nouns as adverbs

[Magnus Pharao Hansen]

Dear Listeros

I've been mulling over the adverb question, and I continue to be skeptical.
Primarily because if we were to argue that in Nahuatl it is generally
possible to use nouns adverbially with no overt marking that would tear
apart everything we know about Nahuatl syntax, which is exactly that it
requires overt marking of the grammatical relations of the relations
between freestanding nouns and predicates. Here I send my analyses of the
examples and my arguments why they are not freestanding nouns being used as
adverbs.


*John Sullivan's examples with ihtlani and its derivatives:*

3a. Nimitztlahtlania queniuhqui motocah, “I ask you what your name is.”
3b. Nimitztlahtlanilia queniuhqui motocah, “I ask you what your name is.”
3c. Nimitztlahtlania ce peso, “I ask you for a peso.”
3d. Nimitztlahtlanilia ce peso, “I ask you for a peso.”

In the two first examples the object is the entire phrase ""queniuhqui
motocah" and it is fully licensed. First of all nimitztlatlanilia takes to
objects, but only one can be overtly expressed and it always has to be the
one with higher topicality i.e. the second person. The second object marker
is suppressed, but it is still indexed by the applicative ending. So no
transitivity problem here. This also accounts for the lack of overt
agreement with the "ce peso" in the latter two examples

Secondly the adjoined phrase is preceded by *queniuhqui,* which marks the
following as not being an argument to the verb but an adverbial relative
clause. The problem is the translation which masks the fact that the
construction is "I ask *how *your name is/how you name yourself" (i.e. the
phrase in question is a an adverbial relative clause and not a direct
object) and not "I ask *what *your name is" in which case it would have
required an extra object. The reason this construction has motocah which
seems to be a noun instead of a verb can be one of two : it is probably a
short form of timotoca (the formal form used in many dialects).


*Jesse Lovegren's examples *

1. nechtlaocoliz nosepultura, "Él me regalará mi sepultura.”

2. ma nechtlapolhui notlahtlacol, “May he forgive my sins.”

In both of these examples the seemingly unlicensed noun is possessed by the
first person who is also the object of the verb. This means that this is a
case of possessor raising where the first person possessor of the object is
promoted to being the object. This is similar to when in Spanish we say "me
cortó el brazo" instead of "corto mi brazo". The freestanding noun is
licensed by virtue of being the possession of the indexed object.


*Andrews' example:*
 1.  “Xochitl ancueponqueh.” “You(pl.) have budded like flowers.”

Andrews does not say that in general it is possible to use nouns as
adverbs, he gives for examples of a very specific construction obviously
form a poetic register, in which a noun immediately preceding the verb can
have a comparative adverbial function with the meaning "like a". This is
obviously a very restricted function, and basically it could be interpreted
as an elliptical construction leaving out the "quenin" or "iuhqui" that
normally introduces comparative phrases.


In short: I don't think that any of these examples are new constructions,
but rather have been fully accounted for in the grammars. And also i don't
think that they show that nouns can be used as adverbs for the reasons i
have given. Now I wil proceed to complicate the matter:


cualli titlatlahtoa "you speak well"

cualli is by now an adjective or adverb for all purposes - but it clearly
is historically a noun as it carries the absolutive suffix, and is liked
derived through a passive form of *kwa "eat" with the original meaning
"edible".

So this means that at least one noun has passed entirely from being a noun
to being only a modifier of other nouns or verbs. That means that this
particular noun must have been used as a freestanding unlicensed noun in
the past causing its use to gradually shift towards that of a modifier.

best,
M


-- 
Magnus Pharao Hansen
PhD. student
Department of Anthropology

Brown University
128 Hope St.
Providence, RI 02906

*magnus_pharao_hansen at brown.edu*
US: 001 401 651 8413
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