The phonology and morphology of Filomeno Mata Totonac

39) ka’ampá
/ka-an-para-li&
IRR-go-ITER-PFTV
‘let him go again!’
40) s%lakaskínka kakaapas%íka&
/s"-laka-skin-kan-li& ka-kaa-pas"-kan-li&/
PAST-FACE-ask-REFL-PFTV IRR-OBJ.pl-bathe-REF-PFTV
‘it’s necessary to bathe them’
4.7.2.3 Perfect aspect. The perfect aspect in FM Totonac describes, in the present tense, “a past
event from a present point of view, or as being currently relevant” (Kearns 2000:158). Or more
generally, to include the past tense, “the perfect locates the topic time in the post state of the
corresponding situation” (Klein 1994:9). The perfect suffix, -niit!, optionally reduces to –nii
when it is word-final, as in example 42. It is associated with a penult stress pattern.
41) kmis%kiniitánts’a&
/k-mis"ki-niita-ni-ts’a&/
1SUB-give-PFT-2OBJ-YA
‘I have already given it to you’
42) waaqooníi
/waa-qu’u-niita&/
eat-TOT-PFT
‘s/he has eaten it all’
43) s%maqtaqa"níita&
/s"-maqtaqal-niita&/
PAST-care.for-PFT
‘s/he had taken care of him/her/it’
4.7.2.4 Progressive aspect. Progressive aspect “takes us inside the duration of a reported event
to where the event is in progress” (Kearns 2000:156). In FM Totonac, progressive aspect is
often employed instead of the imperfective not only for events, but also for states, that are
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