The phonology and morphology of Filomeno Mata Totonac

Table 3.4 Body part plurals
Unspecified
number One of pair Both of pair Gloss
-makán -makátu& -makatiyú’u& ‘hand’
-qaapíin -qaapíitu& -qaapiitiyú’u& ‘thigh’
-tantíin -tantíitu& -tantiitiyú’u& ‘buttock’
-tantúun -tantúutu& -tantuutiyú’u& ‘foot’
-taapáan -taapáatu& -taapaatiyú’u& ‘side’
-laqastápu& -laqátu& -laqatiyú’u& ‘eye’
-peeqén -peeqétu& -peeqetiyú’u& ‘arm’
3.3.1.5 Vegetable plot plurals. The final category of nouns that some consultants were
comfortable pluralizing comprises locative nouns referring to plots of vegetables. These forms
carry the nominalizing suffix –n and are not inalienably possessed. They form plurals in
pluralizer –iin, with stress on the vowel preceding the suffix, just as the human- and caninereferring
nouns do.
Table 3.5 Vegetable plot plurals
kaanips%ín ‘squash plot’ kaanips%iníin ‘squash
! +,!
plots’
kaapinín ‘chile plot’ kaapininíin ‘chile
plots’
kaapaq"c%ín ‘tomato plot’ kaapaq"c%iníin ‘tomato
plots’
3.3.1.6 Pluralization of adjectives. The pluralization of adjectives is always accomplished in
my database through the prefixation of the pluralizer lak-/laq-, as is the usual case with nouns,
but without the suffix normally found with nouns. This prefix participates in uvular harmony as
discussed in §2.6.2.1. While most nouns are not pluralized, adjectives modifying nouns with
semantically plural referents are prefixed with the pluralizer morpheme.