Some grammar doubts

[Michael McCafferty]

Cualli tonalli, Susana,


Quoting Susana Moraleda <susana at losrancheros.org>:

> Sorry if I'm being too primitive and elementary (I'm not an expert in
> Nahuatl, but I love it), but in revising my Nahuatl grammar I came across
> the following doubts which I tried to clear reading several sources, but
> with no success.
>
> 1 - I found NOCXI and NOCXIUH for "my foot". Which one is correct?


The latter NOCXIUH is definitely the "classic" Nahuatl form. The h, 
despite what people might say today in Mexico (your #2 below), is 
orthographic, i.e., it is not pronounced. The old Spaniards used "uh" 
to write /w/. Phonologically, the term is

/nok$iw/, where /$/ is the sound written "sh" in English.

NOCXI sounds modern dialectal, baby talk...or... just plain funny.


>
> 2 - Should the H be pronounced as in English? Many people in Mexico do not
> pronounce it, while some others do.
>
> 3 - ALTEPETL comes from water and hill. I can understand the "hill" part and
> the A for "water", but why do we have an extra L?

The "water" morpheme in this term takes the form /al-/. In other words, 
in this term AL is 'water'.

>
> 4 - CALEH is one who has a house. Does this have anything to do with Spanish
> "calle"?

Nope. The two words just happen to sound the same, the same as French 
"ici" and Nahuatl "ici". No relationship.

>
> 5 - I believe CHANEHQUEH is people who have homes. Why and how did this word
> come to mean those imaginary little men residing in the forests?

Ahmo nicmati. :-)

>
> I would appreciate any comments.
>
> Thank you.
> Susana Moraleda
>
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