The phonology and morphology of Filomeno Mata Totonac

penultimate stress patterns, derived nouns can also take antepenult stress (see §2.7 for stress
details).
3.1.3 Verbal preference. FM Totonac is a language which prefers verbal expression in general.
As noted above, a large percentage of nouns are deverbal constructions. Even when nouns exist,
verbal forms are often employed in narratives instead. For example, instead of ‘opponents’, the
phrase tiilaqatawaká ‘those who stand up to him’; instead of ‘visitors’, tiintamimáana ‘those
who are coming’; instead of ‘seamstresses’, tiintsapananáh ‘those who sew’. It is notable the
extent to which FM Totonac is verb-central.
3.2 Pronouns and demonstratives. Although personal pronouns and demonstratives undergo a
very limited number of morphological processes, a brief outline of their forms and functions is
included in the interest of completeness.
3.2.1 Pronouns. As is common with languages like FM Totonac, which obligatorily marks
subjects and objects on the verb, independent personal pronouns are used only for clarification or
emphasis and are generally omitted. When present, they may precede or follow the verb. Only
one set of personal pronouns exists which may be used for subjects or objects. No gender
distinctions exist among pronouns. Perhaps due to their limited usage, some uncertainty is found
with these forms. Speakers vary in the first vowel with which they begin the first person
pronoun, some using i-, others a-, and others e-. Speakers also fail to agree on the third person
pronouns. Some give ’uu’ for 3 rd person singular, some say it is tsamá, and others alternate
between the two. Some also use tsamá for the plural, while others state that tsamá is incorrect
and there is no third person plural pronoun. Both ’uu’ and tsamá also find use as demonstrative
pronouns (§3.2.2). To clarify or emphasize a 3 rd person reference, a noun or proper name is often
employed rather than a pronoun. The first and second person plural forms are derived from the
singular through the affixation of a pluralizer –nan used only in this context.
Table 3.1 Independent pronouns
Singular Plural
1 st
person
’íkiti&, ’ákiti&, ’ékiti&
’ikinán, ’akinán, ’ekinán
2 nd
person
wi" wisinán
3 rd
person
’u’u&, tsamá
tsamá (?)
1) Personal pronoun examples
’íkiti k’an kaatuwán ‘I go to the ranch’
’íkiti n kiláaqtsi ‘it was I that he saw’
taaskúha wi# ‘you work’
! +'!