Denison Nauatl or Mexican in Aryan Phonology THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES NAUATL OR MEXICAN IN ARYAN PHONOLOGY (NOT INCLUDING FORMATIVE SYLLABLES) BY T. S. DENISON CHICAGO T. S. DENISON, PUBLISHER 163 RANDOLPH ST, NAUATL OR MEXICAN IN ARYAN PHONOLOGY (NOT INCLUDING FORMATIVE SYLLABLES) BY T. S. DENISON CHICAGO T. S. DENISON, PUBLISHER 163 RANDOLPH ST. Copyright, 1907 By T. S. Denison ,*• .• »«« • • • • • •:.. .. • •• • - •" • • .•_••-• INTRODUCTION On the plains of Anahuac there has been spoken for centuries and is still spoken an Asiatic language of an ancient type. {The vocabulary of this language is prac- tically Sanskrit; its root-formation follows the laws of Indo-Iranian phonetics. The people who speak this lan- guage call it Nauatl (Nahuatl), "the sweet-sounding," but since the most important tribe of the Nahua are called Azteca or Mexica, Mexicans, I have adopted the latter name as better known historically than Nauatl. In the case of an important discovery it is seldom that all the facts are correctly interpreted and all the details precisely fitted at first. So there may be things in this phonology subject to the verdict "not proven," but I think they are few. Besides, few details in Comparative Phi- lology can be proved absolutely as isolated facts. The proofs rest in the aggregate. I should have preferred to study the subject more exhaustively, but feel that I have done already all that the state of my health permitted. For a century an unwritten law of Comparative Phi- lology has been that America is forbidden ground. He who ventures thereon is "unsafe." Why ? Because there can exist no connection between the Old World and the New. This has been a deterrent and a clog. With infinite labor I developed phonetic principles such as r = i, u, only to find them later elsewhere. But, had I known this at first, what would have been left to discover? A more popular work of a comprehensive character is now ready for the press, and its publication will depend somewhat upon the reception which this analysis receives. T. S. Denison 163 Randolph St., Chicago September 7, 1907 3 2448 CONTENTS PAGE I. Mexican Phonetics 5 II. The Cognate Languages (Mexican, Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, Germanic) B Percentages of Cognates 5 III. Vowels 6 1. Summary of Mexican Vowels with Times of Occur- rence in Sanskrit 6 2. Table of Equivalence of Vowels in Mexican, Sanskrit, Greek 6 3. Phonetic Decay, Shifting Sounds, Quantity . . 6 4. Antiquity of Mexican as Shown in Vowel -System . 7 Note: Vowel Harmony 8 5. Remarks on Diphthongs 8 IV. Consonants 9 1. Meanings 9 2. Labials, b, p 9 3. Gutturals 10 4. Eastern and Western Palatal-Gutturals . . .10 5. chi, dhi 11 6. L and R 11 7. Relation of r and i 12 —--8. Words in naua or nahua 12 9. Adjectives Ending uac and Homonyms ... 14 10. Disguised Forms 14 - — 11. Verb Endings 15 V. Comparative Tables (Mexican, Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, Germanic) 17 Table A: Dentals 17 Table B: Labials 18 Table C: Palatals 19 Table D: The Pseudo-Labial U . . . . . .20 table E: Sibilants 21 Table F: R and L 22 Bibliography 24 4 MEXICAN IN ARYAN PHONOLOGY I. Mexican Phonetics 1 The Mexican language is written in the Spanish pho- netics of the sixteenth century. The system is arbi- trary, clumsy, and confusing. Thus qua, to eat, is also spelled cua; uei, large, is sometimes huei; Nauatl is also spelled Nahuatl; chopini, to peck (as a bird) tzopini; q represents s, but a late writer has discarded q for z uni- formly, and s only is found in a MS of 1607. The sound represented by x is also at times represented by ch, and as this sound may be either of sibilant or guttural origin the result makes analysis difficult. It is nearly four hundred years since Molina reduced these sounds to writing, but the "Metodo" of Chimalpopoca indicates no phonetic change between 1520 and 1869 a. d. The Mexican alphabet consists of sixteen letters: a, c, e, h, ?', Z, m, n, o, p, q, g (s), f, u, x, y, z (s). H is only a breathing; qu represents a /c-sound, but Pimentel uses a parasitic v, which would indicate a to-sound and suggests an examination of the git-sound, as in Latin. This exam- ination I have been unable to make conclusively. In cut, u — t and should be pronounced. Nasals are rare. The nicer phases of phonetic change due to neighboring sounds I have not taken up. II. The Cognate Languages Mexican Sanskrit Greek Latin Germanic 170 words 148 cognates 85.7 per cent 90 cognates 52.8 per cent 88 cognates 51.5 per cent 83 cognates 44 per cent 1 All references by number are to numbers under Consonants. 5 6 MEXICAN IN ARYAN PHONOLOGY III. Vowels 1. Analysis of Mexican vowels as they occur in San- skrit, 120 words: Sanskrit a, 58 times: becomes Mexican a, 38 times; e, 12 times; i, 6 times; o, 2 times. Sanskrit t, 20 times: becomes Mexican i, 17 times; e, 2 times; a, 1 time. Sanskrit u, 22 times: Mexican o, 11 times; iu, 7 times; iwi, 2 times; ao, 1 time; a 1 time. Remainder diphthongs or doubtful cognates. 2 2. Equivalence of vowels and diphthongs. — Mexican . a e i O u Sanskrit. a a i, a U, V v,u Greek.. . . a, e, tj e, a, t; i V F Mexican . iu, yu, yo u% ua iui (u) at eo, eu Sanskrit. u, yu vi, va va,(r)a,(b)a u, (vi), iv e au, a(p) Greek V, *jv, fr fOl, fl, VI, V, U) fa-a VI, *JVL, f"U at €V Mexican e = Greek n in metztli — M V7 1\ Grreek a, in ten-tli, rdv-v-fiac (Horn.) ; Mexican o = Greek e, in conetl, child, ye'v-os. For b, p = u, cf. Sansk., abhi; Zend, aiwi. 3. Phonetic decay, shifting sounds, quantity. — Many Mexican words have been so changed by phonetic decay that out of a total of about 200 words considered only 170 were employed in figuring percentages of cognates and, from these, 120 were selected for vowel comparison. These 120 words furnished only 62 Greek cognates, and the Greek depends upon that number. There is a con- fusion between o and u in Mexican; thus teotl or teutl, 2 Whitney states that a = twice all other vowel elements in Sanskrit (Gram., sees. 22, 75). Hence it might appear that my work is deficient in Sanskrit a. But apparently Whitney's estimate does not apply to roots. My own count of one hundred pages of a Sanskrit vocabulary indicates, in fact, that the total of i- and it-roots about equals the total of a-roots. To be precise, the ratio is : a is to i and u as 5.9 to 5.4. MEXICAN IN ARYAN PHONOLOGY 7 god ; tlaolli or tlaiilli, corn. Usually Mexican o = San- skrit u, Greek v. Col-\i, ancestor; kUl-a; itzo-mia, sew, fcacr-o-v-co. Mexican u = Sanskrit v; Greek f. Uel-iti, to be able, vr; ^peX-ap, el\-ap. Ui = co, iluiz, I/mb?. Vi, bird; tu-tzilin; omovos, *o-fLe\-6vrj<;. A-yot-l, Mexican, tortoise; Greek vhpa, *jv8-pa. Tocaitl, name, Sanskrit, tit, power -\-ketu, appearance, influence; Eng. "hood." Teocihui, hungry, Latin, daps, a meal; Greek, 8a7rra>; cf . Sanskrit, dayd -f- su; Greek, Sals. IV. Consonants 1. Meanings. — Only roots are given and these are de- fined, in the tables, once under "Mexican." Philologists will understand that the meanings may vary materially in the cognate languages. I have supported derivations by Mexican cognates in all possible cases. For example, tla- pal-fo'c, strong: bhr, ep- Goth, gul-p; A. S., geolo; Eng., gol-d. Ihiotl, breath; Latin, /izo; Greek, %«&>; Sanskrit, ghra? Eng., yawn? Ihia, to hate; Greek, e%-#-o?; id-pbs? (see Table F). d) Double consonants with r as one member are not allowable as: sr, rs (si, Is), kr, ks, pr, sir. One letter of the compound is dropped or a vowel separates them, as citlallin, star. But tl occurs constantly as a termination and in the prefix tla = tr, trans. 7. Relation of r and i. — The vowel i seems everywhere to be concerned in the changes caused by r, sometimes doubly so, as when the combination i-l-u-i, occurs. But in eleuia, desire, the prosthetic vowel is e and the following diphthong, eu; in alaua, glide, from *raiigh, it is a-l-a. These latter may really be reduplications with the first r dropped. 10 Eua, rise, flee, is irregular. Cf. cognate developments of r: 6rior, ira, artus; op-vv/M, wp-ro, ep- ko/jlcli, iX-Oelv. Sanskrit, vr, to turn, keep back, becomes il in iloti, revolve, turn, Greek, iWco, *ft,Xk(o, to turn, to tie; also il-pia to tie; il-caua, to leave, forget, turn from = vr -\- caua from gam, ga, go, come, be in a condition; or car, to wander. 8. Words in naua or nahua. There is a considerable number of words beginning naua with very divergent meanings. Some of these involve r, others do not. a) Involving r: Nauatl, the language, nal, clear; Nahua, Nuhua, Nohoa, Noa, names of the people, all from 10 Alaua may be from Latin, lapso, slide, glide. Cf. German laufen. MEXICAN IN ARYAN PHONOLOGY 13 Sanskrit, nara, nala, man; root nr; Greek, avrjp; Latin, Nero. Naua-laua, to ridicule, Sanskrit, war-man, fun + m, give (make) ; cf. German Narr, fool. Nana, to dance, Sanskrit, nrt, to dance; Hindustani, nautch (girl). Nauaiia, to command, nara, manly, bold; or nam, obeisance + vacl, to order, the latter most probable. b) Words not involving r: Naualli, *nacualli, a sor- cerer (astrologer) ; Sanskrit, ndkta, night ; Greek, vvt; ; Latin, nox -f- vara {vr), time or turn of a planet. 11 But cf. four as a "sacred number" in magic. Naual-cui, steal, naualli + grabh (sec. 6, (c) (1)). Na-nauatl, a boil, bubo, redup. nabh, to burst. (Mr. Brinton and others apparently confound this word with Nanauatzin, the moon-god.) Naui, four, chica naui, nine, Sanskrit, nava. Nanauatzin, the moon-god, Nana-\-vas, to stop, dwell, Greek, ^fdarv; A.-S., wes-an; Eng., was. His pyramid (tzaqualli), "stopping-place," lies 27 miles northeast of Mexico. 12 Nauac, near; A-nahuac, "near the water;" Sanskrit, nahus, neighbor + c, locative particle, or adjective ending; a, prefix, from ail, water. 11 Since 4 was a significant number naualli may be naui + vr. The Aztecs had constant recourse to astrology. Prescott, Conquest of Mexico, Vol. I, p. 104. 12 Nanauatzin may also be analyzed: (1) Nana+va, to blow, + tzin, honorific, "Nana, the reverend wind god;" (2) Nana + vad + tzin, to speak, foretell, "Nana, the forecaster;" (3) Nana + vas, to shine, "Nana who illu- mines." With (1) cf. Germanic Wuotan, Wodin, Odin. With all of them cf . Algonquian Nane-paush-adt or Manabozho, son of the grand-daughter of the moon and the West- wind. Also Na, Nana, Ana the Accado-Babylonian "god of heaven." The relation of sm, Assyrian, moon, to the Mexican tzin (if any) would require too much space to admit of adequate discussion here. Cf. *dagh-Ana, 8d, get (aul-a, sec. 2); (3) pa?i-\-hr, get, have, hold. In pachiui, to spy, from Sanskrit, pag, the s/i-sound of the root possibly fixes iui for u (see xiuitl, Table E) . But a thematic noun in Sanskrit from this root might end in u, as pagu, cattle. Hence the form is really pachu-a (pachoa) and this last gives us pachoa, to bend, from bhuj . But this is arbitrary and is no more to be explained (at least further study is required) than are the arbi- trary, inexplicable things in other languages. The reasons must be sought in Iranian or Sanskrit, rather than in Mexican. Nal means clear, but to become clear, is naliui. Tepzutli, is iron, iepuzuia, to chop. It is perhaps best to call all these endings non-significant variations for the present. Cf. Zend " irrational vowels " and triphthongs. In tla-piuia, to grow, from Sanskrit pi, pivan, fat; Greek, ttlco-v, we have the Sanskrit theme, piv -f- ia. Ceuia means to repose, assist another, cool, put out fire. Here are irreconcilable meanings. Ceua, means to freeze. Sanskrit unravels this tangle. The root gi, means to lie down, repose; the root, gi or gya, means to freeze. Here is an evident min- gling of forms with a directness of meaning that leaves no doubt that gi, gya, ceua, ceuia are all cognates. MEXICAN IN ARYAN PHONOLOGY 17 CO H EH < 3 O O -*a . B ^■* 8 » B £ o o x ° 8 -a * a s ^ ^ 5 &a * ?| 8 o g a * >S 8 r— I -+3 S B fl a .2 -B "1.13 "£ ^ li ^ ^ O rB 1 2 ° IB H O £ -° *-£ 03 ~ o3 IS .22 g '« B ^ S £* -B •2 O B ^ e bo .S 8 « _H <0 rB 13 ' w ^ 73 be ^ g 03 » g B B a o £ B £• rB rB ^ P t*s P co cc 73 73 73 73 P 73 * 1! - CO B . ^5 'B S ,£■ pB o3 ^. B r- .2 r-j O o3 o3 J3 3 E. o d 2 .^ 3 £ 'o 3 fl § -M-*^-»j.TZ-t^> O B O O O CJ O S3 — I a ^ u I I m si 18 MEXICAN IN AKYAN PHONOLOGY P< © © © a © .22 8 QQ .2 ® rG ^ © eft £ © fl F-T © „ o .2 -*J »fH 2 2 -° "1 to ^ to rf ■a «- © «~ o3 © 0) © 02 . © m *< ^ © M H ^Wd spah buga 03 leof, love, liebe <£ to .2 3 3 © 8SP8. P. MH CO £ ® S Pl*£ Pi 3 © © -e- n ° Oi to ©o ICS ©o 3 05 ^ 03 rG ftFa ft^ 03 fH Ho3 ft fS 103 fO ft .2 n. ft + tfi ft — fl rt Fd g o 3 O 0) c> a * * 2 S S pm $ a MEXICAN IN ARYAN PHONOLOGY 19 oi 03 £ a J. a § B m •*-" be ftJ2 03 "t^T 03 O o3 w a * ft ^ 03 03 "I . *W *j O P ;~ °s £ o > L e T3 ft C"H 03 ^ P 03 03 ft a It I II be p C3 ,4 o D s cin, A. S. hale, Eng. which, Eng. be p o dags, Goth, taihsva + x, Goth, daigs, Goth, dag, dah, A. S. dough, Eng. H H o3 PI be CO .® o3 02 CO 73 'PJ 03 P o3 C" 1 O crac-entes 0. L. quam X + 03 P r-3 c£ M W pa P3 O c3 * <" * vfc ^ eg so. I g -c5 <3 i »= o o c3 H + is, e<" v 2 3 H H « M m hanu ? kalya kis kesara kr, karu kre kim, ka dhl di, dina dah, *dagh daks -+- pinda dih 55 < w 3 , cheek l, good, fair interrog. particle 5 ^ ft •2 5© "to r^ 5- -4£ ^ CD $ % ^ 3 r < ^L^s§ g i o -g ^ a o a -p, § D 03 03 03 .2 .S 9 E * -! ^ ^ ,5 P P O C3 -+= L^iP^^olol 03 Hi ^ 3 - o 8 M 1 T< 5 < M tH s to o ffl ■+a c^ 43 - +3 cs 5 ft B - >* Cb §j I +a s T3 9 >, X ^ o fd rt br cr: o O T3 X hr OJ S3 3 a cu s XI +J r^ ■+J « 3 X DD ^ SO •jH CD a xj 0) « -H CO CP 0) . _ TO o a a; 0) "-s eg CO ty fyj I— I § CD 7-, N 20 MEXICAN IN ARYAN PHONOLOGY .2 § B O ed « *M ! _p CO 03 13 CD P p to: P r~»i 8 .„ CO ^ p a CD S5, P &J0 p *a "C CO O ^^P „ CD a 8 © t — > ts ■*a ^p .. + CC V) w ■*■> X a CD CO a^ (]> o f-i Fh p a^ KM CD O -(-= ^ s Hi P o s O O 13 3 CD S * A > CD 1 — 1 CO ■J CC p. -M CO CC CO P CO CC cc m a VM P o O P CC .2 ' t> CN cc N 3 .«/«* CO , ->— < r— 1 ^^^ CD ftp CC > £ -, O CD > 49 a a CD ^ S3 8§ s yoke, Eng. steig-en, Ger. coc, A. S., *skoko? Tochter, Ger. rack? (gait), Eng. leof, A. S.; love, Eng. geoton, A. S. Gerste, Ger. bjo P pP be p QQ 5 ^ C li 5 ? ."8 81 2 HO «t- 8i s § r^ CC ! ^^ ) cc E Is !* ) a J a 1 c S5 MEXICAN IN ARYAN PHONOLOGY 21 ^ "1 S3 l\ u fl O cfi O Fl £ CD +j H q a 1-1 O) a-fl to ft« fl r^ CdH S ^^ o «* -s _S -^ §!;§ 2^ fl GO £#} • P 3 co co .w ol^* 3 3 § a a .a a a 2 8 s t> w 8 GO CD 2 p « 2 CD -uj>P3 »-i cq "8 *£%3 p J IS- 5 -• o t ° fl ^ & b M cd if ft d«fi ff §*'» I '! ^ cd .2 o -«-T^ cd£ O £° m ^«*j CO CD £ P 3 IS tf „ 5* CO fl O § co co CD §^ 'J3 fe CD C3 ^ ct! CD -fl _. -M p^r ^ aa- a fl O co cd cd O cd be fl H cd" bb «4H M icd O-fl .^ o J" ^4 cd r£ -fl CD a^ cd co co .S 'p f-l a © cd o O CO co * fl CO P 3 * b fl cd > khaj upa + ksi skand (gala?) uks (*ug) chaga c ^^ P3^ 'fl c CJ^t N ! £ C i i i si 3 ! 3 : J ! D ? a r 1? * s; !.! J V D a : 1 8 J, 1 - S "- d "*° -m D ^-I .rt CT D cd fl £ M8l ^ 22 MEXICAN IN ARYAN PHONOLOGY H OS w welle, Ger. ver-gehen, Ger. thole, Eng. x -fmc-enta? A. S. coil? Eng. wrinkle, warp, wrap, Eng. bi) H la o be a o bb d d o < to *-£ o CO CD * S co bJD CD ^ 3 d ?h O .£ +3 co'+i'H O g 'o ^3 0^^ 3 + o ca 5jo m «-• CC t> -^ -*j © o M i— i f-i o3 14 H pa w O 3 3" 1 o 1 s £ t: * K 3 3 *2- ? * 3 M a .a ? — i- ? — i ,_• _L_ ■i— 9 * Ah 1 o - ^ Id ^ v r3 o s I * 5-1 S S M 'i O f 5 a 3 3 'J i ^ 3 e < > r-T "e 3 o3 c 5 T < 5 o3 ^ § a 2 ? c 3 c ~ c 8 c 2h ( 3 3 a 5 t 5 < a »< 3 a s 2 S S " 2< C CO 3 pJT ~ o o > 1 « ft S -la ■■ i 1 i ^ 3 ^ 5 s s ? j ca 4 3 jS ^ n 3 3 9 3 N 2 ! 3 c - ^~ - c n h 8 .«: f 'd 5 dl CTJ MEXICAN IN ARYAN PHONOLOGY 23 a as w bh d H # bc geolo, A. S. yellow, gold, Eng. right, Eng. recht, Ger. o OS a H H ■ fH i— H of 2 o| ° 1 M W H *S-x T ^ 3 X X -o H K M CO 03 13 *^» _ +3 + + 1- *~ I i Z s § • if O O r ^ 2 : o * 5 o d o o is 1 c i s s c -< V o 5SJ a i 2 j 3. 1 J * » 5 8 3 8 3 3, £ as B ^ si » SI . so ^ - o ^ * s .5 £ -.£ cd O !« tH ^ ^ a ^ CO IU 41 lJ >h CO DQ W S>J./IW;: i/1 24 MEXICAN IN ARYAN PHONOLOGY BIBLIOGRAPHY Owing to its great length it would be impracticable to insert here the bibliography which was prepared in the course of my extended investigations. But a few works will be named here for the guidance of those who may wish to take up the study of Nauatl. Nauatl-Spanish, Spanish-Nauatl Dictionary, by Alonzo de Molina. Mexico, Y/ftt-l/ll. Keprint, Ed., J. Platzmann. Pub., Teubner, Leipsic, 1880. Nauatl- French Dictionary, by Rene Simeon. Contains brief Grammar in French. Paris, 1885. Arte (Grammar) of Nauatl, by Andre de Olmos; edited by Rene Simeon. Paris, 1875. Metodo, Idioma Nauatl 6 Mexicano, Grammar and Dia- logues by Faustino Chimalpopoca ; Spanish text, O. P. Mexico, 1869. Annals of Chimalpahin Qauhtlehuanitzin, Nauatl, with French in parallel columns. Ed. Rene Simeon. Paris. Ar°enas, Dialog ues, Mexican-Spanish-French. Paris, 1862. Gospel of Luke, Nauatl. Methodist Episcopal print. Mexico, 1889. The last two are unfit for beginners because of bad printing. Arenas is invaluable because of its idioms. The Grammar of Olmos contains "Address of a Father to His Son," which is very valuable as an example of primitive style. A bibliography of Nauatl literature is found in "Lenguas Indigenas de Mexico" by Francisco Pimentel, Vol. I, pp. 160-164; also a valuable sketch of the Nauatl language with much grammatical material. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. *$■ REPC 10-URC mmi. OEC 16196ft OEC l ? f * ** t#.197 r HJK88197? DEC 41981 »6 W Form L9-Series 444 «7-£ &G'DUMM j4AN 2 *AY06 tar 00736 am H i m SB?39 ■-•'' -'•••••:-