Cover not available

In:Verb Valency Changes: Theoretical and typological perspectives
Edited by Albert Álvarez González and Ia Navarro
[Typological Studies in Language 120] 2017
► pp. 81–105

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
authorization required

Transitivity and valency-changing operations in Huasteca Nahuatl

 | Universidad de Sonora
 | Universidad de Sonora
 | Universidad de Sonora
Published online: 30 September 2017
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/tsl.120.04per
Abstract
This paper focuses on valency-changing operations in Huasteca Nahuatl. Regarding valency-increasing operations, it is shown that the suffix -lti/-ti/-tia is used for causativization of intransitive verbs, and that applicativization is marked by the suffix -lia/-li/-l. Regarding valency-decreasing operations, the prefix mo- shows a wide range of functions, covering reflexive, reciprocal, middle, impersonal and passive meanings. This paper also demonstrates that valency-changing operators in Huasteca Nahuatl can be used without changing the valency of the base verb, thus indicating that these markers are in fact transitivity-changing operators, not always valency-changing operators. The processes of autocausativization, antipassivization and noun incorporation in Huasteca Nahuatl are also addressed, particularly their effects on transitivity and valency.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The language and the data
  • 3.The notions of transitivity and valency
  • 4. Transitivity and valency-changing operations in Huasteca Nahuatl
    • 4.1Intransitive, transitive and ditransitive clauses in Huasteca Nahuatl
    • 4.2Valency-changing operations in Huasteca Nahuatl
      • 4.2.1Valency-increasing operations
        • 4.2.1.1Causativization
        • 4.2.1.2Applicativization
      • 4.2.2Valency-decreasing operations
        • 4.2.2.1Reflexive constructions
        • 4.2.2.2Reciprocal constructions
        • 4.2.2.3Middle constructions
        • 4.2.2.4Passivization and antipassivization
    • 4.3Noun incorporation in Huasteca Nahuatl
  • 5.Final remarks
  • Notes
  • References
References (41)
References
Aikhenvald, Alexandra Y. 2013. Possession and ownership: A cross-linguistic perspective. In Possession and Ownership. A Cross-Linguistic Typology, Aikhenvald Alexandra Y. & Robert M. W. Dixon (eds), 1–64. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Comrie, Bernard. 1981. Aspect and voice: Some reflexions on perfect and passive. In Tense and Aspect [Syntax and Semantics 14], Philip J. Tedeschi & Annie Zaenen (eds), 65–78. New York NY: Academic Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cooreman, Ann M. 1994. A functional typology of antipassive. In Voice: Form and Function [Typological Studies in Language 27], Barbara Fox & Paul J. Hopper (eds), 49–88. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Creissels, Denis & Nouguier-Voisin, Sylvie. 2008. Valency-changing operations in Wolof and the notion of co-participation. In Reciprocal and Reflexives, Theoretical and Typological Explanations, Ekkehard König & Volker Gast (eds), 289–305. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dryer, Mathew S. 1986. Primary objects, secondary objects and antidative. Language 62(4): 808–845. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Faltz, Leonard M. 1985. Reflexivization: A Study in Universal Syntax. New York NY: Garland.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Flores Nájera, Lucero. 2009. La voz antipasiva en el náhuatl de San Isidro Buensuceso, Tlaxcala. Memorias del Congreso de Idiomas Indígenas de Latinoamérica-IV. Centro para Idiomas Indígenas de Latinoamérica (CILLA), University of Texas, Austin. < [URL]>
Geniušienė, Emma. 1987. The Typology of Reflexives. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2001. Syntax An Introduction, 2 Vols. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hasler, Hangert Andrés. 1995. Manual de Gramática del náhuatl moderno. México: Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Haspelmath, Martin. 1990. The grammaticalization of passive morphology. Studies in Language 14(1): 25–72. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2011. On S, A, P, T, and R as comparative concepts for alignment typology. Linguistic Typology 15: 535–567. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Heine, Bernd & Kuteva, Tania. 2002. World Lexicon of Grammaticalization. Cambridge: CUP. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Heine, Bernd & Miyashita, Hiroyuki. 2008. The intersection between reflexives and reciprocals: A grammaticalization perspective. In Reciprocal and Reflexives, Theoretical and Typological Explanations, Ekkehard König & Volker Gast (eds), 169–224. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hopper, Paul J. & Thompson, Sandra A. 1980. Transitivity in grammar and discourse. Language 52(2): 251–299. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Juárez, Cristian & Álvarez González, Albert. 2017 this volume. The antipassive marking in Mocoví: Forms and functions. In Verb Valency Changes. Theoretical and Typological Perspectives [Typological Studies in Language 120], Albert Álvarez González & Ía Navarro (eds). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kemmer, Suzanne. 1993. Middle Voice [Typological Studies in Language 23]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1994. Middle voice, transitivity, and the elaboration of events. In Voice. Form and Function [Typological Studies in Language 27], Barbara Fox & Paul J. Hopper (eds), 179–230. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kittilä, Seppo. 2002. Transitivity: Towards a Comprehensive Typology. Turku: University of Turku.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Launey, Michel. 1997. La elaboración de los conceptos de la diátesis en las primeras gramáticas del náhuatl. In La descripción de las lenguas amerindias en la época colonial, Klaus Zinmmermann (ed), 21–41. Frankfurt: Vervuert/Madrid: Iberoamericana.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1979. Introduction à la langue et à la littérature aztèques, Tome 1: Grammaire. Paris: L’Harmattan.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lazard, Gilbert. 1998. Actancy. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lichtenberk, Frantisek. 2000. Reciprocals without reflexives. In Reciprocals. Forms and Functions [Typological Studies in Language 41], Zygmunt Frajzyngier & Traci S. Curl (eds), 31–62. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Malchukov, Andrej, Haspelmath, Martin & Comrie, Bernard (eds). 2010. Studies in Ditransitive Constructions. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mithun, Marianne. 2001. The difference a category makes in the expression of possession and inalienability. In Dimensions of Possession [Typological Studies in Language 47], Irene Baron, Michael Herslund & Finn Sørensen (eds), 285–310. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Navarro, Ía. 2017 this volume. The semantics of tla‑ Nahuatl constructions. In Verb Valency Change: Theoretical and Typological Perspectives [Typological Studies in Language 120], Albert Álvarez González & Ía Navarro (eds). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Parry, Mair. 1998. The reinterpretation of the reflexive in Piedmontese: ‘Impersonal’ SE constructions. Transactions of the Philological Society 96(1): 63–116. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Payne, Thomas. 1997. Describing Morphosyntax. A Guide for Field Linguistics. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Payne, Doris & Barshi, Immanuel. 1999. External Possession [Typological Studies in Language 39]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Peregrina, Llanes Manuel. 2005. Caracterización de la transitividad en la narrativa náhuatl de la Huasteca Veracruzana: Desde una propuesta tipológica. MA thesis, Universidad de Sonora.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2013. Seguimiento de referencia en el náhuatl de la Huasteca Veracruzana. PhD dissertation, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
de Reuse, Willem J. 1999. Noun incorporation. In Concise Encyclopedia of Grammatical Categories, Keith Brown & James Miller (eds), 252–258. Oxford: Elsevier.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sandstrom, Alan. 1990. Cuentos nahuas de la Huasteca Veracruzana. Ms.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shibatani, Masayoshi & Pardeshi, Prashant. 2002. The causative continuum. In The Grammar of Causation and Interpersonal Manipulation [Typological Studies in Language 48], Masayoshi Shibatani (ed.), 85–126. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Silverstein, Michael. 1972. Chinook jargon: Language contact and the problem of multi-level generative systems, Part I. Language 48: 378–406; Part II. Language 48: 596–625.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tsunoda, Tasaku. 1985. Remarks on transitivity. Journal of Linguistics 21: 385–396. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1999. Transitivity. In Concise Encyclopedia of Grammatical Categories, Keith Brown & James Miller (eds), 383–391. Oxford: Elsevier.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
, 1981, Split case-marking in verb types and tense/aspect/mood. Linguistics 19: 389–438.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tuggy, David. 2010. Function becomes meaning: The case of Nawatl tla-. In A Mosaic of Languages and Cultures: Studies Celebrating the Career of Karl J. Franklin [SIL Electronic Publications 19], Kenneth A. McElhanon & Ger Reesink (eds), 310–326. <[URL]>
Cited by (3)

Cited by three other publications

Bril, Isabelle
2024. Adversative and experiential applicative constructions in Northern Amis (Austronesian). Linguistics 62:1 ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Miranda Juárez, Vanessa, José Vélez San Juan, Víctor Hugo Hernández Hernández & Timoteo Vélez Martínez
2021. Ni Chapoli: un cuento nahua de la Huasteca de Hidalgo, México. Tlalocan 26 ► pp. 147 ff. DOI logo
Navarro, Ía
2017.  The semantics of Nahuatl tla- constructions. In Verb Valency Changes [Typological Studies in Language, 120], ► pp. 107 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 7 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue