Emavila123

Nominal Morphology

Plural

In the plural nominal morphology a noun doesn't need to take plural form and if it does there needs to be a human to which a phrase is referring to. The plural suffix is -tëjk in Ayutla Mixe.

In Rodrigo Romero - Mendez dissertation paper, A Reference Grammar of Ayutla Mixe (Tukyo’m Ayuujk), he lists the following plural noun examples :

Examples:

^[1]a) mëjä’ätyëjk ‘old people’

mëj+jä’äy-tëjk

old.person-PL

mëj+jä’äy = singular

^[1]b) anä’äktëjk ‘young people’

anä’äjk-tëjk

young.person-PL

anä’äjk = singular

^[1]c) muku’uktëjk ‘fellows’

muku’uk-tëjk

fellow-PL

muku’uk = singular

In Rodrigo Romero - Mendez dissertation paper, A Reference Grammar of Ayutla Mixe (Tukyo’m Ayuujk), he lists the following plural markers with non-nouns:

Examples:

^[1]a) to’pktëjk ‘sellers’ (Efa1-1737)

took-p-tëjk

sell-NMLZ-PL

took-p = singular

^[1]b) o’kptëjk ‘dead people’ (Efa2H-1345)

ook-p-tëjk

die-NMLZ-PL

ook-p = singular

^[1]c) ëxpiktyëjk ‘students’ (Efa1-671, 841)

ëxpëk-y-tëjk

sell-NMLZ-PL

ëxpëk-y =singular

^[1]d) ayoojptëjk ‘poor people’ (IrsH-1567)

ayoo-p-tëjk

be.poor-NMLZ-PL

ayoo-p = singular

In Rodrigo Romero - Mendez dissertation paper, A Reference Grammar of Ayutla Mixe (Tukyo’m Ayuujk), he lists the following pluralized Spanish loans words:

Examples:

^[1]a) ajent-tëjk ‘officers’ (Efa1-2154)

officer-PL (< agente)

ajent = singular

^[1]b) mus-tëjk ‘musicians’ (Efa2-844)

Music-pl (< música)

mus = singular

^[1]c) amik-tëjk ‘friends’ (Efa2H-1270)

friend-PL (< amigo)

amik = singular

(Mendez 255)

In Rodrigo Romero - Mendez dissertation paper, A Reference Grammar of Ayutla Mixe (Tukyo’m Ayuujk), he lists the following nouns that don’t accept plurals:

Examples:

^[1] a) *mixtyëjk Intended: ‘boys’

^[1]b) *kiixtyëjk Intended: ‘girls’

^[1]c) *maxu’unktëjk Intended: ‘babies’

Romero - Mendez lists other examples that show plurality by adding -anä’äk to the end:

^[1]5. a) mixy-anä’äk ‘boys’

^[1]b) kiixy-anä’äk ‘girls’

^[1]c) maxu’unk-anä’äk ‘babies’

^[1]d) to'oxy-anä'äk ‘women’

^[1]a) u'unk-anä'äk ‘children’

^[1]b) itsy-anä’äk ‘younger siblings’

^[1]c) poj-anä'äk ‘goblins’

Some speakers use the marker -anä’äk for animated nouns and inanimate objects.

^[1]6. a) tsäkäj-anä’äk ‘bulls’

^[1]b) tutk-anä’äk ‘chickens’

Inanimate objects:

^[1]c) pelot-anä'äk ‘balls’ (Efa2-322)

^[1]d) sill-anä’äk ‘chairs’

Possessive morphology

In Ayutla Mixe it expresses possessive morphology by adding the following prefix n - first person singular, m - second person singular, y- third person singular.

Romero - Mendez lists the following examples:

^[1]10. a) n-uk ‘my dog’

^[1]b) m-uk ‘your dog’

^[1]c) y-uk ‘his dog’

There are no articles in Ayutla language to define definiteness.

Adjectives

Adjectives are modifiers that can help modify a noun. The adjective can be found after the noun, non-verbal predication, secondary prediction, and it rarely found inside the noun phrase.

Romero - Mendez lists the adjective between the noun and demonstrative below:

^[1] 39. a) Tu'uk mëjnaxy kipy kyäjpn.

tu’uk mëj-näx+y kipy y-käp-n

one big+INTENS stick 3S-be.stick-PERF;DEP

‘There was a big stick.’ (FrogA-566)

^[1]b) Ëxtam yë’ poop tëjkë'n.

ëx+tam yë’ë poop tëjk=ë’n

like DEM.D white house=ADJ

‘Like the white house.’ (Efa1H-1379)

Romero - Mendez lists the adjective after the noun below:

^[1]c) Të ëjts n’ixy tu’uk uk mëj. tëë ëjts n-ex-y tu’uk uk mëj

BEFORE.NOW 1SG 1A-see-DEP one dog big

‘I saw a big dog.’

(mendez 273)

Number and numerals in the noun phrase

In Rodrigo Romero - Mendez dissertation paper, A Reference Grammar of Ayutla Mixe (Tukyo’m Ayuujk) , states, "The NP jä’äy ‘person’ in (42) can be interpreted as having a singular or plural referent." (274).^[1]

^[1]42. Japëk jä'äy tsyäkäixy.

jajp=ëk jä’äy y-tsäkäj-ex-y

DEIC.D=HEARSAY person 3S-bull-see-DEP

‘A person/people was/were looking after cattle’. (Sfa1L-211)

The examples listed below by the author, Rodrigo Romero- Mendez, are cardinal numerals or ordinal numerals.^[1]

^[1] a) Nëtëkëëk y'ejty.

në-tëkëëk y-et-y

ANIM-three 3S-exist-DEP

‘There were three (girls).’ (Aur2-1005)

^[1] Te’n yä’ät mëtu’uk... yak’ixy.

te’n yä’ät më-tu’uk y-ak-ex-y

V.DEM DEM.P ORD-one 3S-CAUS-see-DEP

‘And that is how we see the first one.’ (FrogG-76)

(Mendez 275)

Possession in NPs

In order to show possession in a noun phrase, a possessive prefix needs to be placed on the noun its possessing and whoever is doing the possession needs to be before the head noun.^[1]

The author, Romero - Mendez, gives an example of a possession in a noun phrase below:

Prefix that shows possession: yë’ë

^[1] Yë’ jä’äy tyistyëjk.

yë’ë jä’äy y-tixytyëjk

DEM. M person 3POSS-woman

‘That person’s wife.’ (IreL-64)

The author, Romero - Mendez, gives an example of a head noun only possession below:

^[1] a) Jëts, jajp ijty mteexy mtäsu'nk xmëtätta?

Jëts jajp ijty m-teexy m-täs-u'nk xmëët-ät-t=a

and DEIC.D IMPF 2POSS-dish 2POSS-cup-DIM 2A-ASSOC-VRBLZ-PL;DEP=Q

Verbal Morphology

When the inflectional morphology is removed, one is left with the verb stem. The verbal template = verb stem - then person prefix - then aspect-mood suffix.

The author, Romero - Mendez, gives an example of a stem with the verb root only:

^[1] a) mtump

M-tun-p

2S-work-INDEP

‘you work’

The author, Romero - Mendez, gives an example of a derivational morphology:

^[1]b) yakkëëpy

y-ak-kë’ë-yp

3S-CAUS-cook-INDEP;TR

‘he cooks it’

The author, Romero - Mendez, gives an example of one or more root:

^[1]c) tyemminy

y-tem-men-y 3S-roll-come-DEP

‘it [a ball comes] rolling’ (MoV-G-FG03)

The author, Romero - Mendez, gives an example of incorporating a noun:

^[1]d) Yë letsy xojtpëjkp.

yë’ë letsy x-jojt-pëk-p

DEM.M milk 1O[INV]-stomach-hurt-INDEP

‘The milk gave me a stomach ache.’

The author, Romero - Mendez, gives an example of an incorporation of an non-nominal element such as an adjective:

^[1]e) kaeymëtyä'kp

Ka-ey-mëtyä’äk-p

NEG-good-tell-INDEP

‘I do not sing well’ (Aur2-Aur2-388)

This is only a schematization and there is no verb that can have all of them.^[1]

The author, Romero- Mendez, presents the table below to show all the possible verbal slots in Ayutla Mixe:

Markers Person	Non-nominal “Incorporation”	Motion cum purpose	Directional and locative Reflexive	Reflexive	Causative	Applicative	Benefactive	Incorporation slot	Part	Verbal Root (manner)	MainVerbal Root ( Semantic head)	Roots	Desiderative	INV-PERFPL-AM