moyoma (vs. moyoni) reconsidered

Fri Mar 23 14:12:19 UTC 2012

Dear Gordon,

Yes, I have it with a short vowel. There are few verbs that really can't be
both reflexive and transitive. However, it is important to distinguish
between "reflexively marked" and "reflexive" in the semantic/argument sense
as a two-participant event where participant 1 and 2 have the same
referent. Thus certain verbs of bodily function are marked reflexive. In
the Cuetzalan area there is a difference between mihso:ta and moihso:ta,
the first refering to 'vomit'  nimihso:ta where the second is 'to vomit on
oneself'. The transitive use would be with the object that which is vomited
(kihso:ta esti or kiihso:ta esti) whereas the causative would be 'to
provoke vomiting in' (ne:chihso:taltia 'it provokes vomiting in me'). So,
the reflexive use of yoma or yohyoma would probably refer to a bodily
motion. The verb tlalowa / talowa is also reflexively marked and cannot
take an object (motalowa, 'to run') but I do not think ?kitalowa. cf.
kitalo:chtia, 'to incite to run' or something to that effect). Molina, I
believe (don't have it here right now) has yoyoma as a reflexively marked
verb, with the meaning refering to 'albar la mujer' (if I remember). It
might be that in Guerrero the use with ki- is innovative. I didn't remember
correctly but the riddle (see below) uses the reflexively marked noyoyontok
(no- is the reflexive marker)

The use of the reflexive marker is documented from a riddle and the
sexually ambiguous reference to 'metate' and 'woman' as the subject is
problematic in the sense that the reflexive marker would probably have
slightly different implications. The reflexive marker use in Balsas Nahuatl
is really at times difficult. It can be a detransitivizer (e.g., notsakua,
refering a a wound that is healing/closing up) or it can be a passive-like
construction (mo:stla nochi:was 'tomorrow it will get done'). The 3rd
person plural can also be used, though it would seem to indicate less
involvement of the speaker: ke:hchi:was(k)eh  which with a nonspecific
agent would be similar to 'it will be fixed/they (unspecific) will fix it'.
Ne:hchi:was could be either 'it will get fixed (e.g., something that fixes
itself) or 'it will get fixed' (something for which speaker takes some
responsibility, sort of like 'I'll see to it that it gets fixed'. So the
use of the reflexive in the riddle (noyoyontok) would seem to guide the
listener to a more off-color interpretation as either the woman as the
subject of a verb indicating bodily motion or as an object for which the
speaker (in this case the teller of the riddle) is taking
some "responsbility" for the event occurring. I have always heard yoma as
having as its object that which is struck in the manner indicated (water,
metate, woman).

The name of the dragonfly in Ameyaltepec is a:yoyontsi:n, which I always
took to refer to the type of motion it performs on the surface of the
water. In Oapan it is áabió:ntsi:n which would be 'toy airplane' from the
reduplicated Spanish borrowing. It might be that this is the result of a
"folk etymology' a:yoyontsi:n > áabió:ntsi:n. I similar switch occurred
with a plant name for Calliandra houstoniana. In one village in the eastern
Balsas valley it is called kahkabai:toh "toy horse". The name is only
explaining in comparing it to other more western villages: kabai:toh de
a:ngel (angel's horse'). The Spanish name is 'cabello de ángel'.
So 'cabello' was reinterpreted as 'caballo' and then in one village
the Spanish 'de ángel' was dropped and the noun reduplicated to indicate a
metaphoric extension/play. It might be that Oapan áabió:ntsi:n, therefore,
is not simply the result of equating the dragonfly with an airplane, but in
a folk change of a:yoyontsi:n.

\ref 02913
\lxam yoyoma
\lxam_c kiyoyoma
\lxoa yóyomá
\lxoa_pr yoyoma
\lxoa_c kí:yomá
\psm V2
\infv class-3a(m)
\der V2-b
\lexical Op. prefix <kn>te-</kn>
\pitch yes
\sense_e (reduplicated with a long or short vowel, depending on the
circumstances) to skim against in a curved motion, skimming against the
surface of the object at the bottom of
the curve (note: the prototypical motion of this sort is that made by a
woman grinding <klam>nextamahli</klam> on a metate)
\sense_s (con reduplicación de vocal larga o corta, dependiendo de las
circumstancias) pegar rozando con una moción encorvada (rozando la
superficie del objeto al punto más
bajo de la curva; el ejemplo prototípico de esta acción es la de una mujer
moliendo nixtamal sobre un metate)
\sense_d Am
\phrase_n Tlateyo:yontok ipan a:tl a:yoyontsi:n.
\phrase_d Am
\phrase_e The dragonfly skims against the surface of the water.
\phrase_s La libélula pasa rozando sobre la superficie del agua.
\phrase_n Yo:li:k kiteyo:yontok imetl, xnotlasiwi:tia.
\phrase_d Am
\phrase_e She is slowly pushing down again and again against her metate,
she's not in any hurry.
\phrase_s Despacio empuja y empuja contra su metate, no se apura.
\sense_e (fig.) to have sexual intercourse with (a man [S] with a woman [O]
based on the type of motion involved)
\sense_s (fig.) tener relaciones sexuales con (un hombre [S] con una mujer
[O] basado en el tipo de moción utilizado)
\sense_d Pending
\phrase_n Kiyo:yoma isuwa:w.
\phrase_d Am
\phrase_e He has sex with his wife.
\phrase_s Tiene relaciones sexuales con su esposa.
\sem motion
\root yoma
\nsem The action indicated by <kamoa>yoma</kamoa> has only been documented
in the three types of motion noted above: a dragonfly against water, a
woman grinding on a metate,
and a man having intercourse with a woman. Because of the latter, this word
is often used in double entendres, as in the riddle <kam>Se: tosa:sa:ne:l,
se: tosa:sa:ne:l, se: tona:na:tsi:n,
san nochipa noyoyontok</kam> 'Una adivinanza, una adivinanza: A una señora,
siempre la estarán fregando (es el metate).' In Oapan <koa>yoma</koa>,
which is only found
reduplicated with either long or short vowel, only has a sexual sense,
referring to the action of the male in mounting a female (in reference to
human intercourse and that of donkeys,
dogs, pigs, and other similar animals).
\qry Determine difference and if both are possible: /yo:yoma/ and /yoyoma/.
\revised 25/May/2007

On Fri, Mar 23, 2012 at 5:10 AM, Gordon Whittaker
<gwhitta4 at googlemail.com>wrote:

> 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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