuh.  dream-like. <te:miqui-l2-teuh>. FC
  xictetehuanazque , qui-.  they will violently tear out his entrails.
    <p33-xi:ctli-tetl1-teuh-a:na1-z-plur01>. FC


This examples should indicate that -teuh- is the shape of the modifying
particle and that the element which precedes it is a noun.  If that
noun is tetl, then words like:

   nic-teteuh-ilpia    I tie it tightly, I tie it hard
   qui-teteuh-malina   she twists it tightly, she twists it hard

are only slightly metaphorical -- and then speakers exercise their love
for wider, more stretched, oc cenca tlateteuhantli metaphors with items
like:

   nino-teteuh-ana     I stretch (with laziness or to relax)

Thanks!!! for mentioning the -titihuana example.  I hadn't noticed it --
and, if I had, might not have made the connection.  The e to i change
certainly does occur.  One curious thing is that all the -titiuh
examples are restricted to the Florentine.  The -teteuh examples
occur both in the Florentine and in the three Molinas.

Saludos,

Joe