The phonology and morphology of Filomeno Mata Totonac

4.3 Verb transitivity classes. All verb roots in FM Totonac have an inherent level of transitivity
that is morphologically unmarked. Almost all verbs are subject to valency-increasing and/or –
decreasing operations, as described in §5.4. The three verb classes, positionals, intransitives and
transitives, are described in the following three subsections.
4.3.1 Positionals. The positionals are a closed class of roots that I subdivide into the bound
positionals and the posturals; all have meanings related to physical position, and form the base
for a very large number of derived forms. With the positionals the prefix ta- acts as an
inceptivizer, whereas with verbs of other classes ta- serves as a marker of middle voice (see
§5.4.4.2).
4.3.1.1 Bound positionals. The bound positionals are: a) xuu ‘in(side), having entered from
above or below’; b) nuu ‘in(side), having entered from one side’; c) #tu ‘out(side), having exited
from one side’, and d) kut ‘out(side), having exited from above or below’. These bound roots, as
in other Totonaco languages, have “no inherent transitivity” (Levy 1994:238); they require
combination with an applicative, a causative, the inceptive, or another verb root before they may
serve as a predicate and be inflected.
1) /ta-xuu-maa/ taxúuma ‘he’s getting into (a hole)’
INC-inside-PROG
2) /ta-nuu-kan/ tanuukán ‘someone enters’
INC-in-REF
3) /ta-laka-s"tu/ talakas%tú ‘s/he looks out’
INC-FACE-out
4) /maa-kut-uu/ maakútu ‘s/he takes it out’
CAUS-out-TRAN
4.3.1.2 Posturals. The posturals are stative verbs that, as such, differ from the bound positionals
in their ability to be inflected without first undergoing a derivational process. The posturals are:
a) maa (with 2SUB suppletive form paa) ‘be lying’; b) yaa ‘be standing’; c) wi(la) ‘be seated’;
d) kii ‘be upright’, and e) waka ‘be up in/on/against’. The same five postural statives are found in
all the well-described Totonac dialects, with only minor phonological and semantic differences.
Examples of their underived and inceptivized use follow:
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