Spanish affixes in Nahuatl

Summary

Affix function number of borrowed affixes

Description

Information and examples are from Hill and Hill (1986:194, 197). See Gardani (2021) for a detailed treatment of the agentivizer.

2 diminutive/augmentative markers

  • -ita ‘diminutive’, e.g. nān-ita (mother-diminutive) ‘mother dear’, this is the only hybrid formation attested; in general, a native strategy for diminutives is employed on native roots, while -ita is employed for Spanish roots. González Casanova (1933:715) mentions an example with reduplicated stem that seems to be a hybrid formation xa~xal-to (translation unknown).
  • -ote ‘augmentative’, e.g. huēy-ote (big-augmentative) ‘enormous’, this is the only hybrid formation attested.

1 agent noun derivation

  • -tero (-ero) ‘agent noun’, e.g. cuah-tero (wood-agent) ‘wood cutter’, tlahchiqu-ero (collect_maguey-agent) ‘one who collects maguey’. tepalcat-ero (pottery-agent) ‘potter’, tecol-ero (charcoal-agent) ‘coalman’, tlacual-ero (food-agent) ‘waiter who brings lunch to the field workers’ (González Casanova 1933:715).

Other Nahuatl languages and varieties appear to have borrowed similar sets of suffixes. In Balsas Nahuatl plural -s and agent marker -ero are borrowed (Chamoreau 2012:72). Suárez (1977:118) mentions “sporadically” borrowed plural suffixes -s / -es, but gives no examples. Mexicanero has borrowed diminutive -ito (masculine in Spanish), e.g. nin-nakas-ito (3.plural-ear-diminutive) ‘your little ear’, tepitʃi-tʃih-ito-h (little-plural-diminutive-plural) ‘little’ (Chamoreau 2012:83). Papajan Nahuatl has also borrowed -tero ‘agentive’, where it is explicitly argued that borrowing was indirect (Gutiérrez-Morales 2012:224–225).