moyoma (vs. moyoni) reconsidered

[Gordon Whittaker]

Dear Jonathan,

Your description of the semantic range of yoma is not only very informative
but also refreshingly picturesque!

Do I understand correctly that the verb in Guerrero Nahuatl has a short o?
In Alexis Wimmer's extensive online dictionary the verb is given with long
o. I wonder if this is based on an assumption that the verb is analogous to
zo:ma (which it isn't)? She gives no source for the long vowel, and I can
find nothing that would support her rendition.

I find it interesting that the Guerrero verb is transitive (as well as
reflexive?), whereas the Valley of Mexico verb seems so far only to occur
as a reflexive.

With regard to the sexual sense of the verb, which is primary in the Valley
of Mexico, do you have any information on whether the reflexive can be used
to describe the grinding movement of a woman during intercourse, or is it
used in Guerrero only in reference to a man's movements? If you don't have
it yet in your files could you check this with your consultants, please?

One last thing: You mentioned previously that there's a Guerrero verb
te:nmo:moyo:ni. Does anyone in Guerrero know of a compound i:xmo:moyo:ni
(or i:xmo'moyo:ni with glottal stop)?

Thanks again for all your help and for the fascinating verbal semantics.

Best,
Gordon

P.S. What's the exact translation of the riddle (and its solution)?

On Wed, Mar 21, 2012 at 2:00 PM, Jonathan Amith <jdanahuatl at gmail.com>wrote:

> Dear Gordon,
>
> I don't know the context of moioma but probably reflexive of yoma. This
> refers to a sort of scooping, tangential motion of a dragon/damselfly on
> the water, a woman's body as she grinds corn on a metate, and a man's body
> as he makes love as God ordained. In fact there is a Nahuatl riddle to this
> effect, nochi to:nahli cho tlayoyontok.... (cho is an intensifier).
>
> Molina has "amblar la mujer" for yoma, nino-
>
> Best, Jonathan
>
>
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