The phonology and morphology of Filomeno Mata Totonac

ta-qolu it rolls maa-qolu s/he rolls it
ta-poo-qoos% it inflates maa-poo-qoos% s/he inflates it
ta-siyu it seems (shows itself) maa-siyu s/he shows it
ta-spit it turns maa-spit s/he turns it
ta-tsama it fills up maa-tsama s/he fills it
ta-katala he trips/falls maa-katala s/he trips him/her
ta-noq" they meet maa-noq"-uu s/he meets him
ta-stoq it gathers maa-stoq s/he gathers it
ta-tseeq it hides maa-tseeq s/he hides it
ta-s%toq it mixes maa-s%toq s/he mixes it
In addition to the verbs listed above, it seems that virtually all verbs may be prefixed with ta- and
take on middle voice semantics when they undergo a deverbal nominalization process yielding
an ‘ought to be X’d’ reading. §3.3.11.6 contains more detail on this unusual construction.
5.4.4.3 Reciprocal laa-. A reciprocal involves an underlyingly transitive verb in which the plural
subject and object have the same reference. In Filomeno Mata Totonac, a reciprocal verb is
derived by the laa- prefix, and the verb is inflected with subject agreement markers, with object
marking suppressed unless the verb is also causativized. In this case, the causee is marked as the
object, as is usual in causative constructions, and the reciprocal is always interpreted as within
the scope of the causative.
191) laalaaqtsimpáatiti& 192) laac%ipáw
/laa-laaqtsin-paa-titi&/ /laa-c"ipa-wa&/
REC-see-PROG2-2SUB.pl REC-grab-1pl
‘you were looking at each other’ ‘we grabbed each other’
193) talaatsúuk" 194) s%talaac%iikutún
/ta-laa-tsuuk-li&/ /s"-ta-laa-c"ii-kutun-aa/
3SUB.pl-REC-kiss-PFTV PAST-3SUB.pl-REC-tie-DES-IMPF
‘they kissed each other’ ‘they wanted to tie each other up’
195) laamaqasiitsí 196) kaalaamaac%ipíiw
/laa-maqa-siitsi-aa/ /kaa-laa-maa-c"ipa-ii-wa&/
REC-CAUS-angry-IMPF OBJ.pl-REC-CAUS-grab-TRAN-1pl
‘you pl annoy each other’ ‘we made them grab each other’
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