The phonology and morphology of Filomeno Mata Totonac

There are a number of roots with underlying x that may be reflexes of Proto-Totonac q. These
roots combine with the q-containing allomorphs of the harmonic prefixes.
62) /kin-lak=pi-qas"i/ 63) /kin-maka=pis"-qas"i/
1OBJ-CHEEK-punch 1OBJ-WRIST-punch
[kilakpiqás"i] [kimakapis"qás"i]/[kimaqapis"qás"i]
‘s/he punched me in the cheek’ ‘s/he punched me in the wrist’
64) /piiqi-c"iqii/ 65) /ki-maa-laka-stax-ii/
ARM-wash 1OBJ-CAUS-FACE-water-TRANS
[peeqec"eqée] [kimaalaqasta*áa]
‘s/he washes her/his arm’ ‘it makes my eyes water’
The uvular harmony process is not only limited to particular prefixes, but is also sometimes
lexicalized, as in the forms lakac'a’án (‘face+there+go’) ‘s/he sees from a distance’ vs.
laqa$a’aníi (face+there+go+DATIVE) ‘s/he gets bored’. This uvular harmony constraint is
related to a constraint against high vowels adjacent to uvulars, which is discussed in §2.6.3.1.
2.6.2.2 Consonant degemination. No underlying geminates exist in FM Totonac. Consonant
degemination occurs only related to a small number of affixes, while generally, false geminates
are tolerated.
2.6.2.2.1 False geminates. False geminates, i.e. identical consonants brought together at
morpheme boundaries, are very common. In most cases, degemination does not occur, unlike in
other Totonac varieties (McKay 1999:53-54) (but see §2.6.1.1.1 for the systematic exception of
nasal degemination). In FM Totonac, generally each of the identical consonants is retained;
geminate plosives are released phonetically, with the possibility of a very brief schwa-like vowel
intervening between the two segments, and geminate fricatives are audibly lengthened.
66) /pis"-s"in/ 67) /stunk-kutun/
NECK-itch straighten-DES
[pis"s"ín] [stunk%kutún]
‘his neck itches’ ‘he wants to straighten it’
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