The Tarascan suffixes of locative space: Meaning and morphotactics 9783111346786, 9783110993370

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THE TARASCAN SUFFIXES OF LOCATIVE SPACE

RESEARCH CENTER FOR THE LANGUAGE SCIENCES INDIANA UNIVERSITY Thomas A. Sebeok Chairman Andrew Vazsonyi A ssociate Chairman,

Publications

Paul Friedrich

THE TARASCAN OF LOCATIVE

SUFFIXES

SPACE:

MEANING AND MORPHOTACTICS

Published by INDIANA UNIVERSITY, BLOOMINGTON Mouton & Co., The Hague, The Netherlands

INDIANA UNIVERSITY

PUBLICATIONS

L A N G U A G E SCIENCE MONOGRAPHS Editor:

C. F . V o e g e l i n

Volume 9

Grateful acknowledgement is made to the Lichstern Fund of the Department o f Anthropology at the University o f Chicago, w h o helped in subsidizing this publication.

Copy Editor: Janet Keeler

Copyright © 1971 by Indiana University All rights reserved

ISBN 87750-159-9 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 77-634921 All orders from the United States of America and from Canada should be sent to Humanities Press, Inc., 303 Park Avenue South, New York, New York 10010. Orders from all other countries should be sent to Mouton and Co., The Hague, The Netherlands. Printed in the United States of America

To Margaret Ann

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. INTRODUCTION I. A. Introduction I. B. Characterization of the Tarascan Long Word I. C. Interdependence within the Theme I . D . Transitivity, Voice, and Space I.E. The Inventory of Suffixes

. . .

1 1 2 4 8 13

II. SEMANTICS II. A. Levels of Semantic Complexity II. B. Thirteen Complex Suffixes: Paradigmatic Contrast and Sociocultural Variation II. C. Conclusion: Contextual Variation and Semantic Features

47

III. MORPHOTACTICS III. A. The Ra Set III. B. The Ta Set III. C. The Ku Sets III. D. I b s A / I Set III. E. The Coupled Spatials III. F. Patterning Before Zero

51 51 55 61 67 71 73

IV. CONCLUSIONS

85

NOTES

89

GRAMMATICAL APPENDICES I. II. III.

Three Formally Complex Suffixes: Nu, da, and Ku Additional Suffixation in the Fourth Position . The Coupled Spatials

17 17 17

99 .101 .107 Ill

IV. The Diachrony of the yl/Z Set V. A. Relevant Morphophonemics and Additional Morphotactics B. The First Adverbials: P and R VI. Homonymy in the Spatial Suffixes

113 115 117 123

LEXICAL APPENDICES 127 I. Verbal Roots and Stems 129 II. The Word Appendix 185 III. The Ijari Appendix 245 IV. The Phi- Stems and Themes 273 V. Special Themes with Corporeal Spatial Suffixes . . 277 VI. Partial Paradigms of Spatial Suffix Words . . . . 287 VII. Spatial Suffix Words in Narrative Context . . . . 305 VIII. Miscellany (kwa, kura) 317 BIBLIOGRAPHY

321

I. INTRODUCTION Each language has a peculiar tendency to select this or that aspect of the mental image.... Franz Boas (1911:43)

I. A. INTRODUCTION By "morphotactics" I refer to the patterns that characterize the substitutability and linear ordering of meaningful units within the word. Such meaningful units are patterned in a complex hierarchy that ranges from the morph, a minimal meaningful form with one (taxonomic) phonemic shape, to morpheme sets and sequences that involve relatively complex types of alternation and concatenation. By "grammatical meaning" I refer both to the minimal referents or denotation and also to the network of non-minimal referents, connotations, semantic associations, underlying features, and contextual factors—in short, to the total system of "sense" relations (Lyons 1968: 427). This grammatical meaning together with the morphotactics and the mutual relations between the two constitutes the system here called "morphology" (more or less in agreement with traditional usage). In the present paper I have been particularly concerned with the workings of one part of one morphology that is typologically exceptional in some of the ways semantic features are related to rigidly ordered surface forms. I will demonstrate in some detail that the suffixes of space in Tarascan fall into sets defined, in almost all cases, by both distributional and semantic features, and that these sets are interrelated in the shape of a multidimensional network. To converse and innovate, one must master these semantic and morphotactic patterns. The great theoretical interest of the suffixes of space lies in part in their quintessentially interstitual nature. In terms of meaning, they

2

The Tarascan Suffixes of Locative Space

code "basic material," "abstract referential," and "purely rational" concepts (Sapir 1921: 107). In terms of function, all three are about equally grammatical and lexical and thereby illustrate a dialectic relation between the constrained patterns of morphotactic distribution and the open productivity of many semantic fields. The complex semosyntactic interdependencies to be analyzed operate within the Tarascan verbal them, which is part of the Tarascan long word. 1 I. B. CHARACTERIZATION OF THE TARASCAN LONG WORD The complex processes for forming long words in Tarascan call for an introductory description. First, the total number of linearly ordered positions or "slots" is quite large. In its maximum potential, the long word consists of ten major underlying positions, as follows: 1. root 2. first adverbial 3. spatial 4. voice

5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

1. root 2. reduplication of root

1. first voice 2. second voice 3. iussive2

second adverbial aspect tense person number postposition (emphatic, enclitic)

The constituents in abbreviated form can be put into one formula: root + 1st adv + space + voice + 2nd adv + aspect + tense + person + number + postposition. Natives can understand words with a dozen full positions if they are pronounced slowly, and words with nine or ten morphemes show up occasionally in narratives or natural discourse, but few long words fill over seven positions, and the majority probably fill about four or five (a systematic statistical analysis remains to be carried out). What are the remaining formal properties of the long word? The second basic property is that in all long words the relative order of the positions is fixed by rules that are almost entirely obligatory; many

Introduction

3

examples of such lengthy constructions are to be found in the body of the text below. Third, the number of suffix morphemes that may occur in any single position is strictly limited, and usually small, ranging from several, to almost three dozen in the case of the thirty-two suffixes of space. Fourth, within any one position the suffixes with corporeal reference are mutually exclusive with relation to each other, except for two restricted and subsidiary patterns—and even here the same suffix can never be repeated successively. The fifth property is more complex. As one moves from left to right in the long word the type of information being coded changes from (1) the simple concreteness (and the abstract transitivity) of the verbal base, to (2) fairly abstract ideas of motion (often mixed with lexical-referential features), to (3) the geometrical concepts of the spatial suffices (with multiple concrete referents), to (4) the purely grammatical and relational concepts of voice, aspect, number, tense, and the like. Put more generally, the left-to-right sequence within the word ranges between the fairly concrete, empirical, and lexical, to the relatively abstract, relational, and grammatical. This progression is approximate only, given for example, some fairly concrete ideas of motion in the fifth position. Sixth, in many speech situations the necessary decisions that the speaker or hearer must make about grammatical categories of shape and dimension are as ineluctable as those involving the more familiar ones of voice, person, and so forth; about one sixth of the suffixes and a larger fraction of the obligatory grammatical categories are spatial. For example, when talking about action in or at a door, one must explicitly code location in an "edge-orifice" by using the suffix mu. Seventh, the processes in question are covert or, as Sapir would say, "unconsciously governed." While a Tarascan can define verbal and nominal roots and evaluate their acceptability, he absolutely never uses spatial suffixes in isolation (in fact, about half the spatial suffixes, in their usual taxonomic phonemic form begin with phonemes or phoneme clusters that are not permitted in initial position). When asked to discuss such spatials, the Tarascan speaker is typically baffled, troubled, or puzzled, often remarking that it isn't a word, or beginning to discuss the nearest-sounding verbal root. The normal Tarascan speaker does not have a conscious idea of a discrete set of spatial suffixes, or of a subset referring to space around the home, or of another subset taking ra, or of any of the other structures explicated below. The units, relations, and rules of the spatial suffix system are at

4

The Tarascan Suffixes of Locative Space

once highly productive and almost totally inarticulate, covert, and subconscious. This covertness of the system as a grammatical phenomenon distinguishes it from the partially or occasionally explicit lexical taxonomies that have been elucidated by Conklin, Berlin, and others. We may now sum up. The formation of long words is characterized by the seven features of: (1) numerous linear positions, (2) rigidly fixed morpheme order, (3) the limited number of suffixes falling within any one position, (4) the mutual exclusiveness of the suffixes in question, (5) the great variation in the types of information coded in one position as against another, (6) the obligatory quality of the distributional and semantic rules, (7) the covertness of the entire system. These seven properties have certain theoretical implications, and interesting consequences; for example, the rigid ordering of so many suffixal positions makes workable an extraordinary degree of homonymy, as is explained in the sixth grammatical appendix. I. C. INTERDEPENDENCE WITHIN THE THEME Within the above framework, the morphotactic processes of this article deal mainly with the first part of the long word, or the theme. The first part of the theme, or the verbal root, is an irreducible monoor disyllabic element that denotes some action, process, state, or quality such as "rage, to sleep," or "black." Some verbal roots (i.e., the first two classes) are "free" or independent in that they can take conjugational (and, often, nominalizing) endings directly; such free roots are inherently either transitive or intransitive. Other verbal roots are not free in this sense but, before the suffixation of conjugational, nominalizing, or additional thematic elements, have to be expanded by stem-formatives such as ta or ku\ such bound roots are primarily transitive or intransitive but can also yield stems with the opposite transitivity through the suffixation of alternative or "minor" suffixes; for example, the root khama- yields its primary, transitive stem by taking ku in khama-ku-ni, "to finish something," but also yields a secondary, intransitive stem by adding kuri in khama-kuri-ni, "to come to an end, to terminate by itself." Both free roots and derived stems are called "bases" in the discussion below. Any one of these bases can serve as the anchor of a complex theme, the abstract constituents of which are summarized by the following formula:

Introduction

5

Verbal Base + Adverbialj + Spatial + Voice + Adverbial2 Between these five constituents, the number of potential interdependencies is ten (by the combination formula x=n(n-l). The number 2 of actual interdependences, however, is increased by three special additional processes. First, the majority of bases are related to themselves reflexively through the extremely productive process of reduplication, as is discussed below. Second, several of the spatial morphemes in the third position can be coupled with each other, albeit not reduplicated, in order to code special meanings; this is analyzed under "coupled spatials" in the morphotactics and fully documented in the third appendix. Third, there are many lexical interdependencies between the thematic suffixes and the verbal bases, as is illustrated in the appendices. The underlying or abstract framework of potential interrelationships between the minimum constituents of the theme deserves to be outlined at this point, however, as a second type of context for the bulk of the article, which is focused on interdependencies between the third and fourth positions: the suffixes of locative space and of voice.

1. Root-root In principle, any of the 700-odd verbal bases can be reduplicated, but in practice the process is significantly limited both in permissibility and frequency, and is hedged about by special morphophonemic rules and arbitrary idiomatic restrictions. More specifically, the free roots, which can take conjugational endings directly, are rarely reduplicated, and some never are. The derived stems, on the other hand, can be and frequently are reduplicated, but with a fairly regular differentiation on the basis of transitivity: the transitive stems normally are followed by ta (a productive formative of stems and themes), whereas reduplicated intransitive stems, including those of the quality pi class, are usually followed by h-ku, some variant of ha-st, "class, type," or by 4 with the meaning of "entire body" (followed by ka or pa or both). Examples include: ara-ara-ta-ni, "to cut into small pieces"

farjgwa-faijgwa-tf-pa-ni or farjgwd-farjgwa-h-ku-pa-ni, "to go hopping along"

6

The Tarascan Suffixes of Locative Space

irita-irita-ta-kuri-ni, " t o be complicated, entangled" ("to enter repeatedly," with reflexive meaning; this theme is highly idiomatic). Other roots, however, form reduplicated constructions of both types: ari- can take either ta or h-ku. Because of these different contingencies, in any case, radical reduplication is intimately connected with questions of transitivity such as are dealt with below. Reduplication variously signals that the act is somehow intense, repetitive, or distributive; the reduplicated form, moreover, is often marked by special connotations. Reduplication, one of the most productive and expressive processes in Tarascan, calls for monograph treatment. 2. Base-spatial

Suffix.

The relation between the verbal bases and the spatial suffixes is, in one sense, almost completely independent, since the latter specifies the location of the action whereas the former specifies the act or some quality of the actor, and so forth: where can you not "play" or "put something?" In another sense, however the relations are relatively determinate. At one extreme, there are certain bases which take only one spatial suffix: kapo-, to my knowledge, occurs only with the "bottom, genitals" suffix nu to form an idiomatic theme meaning "to castrate" (see the fifth lexical appendix for a large inventory of such constraints). Other bases take only a restricted number of spatial suffixes. Many suffixal restrictions are semantically predictable: certain bases denoting bodily pain or injury, for example, can only be followed by suffixes that may denote a zoological body part, and normally require a body part word as a separate locative modifier (see phame- in the sixth lexical appendix). At the other extreme, some two hundred bases (195 in my sample) can cooccur with any of the eighteen potentially corporeal spatial suffixes—always when the suffix has a corporeal referent, and usually when it has one of the several non-corporeal ones. The grammatical and lexical relations between the spatial suffixes and the 500-odd bases that can take at least one of them is covered in great detail in the attached lexica, but also calls for massive additional research on co-occurrence patterning. 3.

Adverbiali.

The main adverbials in the second position, just after the base, denote direction or quality of motion, and are four in number: rja,

Introduction

7

"upwards," kwa/k, "downwards," p/pi, "sudden, quick, passing, or surprising action," and r/ri, which can mean (1) "sudden motion" or (2) "total involvement." tya, kwa, and ri are markedly restricted in their distribution, and occur only after certain bases (see the inventory of kwa forms in the last lexical appendix). P/pi, on the other hand, is very productive, and is limited only in certain obvious semantic ways; for example, certain bases have references that cannot be combined with "quick action." The same sort of simple predictability limits cooccurrence with the spatial and directional suffixes in the third position: the adverbial for "upwards," rja, cannot co-occur with the spatial directional suffix for "downwards, below" (#). The second position adverbials are also related to the spatial suffixes by certain morphophonemic rules that are outlined in considerable detail in the fifth appendix. There do not appear to be any significant restrictions between the first adverbials and the voice suffixes of the first part of the fourth position, such as ta and ku. 4.

Adverbial2-

The adverbials in the fifth or last position in the theme denote the quality of certain motions, particularly repetition and going or coming. The main morphemes are p, "general directional, en route," m, "en route interruptedly, transiently, from place to place," a, "going," u, "coming," r]gwa, "homeward, while returning home," n, "backwards, from behind," and nta, "repetition, recursion, repeated action." These only occur in various combinations, such as pa, "en route going," nu, "while coming along from behind," and -p-u-rjgwa-nta-, as in p'ire-p-u- rjgwa-nta-ni,"to sing enroute while returning homewards." Pa is often and sometimes invariably suffixed to reduplicated bases, as is natural in light of the semantic linkage between "repetition" and "en route;" a good example is stwi-siwi- any one of 32 spatial suffixes 6. voice ra, ta, ku, a/i, 7. adverbia^ p, pu, ma, mu, pungwa, nu, nta This highly simplified scheme does not take account of the suffixes of voice beyond the first part of the fourth position. 5 I.

E. THE INVENTORY OF SUFFIXES

There follows below an inventory of the spatial suffixes, all of which occur in the third position. The reader can and should refer back to these during the remainder of the analysis. The suffixes are presented here in the alphabetical order of (1) their minimal morphophonemic

14

The Tarascan Suffixes of Locative Space

form, followed in each case by (2) their expanded form in the most usual phonemic representation, and (3) a few characteristic referents, and in most cases (4) a general significational definition. For obvious heuristic reasons, in the rest of the article I have usually cited the suffixes in a full phonemic shape. The reader is strongly urged to read through this list several times, until he has become fairly familiar with the geography of the system which in its full presentation below often turns out to be rather complex. The reader is also strongly encouraged to read through the partial paradigms in the sixth lexical appendix, as this will give him "the hang" of the system.

TABLE 1 FORM

REFERENTS

SIGNIFICATION

1.

a

guts, innards, field, yard

central, bounded, basic

2.

Za

neck, throat, inner eave

narrowing, usually of a longish object at an intersection

upwards, above

upper surface seen from below

3.

fi

(nil)

4.

à i (fitu)

buttocks, genitals, under side of stove, cave, etc.

underneath, bottom, underside

5.

ku (hku

hand, wrist, finger

manual

6.

m (ma/mi)

liquid, wound, mud

relative liquidity

7.

m (in mskuri)

mouth

oral, verbal

8.

mara

taste

9.

mar/

mouth, plant tips

10.

man*

crotch 6

11.

mi

mouth, border

edge-orifice

12.

ma

mouth, bud, vulva, door, lip, cuff, edge of town, etc.

edge-orifice

13.

nu

loins, groin, genitals, patio, home, village

basic, central

14.

T) Cqa/lji)

chest, heart, interior of canoe, house, etc.

interior enclosure, cavity

15.

rja (rjari)

eye, cheekbone, face, lap, shin, inner wall, cliff, cob beneath husks, memory

flattish surface, often interior

16.

T)gu (Tjguri)

midriff, crossroads

crossing, intersection

17.

p (pa/pi)

hearth, field, social "front"

orifice-edge

FORM

REFERENTS

SIGNIFICATION long, convex, exterior

18.

para

back, roof, outer wall, outside of corn husks, pot belly

19.

ru

road, street

20.

ru

nose, forehead, point, flower, seed

point, projection of something longish

21.

s (nska)

on the ground

extended flat surface

22.

s (sku)

on or in a small, flat surface

23.

Sa

flat surface, often artifactual

24.

ïu

25.

to

arm (from shoulder to wrist) (fita)

side, thigh, upper leg, floor, side of pot

flat surface bounded by exterior or interior surface (as is explained below)

26.

ta (nda)

around the side of, on the ground

27.

fi (ndi)

ear, shoulder, shoulder top, corner of floor, ground surface

28.

il («dira)

jaw, teeth, chin

29.

tu (ndu)

leg below knee, exterior base

foot, lower outer surface of a base

30.

¿

buttocks, anus, genitals

corporeal " b o t t o m "

downwards, near the ground

lower surface seen from above

outside of head, brains, tooth tip, top of corn, tree, hill

top, above, exterior upper surface

31. 32.

4i

interior surface of angle on vertical axis

II. SEMANTICS

II. A. LEVELS OF SEMANTIC COMPLEXITY The suffixes of space are semantically differentiated along several axes, but particularly that of simplicity and complexity. In terms of this continuum they fall into six subsets, which will be referred to at various points in the bulk of the article. 1. the simple corporeal, such as the manual kw, 2. the simple non-corporeal such as ru, "road"; 3. the transitionally complex corporeal, such as ggwpi, "midriff, intersection"; 4. the transitionally complex non-corporeal, such as p, "hearth, field, social front"; 5. the locative-directional, such as ft, "downwards, below"; 6. the semantically complex, such as mu, "mouth, door, vagina, bud, cutting edge," and other referents under the orifice-edge signification. Many of these semantic features are analyzed in detail below. II. B. THIRTEEN COMPLEX SUFFIXES: PARADIGMATIC CONTRAST AND SOCIOCULTURAL VARIATION Having contextualized the suffixes within the overall structure of Tarascan, let us now turn to a relatively detailed analysis of thirteen suffixes which are semantically complex and at least partly corporeal in reference. The summary statements that follow are based primarily on about 1,200 body-part words that were carefully selected from the total field lexicon of about 12,000—either because they well illustrated regular stem formation, or, in the majority of cases, because they exemplified significant or interesting deviations or variations from the usual patterns. (The second lexical appendix contains these 1,200 words.)

18

The Tarascan Suffixes of Locative Space 1. Semantic Analysis of Ten Complex

Suffixes

(l)a central, bounded or stomach, field The suffix a, like nu and ta, has several apparently disparate or paradoxical corporeal and non-corporeal referents. Its main anatomical domain, and primary denotation, is the gastric-intestinal area, as illustrated by kuM-a-ra-ni, "to make noises, to rumble in one's stomach," and a half-dozen other themes: khu-a-ra-ni, "to swell abdominally, and sunii-a-ra-ni, "to have indigestion" (contrasting with sunu-mari-ni, "to have bad breath"). Beside this basic domain, however, metonymic extensions carry downwards to the womb, as in wan-a-ra-ni, "to die in the womb," and one other theme, a contrasts with rjari in its extensions to the lap, and to the lower part of the abdominal wall, as in a number of flavorful themes including: tfhuri-a-ku-ni, "to rub the lower abdomen" (especially with hot ashes, as curers do), and antfo-a-ra-ni, "to be paunchy," and phakaa-s-kuri-ni, "to hide something beneath one's clothing over the lap" (e.g., a pistol). Kara-a-ku-ni means "to copulate," literally "to climb the stomach of another," and is applied to humans; irita-a-ku-ni, despite its more literal meaning of "to enter the abdomen," is also used to describe the act of intromission. All the diverse corporeal denotata here cited, from the stomach to the vagina to the navel, strongly imply centrality or boundedness. The main non-corporeal referents fall into three major classes. First, in any domestic context, a has the fixed and invariant meaning of the yard or small corn patch that normally adjoins a house (solaru). Here a neatly complements the nu used for the patio that has already been mentioned above. In many cases an a-theme can denote either the house yard or a field, as in amba-a-ta-ni, "to clean off a yard or field." I would conjecture that a small, bounded, or otherwise yard-like field is implied, and that there is a fairly consistent contrast with the open or sweeping quality of the fields that may be referred to by /zpa-themes, such as era-hpa-kuri-ni, "to survey a field, landscape. On the other hand, the meaning of a has been broadened considerably in miu-a-nta-ni, "to remember a place." The second main non-corporeal class is in the domain of maize agriculture. A -themes are used for the kernelled cob within or contained by the husks, as in efo-a-ku-ni, phita-a-ku-ni, thiru-a-ku-ni, and tupa-a-ku-ni all of which, granted slight nuances, may be used for "to open the husk and extract the cob," with the understanding that it is from a standing stalk (this is the normal way of harvesting).

19

Semantics

The third main class includes diverse central and containing areas. Many a-themes are used in the ceramics domain, as in kiru-a-ku-ni, "to pull or scrape from within," as of a pot. Others are applied to the body of a fruit or vegetable, as after nirii-, "to ripen," and tpu-, "to mould," and the like, and for a miscellany of other roundish interiors, such as piSi-a-ra-ni, "to swell" (used of a roasting tortilla), and khari-a-fa-ni, "to dry out" (as of the central core of a maguey, or some similar shape). These themes often contrast with para-, rjari-, and g-stems. After a certain number of roots, a denotes "any interior" as in kako-a-ra-ni, "to be empty," and pho-, "to insert, poke in," and the like. Finally, a is extended into the socio-psychological realm in at least one case, the strong word for "to live out of wedlock," or wantonly: terd-a-kuri-ni, literally "to walk through the center of the field by oneself. Let us sum up. Excepting its nearly exclusive gastro-intestinal domain, a often complements or overlaps with 5-, para-, and rjarithemes. The abstract signification would appear to be boundedness and centrality. The co-occurring subjects and objects are two or three dimensional (see Table 2). (2) t a a narrowing, usually of a longish object at an intersection ¿a-themes in the hta variant denote the outside of the neck, as in phira-hta-ku-ni, "to hang, strangle" (that is, "to pull out another's neck"), or kara-hta-ku-kata, "embroidered neck area" (as of a blouse or shirt, and other words for this part of clothing and ornaments). The inside of the throat is denoted by the ta alternate, as in pho-ta-ku-ni, "to stick a long object down another's throat," and many related forms for eating, drinking, speaking, and the like. The contrast emerges neatly in several pairs such as: OUTER NECK

INNER THROAT

TEPO-

MI-

tepo-hia-ni, "fat

mi-hla-ku-ni, "to

neck, fat-necked"

tighten another's collar (or anything else around another's neck)"

tepo-ta-ni, "(to

mi-ta-ku-ni,

talk with) a deep loud voice"

"to recognize another by his voice"

The second pair above is not actually minimal, since it also involves a contrast between mi-, "to know, recognize," as against the homonymous mi-,"to close, open."

20

The Tarascan Suffixes of Locative Space

Many of the &z-stems are highly idiomatic and only this suffix may occur after several verbal roots, as in the themes khira-ta-ni and foa-ta-ni, "to choke on something." Four &z-ndz'-themes (with ta plus ndi) refer to ingestion. Five themes with the "inner throat" variant ta mean "to want or desire" with reference to the action or state of the basic verb, as in khwl-n-ta-ni, "to want to sleep" (or "to want to make love"). Similarly, the combination of ta plus the chest suffix t? has the meaning of "want, dislike, desire, hate," and is very productive, as in ari-y -ta-ni, "to speak badly of another." The meaning of these conjoined suffixes may go back to the sensations in the throat and chest that signal lust, greed, anger, and the like. After this n, and after TJ , the«? remains voiceless. Yet another variant of this suffix is found in the names of five parts of the throat and neck area, as in poro-rita-ku, "the nape of the neck." After this n the t is voiced. At least five other themes with various alternates of ta denote the calf of the leg, specifically the fleshy part where it curves in toward the knee; weru-hta-kuji-ni means "to scratch one's calf or neck." Finally, the form yo-hta-ta-ni is the only instance in my sample where this suffix refers to the penis—presumably to the narrowing of the shaft below the head (yo- means "long"). Within the domestic domain the fixed referent of ca is the area of intersection between a roof and a wall (wana-hta-ku-ni in Tarascan, la barda in Spanish), or also where any beam or post narrows before joining or intersecting, as in ya-hta-ku, "the prop of a beam" (also used for any pillow or headrest). The second main non-corporeal referent is the neck area of a pot, the khembe-hta-ku, the inwardly curving or narrowing zone between the bulging back of the body and the half-inch or so of the mouth; both ho- and mato-hta-ku-ni are used for painting the upper ring that divides these two areas. Other miscellaneous but revealing themes include wa-hta-ku-ni, "to extract wheat grains from the husks by beating," presumably with reference to the neck below the head of the grain (the same stem probably has additional, similar meanings), (phepii-hta-ku-ni means "to cut off the shoot from the main root at the point where it joins the edible tuber," and similar notions. All these diverse denotata may be included under the concepts of 'narrowing, usually of a longish object at an intersection'. The geometrically ambiguous character of many of these 'necks' may be connected with the relatively lower productivity of the suffix. It may also be connected with the degree to which specific alternates

Semantics

21

(including combinations with a second body part suffix) are symbols of specific subcategories such as the inner throat, the outer neck, the body part name, and strong positive or negative feelings (for a full analysis of the formal variation of this suffix, see the first appendix). (3)Cu bottom, underneath £u forms well over two hundred themes referring to the animal bottom—the loins, groin, crotch, buttocks, and genitals, as a sort of undifferentiated anal-erotic totality. This is illustrated by thunu-htu-kpera-ni, "to sniff one another's bottoms," said of dogs. But after a number of roots the reference is far more pointed, be it to the skirt, as in kunii-htu-ti-ni, "in the lap area," said of small amounts or objects. Reference may also be to the loins, as in khwa-p-tu-ku, "loincloth," or the pants as a whole, as in ha-htu-ta-ku, the word for the old-fashioned pants of white cotton. In many typical cases the reference is specifically anal or genital, as in the following examples: the entire male genitalia, in kii-p-tu-ku-ni or a-p-tu-ku-ni, "to cut off the male genitalia"; the anus, in pifi-p-tuku-ni, "to pass wind suddenly but not loudly," and other themes with similar meaning; the testicles, as in khwambo-htu-ni, "large testicled, having a large scrotum," and three other themes; various states of the penis, as in su- or meno-htu-ni, "to become tumescent"; and finally, numerous salacious expressions for sexual intromission, such as Uka-p-tu-nta-ni, "to 'screw' " (a rather ribald expression), and karu-htuku-ni, "to deflorate" (literally, to "rupture a flattish object in or on another's bottom"). The rare root utu- means "to smell, have an odor," and is used of fish, rotten fruit, and, with htu, of sexual fluids. One of the primary domestic denotata of tu is the kiln or oven, as in kuri-htu-ku-ni, "to fire or stoke" (underneath). Two other important domestic-environmental referents are, first, any roofed but otherwise at least partly open porch or passageway, as in hani-htu-ta-ni, "to rain into the porch, passageway, and the like"; the second of these referents is any cave or shaft into the ground, irrespective of the angle, as in irita-htu-ta-ni, "to put into a cave" (but also to 'screw' in some contexts); it will be noted that of these particular domesticenvironmental and sexual referents are signalled by a following ta. Also invariably denoted by tu are the roots of any plant, as in wafd-htuku-ni, "to shake out the roots." In a ceramics context, tu denotes the

22

The Tarascan Suffixes of Locative Space

bottom quarter or so of a pot, and the part on which it rests, as in mi-htu-ku-ni, "to close the base with clay" (when making a Cocucho type pot), and in at least two dozen other common themes. Other applications run freely to almost any underneath or bottom side, as of a rifle in anfí-p-tu-ku-ni, "to pull the trigger when shooting at another." ambá-htu-ku-ni means "to clean the underside of a plow." Phend-htuku-ni means "to uncover something from underneath" (including, of course, the privy parts of another). Most of the specific denotata cited above can be replaced by more general ones in certain contexts (see Table 2). The residual or core signification of all the referents is "bottom, underneath." The figure of orientation appears to be the human bottom, since that of animals is at the end, as it were, and not actually below or underneath. The unique deviation in the noncorporeal domains from "bottom, underneath" to any hole in the ground, is presumably a generalization from the denotation of an (implicity horizontal) cave shaft to any shaft, be it vertical or non-vertical. The absence of underlying features of shape for the tu suffix may be accounted for, I think, by the fact that the animal bottom has a variegated geometry in which no shape or dimension predominates. In thus having a positional rather than a shape reference, tu resembles the non-corporeal suffixes such as ft, "downwards, below." (4) ndi inner surfaces of an angle on a vertical axis Ndi denotes the ear, both the corporeal, as in the word for earring (tiji-ndi-ku), and the variously metaphorical, such as the wodden pegs that protrude from the sides of the native plow. And just as the oral suffix yields stems for different kinds of vocalizing, so this aural counterpart enters into constructions for hearing and understanding. The 'ear suffix' also denotes the top line of the shoulder, as in khwani-ndi-ku, "shawl," and tiri- or teré-ndi-ti-ni, "to be hanging over the shoulder" (used adjectivally, as of someone carrying a blanket). Whether the referent is ear or shoulder or both, is partly determined by the root, but is just as often fixed arbitrarily, or ultimately ambiguous and very dependent on context, as in atá-ndi-ku-ni, "to hit the ear or shoulder of another."

Semantics

23

The main non-corporeal referents are two: first, any branch (e.g., khari-ndi-ku, "dry branch"), but particularly the portion which is close to the trunk as contrasted with the end, for which ru would be used, and the main trunk, for which para would be the proper suffix; for example, ward-ndi-ku-ni means "to cut off a branch near the base," and many other woodsman's terms have the same denotation. Second, ndi may refer to "any inside corner," as of a plate or casserole {mafondi-ku-kata is a kind of bread with a twisted edge). The more standard application of this suffix is to "the lower part of a house wall," and the floor beside it, and, by extension, any ground or floor area, or the base on which something rests; for example, apo-ndi-ti-ni is the usual adjectival form for someone lying on the floor, and wjru(which can only be followed by ndi), yields stems of the same meaning. In these senses, ndi complements the suffixes nska, "on the ground," and sku, "into or onto a flat shape." By a yet further extension, ndi denotes "any land surface," such as that stretching away to the horizon. Tiri-tiri-ndi-ni denotes the yellow gloaming as it is spread over the land, although in this and four other themes there may be implicit reference to the angle formed by the earth and sky; here, as elsewhere, two underlying meanings may be implied by a given form. Almost the entire range of ndi variation is illustrated by themes with amba-, "good clean": amba-ma-ndi-ni, "to clear, of the sky at dawn" amba-ndi-ku-ni, "to prune branches, clean another's face and/or ears, to clean the ears of a plow, and so forth" amba-ndi-ta-ni, "to clean an inside corner" amba-ndira-ni, "to speak persuasively (with the chin-jaw-teeth suffix)" The diverse denotata of this suffix—from the acute angle of a branch to the angle formed by head and shoulder to that formed by earth and sky—are all comprehended by one signification: "the inner surfaces of an angle on a vertical axis," and by extension, any floor surface or base on which something rests. Ndi is not marked for dimension, although many of its subjects or objects (ear, floor) are of the flattish, saliently two-dimensional class. (5) nu basic zone or bottom, patio Like the suffix a, "guts, field," to be discussed below, the nu suffix includes seemingly incongruous corporeal and non-corporeal

24

The Tarascan Suffixes of Locative Space

referents. Nu yields several themes that necessarily involve the genitals, such as kapd-nu-ni, "to castrate"; others usually or potentially have such reference, as in tkwa-nu-ri-ni, "to have the legs spread," said of a woman (as against tkwa-fka-ni, which is used for men—both tend to imply that the privy parts have been revealed). Other ««-themes denote the buttocks or the entire bottom of the torso, as in ha-nu-ri-ni, "to go about nude," and poro-nu-ri-ni, "to have a revealing hole or rip in the clothing over the bottom, to be partly bare-bottomed." These chamelion-like referential functions place nu in metonymic competition with the suffixes for midriff (rjgtiri), chest ( 77), and stomach (a), and with two bottom suffixes (Ew and >

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water points

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central, basic (a) zoological stomach area

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field, or yard

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female bottom

lap

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incakaraphamewari-

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ambaapoetei tfr petaserewaia-

kernelled cob under husks

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other centers, interior

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40

The Tarascan Suffixes of Locative Space (2) para "long, exterior convex surface"

The usual meaning of para is the physical back of any zoological entity, including man. At least two roots only occur followed by para with the meaning of back: hurii-para-ni, " t o hunch the back," and 'hikii-para-nta-ni, "to dress" (with a frozen stem that probably involves a semantic expansion from the time when dressing meant to cover the back). A more specialized theme is kara-para-nta-ni, "to mount the back" used about sexual intercourse between animals and, facetiously, human beings. The actual names for the "top part of the back, the small of the back," and the "back proper" are all formed by productive roots plus para plus a nominalizing suffix: teru-para-ku, kutu-para-ku, and ko-para-ku. By the anatomy implicit in the actual referents of these words, and in application of para to other stems, the area of para is bounded by the nape of the neck (fa), the shoulder line (ndi), the side (ta), the midriff (ijguri), the chest cavity (tj), and, somewhat ambiguously, the " b o t t o m " (lu, f). Para as a zoological back is not only rather specific in meaning, but very frequent in speech—partly because of the widespread use of man and beast to transport materials of all kinds. The many stems for carrying, and the like, include kwi-para-ni (thwi-para-ni in Cocucho), "on the back," which is used adverbially with forms of pa-, "to carry." Hundu-para-ni, meaning "to slide off the back sideways," contrasts with hundu-Kta-ni, "to slide off the neck," and hundu-Ktu-ni "to slide off the rump." In the elaborate and articulately discussed process of tying a load to a mule's back, the suffix para may be heard dozens of times. Para is applied to a wide spectrum of metaphoric and generic backs. Before ta, it denotes the outer side of any wall, or the side of any out wall, such as the stone walls which separate fields and houseyards; for example, ho-para-ta-ni means to tie something, such as an animal, to an outer wall, or, sometimes, to the outside wall of a house. The same combination of para plus ta is one way of denoting the exterior of a roof, whereas the "head, top surface" suffix is used for the gable and for roof in general, and riti, "above, upwards," is applied to the loft area; for example, u-para-ta-nta-ni means "to repair a roof," and o-h-$*ta-nta-ni means "to roof," literally "to re-cover the top area." Obviously, a given theme is often ambiguous in these referents: kwara-para-ta-ni may mean "to break a wall or a roof," but also something "on or near a wall or r o o f ' ; in other words, ta may mean

41

Semantics

that the verbal action takes place on (and affects) a house part, or is directed against an object in the vicinity of that part. In other contexts and constructions, para may denote the sides of a stove, which are sometimes actually square, or the walls of a kiln, which are usually curved, or the raised edge of a typical three-stoned hearth, or even, by tradition and mental association, any kind of hearth area; for example, apo-para-ku-ni means "to lie next to the hearth," or even "in the hearth," and fyu-para-ku-ni means "to crouch or squat next to a stove or hearth." In these stove and hearth meanings, para contrasts with or complements various Apa-themes whose reference is usually to something in or on the hearth. Within the ceramics domain, para is the standard suffix for the bulging outer wall between the areas of the bottom and the neck. The same suffix is even used for the long, thin side of a casserole; for example, a potter will say, 'to draw many lines on the side (para) until (one has made) a circle around the back'. By the same principle, para is used for the paring of fruits {phiku-para-ku-ni) and their ripening (nini-para-ni). Thus, for kilns, pots, trees, walls, and the like, this suffix implies length and some degree of convexity, or more specifically, a lengthwise axis around a convex exterior. On the other hand, reference to long trees, flat hearths and walls, and round stoves and pots, clearly indicates that para does not necessarily imply the salience of any dimension, or of horizontality as against vertically. The feature of exterior position just mentioned emerges with particular clarity in a set of contrasts between the referents of para and those of the "facial" rjari, which later signifies an "interior flattish surface." First, in the fields of lumbering, the house, and ceramics we find the following: TREE

WALL

POT

para

bark surface

outer wall, the outside of a wall

outer part of the main body

nari

face of worked log or beam

inside house wall

inner side

The contrast between para and •Qari is most pervasive in the nomenclature for the twenty-one stages in the maize cycle, several of which involve more than one stem. Within this nomenclature, fifteen gan-themes involve the interior, kernelled surface under the husks. The

42

The Tarascan Suffixes of Locative Space

six para themes, on the other hand, are as follows. First comes the so-called fpi-para-ku-ni, the stage when the first leaflets of the cob appear, directly after tasseling. A bit later the tiny coblet (thura-ri) emerges (we-para-ni, literally "the emerging of the back"). The thickening and filling out of the cob is tepa-para-ni. This is followed by the emergence of the tiny secondary coblet beside the main cob (ape-e-nda or ape-e-nda we-para-ni). The main cob continues to ripen until it is edible as what we would call "green field corn" (tiriapu). After further drying, the top of the plant is harvested for green stuff, or cattle fodder, and the cob, now dry (iani-ni), drops slowly until pointing downward (tiri-para-ni). The harvesters sometimes tear off the entire cob (thawapara-ni), rather than extracting the cob with a harvest knife while leaving the husks. The unhusked corncob, certainly a key symbol in Tarascan life, thus concatenates the semantic features of exterior surface, convexity, and salient length. The precision with which the features of para hold for its denotata may be illustrated by four other themes. To begin with, the root for "to weave" (tepe-) yields a stem (tepe-para-ku-ni), which means "to weave around the entirety of a stick," which is then withdrawn, leaving the finished belt or sock. Second, Htkwi-, meaning "skin, to skin," generates itkwi-para-ku-ni, "to peel a root" (or similar edible or object). In the third place, there is a theme, amba-para-ku-ni, used for "to clean the underside of a plowshare," which is of course long and convex—and exterior in the sense of facing out against the soil. Last, in the double entendre that is so common in Tarascan, a long penis—as of a donkey in high passion—might be labelled yo-para-ta-ni (yd- meaning "long," and the suffix ta serving, in this sort of case, to give a facetious sexual reference to the preceding body part suffixcompare yo-mu-ta-ni for "long vulva"). The four denotata that have just been enumerated—roots, plowshares, weaving sticks, and penes—all satisfy the condition of being long, convex and exterior. Having firmly established the signification of para on the basis of the frequent and productive formations, we are now in a better position to reinterpret a relatively small number of anomalous or at least ambiguous themes. The root for "mold, to mold" {pit-, tpu-) may be conjoined with para and applied to the top of Tarascan buns and loaves, which are convex and exterior, but are not long in any sense, and the same stem may be even used for a squarish and flat slice of Pan Bimbo. Similarly, the root fira-, "cool, cold," is used with para to denote a tortilla when the process of its cooling and contradiction has

Semantics

43

been completed. These two cases of the tortilla and the slice of bread show that the feature of length is not absolutely requisite for the application of para. As for the second feature, that of convexity, we find that the fixed and standard word for barring a door is taija-para-ku-ni, and the same suffix is used, if but rarely, to denote a road, as in yo-para-ni, "long," as of a road. The two cases of door and of road, and that of roof already discussed, indicate in their turn that actual convexity may be a dispensable feature of para. The three defining features may now be hierarchically ranked: convexity is least essential since many referents lack it, including some of the most frequent; length is somewhat more integral, but a few referents, including the tortilla, lack it; finally, all the denotata in my sampleexcepting the archaic tarja-para-ku-ni— share the minimal feature of exterior positon, or exterior surface. (3) (a) rjari rja, with the shape rjafi in almost all cases, is probably the most productive of all body part suffixes. Since the grand total of themes (400) was actually elicited and double-checked, as part of a special project, the actual counts for each of the semantic classes of such themes will be given below, usually in parentheses. One hundred thirty-six ga-themes refer to "face" in some general sense, as in the case of ka$t-pi--qari-ni, or 4eije- or tfhiygwi-rjari-ni, which mean, respectively, "handsomely, delicately, or finely featured." In an approximately equal number of stems, however, the contiguous areas of the forehead, jaw, and mouth, are implicitly excluded, partly because covered by other themes. In such cases, the reference of Tjari is usually specifically to one or both of the two subdivisions of the remaining section of the face: first, the eye area (forty-seven themes), including at times the eyelid, the eyebrow, and the eye proper; several roots involved in these meanings occur only before ijari, as would be true of ta'Si- or toUe-qari-ni, "(a person) blind in one eye." The second of these subdivisions is the cheeks (39), or the cheekbones (8), as in apd-T)ari-ni, "to have large cheekbones" (cheekbone here in the sense of the skin surface over the cheekbone). The rjari suffix is also applied extensively outside the facial area proper. In seven themes it refers to the flat of the chest, as in wan-Tjari-ni, "to die in another's arms," and also to clothing over the chest, as in khuru-yari-ni, "to shrink" (as of a jacket lining). In other

44

The Tarascan Suffixes of Locative Space

cases the flat of the stomach is denoted, and this may even carry metonymically to the feathers over the breast, as in tere-iere-ijari-ni, "to fluff out the feathers" (as of an angry turkey). The rjari suffix is also applied to "the flat of the lower belly," or to "the lap," as in khwd-ijari-ku, "apron." The exterior of the woman's privy parts are denoted in one rare and idiomatic theme. At least nine ga/7-themes denote "the shin," that is, the flat, front surface of the lower front leg, as in wa-yari-ku-ni, "to bang one's shin" ("to bang another's shin" is wa-rjari-ku-ku-ni). Matd-rjari-ku-ni, means "to dance while crossing one's legs, to sit with one's legs crossed," and is one of the six themes regularly used to code the position of the legs when sitting. This range of the gan-themes over almost a dozen referents reflects the generality of its underlying signification. The non-corporeal range is equally diverse. The standard domestic referent is "the wall of a house" (55), usually the inside wall, as in ¿razor para-rpfi-ta-ni, "to put or place a round object on the wall"; on the other hand, the outer wall may be meant if its flattish or facial quality is to be highlighted, as in Hiru-rjari-ku-ni, "to be spread over the wall" (of a vine or the like). In the second place, the usual environmental referent is a "hillside, a mountain cliff," or the like, as in wana-rjariku-ni, "to cut horizontally across a slope." In a ceramics context, over a dozen gan-themes refer to the inside of the belly of a pot, as is discussed below under para, and as is illustrated by teno-rjari-ni, "to fall of the inner side," said of a glaze inside the pot. rjari can be applied to the exterior of a pot under circumstances that will be detailed below under Ceramics Technology. Tjan-themes are frequent among woodsmen for the planed-off or hewed-off face of a log; for example, yore-rjari-ni, "to flow in or off the face," is used of the resin flowing from a gash in the trunk. •gari is the most productive suffix within the maize domain. At least 25 jan-themes are employed for maize, for actions involving maize, or for various stages in the maize cycle, such as fhuru-rjari-ni, the stage when the kernels are first developing (after thura-ri but before tiriapu); in all these stems the reference is to the kernels on the cob, and usually to such kernels beneath the husks. Last, ^an-themes are applied to a number of flat surfaces, be it paper, as in Sere-rjari-ku-ni, "to erase," or clothing, as in katu-rjari-ku-ni, "to cut off a loose flap," as of a shirt, rjari is applied to the sky in at least four themes, including the common o-rjari-ni, "to cloud over," that is, "to cover one's own face," used of the sky. Particularly critical

Semantics

45

for spatial analysis are the several referents to the surface of water, as hmdu-Tjari-ni, "to be muddied on the surface," or of the flat tops of other surfaces, as in etfa-qari-ku-ni, "to spread over a flat surface." Let us sum up. The basic or signifying features of this "facial" suffix are flatness and interiority relative to an exterior surface covered by para. While not marked definitely for angle, most of its referents are more or less vertical. (3) (b) Social and Psychological yari Themes The "facial" suffix ijari has the greatest power or richness to form themes with social or psychological meanings. The social functions of a face are variously handled within the code, varying from si

55

Morphotactics

As can be seen, only one o f the referents o f a or nu is signalled before ra, but the indexing o f these partial referents is antithetical in that a + ra denotes the corporeal "innards" or "inner c o b , " and not the domestic-environmental " f i e l d " or "house yard," whereas the combination of nu + ra denotes " p a t i o " and not the corporeal ideas of " b o t t o m , genitals, buttocks." Other aspects o f nu are dealt with in extenso in the first appendix on "Formally Complex Suffixes." Both of the "basic, central" suffixes belong with the four limb suffixes in the negative sense that a specific genital reference cannot be signalled by a following ta (to be discussed below). Both o f them also belong with the limb set in that they may be followed by ra and that with this ra and intransitive bases they form non-allofactive verbal themes. 1 0 Ill B. THE TA SET 1. Domestic-Environmental

ta

The second main set consists of eleven spatial suffixes that, on semantic grounds, have to be treated as complex symbols. The referents of these suffixes always may include parts o f the domestic or natural environment, particularly the man-affected environment, although in usage any one of them has only one to three referents that might be described as routine. The domestic-environmental reference of these complex suffixes is signalled by a variant of ta which is homonymous with three other kinds: first, the preceding "femoral-lateral" ta discussed above; second, the ta(s) which occur later in the fourth position but signal genital reference, and will be discussed below; and third, the causative and instrumental ta{s) further along in the fourth position, as is summarized in the second appendix. The domestic-environmental ta usually occurs after transitive stems, where it signals allofaction, with the action of the verbal root directed toward the object in the space defined by the suffix. After intransitive stems, on the other hand, ta has a causative function, as illustrated below by para-rja^i-ta-ni, "to put a roundish object on a (inner) wall" (i.e., " t o cause a roundish object to be put or hung on an inner wall"). This ta resembles the ra after a and nu that was discussed above; both o f them signal both space and voice categories and, since these categories are from semantically diverse orders, both suffixes are

56

The Tarascan Suffixes of Locative Space

portmanteaus. The suffixes taking the domestic-environmental ta are itemized below in the fourth table. TABLE 4 FORM

DOMESTIC

AMBIGUOUSMISCELLANEOUS

ENVIRONMENTAL (out-of-doors)

La 2.0a 3. öu

houseyard eave porch, stove, passageway door, door area patio inner wall of house roof or outer wall of house

corn patch

field

cave

shaft or hole in ground

4. mu 5. nu 6. yari 7. para 8. ru 9. ta

floor of room, house interior 10. ti (ndi) lower part of wall, adjacent floor 11. ft gable, loft

(hillside, cliff)

fruit on tree

any extension of field, floor, angle of field and sky hilltop

The reader will note that three of the complex symbols in this ta set, namely a, ta, and nu, also belong to the first or ra set discussed in the first section under morphotactics, and thus constitute the nodes of a semantic and distributional intersection. Let us now review the more regular workings of the first of the locative functions of the domestic-environmental ta. What follows are the routine or standard referents of the eleven semantically complex spatial suffixes, as they are signalled or "switched o n " by ta in the fourth position. All of the meanings have already been discussed above in the semantic analysis of the complex suffixes. (1) ta converts the reference of a preceding "central zone" a to "field," particularly the sort of small corn patch that adjoins a house;

Morphotactics

57

good examples include harâ-a-ta-ni, "to dig, to excavate in a field," and eté-a-ta-ni, "to burn over a field," that is, to burn over a basic zone of the land {été-, "to burn, kindle"). (2) The suffix Sa, meaning "the narrowing of a longish object," and typically used for the outer and inner neck, is transformed by ta to denote the inner eave, and specifically the space, often an open interval, where the roof joins the side wall (the Tarascan wanâ-h-Sa-ku-ni, Spanish la barda; wanâ-, "to pass, cross, transverse"). Examples include inSâ-h-Sa-ta-ni, "to stick or tuck something into the eave area," as when speaking of money, which is often concealed this way. (3) The "bottom" suffix Su when before ta signals any roof or at least partly covered porch or passageway, but also any cave or shaft in the ground, irrespective of its direction, as in wanâ-h-Su-ta-ni, "to put something transversely into a porch or porch-like area." The fact that "cave" is one of the regular referents of Su + ta may imply some archaic dwelling pattern, or simply that Tarascan speakers subconsciously classify caves as potential dwellings. On the other hand, reference to a stove or a kiln is signalled by the same Su followed by either ta or ku (the latter to be discussed below), all of which suggests an intermediate or indeterminate taxonomic status, and perhaps some perceptual ambiguity. (4) The "orifice-edge" suffix mu, plus ta, exclusively denotes "door, door area," as in ho-mu-ta-ni, "to tie up a door," and also "to tie up something in a door area" (These glosses are equally acceptable and the ultimate disambiguation depends on context;hô-, "tie, bind"). Although this example might seem to mean "action directed toward or affecting a door," I would interpret its underlying meaning to be "to perform a tying action in the orifice-edge area of a house." (5) The second "central zone" suffix, nu, is transformed by ta to denote location in a patio area, as in umbâ-nu-ta-ni, "to pile roundish objects in or into the patio" (umbâ-, "to leave or pile roundish objects"); nu + ta thus contrasts consistently with the "yard-field reference of a + ta, and also with the corporeal referents of nu + ri or of nu +

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