An introduction to Classical Nahuatl

470 Pages·2011·2.45 MB·English

by  Michel Launey, Christopher Mackay (translater and adapter)

ANINTRODUCTIONTOCLASSICALNAHUATL
Now available to an English-speaking audience, this book is a comprehensive
grammarofclassicalNahuatl,theliterarylanguageoftheAztecs.Itoffersstudents
of Nahuatl a complete and clear treatment of the language’s structure, grammar
andvocabulary.Itisdividedintothirty-sixlessons,beginningwithbasicsyntax
andprogressinggraduallytomorecomplexstructures.Eachgrammaticalconcept
isillustratedclearlywithexamples,exercisesandpassagesfortranslation.Akeyis
providedtoallowstudentstochecktheiranswers.Byfarthemostapproachable
textbookofNahuatlavailable,thisbookwillbeanexcellentteachingtoolbothfor
classroomuseandforreaderspursuingindependentstudyofthelanguage.Itwill
beaninvaluableresourcetoanthropologists,ethnographers,historians,archaeol-
ogistsandlinguistsalike.
MichelLauney,nowretired,wasaprofessorattheUniversite´DenisDiderot,Paris,
andtheInstitutdeRecherchespourleDe´veloppement,Cayenne.Hewasavisiting
professorattheUniversidaddeGuadalajara,UniversidadNacionalAuto´nomade
Me´xicoandYaleUniversity,amongothers.HisotherbooksincludeIntroductiona`
lalangueeta`lalitte´ratureazte`ques(theFrencheditionofthisbook,publishedin
1979),Unegrammaireomnipre´dicative(1994)andAwnaParikwaki:Introductiona`
lalanguepalikurdeGuyaneetdel’Amapa(2003).

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A
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N INTRODUCTION TO
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CLASSICAL NAHUATL
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MICHELLAUNEY
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Universite´DenisDiderot,Paris
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(cid:1) TranslatedandAdaptedby
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(cid:1) UniversityofAlberta
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CAMBRIDGEUNIVERSITYPRESS
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CambridgeUniversityPress
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www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9780521732291
(cid:1)C MichelLauneyandChristopherMackay2011
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten
permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
FirstpublishedasIntroductiona`lalangueeta`lalitte´ratureazte`quesbyL’Hartmattan,1979
FirstpublishedasIntroductio´nalalenguayalaliteraturaNa´huatlbyUNAM,Me´xico,1992
FirstpublishedinEnglish2011
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
AcatalogrecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationdata
Launey,Michel.
[Introductiona`lalangueeta`lalitte´ratureazte`ques.English]
AnintroductiontoclassicalNahuatl/MichelLauney;translatedandadaptedbyChristopherMackay.
p. cm.
TranslationfromFrenchtoEnglish.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-0-521-51840-6(hardback)–ISBN978-0-521-73229-1(pbk)
1.Nahuatllanguage. 2.Nahuatlliterature. I.Mackay,ChristopherS.,1962– II.Title.
PM4061.L3813 2010
497(cid:2).45282421–dc22 2010015176
ISBN978-0-521-51840-6Hardback
ISBN978-0-521-73229-1Paperback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyofURLsforexternal
orthird-partyInternetWebsitesreferredtointhispublicationanddoesnotguaranteethatany
contentonsuchWebsitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate.
CONTENTS
Preface pagexvii
HowtoUseThisBook xix
PARTONE
PreliminaryLesson:PhoneticsandWriting................................ 3
LessonOne: IntransitiveVerbs,WordOrder,AbsolutiveSuffix........... 12
1.1 PresentTenseofIntransitiveVerbs 12
1.2 FormofthePrefixesinFrontofaVowel 13
1.3 AssimilationofNasals 14
1.4 WordOrder 15
1.5 NumberinNounsandtheAbsolutiveSuffix 15
LessonTwo: NounsandNominalPredicates,thePluralofNouns,
QuestionsandNegation.................................................... 18
2.1 NominalPredicates 18
2.2 FormsoftheAbsolutiveSuffix 19
2.3 NounswithouttheAbsolutiveSuffix 19
2.4 PluralofNouns 19
2.5 DetailsaboutthePlural 20
2.6 PluralizableInanimateObjects 21
2.7 TheParticleCa 22
2.8 WordOrderandFocalization 22
2.9 QuestionsandNegation 23
LessonThree: TransitiveVerbs............................................ 26
3.1 ObjectPrefixes 26
3.2 Writingof/k/ 27
3.3 TheHelpingVowel/i/withtheThirdPersonObject 27
3.4 ThirdPersonPluralObject 27
3.5 CombinationwithaNounObject 28
v
vi Contents
3.6 IndefinitePrefixes 28
3.7 VariationintheStemafter-tla- 29
3.8 WordOrderinTransitiveConstructions 29
3.9 FocalizationoftheObject 31
LessonFour: Emphatic,Interrogative,Demonstrativeand
NegativePronouns......................................................... 35
4.1 EmphaticPronouns 35
4.2 PredicationandFocalizationwiththeEmphaticPronouns 35
4.3 TopicalizedPronouns 36
4.4 ‘Who?’ 37
4.5 Demonstratives 38
4.6 DemonstrativesCombinedwithin 38
4.7 InandOnafteraNoun 38
4.8 ‘What?’ 39
4.9 ‘NoOne’,‘Nothing’ 39
4.10 InterrogativesPrecededbyIn 40
LessonFive: IrregularVerbs,IntroductiontoLocatives................... 43
5.1 Caˆ‘ToBe’ 43
5.2 Yauh‘ToGo’ 44
5.3 Hu¯ıtz‘ToCome’ 44
5.4 Locatives 45
5.5 SyntaxofLocatives 46
5.6 NoIndicationofDirectionwithLocatives 47
5.7 Nica¯nandO¯mpawithAnotherLocative 47
5.8 TheSuffix-pa 48
LessonSix: DirectionalandReflexivePrefixes............................. 51
6.1 DirectionalPrefixes 51
6.2 MetaphoricalUsesoftheDirectionalPrefixes 52
6.3 TheHelpingVowelinFrontof-c-on- 53
6.4 OrderofPrefixes 54
6.5 ReflexivePrefixes 54
6.6 MeaningoftheReflexive 55
6.7 MorphologyoftheReflexiveinFrontofaVowel 56
LessonSeven: Quantifiers,Zan,Ye,Oc.................................... 59
7.1 NumberNouns 59
7.2 PlaceforNumbers 60
7.3 PluralofNumbers 60
7.4 Pluralofce¯ 61
7.5 NumbersasPredicates 62
7.6 OtherQuantifiers 62
7.6.1 Miyac 62
7.6.2 Moch 62
Contents vii
7.7 CountingNouns 63
7.8 Zan,Ye,Oc 64
7.9 AyamoandAoc 66
LessonEight: PreteriteTense.............................................. 69
8.1 IntroductiontotheTenses 69
8.2 PrinciplesforFormingthePreterite 69
8.3 FormationofBase2byDroppingtheFinalVowel 70
8.4 ModificationoftheFinalConsonant 71
8.5 Base2FormedbyDroppingtheFinalVowelandAddinga
GlottalStop 72
8.6 Base2FormedwiththeGlottalStopwithoutDropping
theFinalVowel 72
8.7 Base2withoutModification 72
8.8 TheAugment 73
8.9 TheTensewithAyamo 74
8.10 PreteriteofIrregularVerbs 74
LessonNine: Imperative/Optative,Vocative,Future,Imperfect........... 78
9.1 Imperative/Optative 78
9.2 Variantsofx- 79
9.3 LengtheningoftheStemVowel 79
9.4 Imperative/OptativeinIrregularVerbs 80
9.5 TheOptativeinOtherPersons 80
9.6 NegationoftheOptative 81
9.7 VocativeofNouns 81
9.8 MorphologyoftheFuture 82
9.9 MeaningoftheFuture 82
9.10 TheImperfect 83
LessonTen: PossessedFormsoftheNoun................................. 87
10.1 MorphologyofthePossessedForm 87
10.2 FormsofthePossessiveSuffix 87
10.3 PossessivePrefixes 87
10.4 PluralofthePossessedForms 89
10.5 SyntaxofPossessedNouns 89
10.6 ConstructionsIndicatingPossession 89
10.7 DroppingofShortVowelsinthePossessedForm 91
10.8 RetentionofShortVowelsinNounsEndingin-atl,-itl 92
10.9 PossessedFormofMonosyllables 93
10.10 VocativeofPossessedForms 94
LessonEleven: InherentPossession,theSuffix-yo¯,‘ToHave’,
PossessiveNouns........................................................... 96
11.1 NounsforFamilyRelationships 96
11.2 NounsforPartsoftheBody 96
viii Contents
11.3 TheSuffix-yo¯ 97
11.4 -yo¯inthePossessedForm 98
11.5 -yo¯ofInalienablePossession 98
11.6 ‘ToHave’:PiyaandPossessedForms 100
11.7 PossessiveNouns 100
11.8 -huaˆor-eˆ? 101
11.9 PossessiveNounsin-yoˆ 102
11.10 ThePossessedandDerivativeFormsofPossessiveNouns 103
LessonTwelve: NominalSuffixes,“Adjectives”............................106
12.1 Honorific,Deprecatory,DiminutiveandAugmentativeSuffixes 106
12.1.1 -tzin 106
12.1.2 -to¯n 107
12.1.3 -po¯l 108
12.1.4 -pil 108
12.1.5 -zol 108
12.2 TheProblemofAdjectives 109
12.3 ‘Large’and‘Small’ 109
12.4 “Adjectives”in-qui 110
12.5 “Adjectives”in-huacandVerbsin-hua 110
12.6 “Adjectives”in-tic 111
12.7 “Adjectives”in-c 112
12.8 DerivationofAdjectives 112
12.9 ‘Very’ 113
LessonThirteen: ThePrincipalLocativeSuffixes..........................116
13.1 TheSuffix-c(o) 116
13.2 PlacementofLocatives 117
13.3 PossessedLocatives 118
13.4 Locativenouns:-pan 118
13.5 -cpac 121
13.6 -tlan 122
13.7 -tech 122
13.8 Cha¯n(-tli) 123
13.9 HonorificLocatives 123
13.10 Locativesand“Adjectives” 124
LessonFourteen: Coordination,PhrasesofTimeandManner............127
14.1 ‘And’ 127
14.1.1 I¯hua¯n 127
14.1.2 Auh 127
14.1.3 Juxtaposition 128
14.2 No¯,A`zo,A`nozo 129
14.3 -(ti)ca 130
14.4 Ic 131