Uto-Aztecan and Nahuatl historical developments by Karen Dakin
Por el norte de Guerrero, nuevas miradas desde la antropología y la historia, coords. T. Pavia Miller, A. Warren Johnson, and B. von Mentz, CDMX: INAH., 2016
This contribution centers on the historical interpretation of the relations of the so-called west... more This contribution centers on the historical interpretation of the relations of the so-called western Nahua dialects in the state of Guerrero with the dialect areas outside of Guerrero. The presentation centers on the southern Guerrero dialects that include Ometepec and Cuautepec, but also on Santa María Acatitlán, Tejupilco, in the State of Mexico, areas first identified as in contrast by Leopoldo Valiñas (1978, 1981) and Una Canger (1983). The data come primarily from their work and that of Lastra (1985), as well as from earlier publications, including those by Weitlaner, Barlow, Hendrichs and Boas.
Homenaje a Jorge A. Suárez, EDS.Garza Cuarón, Beatriz, Levy Podolsky, Paulette, 1991
Analysis of the sources of -kp- clusters in Nahuatl, such as in tekpin 'flea', which is unexpecte... more Analysis of the sources of -kp- clusters in Nahuatl, such as in tekpin 'flea', which is unexpected from Proto-Uto-Aztecan *tïpV 'flea'. On the basis of various kinds of comparative evidence and morphophonemic alternations, it is argued that most -kp- clusters in the Nahuatl lexicon are due to processes that involve dissimilation from **-tp- clusters, as in a plural reduplicated te-tepi- > tekpin, given that fleas are usually found in the plural. If this analysis correct, it would be that the name of the well-known 'flea market' in Mexico City, Tepito, actually had the word 'llea' in its name, although Tepiton . It is common in Mexican Spanish to refer to very small objects, especially animate ones, as 'una pulguita' .
In some cases probably additional metathesis occurs in which the resulting *kp' to p-k. For example:
**pa-kV-
above-LOC > -kpa- 'above' (cf. no-kpa-c 'above me')
Estudios lingüísticos y filológicos en lenguas indígenas mexicanas, Celebración de los 30 años del Seminario de Lenguas Indígenas, eds. Francisco Arellanes Arellanes and Lilián Guerrero Valenzuela, 2021
Historia sociolingüística de México. Volumen 4. La diversidad de las situaciones sociolingüísticas Rebeca Barriga Villanueva y Pedro Martín Butragueño (dirs.), 2021
El idioma que primero fue identificado por los que llegaban de Europa como mexicano, actualmente ... more El idioma que primero fue identificado por los que llegaban de Europa como mexicano, actualmente se conoce con los términos nahua, o náhuatl, o con representaciones ortográficas de la /w/ como nauatl o nawatl, y sobre todo fuera de México, como azteca.
Lenguas yutoaztecas: historia, estructuras y contacto lingüístico, Homenaje a Karen Dakin, Rosa H. Yáñez, coordinadora. Guadalajara: Universidad de Guadalajara. Pp. 37-58. ISBN: 978-607-547-808-1, 2020
Two proposals are made in this paper. The first is that in the derivation of deverbal nouns and v... more Two proposals are made in this paper. The first is that in the derivation of deverbal nouns and verbs in Naua, a proto-Naua nominalizing suffix *-li had to be added to the basic verb first. The second is that it was the *-li that caused the morphological palatalization of *s, *¢, *t and *tl through a process of dissimilation from the coronal point of articulation of the following *-li. These formations included the applicative, causative, impersonal, resultative nouns, and the derivation of the Naua verb class of verbs in -oa. These formations then underwent regular morphophonological changes of vowel reduction and loss, and then the simplification of resulting consonant clusters that obscured the role of the *-li- suffix in the derivational processes.
AVANCES Y BALANCES DE LENGUAS YUTOAZTECAS, HOMENAJE A WICK R. MILLER, ed. Jane H. Hill y José Luis Moctezuma Z., ISBN 970-18-6966-4, 2001
Several phonological isoglosses for Uto-Aztecan, especially those that involve the relationships... more Several phonological isoglosses for Uto-Aztecan, especially those that involve the relationships among the southern languages, are discussed in terms of the classification. Evidence for additional isoglosses such as the change of *l > y intervocallically is considered as well.
Language Contact and Change in Mesoamerica and Beyond (eds. K. Dakin, Claudia Parodi and N. Operstein), 2017
The purpose of this introductory chapter is to provide an overview of the volume by outlining som... more The purpose of this introductory chapter is to provide an overview of the volume by outlining some of the major threads in the published literature on language contact and contact-induced change in Mesoamerica and adjacent areas, and by situating the volume and its individual chapters in the context of this research.
In: Language Contact and Change in Mesoamerica and Beyond, , 2017
ABSTRACT: Western and Central Nahua dialects: Possible influences from contact with Cora and Huic... more ABSTRACT: Western and Central Nahua dialects: Possible influences from contact with Cora and Huichol
Karen Dakin This contribution explores the possibilities that detailed analyses of six isoglosses in
Nahua dialectology in the terms of comparative and historical linguistics can serve to determine the chronology of key changes identified, and other proposals are evaluated that treat those same changes, particularly those of Campbell and Langacker (1978) concerning the possible subgrouping of Nahua with Corachol, and within Nahua, the status of Pochutec in relation to Western and Eastern Nahua. In particular, revisions in previous analyses are proposed with regard to the changes undergone by pUA **p in initial position, the complicated correspondences with the pUA vowel **u that play a part in forming the isoglosses dealing with the different correspondence sets with the Uto-Aztecan system of short vowels, and considerations that need to be made about the origins of and the role played by the lateral affricate ƛ.
Secondly, the paper deals with the role that contact and more importantly multilingualism with the western Mexico languages, in particular with Cora and Huichol, may have had in triggering such changes. And third , although only very tentatively, the importance of the later Western Nahua migrations into the central area of Mexico, and how the historical conditions that surrounded those could be related to the linguistic analysis are considered. The results help to explain the situation that Canger (1988) proposed in which Central Nahuatl was a Post-classic koine of sorts, an "Urban Nahuatl" in her terms, created when later waves of
Western Nahuas arrived in the high plateau already settled in part by earlier waves of Eastern Nahuas who had arrived very probably during the Classic period.
DAKIN, Karen Ils e , -VERB-SYSTEM CHANGE IN SANTA CATARINA (MORELOS) NAHUATL: ITS RELATION TO BIL... more DAKIN, Karen Ils e , -VERB-SYSTEM CHANGE IN SANTA CATARINA (MORELOS) NAHUATL: ITS RELATION TO BILINGUALISM The U n iv e r s it y o f W is c o n s in , P h .D 1972 Language and L i t e r a t u r e , l i n g u i s t i c.
Pochutec, the quite divergent dialect of Nahuatl (Aztec) which Boas (1913; 1917) described from h... more Pochutec, the quite divergent dialect of Nahuatl (Aztec) which Boas (1913; 1917) described from his work in Pochutla, Oaxaca, but which is now extinct, has caused much discussion regarding both how Proto-Aztecan should be reconstructed and what the subgrouping of the dialects should be. Campbell and Langacker in 1978 published hypotheses concerning the implications that the correspondences of the Pochutec vowels with other Nahuatl dialects have for both these questions. I wish to point out why I think that their analysis is incorrect on certain points. The basis for my position comes from the reconstruction of Proto-Aztecan morphology. Campbell and Langacker (1978) argue that a fifth vowel *i must be reconstructed for Proto-Aztecan on the basis of the Pochutec correspondences with the Classical, Tetelcingo, Zacapoaxtla, and Pipil dialects. Their correspondence sets and the reconstructed vowels they set up for them are shown in table 1. I basically agree with Campbell and Langacker on all their reconstructions except that of *i for the o/i correspondences. They state: ".. . is it [the o/i set] really distinct from the previous set or can both be derived from *i(i)? The answer hinges on whether or not we can find reasonable conditioning environments that determine when *i(i) is reflected in Po as i and when it is reflected as o" (Campbell and Langacker 1978:89). After discussion of various possibilities, they conclude that Po i corresponds to both *i and *ii, but that the o/i set reflects a different vowel: "The answer to the first question is that no plausible conditioning factor(s) can be isolated, hence Proto-Aztecan vowels distinct from *i(i) must be reconstructed to represent the fourth set with Po o" (1978:90).
Cambio Lingüístico: métodos y problemas, Pedro Martín Butragueño, Ed., pp. 11-32., 2004
In reconstructing noun classes for the Uto-Aztecan family, one finds some examples of semantic cl... more In reconstructing noun classes for the Uto-Aztecan family, one finds some examples of semantic classification reflected in the creation of lexical items that seem to be rooted in certain visual images. Possible examples identified include objects with multiple straight lines (as in weaving, wall construction), objects found in pairs and objects with lines of points. The data are given for various UA languages and related to UA ethnographic and Mesoamerican ethnohistorical iconography.
International Journal of American Linguistics, 1991
Amerindia 19-20: 211- 221, 1995
Memorias, VIII Encuentro Internacional de Lingüística en el Noroeeste, editado por Rosa María Ortiz Ciscomani. Hermosillo, Vol. II, Pp. 217-230. ISBN 970-689-301-6. 2006., 2006
Encuentro Internacional de Lingüística en Acatlán, editado por Pilar Máynez y María Rosario Dosal G. , 2006
Estudios de Cultura Náhuatl 20:261-280, 1991
International Journal of American Linguistics, 1979
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Uto-Aztecan and Nahuatl historical developments by Karen Dakin
In some cases probably additional metathesis occurs in which the resulting *kp' to p-k. For example:
**pa-kV-
above-LOC > -kpa- 'above' (cf. no-kpa-c 'above me')
Karen Dakin This contribution explores the possibilities that detailed analyses of six isoglosses in
Nahua dialectology in the terms of comparative and historical linguistics can serve to determine the chronology of key changes identified, and other proposals are evaluated that treat those same changes, particularly those of Campbell and Langacker (1978) concerning the possible subgrouping of Nahua with Corachol, and within Nahua, the status of Pochutec in relation to Western and Eastern Nahua. In particular, revisions in previous analyses are proposed with regard to the changes undergone by pUA **p in initial position, the complicated correspondences with the pUA vowel **u that play a part in forming the isoglosses dealing with the different correspondence sets with the Uto-Aztecan system of short vowels, and considerations that need to be made about the origins of and the role played by the lateral affricate ƛ.
Secondly, the paper deals with the role that contact and more importantly multilingualism with the western Mexico languages, in particular with Cora and Huichol, may have had in triggering such changes. And third , although only very tentatively, the importance of the later Western Nahua migrations into the central area of Mexico, and how the historical conditions that surrounded those could be related to the linguistic analysis are considered. The results help to explain the situation that Canger (1988) proposed in which Central Nahuatl was a Post-classic koine of sorts, an "Urban Nahuatl" in her terms, created when later waves of
Western Nahuas arrived in the high plateau already settled in part by earlier waves of Eastern Nahuas who had arrived very probably during the Classic period.
In some cases probably additional metathesis occurs in which the resulting *kp' to p-k. For example:
**pa-kV-
above-LOC > -kpa- 'above' (cf. no-kpa-c 'above me')
Karen Dakin This contribution explores the possibilities that detailed analyses of six isoglosses in
Nahua dialectology in the terms of comparative and historical linguistics can serve to determine the chronology of key changes identified, and other proposals are evaluated that treat those same changes, particularly those of Campbell and Langacker (1978) concerning the possible subgrouping of Nahua with Corachol, and within Nahua, the status of Pochutec in relation to Western and Eastern Nahua. In particular, revisions in previous analyses are proposed with regard to the changes undergone by pUA **p in initial position, the complicated correspondences with the pUA vowel **u that play a part in forming the isoglosses dealing with the different correspondence sets with the Uto-Aztecan system of short vowels, and considerations that need to be made about the origins of and the role played by the lateral affricate ƛ.
Secondly, the paper deals with the role that contact and more importantly multilingualism with the western Mexico languages, in particular with Cora and Huichol, may have had in triggering such changes. And third , although only very tentatively, the importance of the later Western Nahua migrations into the central area of Mexico, and how the historical conditions that surrounded those could be related to the linguistic analysis are considered. The results help to explain the situation that Canger (1988) proposed in which Central Nahuatl was a Post-classic koine of sorts, an "Urban Nahuatl" in her terms, created when later waves of
Western Nahuas arrived in the high plateau already settled in part by earlier waves of Eastern Nahuas who had arrived very probably during the Classic period.
Una de las características más comentadas del discurso del náhuatl colonial es el uso de formas honoríficas, descritas en mucho detalle por los primeros gramáticos. Son sistemas que nos proporcionan datos importantes sobre las relaciones sociales existentes entre actores de identidades contrastantes, según el uso o no de una forma por ejemplo, además de los ejemplos en el Libro VI del Códice florentino, las referencias a la religión cristiana en los escritos de los frailes españoles y nativos reflejan jerarquías muy claramente por su empleo de ellas.
Las formaciones de los nominales poseídos en lenguas yutoaztecas parecen haberse estado sujetas a una serie especialmente complicada de cambios fonológicos en las distintas ramas de la familia. En Dakin (1983) se hizo un análisis del sistema en náhuatl con base tanto en la reconstrucción interna y dialectal del náhuatl como por comparación con algunas formaciones cognadas de lenguas yutoaztecas. Desde esa fecha, además de la publicación de más estudios gramaticales sobre lenguas yutoaztecas y sobre el tema de la posesión, ha habido adelantos en la identificación más específica de cambios fonológicos en la familia que afectan la evolución de las formaciones posesivas en las distintas ramas. En esta ponencia se proporciona evidencia para apoyar la reconstrucción de un morfema básico *-La sufijado al sustantivo poseído (y en que *L representa los reflejos *n/*l/*r/*y/*d en las varias ramas), y un sufijo *-wa que se puede usar con el *La para matizar el tipo de posesión, por lo menos para varias ramas de la familia.