Nahuatl Digest, Vol 142, Issue 1

[Magnus Pharao Hansen]

Hi Susana

1. Both are correct depending on what kind of Nahuatl. In classical Nahuatl
adding the final -w is a sign that the noun is possessed and it hould be
added. In modern nahuatl that final -w is often pronounced very weakly (as a
soft english h) or no at all. So

2. In Classical nahuatl the letter h is used together with the letter u
write the sound /w/ as in icxiuh should be pronounced ikshiw. In many modern
Nahuatl dialects there is an h sound very similar to the english one - . In
some modern orthographies this sund is written with the letter j but should
be pronounced as the english sound h. In other orthographies it is written
with h. This h sound corresponds more or less to the glottal stop/saltillo
in classical Nahuatl. In some classical orthographies (e.g. the one used by
frances Karttunen) this glottal stop is written with the letter h.

3.We don't know we just know that when /a:-tl/ is prefixed to other words
often there appears an extra l. Not just in a:ltepe.tl but also in palce
names like alpuyeca from /a:lpo:yecca:n/. Sometimes other uto-Aztecan
languages have n or r where nahuatl has l like this. Karen Dakin suggests
that these l's then come from a previous proto-uto-aztecan *r which
sometimes surfaces as weird l's in Nahuatl.

4. no. It has to do with the word calli "house". Calli comes from the
proto-uto-Aztecan word generally reconstructed as *kahni "house". Calle
comes from latin callis "path".

5. Chanehqueh are anyone who has a home. The mythical cha:nequeh are spirits
inhabiting certain parts of nature - e.g. springs, caves, watercrossings.

best regards

Magnus Pharao Hansen

.

--- Forwarded message ----------
> From: "Susana Moraleda" <susana at losrancheros.org>
> To: <nahuatl at lists.famsi.org>
> Date: Thu, 20 Aug 2009 13:12:41 +0200
> Subject: [Nahuat-l] Some grammar doubts
> 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?
>
> 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?
>
> 4 - CALEH is one who has a house. Does this have anything to do with
> Spanish "calle"?
>
> 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?
>
> I would appreciate any comments.
>
> Thank you.
> Susana Moraleda
>
>
>
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