Some grammar doubts

[Michael McCafferty]

It's hard to explain why the orthographic -h would be pronounced, since 
it's purely functionally orthographic in nature. My *guess* is that the 
pronunciation is influenced by the spelling, as when people pronounce 
English "often" [AftEn], with a /t/; it's not part of the original 
pronunciation.

Michael

Quoting Mizton Pixan <nekopixan at gmail.com>:

> Hello people, I'm new here, and I'm liking this lil group a lot :)
>
> Hm... I really have to differ about that H. They do pronounce it, but it's
> pretty subtile, I have spoken to several native people and they do pronounce
> it. Of course, not in every case.
> And "chanequeh" is a short form for "ohuican chanequi" (those who live in
> dangerous places). The term describes little spirits that protect nature....
> pretty much like goblins, but they are usually not bad, just mischievous.
>
> See ya!
>
>
> On Thu, Aug 20, 2009 at 9:40 AM, Michael McCafferty
> <mmccaffe at indiana.edu>wrote:
>
>> 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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>> >
>>
>>
>>
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>
>
>
> --
> Si la vida te da la espalda... agárrale las nalgas. If life turns its back
> on you... grab its butt. Si la vie te tourne le dos... saisis lui les
> fesses. Wenn das Leben dir den Rücken zukehrt... ergreif seinen Po. Se la
> vita ti volta le spalle... afferragli il sedere. ???????????... ????????
> Intla in nemiliztli mitzneci icuetlapan... xquitzqui itzin :)
>




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