Noun morphology edit

Predicative prefixes edit

Singular Plural
1 ni- "I" ti- "we"
2 ti- "you (sg)" an- "you (pl)"
3 ∅- "he/she/it/they"

Titoltecatl. "You are a Toltec."

Possessed nouns edit

Prefixes

Singular Plural
1 no- "my" to- "our"
2 mo- "your (sg)" amo-/mo- "your (pl)"
2 ī-/mo- "his/her/its" īm-/mo- "their"
  • tē- "somebody's"
  • tla- "something's"
  • ne- [for V.refl → N]

Suffixes

SG PL
After V -uh -huān
After C -hui -huān

Absolutive nouns edit

Suffixes

  • -tli/-lli/-tl/-in [singular]
  • -tin/-meh/-h [plural]

Verb morphology edit

  1. Optative marker
    • mā- "if, should it be that, let it be that"
    • tlā- [polite form of mā-]
    • māca(mō)- [negative of , from mā+ahmo]
    • tlāca(mō)-/tlē- [negative of tlā-]
  2. Negative marker ah- or ahmo "not"
  3. Antecessive prefix ō- "already"
  4. Subject prefix
    • ni- "I" and ti-/xi- "we"
    • ti-/xi- "you (sg)" and am-/an- "you (pl)"
    • Third-person subject is unmarked.
  5. Specific object prefix
    • nēch- "me" and tēch- "us"
    • mitz- "you (sg)" and amēch- "you (pl)"
    • c-/qui- "him/her/it" and quim- "them"
  6. Directional prefixes huāl- "hither" and on- "thither"
  7. Reflexive prefixes
    • no- "myself" and to- "ourselves"
    • mo- "yourself/yourselves/itself/themselves"
    • ne- [for reflexive verbs used nonreflexively]
  8. Nonspecific object (dummy object)
    • tē- [human] and tla- [nonhuman]
  9. VERB STEM
  10. Tense and number suffixes
  11. Causative suffix
  12. Passive/Inactive suffix
  13. Valence suffix

For object suffixes, agreement is preferentially benefactive > indirect > direct. For example, if saying "I gave it to you for her," the single object suffix will agree with "her."

Verb classes edit

Class 1
"to cry"
Class 2
"to live"
Class 3
"to bathe"
Class 4
"to eat"
Base 1 chōca- yōli- āltia- cua-
Base 2 chōca- yōl- āltih- cuah-
Base 3 chōca- yōli- āltī- cuā-
Time/Mood Base Suffix (SG) Suffix (PL)
Present 1 -∅ -h
Customary present 1 -:ni -:nih
Imperfect (1) 1 -ya -yah
Imperfect (2.3.4) 1 -:ya -:yah
Perfect (1) 2 -c -queh
Perfect (2.3.4) 2 -∅ -queh
Pluperfect 2 -ca -cah
Admonitive (1) 2 -h -htin
Admonitive (2.3.4) 2 -∅ -tin
Future 3 -z -zqueh
Optative 3 -∅ -cān
Conditional 3 -zquiya -zquiyah
  • tichōcah "we cry"
  • tiāltiāni "we habitually bathe"
  • amquicuāyah "you were eating it"
  • ōtiāltihqueh "we bathed"
  • tiyōlca "you had lived"
  • māca quicuahtin "lest they eat it"
  • chōcazque "they will cry"
  • mā yōlican "let them live"
  • cāltīzqueh "they will bathe him"
  • cāltīzquiyah "they would bathe him"
  • ōcāltīzquiya "she would have bathed him"

Irregular verbs edit

cā/ye
"to be"
huītza
"to go"
yā/huih
"to come"
huāllā/huālhuih
"to come"
1. Present singular cah huītz yauh huāllauh
1. Present plural cateh huītzeh huih huālhuih
1. Imperfect yeya(h) yāya(h) huālhuiya(h)
2. Perfect catca(h) huītza(h) yah(queh) huāllah(queh)
3. Future yez(queh) yāz(queh) huāllaz(queh)

Class assignment edit

  1. Closed list of exceptions
    • Irregular verbs: cā/ye, huītza, yā/huih, huāllā/huālhuih
    • Out-of-class verbs: pāca/pāc "to wash" (2, not 1); tōna/tōnac "to proper" (1, not 2); zōma/zōmah "to irritate" (4, not 2)
  2. Verbs ending in -hua and -ya
    • -hua, intransitive (Class 1), e.g. ēhuaēhuac "he departed"
    • -hua, transitive (Class 2), e.g. ēhuamēuh "he raised himself"
    • -ya (Class 1 or 2 as preferred)
  3. Certain monosyllabic verbs
    • #Ca# (Class 4)
    • i# (Class 1, iī), e.g. iquīc "he drank it"
  4. Verbs ending in -o, -tla, and -ca
    • Co (Class 1, oō), e.g. panopanōqueh "they passed", temotemōc "he descended"
    • -tla (Class 1), e.g. mōtlaquimōtlac "he threw stones at him"
    • -ca (Class 1), e.g. chōcachōcaqueh "they wept", tēcamotēcac "he lay down"
  5. Other verbs
    • CCV (Class 1), e.g. ittaquittaqueh "they saw it", ahciahcic "he arrived"
    • VCV (Class 2), e.g. quīzaniquīz "I sent out", miquimic "he died", tzacuaniquitzauc "I covered it", nēcinēzqueh "they appeared", ximaninoxin "I shaved myself", chiyanitlachix "I looked", matiquimah "he knew it"
    • VV (Class 3), e.g. ihtoaihtoh "he spoke", quihtohqueh "they said it"

Passive endings edit

Causatives and applicatives edit

Auxiliary suffixes edit

  • Ten verbs are commonly used as auxiliaries to give a nuanced meaning.
Verb Present Past Future Function
cah
"be"
-ticah -ticatca -tiez to be verbing
ēhua
"rise, depart"
-tēhua -tēhuac -tēhuaz to depart, verbing
huetzi
"fall"
-tihuetzi -tihuetz -tihuetziz to verb quickly
huītz
"come"
-tihuītz -tihuītza to come verbing
ihcac
"stand"
-tihcac -ticaca
-ticaya
-ticaz to stand verbing
mani
"spread out"
-timani -timan
-timanca
-timaniz to be verbing
nemi
"live"
-tinemi -tinen(ca) -tinemiz to go about verbing
(on)oc
"lie"
-toc -toca -toz to lie verbing
quīza
"emerge, pass"
-tiquīza -tiquīz -tiquīzaz to pass, verbing
yauh
"go"
-tiuh
(-ti-yauh)
-tia
(-ti-yah)
-tiaz
(-ti-yaz)
to be verbing

Intentional suffixes edit

  • Used to mean "to come (introverse) or to go (extroverse) in order to verb," using present stem (Base 1).
Future Present Preterite Optative
Introverse (SG) -quiuh -co -co -qui
Introverse (PL) -quihuih -coh -coh -quih
Extroverse (SG) -tīuh -tīuh -to -h, -ti
Extroverse (PL) -tīhuih -tīhuih -toh -tih, -tin

Verbal Nouns edit

Abstract nouns edit

Formed with the suffix -(l)iztli:

  • nemi "to live" → nemīztli "living"
  • cochi "to sleep" → cochiliztli "sleeping"
  • tlazohtla "to love" → tlazohtlaliztli "love"
  • miqui "to die" → miquiliztli/miquiztli "death"
  • tēmachtia "to instruct people" → tēmachtiliztli "instructing, education"

Agentive nouns edit

Usually formed from the absolutive in one of three ways:

  1. Add -ni to the verb stem, adding -meh if plural
    mati "to know" → tlamati "to know something" → tlamatini "scholar" → tlamatinimeh "scholars"
  2. Add -qui (singular) or -queh (plural) to the preterite, deleting the ō-
    chōca "to cry" → ōchōcac "cried" → chōcacqui "the one crying"
    miqui "to die" → ōmic "died" → micqueh "the dead"
    cua "to eat" → ōcuah "ate" → cuahqui "eater"
  3. Like (2) except the singular omits -qui
    poloa "to lay waste" → tēpoloa "to conquer people" → ōtēpoloh "conquered" → tēpoloh "conqueror" → tēpolohqueh "conquerors"

Affix list edit