On the so-called “purposive”

verbs in Nahuatl

Mitsuya Sasaki University of Tokyo, JSPS Research Fellow

SSILA Annual Meeting at Washington D.C., January 8, 2016

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Outline

Introduction: What is a “purposive” verb?

“Purposive” in Ixquihuacan Nahuatl

Semantic tests for “purposives”

Discussion

Summary

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Nahuatl morphological directionals

Directional prefixes on- / wāl-

“Purposive” suffixes -tīw / -kīw etc.

Compound with ‘go’ -tiw / -tiwāllaw etc.

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Andative vs. venitive

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ANDATIVE -on, -tīw, etc.

VENITIVE -wāl, -kīw, etc.

Directional prefixes: (1)–(3)

(1) ‘They [Aztec envoys] gave (andative)

them [the Spaniards] all these things.’

(2) ‘They [the Spaniards] returned (venitive)

the gift.’

(3) ‘They [the Spaniards] gave (venitive)

them [the Aztec envoys] green and yellow

necklaces…

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“Purposive” forms

Traditionally described as

“go/come in order to …”

– ka ō=ti-kim-itta-to-’ AFF ANT=1PLS-3PLO-see-ANDP.PST-PLS

‘We went to see them.’

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“Purposive” forms: (4)–(6)

(4) ‘We went to see the gods …’

(5) ‘We went to give them all your capes.’

(6) ‘… we came to greet him, salute him.’

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Non-purposive use of “purposives”

(7) ‘When they arrived (lit. came to arrive) at

Tecoac …

(8) ‘It was already dark when they arrived (lit.

came to arrive) here.’

(9) ‘It has gone to be known all the way to

Castile that …’

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Dialectal variations, etc.

Amith (1988) on Ameyaltepec Nahuatl:

– Directional prefixes: motion of the object

– “Purposive” forms: motion of the subject

Metaphoric uses of directional prefixes

– Andrews (1981), Launey (1997), etc.

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San Francisco Ixquihuacan

Municipality of Ahuacatlán, Puebla

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Ixquihuacan

State of Puebla ©Google

©INEGI

“Purposive” in Ixquihuacan Nahuatl

Andative Venitive

Nonpast -tih (-tīweh) -kih (-kīweh)

Preterit -to(h) -ko(h)

Optative -h (-tih) -ki (-kih)

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Typical use of “purposives” in Ixquihuacan Nahuatl

(10) ‘May they come to see who the thieves are.’

(11) ‘Luis’s mother entered (lit. went to enter) the

house again …’

(12) ‘We go all the way to Zacatlán to take things …’

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Non-typical use of “purposives” in Ixquihuacan Nahuatl

(13) ‘It became dark when we came at this point.’

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ō-tlayuwa-ko (venitive purposive)

Non-typical use of “purposives” in Ixquihuacan Nahuatl

(14) ‘if he passes away on the way [to the city]…’

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poliwi-tih (andative purposive)

Purpose and non-purpose uses

“Purpose” use

– I went to the market to get some shoes.

“On-way” use

– It became dark when we reached here.

– The patient died on the way to the city.

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Question:

The “Purpose” use and the “on-way” use:

How can these two distinct usages be

accounted for?

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Purposive = Motion (M) + Event (E)

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Event (E)

Motion (M)

ni-k-nāmiki-tih 1SGS-3SGO-meet-ANDP ‘I go meet her.’

Semantic tests for “purposives”

(a) Does E actually happen?

(b) Does E occur after M is completed?

(c) Is E the objective of M?

(d) Do M and E share the subject?

(e) Does E occur at the same place as the subject of M?

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E M

(a) Does the event actually happen?

(15) ō-ni-Ø-kōwa-ko ZAPATOS PST-1SGS-3SGO-buy-VENP shoes

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CONTEXT: I came to the market to buy shoes.

READING: ✔ I actually bought shoes.

✔ I haven’t bought any shoes but I’m still looking for ones.

? I could not find any shoes so I gave up.

(b) Is the motion completed? (Purpose use)

(16) ō-ni-k-tlahpalō-ko sē no-AMIGO PST-1SGS-3SGO-greet-VENP one 1SGP-friend

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CONTEXT: My friend lives in another village and I went to say hello to

him.

READING: ✔ I came to his house and said hello to him.

? Soon after I left my village, I ran into him and said hello.

(b) Is the motion completed? (On-way use)

(17) ō-Ø-poliwi-to n no-knih PST-3S-be.lost-ANDP ART 1SGP-brother

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CONTEXT: My brother is sick; so we brought him to the hospital.

READING:

✔ He died before arriving at the hospital.

✘ He died as soon as he arrived at the hospital.

(c) Is E the objective of M? (Purpose use)

(18) a. ō-ni-k-nāmiki-to sē no-AMIGO PST-1SGS-3SGO-meet-ANDP one 1SGP-friend

b. #ō-ni-k-ahsi-to sē no-AMIGO PST-1SGS-3SGO-arrive-ANDP one 1SGP-friend

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CONTEXT: I visited my friend. I met him at his house.

(c) Is E the objective of M? (On-way use)

(19) a. #ō-ni-k-nāmiki-to sē no-AMIGO PST-1SGS-3SGO-meet-ANDP one 1SGP-friend

b. ō-ni-k-ahsi-to sē no-AMIGO PST-1SGS-3SGO-arrive-ANDP one 1SGP-friend

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CONTEXT: On my way to the city, I ran into my friend.

(d) Do M and E share the subject?

“On-way” use:

(13) ‘It became dark when we came at

this point.’

(14) ‘if he passes away on [his] way [to

the city]…’

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(e) Does E occur at the place of the subject of M? (On-way use)

(20) #ō-Ø-tlami-ko PST-3S-finish-VENP.PST

‘It finished when I came to this point.’

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CONTEXT: I’m on my way back to my village in order to help my family build a new house. On the way to the village, they called me

and said that they had just finished building the house.

Summary: “Purpose” use and “on-way” use

“Purpose” use “On-way” use

(a) Yes Yes

(b) Yes No

(c) Yes No

(d) Yes Yes/No

(e) Yes Yes

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Discussion: A unified account

(i) “Purposive” as M–E succession

(ii) Projection of the semantic features

(iii) Relevancy condition

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Presupposition 1: “Purposive” as M–E succession

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The so-called “purposive” suffixes are

unspecified as to the logical/causal relation

between the motion and the event;

They simply denote that the motion and

the event occur in succession

Presupposition 2: Projection of verbal semantic features

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The argument structure and semantic

features of the “purposive” verbal complex

are identical to those of the verb stem

The “purposive” affixes -tīw, -to, etc. do

not affect the argument structure of the

whole verb

Presupposition 3: Relevancy principle

A verb form cannot combine two events

logically or cognitively irrelevant to each

other.

M and E are interpreted as relevant to

each other

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“Purpose” use

(21) ni-Ø-kōwa-kih ZAPATOS

1SGS-3SGO-buy-VENP shoes

‘I go in order to buy shoes.’

– M–E succession: ‘come’ → ‘I buy shoes’

– The whole verb is agentive

– Relevancy: The motion should be logically

related to the event

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“On-way” use

(22) ō-tlayuwa-ko

PST-be.dark-VENP.PST

‘Night fell when [we] came to this point.’

– M–E succession: ‘come’ → ‘it gets dark’

– Agentivity: The whole verb is non-agentive

– Relevancy: The motion should be logically

related to the event

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“On-way” use

(23) Ø-poliwi-tih

3S-be.lost-ANDP

‘He passed away on his way.’

– M–E succession: ‘go’ → ‘he passes away’

– Agentivity: The whole verb is non-agentive

– Relevancy: The motion should be logically

related to the event

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Non-purposive use of “purposives”

(7) ‘When they arrived (lit. came to arrive) at

Tecoac …

(8) ‘It was already dark when they arrived (lit.

came to arrive) here.’

(9) ‘It has gone to be known all the way to

Castile that …’

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san toncochi’tlēwako’ san tontēmikiko’

a’nelli a’nelli tinemiko’ in tlāltikpak

‘We merely come to stand sleeping, we merely

come to dream. It is not true, not true that we

come to live on earth.’

(Cantares mexicanos f. 14v; trans. by Bierhorst)

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Ōannēchmocnēlilihqueh! (Classical)

Tlasohkāmati! (Modern)