NameSection4.79 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.Nahuatl form English gloss- nicho:ka
- nicho:kani
- ankochinih
- tikochih
- kochiya
- kwi:kas
- ankochiyah
- nicho:kas
- cho:kayah
- tikochi
l l. ancho: kah - tikochis
1 3. ticho: kayah - cho:ka
- kochini
- ancho:kayah
1 7. ticho: kanih - kwi:kah
- tikwi: kani
- nikwi: kaya
- cho:kanih
"I cry"
"I am crying"
"You (pl.) are sleeping"
"We sleep"
"He was sleeping"
"He will sing"
"You (pl.) were sleeping"
"I will cry"
"They were crying"
"You (sg.) sleep"
"You (pl.) cry"
"You (sg.) will sleep"
"We were crying"
"He cries"
"He is sleeping"
"You (pl.) were crying"
"We are crying"
"They sing"
"You (sg.) are singing"
"I was singing"
"They are crying"