terminology

[idiez at MAC.COM]

Listeros:
        I just thought I'd throw out some of the things we are working on here 
in Zacatecas with regards to the grammatical terminology for the 
monolingual nahuatl dictionary.

Tlahtoltecpantli (language structure)
Tlahcuilolli (letters)
Tlahtolli (phrases)
Achitlahtolli (morphemes)

        It seems to me that nahuatl units of meaning are phrases and that 
these phrases are built around subjects. So it doesn't do any good to 
talk about nouns, verbs or prepositions.
1. There is a phrase (tlahtolli) which is built around a named thing 
(tlatocaxtilli). This kind of phrase, such as "nicihuatl", could be 
called a "tlatocaxtiltlahtolli". The subject (ni-, ti-, in- or -Ø) is 
the "tlatocaxtilli (named thing)", while the noun root, "-cihua-, is 
"itocah", "its name". The "tlatocaxtilli" can have "iteco", "its 
possessor" (no-, to-, mo-, inmo-, i-, inin-). We haven't decided on 
terminology for the absolutive and possessive endings (tlen ica 
tzontlami), other than "cetzin (singular)" and "miyaquin (plural)".
2. There is another phrase which is built around a "doer" subject 
(tlachiuhquetl) and could be called a "tlachiuhcatlahtolli". Some of 
the parts (achitlahtolli) of this phrase could be:
tlachiuhquetl (doer subject)
tlachihuililli (a thing to which something is done: object)
Types of objects (catlia: ¿which object?: specific object), 
(motlachihuililli: a thing to which something is done by itself: 
reflexive object) (acahya: someone: non-specific human); (tlenhueli: 
something: non-specific non-human)
Tlachihualiztli (the action)
Tenses and some compounds with rough equivalents: tlen pano (present), 
tlen panoz (future), tlen panozquia (would or about to happen), tlen ma 
pano (imperative), tlen panoyaya (imperfect), tlen panoco (purposive), 
tlen panoqui (purposive), tlen panoto (purposive), tlen panoti 
(purposive), tlen panoc (preterite), tlen panotoc (has happened), tlen 
panotoz (will have happened), tlen panotoya (had happened), tlen 
panotozquia (should have happened).
We`re still working on names for the directionals (bad name) and the 
ending morphemes.
3. I think that the relational phrase really is like a possessed noun. 
"nonacaztlan", [something is] next to my ear = next to me. This example 
is an easily recognizable compound. But, perhaps the "pa-" of "-pan" 
was at some point a noun root which was stuck to the locative "-n". The 
only problem with the relational compound being a phrase is that it 
seems to lack a subject. It's possible that the subject is the Ø third 
person. In this way, the relational phrase would relate to another 
"named" or "doer" phrase as if these latter elements were an "it", an 
entity or an event. Needless to say, we haven't come to any conclusions 
yet regarding the relational phrase or whatever it is. Right now I 
think I would called its Ø subject a "situated thing", and the whole 
phrase, a situated-thing phrase (We are having trouble deciding on the 
terminology). The reason for "situated" is that, in my opinion, all of 
the relational words are built on locatives, which then either keep 
their locative sense, or are used metaphorically (many times by 
compounding) to express other kinds of relationships (time, purpose, 
etc.)
4. Particles could be called "piltlahtoltzin", "mini-phrase".
        If I'm saying things that other people have said, please let me know. 
And all suggestions and contributions to the dictionary project will be 
acknowledged in the work.
John

John Sullivan, Ph.D.
Profesor de lengua y cultura nahua
Unidad Académica de Idiomas
Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas
Director
Instituto de Docencia e Investigación Etnológica de Zacatecas, A.C.
Tacuba 152, int. 47
Centro Histórico
Zacatecas, Zac. 98000
México
Oficina: +52 (492) 925-3415
Fax: +52 (492) 925-3416
Domicilio: +52 (492) 768-6048
Celular: +52 (492) 544-5985
idiez at mac.com
www.idiez.org.mx or http://homepage.mac.com/idiez/idiezweb/
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