The phonology and morphology of Filomeno Mata Totonac

5.3.2.3 Inceptive/Middle voice ta-. The prefix ta- generally serves as a marker of middle voice
with resultative verbs; this function is presented in detail in section §5.4.4.2 on valence-changing
morphology. With the positional verbs (§4.3.1), it acts as an inceptive marker, adding the
meaning ‘to enter into the state of X’.
25) tas%tú n tsamá n tíxi&
ta-s"tu-aa tsamá tíxi&/
INC-out-IMPF that road
‘he gets out of that road’ (7,119 mjl)
26) ’aqátanuuy’a
/aqa-ta-nuu-aa-[cg]/
EAR-INC-in-IMPF-2SUB.sg
‘understand?’ (‘does it enter your ear?’) (7,73 jsf)
27) tatámaats’a&
/ta-ta-maa-li&-ts’a& /
3SUB.pl-INC-lie-PFTV-YA
‘they already lay down’ (7,61 jsf)
28) tawakaqóo"i n kíw’i&
/ta-waka-qóo-#i kíw’i&/
INC-upright-TOT-PFTV tree
‘he ended up climbing the tree’ (7,62 jsf)
5.3.2.4 Ambulative -tii"a. The ambulative – tii"a has the literal meaning that the action of the
verb is carried out while walking. It is often used, however, to add a progressive aspectual
semantics to a verb, with the added implication of pluractionality, with the action taking place at
intervals over a period of time, or here and there over a period of time.
29) ki"t"itii"á
/ki#tli-tii#a/
sing-AMB-IMPF
‘he walks along singing’
! "((!