Classical Nahuatl grammar

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The grammar of Classical Nahuatl is agglutinative, non-configurational, head-marking, polysynthetic and makes extensive use of compounding, noun incorporation and derivation. That is, it can add many different prefixes and suffixes to a root until very long words are formed. Very long verbal forms or nouns created through incorporation and accumulation of prefixes are not uncommon in literary works. This also means that new words can be created at will.

The typology of Nahuatl has, by a minority of linguists, been regarded as oligosynthetic. This was first proposed in the early 20th Century by Benjamin L. Whorf, but was largely dismissed by the linguistic community by the mid-1950s. However, it stands that Nahuatl words are generally analyzable as derived from a comparatively small number of original roots.

This article is based on the orthography for classical Nahuatl developed by Jesuit grammarian Horacio Carochi in 1645 and further refined by Michel Launey.^[1] The present transcription shows vowel length by adding a macron above the long vowel : <ā, ē, ī, ō>, and it shows saltillo with an /h/. Carochi's orthography represented these by marking the preceding vowel with accent grave <à, ì, è, ò> if it is medial and accent circumflex if it is final <â, î, ê, ô,>. However, in classical Nahuatl this phoneme was pronounced as a glottal stop and was not consistently transcribed by any other grammarian than Carochi. Actual historical source documents, as well as transcriptions by many modern scholars, do not use any standardized transcriptions and usually do not mark vowel length or saltillo at all, and the reader will have to guess or know presence of vowel lengthening and saltillo. To give an adequate description of the classical Nahuatl language, it is, however, essential to mark it.

Contents 1 Morphophonology 1.1 Assimilation 2 Morphology 2.1 Nouns 2.1.1 Plural forms 2.1.2 Noun Inflection 2.1.3 Possessor prefixes 2.1.4 Inalienable possession 2.1.5 Derivational Morphology 2.2 Verbs 2.2.1 Subject prefixes and suffix 2.2.2 Object prefixes 2.2.3 Temporal and aspectual suffixes 2.2.4 Applicative 2.2.5 Causative 2.2.6 Unspecified Subject/Passive 2.2.7 Directional Affixes 2.2.8 Derivational 2.2.9 Verbal compounds 2.2.10 Relational Nouns and Locatives 2.2.11 Noun Incorporation 3 Syntax 3.1 Non-configurationality 3.2 VSO basic wordorder 4 Number system 4.1 Basic numbers 4.2 Complex numbers 4.3 Classifiers 4.4 Ordinal numbers 5 Notes 6 References

[edit] Morphophonology

The phonological shapes of Nahuatl morphemes may be altered in particular contexts, depending on the shape of the adjacent morphemes or their position in the word.

[edit] Assimilation

Where a morpheme ending in a consonant is followed by a morpheme beginning in a consonant, one of the two consonants often undergoes assimilation, adopting features of the other consonant.

ch	+	y	→	chch	E.g. oquich-(tli) "man" + -yō-(tl) "-ness" → oquichchōtl "valor"
l	+	tl	→	ll	E.g. cal- "house" + -tli (absolutive) → calli "house"
l	+	y	→	ll	E.g. cual-(li) "good" + -yō-(tl) "-ness" → cuallōtl "goodness"
x	+	y	→	xx	E.g. mix-(tli) "cloud" + -yoh "covered in" → mixxoh "cloudy"
z	+	y	→	zz	E.g. māhuiz-(tli) "fear" + -yō-(tl) "-ness" → māhuizzōtl "respect"

Almost all doubled consonants in Nahuatl are produced by the assimilation of two different consonants from different morphemes. Doubled consonants within a single morpheme are rare, a notable example being the verb -itta "see".

[edit] Morphology

The words of Nahuatl can be divided into three basic functional classes: verbs, nouns and particles. Adjectives exist, but they generally behave like nouns and there are very few adjectives that are not derived from either verbal or nominal roots. The few adverbs that can be said to exist fall into the class of particles.

[edit] Nouns

Nouns belong to one of two classes: animates or inanimates. Originally the grammatical distinction between these were that inanimate nouns had no plural forms, but in most modern dialects both animate and inanimate nouns are pluralizable. The noun is inflected for two basic contrasting categories: plural and possessedness. Nominal morphology is mostly suffixing. Some irregular formations exist.

In Nahuatl, nouns take a suffix called the "absolutive". This suffix takes the form -tl after vowels (ā-tl, "water") and -tli after consonants, which assimilates to a final /l/ (tōch-tli, "rabbit", but cal-li, "house"). Some nouns have an irregular form in -in (mich-in, fish). These suffixes are dropped in most derived forms: tōch-calli, "rabbit-hole", mich-matlatl, "fishing net".

• The absolutive singular suffix has three basic forms: -tl/tli, -lin/-in, and some irregular nouns with no suffix.
• The absolutive plural suffix has three basic forms: -tin, -meh, or just a final glottal stop -h. Some plurals are formed also with reduplication of the noun's first syllable.
• The possessive singular suffix has two basic forms: -uh (on stems ending in a vowel) or -Ø (on stems ending in a consonant).
• The possessive plural suffix has the form -huān.

The table below present some common nouns conjugated as examples.

[edit] Plural forms

Only animate nouns can take a plural form. These include most animate living beings, but also words like tepētl ("mountain"), citlālin ("star") and some other phenomena. Plurals are formed in several ways:

• The absolutive suffix is replaced with -h (glottal stop), -tin or -meh
• Some nouns may have a reduplication of their first consonant and vowel, with the reduplicated vowel long.

Possible plurals combination

	-h	-tin	-meh
With reduplication	teōtl, tēteōh	tōchtli, tōtōchtin	Never occurs
Without reduplication	cihuātl, cihuāh	oquichtli, oquichtin	michin, michmeh

The plural isn't totally stable and in many cases several different forms are attested.

[edit] Noun Inflection

Absolutive singular	cihuātl "woman"	oquichtli "man"	totōlin "turkey"	tlācatl "person (sg.)"
Absolutive Plural	cihuāh "women"	oquichtin "men"	totōlmeh "turkeys"	tlatlācah "persons"
Possessed Singular	nocihuāuh "my woman"	noquich "my man"	nototōl "my turkey"	notlācauh "my person"
Possessed Plural	nocihuāhuān "my women"	noquichhuān "my men"	nototōlhuān "my turkeys"	notlācahuān "my persons"

[edit] Possessor prefixes

• 1st Person Singular: no-

nocal "my house"

• 2nd Person Singular: mo-

mocal "your house"

• 3rd Person Singular: ī-

īcal "his/her/its house"

• 1st Person Plural:

to- tocal "our house"

• 2nd Person Plural: anmo-

anmocal Your house (pl.)"

• 3rd Person Plural: īn-

īncal "their house"

• Unknown owner: tē-

tēcal "someone's house"

Some other categories can be inflected on the verb such as:

Honorific formed with the suffix -tzin.

cihuā-tl "woman" + tzin+ tli absolutive = cihuātzintli "woman (said with respect)"

[edit] Inalienable possession

The suffix -yo — the same suffix as the abstract/collective -yō(tl) — may be added to a possessed noun to indicate that it is a part of its possessor, rather than just being owned by it. For example, both nonac and nonacayo (possessed forms of nacatl) mean "my meat", but nocac may refer to meat that one has to eat, while nonacayo refers to the flesh that makes up one's body. This is known as inalienable, integral or organic possession.^[2]

See also: Inalienable possession

[edit] Derivational Morphology

• -tia derives from noun X a verb with an approximate meaning of "to provide with X " or "to become X".
• -huia derives from noun X a verb with an approximate meaning of "to use X " or "to provide with X".
• -yōtl derives from a noun X a noun with an abstract meaning of x-hood or x-ness.
• -yoh derives from a noun X a noun with a meaning of "thing full of X" or "thing with a lot of X"

[edit] Verbs

The verb is marked with prefixes in order to agree with the person and number of the subject and the object of the sentence; additionally, verbs inflect for tense and aspect.

[edit] Subject prefixes and suffix

This set of prefixes are used to express the subject of transitive and intransitive verbs . They can also be prefixed to a noun, X, to make a predicative construction with the meaning "is X".

• 1st Person Singular: ni-

nitlācatl I am a man", nicochi "I sleep", nipēhua "I start"

• 2nd Person Singular: ti-

titlācatl "you are a man", ticochi "you sleep", tipēhua "you start"

• 3rd Person Singular: Ø- (none)

tlācatl "he/she/it is a man", cochi "he/she/it sleeps" , pēhua "he/she/it starts"

• 1st Person Plural: ti + plural -h/-queh

titlatlācah "we are men", ticochih"we sleep", tipēuh "we start"

• 2nd Person Plural: an + plural -h/-queh

antlatlācah "You are men", ancochih "You sleep", anpēuh "You start"

• 3rd Person Plural: Ø- (none) + plural -h/-queh

tlatlācah "they are men", cochih "they sleep", pēuh "they start"

[edit] Object prefixes

This set of prefixes is used to express the direct object of transitive verbs.

• 1st Person Singular: nēch

nēchitta "he/she/it sees me", tinēchitta "you see me"

• 2nd Person Singular:mitz

mitzitta "he/she/it sees you", nimitzitta "I see you"

• 3rd Person Singular: qui

quitta "he/she/it sees him/her/it"

• 1st Person Plural: tēch

tēchitta "he/she/it sees us"

• 2ndPerson Plural: amēch

amēchitta "he/she/it sees You (pl.)"

• 3rd Person Plural: quim

quimitta "he/she/it sees them"

• unknown animate object: tē

tēitta "he/she/it sees someone"

• unknown inanimate object: tla

tlatta "he/she/it sees something"

[edit] Temporal and aspectual suffixes

• Present: has no suffix.
• Perfect: Optional long "o" (ō) -c/h/?/Ø (ō)niquittac "I saw him/her/it (preterit aspect)", ōnipēuh "I started"
• Future: -z niquittaz "I will see him/her/it ", nipēhuaz "I will start"
• Imperfect: -ya niquittāya "I saw him/her/it (imperfect aspect) " nipēhuāya "I started"
• Irrealis: -zquiya niquittāzquiya "I would have seen him/her/it" nipēhuazquiya "I would have started"

[edit] Applicative

The applicative construction adds an argument to the verb. The role of the added argument can be benefactive, malefactive, indirect object or similar. It is formed by the suffix -lia.

• niquittilia "I see it for him"

[edit] Causative

The causative construction also adds an argument to the verb. This argument is an agent causing the object to undertake the action of the verb. It is formed by the suffix -tia.

• niquittatia "I make him see it/I show it to him"

[edit] Unspecified Subject/Passive

The construction called "passive" by some grammarians and "unspecified subject construction" by others removes the subject from the valency of the verb, substituting it with a null reference, and promoting the argument marked by object prefixes to subject. The passive or unspecified subject construction uses one of two suffixes: -lo or -hua.

• quitta "he sees it"+ -lo= quittalo "it is seen (by someone)"
• miqui "he dies" + hua = micohua "there is dying/people are dying"

[edit] Directional Affixes

Deixis:

• -on- "away from the speaker"
• on+ tlahtoa "to speak" = ontlahtoa "he/she/it speaks towards there"
• -huāl- " towards the speaker"
• huāl+ tlahtoa "to speak" = huāllahtoa "he/she/it speaks towards here"

Introvert: Imperfective: -qui "comes towards the speaker in order to X" qui + itta "to see" + qui ="quittaqui "he/she/it will come here to see it" Perfective: -co "has come towards the speaker in order to X" qui + itta "to see" + co =quittaco "he/she/it has come here to see it"

Extrovert: Imperfective: -tīuh "goes away from the speaker in order to X" qui + itta "to see" + tīuh ="quittatīuh "he/she/it will go there to see it" Perfective: -to " has gone away from the speaker in order to X" qui + itta "to see" + to =quittato "he/she/it has gone there to see it"

[edit] Derivational

A number of different suffixes exist to derive nouns from verbs:

• -lli used to derive passivized nouns from verbs.

tla "something" + ixca "roast" + l + tli = tlaxcalli "something roasted/ a tortilla"
tla + ihcuiloa "write/draw" + l - tli = tlahcuilolli "scripture/ a drawing"

• -liztli used to derive abstract nouns from verbs.

miqui "to die" + liztli = miquiliztli "death"
tlahcuiloa "to write something" + liztli = tlahcuiloliztli "the concept of writing or being a scribe"

• -qui used to derive agentive nouns from verbs.

ichtequi "to steal" + qui = ichtecqui "a thief"
tlahuāna "to become drunk" + qui = tlahuānqui "a drunkard"

• -ni used to derive habitual nouns from verbs.

miqui "to die" +ni = miquīni "a mortal"
cuacua "to bite" + ni = cuacuāni "someone that is known to be capable of or to habitually bite"

[edit] Verbal compounds

Two verbs can be compounded with the ligature morpheme -ti-.

[edit] Relational Nouns and Locatives

Spatial and other relations are expressd with relational nouns. Some locative suffixes also exist.

[edit] Noun Incorporation

Noun incorporation is productive in Classical Nahuatl and different kinds of material can be incorporated.

• Bodyparts
• Instruments.
• Objects.

[edit] Syntax

The particle in is important in Nahuatl syntax and is used as a kind of definite article and also as a subordinating particle and a deictic particle, in addition to having other functions.

[edit] Non-configurationality

Classical Nahuatl can be classified as a non-configurational language, allowing many different kinds of word orders, even splitting noun phrases.

[edit] VSO basic wordorder

The basic word order of Classical Nahuatl is verb initial and often considered to be VSO, although some scholars have argued for it being VOS. However, being non-configurational, all wordorders are allowed and are used to express different kinds of pragmatic relations, such as thematization and focus.

[edit] Number system

Classical Nahuatl has a vigesimal or base 20 number system.^[3] In the pre-Columbian Nahuatl script, the numbers 20, 400 (20²) and 8,000 (20³) were represented by a flag, a feather, and a bag, respectively.

It also makes use of numeral classifiers, similar to languages such as Chinese and Japanese.

[edit] Basic numbers

1	cē	Becomes cem- when prefixed to another element.
2	ōme	Becomes ōm- when prefixed to another element.
3	ēyi/yēi/ēi/yēyi	Becomes (y)ē- or (y)ēx- when prefixed to another element.
4	nāhui	Becomes nāhu-/nāuh- (i.e. /naːw/) when prefixed to another element.
5	mācuīlli	Derived from māitl "hand".[4]
6	chicuacē	chicua- "5" + cē "1"
7	chicōme	chic- "5" + ōme "2"
8	chicuēyi	chicu- "5" + ēi "3"
9	chiucnāhui	chiuc- "5" + nāhui "4"
10	mahtlāctli	From māitl "hand" + tlāctli "torso".[5]
15	caxtōlli
20	cēmpōhualli	From cēm- "1" + pōhualli "a count" (from pōhua "to count").[6]
400	cēntzontli	From cēn- "1" + tzontli "hair".[6]
8000	cēnxiquipilli	From cēn- "1" + xiquipilli "bag".[7]

[edit] Complex numbers

Multiples of 20, 400 or 8,000 are formed by replacing cēm- or cēn- with another number. E.g. ōmpōhualli "40" (2×20), mahtlāctzontli "4,000" (10×400), nāuhxiquipilli "32,000" (4×8,000).^[8]

The numbers in between those above — 11 to 14, 16 to 19, 21 to 39, and so forth — are formed by following the larger number with a smaller number which is to be added to the larger one. The smaller number is prefixed with om- or on-, or in the case of larger units, preceded by īpan "on it" or īhuān "with it". E.g. mahtlāctli oncē "11" (10+1), caxtōlonēyi "18" (15+3), cēmpōhualmahtlāctli omōme "32" (20+10+2); cēntzontli caxtōlpōhualpan nāuhpōhualomōme "782" (1×400+15×20+4×20+2).^[9]

[edit] Classifiers

Depending on the objects being counted, Nahuatl may use a classifier or counter word. These include:

• -tetl for small, round objects (literally "rock")
• -pāntli for counting rows
• -tlamantli for foldable or stackable things
• -ōlōtl for roundish or oblong-shaped things (literally "maize cob")

Which classifier a particular object takes is loose and somewhat arbitrary.^[10]

[edit] Ordinal numbers

Ordinal numbers (first, second, third, etc.) are formed by preceding the number with ic or inic.^[11]

[edit] Notes

[edit] References