The phonology and morphology of Filomeno Mata Totonac

Acknowledgements
I must first express my profound gratitude to all the speakers of Filomeno Mata Totonac who
patiently and skillfully shared their language with me, particularly my primary consultants
licenciado José Santiago Francisco, Miguel Jerónimo Laureano, María Agustina López Córtes
and Pascual Córtes García. José and Miguel were especially important in helping me learn the
complex verbal morphology of the language, and submitted to hundreds of hours of elicitation
with patience and humor. I also owe thanks to the many elders who shared their stories with me,
and the children and adults who allowed me to practice my limited Totonac skills with them. The
families of José and Miguel were very generous in inviting me into their homes for meals and
holidays and allowing me glimpses of Totonac home life.
I could not have conducted my field research without funding from the University of California,
Berkeley Graduate Division, the Department of Linguistics, and the Survey of California and
Other Indian Languages.
Next I thank my family and friends who supported me (and sometimes pressured me) to finish
my degree: my sweetheart Bill Vollmann, whose warm, unfailing affection and generosity were
essential; my sister Mary Julienne and brother Mark McFarland (who once offered to write my
thesis for me); dear friends Merle Rabine, Barbara Hascall, Nisso Lagnado, Sandra Fair, Vickie
Mortensen, Tom Gee and Janet Rosen; and my fellow linguists Gabriela Caballero, Mary Paster
and Anne Pycha, whose ideas on morphophonological oddities helped me reach important
insights.
The small family of Totonac-Tepehua scholars were warmly welcoming and supportive of me as
a beginning field worker, and I especially thank Carolyn MacKay for encouraging me and
steering me to the town of Filomeno Mata at the start of my research; many thanks are due also
to Paulette Levy, David Beck, Frank Treschel, Jim Watters, Susan Smythe-Kung, Jorge Tino,
Vianey Varela, and Crescencio García Ramos, all of whom gave me kind assistance and insights
into the larger issues in the field.
My committee members professors Sharon Inkelas, Andrew Garrett, Leanne Hinton and Johanna
Nichols taught me everything I know, supported my research, and were generous with their wise
comments on my work, and I thank them most of all.
! &!