Totonacan languages
[4][12][13] Recent efforts at reconstruction and evidence from lexical similarity further suggest that Southern/Sierra and Lowland group together against Northern,[4] although this is still uncertain, pending more exhaustive investigation.From a typological perspective, the Totonac–Tepehua family presents a fairly consistent profile, and exhibits many features of the Mesoamerican areal type, such as a preference for verb-initial order, head-marking, and extensive use of body part morphemes in metaphorical and locative constructions.[11] For instance, in Huehuetla Tepehua a verb such as tamakahuːn 'stay, be in a place' is intransitive but can take a comitative prefix to form a verb ta̰ːtamakahuːn meaning 'stay with someone', someone being the co-actor: haːINTlaː-ypoder-IMPFk-ʔa-lak-t’aː-tamakahuːn1SUB-PL-3PL.OBJ-COM-quedar:PFVhaː laː-y k-ʔa-lak-t’aː-tamakahuːnINT poder-IMPF 1SUB-PL-3PL.OBJ-COM-quedar:PFV‘Can I stay with you guys?’[25] Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);Similarly, the Papantla Totonac verb muxuː ‘bury something’ is transitive but becomes ditransitive when it takes the comitative prefix: na-k-ta̰ː-muxuː-yaː-nFUT-1SUB-COM-meterlo-IMPF-2OBJna-k-ta̰ː-muxuː-yaː-nFUT-1SUB-COM-meterlo-IMPF-2OBJ‘I will bury her with you’[26] Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);The third applicative prefix that is shared across the family is analyzed in most of the languages as an instrumental applicative and is used to add an object used as an instrument or a means to a clause: INTJINTJliː-láq-paqɬ-ɬiINST-DST-break-PFVtʃíwiʃstoneta-laq-pítsi-ɬiINCH-DST-split-PFVINTJ liː-láq-paqɬ-ɬi tʃíwiʃ ta-laq-pítsi-ɬiINTJ INST-DST-break-PFV stone INCH-DST-split-PFV‘So he broke the rock with it, it was split.’[27] Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);kitIčaa=čujust=CLutthatik-lii-ta-riku-la(ɬ)1SUB-INST-INCH-rich-PFVwḭn-ɬkak̰this-ashmaa-wanEVI-saykit čaa=ču ut ik-lii-ta-riku-la(ɬ) wḭn-ɬkak̰ maa-wanI just=CL that 1SUB-INST-INCH-rich-PFV this-ash EVI-say‘ “I just got rich with (i.e. selling) those ashes”, he says.’[28] Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);In some of the languages, the instrumental can also be used for the expression of motives: ʔeːandčuːnúːsopaɬiftsḭnʔs-ya̰be.hungry-IMPF:2SG.SUBliː-ta̰sá-ya̰INST-vocalize-IMPF:2SG.SUBpusINTJʔeː čuːnúː paɬ tsḭnʔs-ya̰ liː-ta̰sá-ya̰ pusand so if be.hungry-IMPF:2SG.SUB INST-vocalize-IMPF:2SG.SUB INTJ‘ “And if you're hungry, that's why you cry out, then.’[29] Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);porkebecauselaq-ɬuwCLF-muchtuminmoneyɬiː-k’uč’u-kan-ɬDIR-cure-PASS-PFVporke laq-ɬuw tumin ɬiː-k’uč’u-kan-ɬbecause CLF-much money DIR-cure-PASS-PFV‘Because they cured him for a lot of money.’[30] Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);As seen in the last example, this prefix is ɬi- in Tepehua languages rather than liː- as it is in Totonac, and in Tlachichilco [31] and Huehuetla[32] it is analyzed as a directional ("DIR") rather than an instrumental.The Totonacan languages exhibit a phenomenon similar to noun incorporation whereby special prefixing combining forms of body-parts may be added to verbs.waːFOCnaːENFmaːRPTlaʔapuː-tanuː-yface-put.in-IMPFš-laʔapuːtanuːti3PO-maskwaː naː maː laʔapuː-tanuː-y š-laʔapuːtanuːtiFOC ENF RPT face-put.in-IMPF 3PO-mask‘He put the mask on his face.’[35] Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);The prefixes can also be used to specify the shape of an affected object: an-ligo-PFVtukuwhatwan-ni-kansay-BEN-INDEF.SUBča̰ː-ka̰ːshin-cuttasunbirchan-li tuku wan-ni-kan ča̰ː-ka̰ː tasungo-PFV what say-BEN-INDEF.SUB shin-cut birch‘He went to, what do you call it?, cut a birch tree,’[36]It is worthwhile to note that the prefixation does not decrease the valency of the verb, differentiating this process from true noun incorporation as the term is usually understood.[37] Another important role that bodypart prefixes play in Totonacan languages is in the formulation of expressions of the spatial location of objects, which combine a part-prefix with one of four posture verbs (words for ’sit’, ‘stand’, ‘lie’, and ‘be high’): ta-a̰kpuː-wila-nan-ɬ3PL.SUB-crown-sit-PL-PFVčiwíšstonespuːn-niːnbird-PLta-a̰kpuː-wila-nan-ɬ čiwíš spuːn-niːn3PL.SUB-crown-sit-PL-PFV stone bird-PL‘the birds are sitting on the rock’[38]These constructions alternate with expressions using the independent (full) form of the part as a preposition-like element: líbɾubookḭš-a̰kpúː-n3PO-crown-NMmesatablewiːɬsitlíbɾu ḭš-a̰kpúː-n mesa wiːɬbook 3PO-crown-NM table sit‘the book is on the table’[39] Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);In the last sentence, the independent form of a̰kpuː- 'crown' is formed by combining this prefix with a base -n which is sometimes (as here) analyzed as a nominalizing suffix.[41] Numerals in Totonacan languages are bound roots that require a classificatory prefix which changes based on the type, shape or measure of object being counted.[44] The most common (but by no means only) sound-symbolic pattern in Totonacan involves fricative alterations, typically /s/ ~ /š/ ~ /ɬ/ and occasionally /ts/ ~ /č/ ~ /š/ correlated either with increasingly more energetic or forceful action or with the size of an event participant,[45] as in the following examples from Upper Necaxa Totonac:[46] Comparative as well as language-internal evidence suggests that the pattern of consonantal alternations may have their origins in affixes indicating grade—s- ‘diminutive‘, š- ‘medium’, ɬ- ‘augmentative’).
MexicoLinguistic classificationTotozoqueanProto-TotonacanTepehuaTotonacISO 639-3GlottologfamilyVeracruzPueblaHidalgoSpanish conquestareal featuresMesoamerican Linguistic AreaMayan languagesNahuatlMixe–ZoquePapantlaCazonesEspinalPoza RicaPantepecXicotepec de JuárezSierra Norte de PueblaZapotitlán de MéndezCoatepecHuehuetlaYecuatlaMisantlaEthnologueHuehuetla TepehuaPisaflores TepehuaPisafloresIxhuatlán de MaderoTlachichilco TepehuaTlachichilcoPapantla TotonacCoyutla TotonacCoyutlaHighland TotonacZacatlán, PueblaFilomeno Mata TotonacFilomeno MataXicotepec TotonacOzumatlán TotonacTepetzintlaTlapehualaMisantla TotonacUpper Necaxa TotonacTecpatlán TotonacInstituto Nacional de Lenguas IndígenasUpper NecaxaZihuateutla TotonacCerro Xinolatépetl TotonacApapantilla TotonacLowland TotonacSierra TotonacZapotitlánEl TajínJilotepecTierra ColoradaLabialAlveolarPalatalUvularGlottalcentrallateralPlosiveAffricateFricativeApproximantlaryngealizationMesoamerican areal typehead-markingagglutinativepolysyntheticcausativesapplicativesPossessionclassificatorysound symbolismmorphemesvalencycausativemorphemedativebenefactiveOzelonacaxtla Totonaccomitativetransitiveditransitivenoun incorporationPossessiveparadigmAmericanist notationApapantillaHighlandOzelonacaxtlaXECTZ-AMCuetzalan, PueblaWiktionaryInternational Journal of American LinguisticsThe University of ChicagoChan, EugeneDiario Oficial de la FederaciónImprenta del Gobierno FederalMexico D.F.Language familiesMesoamericaChibchanJicaqueanLencanMisumalpanOto-MangueanTequistlatecanUto-AztecanXincanCuitlatecPurépechaAlagüilacMacro-MayanMacro-ChibchanPenutianTolatecan