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Section

4.79 Morphosyntax 3: Classical Nahuatl (Aztec)

Isolate the morphemes for the following forms of Classical Nahuatl (a Uto-Aztecan language spoken in Mexico) and answer questions A-D.

This exercise introduces a new feature. Sometimes in a language, as in Nahuatl, the lack of an overt morpheme has meaning. Some of the examples in 1-21, then, will have an element of meaning for which no phonetically realized morpheme is present. Represent these phonetically empty morphemes in the appropriate spaces below with 0 (the symbol used by linguists to indicate such morphemes).

This exercise uses an alphabet somewhat different from the one Nahuatl speakers use to write the modem language. The current Nahuatl alphabet is based on the conventions used to write Spanish. In this exercise (as in the current Nahuatl alphabet) the letters ch correspond to the sound represented by eh in English, as in the word chip (see Linguistics, p. 77). A colon following a vowel indicates that the vowel is long.

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Questions

A.In the spaces below, list the Classical Nahuatl morphemes that correspond to the English words on the right.

B.Give the order of the morphemes in Nahuatl, using the category labels found in question A (verb, subject, tense, etc.).

C.Translate the following Nahuatl forms into English.

1.tikwi:ka

2.cho:kani

3.nikochiya

D.Translate the following English sentences into Nahuatl.

1.You (sg.) are sleeping.

2.They will sing.

3.We cry.

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