Re: New language under development

On 5/31/05, Julia Schnecki Simon <helicula@...> wrote: 
> 
> Hello!
> 
> On 5/31/05, Rob Haden <magwich78@...> wrote:
> > On Fri, 27 May 2005 16:46:40 +0300, Julia "Schnecki" Simon
> > <helicula@...> wrote:
> 
> > >- morphology: Reading up on Nahuatl was what triggered this explosion
> > >of linguistic creativity in my mind; so, as I mentioned, I started out
> > >with the idea to have a morphology similar to that of Nahuatl, but not
> > >too much so. I eventually decided to keep some of the good stuff
> > >(person agreement all over the place; and of course that old favorite,
> > >noun incorporation) and change the rest.
> >
> > Subject and object affixes on verbs?
> 
> I hope so. I still haven't thought much about verbs yet, I must
> confess...
 I was reading up on the processes of noun incorporation and its interaction 
with affixes and transitivity in Misantla Totonac, and thought you might 
find this interesting. In most languages, noun-incorporation is a 
detransitivizing operation, but in Totonac is seems to keep the valency the 
same or even *increase* it.
 Like all of its areal brethren, Totonac makes great use of body-part 
affixes. (Incidentally, I would be terribly embarrassed if I had to go 
around speaking a language that put the word "vagina" into every third 
sentence, but I guess one gets used to it.) They're used in noun derivation, 
locative constructions, and are used quite frequently in verb derivation.
 When you incorporate a body-part-prefix into a verbal complex, however, it 
tends to have different meanings based upon the transitivity of the verb. In 
intransitive verbs, the BPP tends to modify the subject. So the combination 
"head-go" (to look at) deals with the head of the subject, and "hand-go" (to 
gesture) with the subject's hand. In transitive verbs, however, they tend to 
reference the direct object. So something like "head-strike" would mean 
striking someone's head, not striking someone with your own head. (These are 
tendencies and depend on the verb -- "head-carry" is indeed "carry something 
on your head", and not "carry someone's head".) In ditransitive sentences, 
the incorporated body part is usually associated with the indirect object. 
(Something like "head-shoot" would thus deal with the head of the target, 
rather than your head or the arrowhead.)
 Body part prefixes can also increase transitivity. For example (I can't 
remember if this example comes from Misantla or another Totonac), puu-carry 
(puu is used for, er, hollow body parts) increases the valency of the 
transitive "carry Y" to the ditransitive "carry Y in Z," where Z is some 
hollow container like a basket. 
 Just an oddity from the Aztec environs you might find interesting.
 Cheers,

> -- 
> Patrick Littell
> PHIL205: MWF 2:00-3:00, M 6:00-9:00
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