-toc

[John Sullivan, Ph.D.]

Listeros,
	I have a question regarding one of the many problems I am  
encountering while trying to do a dictionary. In modern Huastecan  
Nahuatl, auxiliary verb constructions in "-toc" can have two  
different but related meanings, depending on the main verb. The first  
meaning is the present perfect (antepresente). So, for example, from  
"ninehnemi", "I walk", we go to "ninehnentoc", "I have walked".  
Pretty much all verbs can work like this. However, some verbs, while  
taking this meaning with the "-toc", can have another meaning: the  
state resulting from having completed that action. So, for example,  
from the reflexive verb "cehuia, nimo", we have "nimocehuia", "I sit  
down". With the "-toc" construction it will have two meanings: first,  
the present perfect, "nimocehuihtoc", I have sat down"; second, the  
resulting state, "I am seated". There are many, many examples. Here  
is one more: "tlamixtemi", "it gets cloudy", "tlamixtentoc", 1. "it  
has gotten cloudy"; 2. "it is cloudy". The first example,  
"ninehnentoc", like most verbs in Nahuatl will not take this second  
meaning. You wouldn't say, "I am walked".
	Now this makes sense. The class 1 verb "o", "to lay down", which  
forms the auxiliary construction "-toc" is a preterite-as-present  
verb. But isn't this perhaps what preterite-as-present verbs are all  
about? What does it mean when you say that a completed action refers  
to the present. Well, the logical answer that pops into my head is  
that who or whatever did that action kind of remains for a while in  
the state in which they were left after completing the action. And  
that "remaining for a while" shifts things into the present. Perhaps  
we should stop translating the "-toc" construction from classical  
Nahuatl as "someone lies doing something". It seems to me that  
"laying down" after doing something is a pretty good metaphor for  
refering to the state achieved after completing the action.
	Also I imagine that we could talk for a while about the many ways  
the Nahua mind uses the preterite tense.
	Now, getting closer to my question. The use of "-toc" to throw any  
verb into the present perfect tense is something that should be  
treated in a grammar book , in the chapter on auxiliary verb  
constructions formed with the connective "-ti-". But the fact that  
some verbs go into a "resultant state" mode by means of this  
construction, perhaps merits mention in the dictionary. My question  
is, should this mention be made under the entry for the main verb,  
or, is this "resultant state" a big enough shift of meaning to  
warrant a separate dictionary entry? At one point I was asking myself  
if perhaps the "-toc" construction is making the transition to  
"nounness", in other words, is "nimocehuihtoc", "I am seated", on the  
verge of meaning "I am a seated thing"? But then I realized that you  
can change tenses. For example, "nimocehuihtoz": 1. "I will have sat  
down", 2. "I will be seated". The other problem with option 2 is,  
what kind of word is this? If it's not a noun, that it's nothing more  
than a special use of a verb tense.
	Ok, so why am I still considering option 1? The native speakers feel  
that this meaning shift is a pretty big deal.
	Any suggestions?
John

John Sullivan, Ph.D.
Profesor de lengua y cultura nahua
Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas
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) 118-0854
idiez at mac.com
www.idiez.org.mx
www.macehualli.org




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