The Categorial Status of Body Part Prepositions in Valley Zapotec ...
The Categorial Status of Body Part Prepositions in Valley Zapotec ... The Categorial Status of Body Part Prepositions in Valley Zapotec ...
. Nàa're' zòob=a' làa'iny co'ch. (TMZ) I NEU.sit STOMACH car I am sitting in the car. (4) a. R-ahcnah lù 3 =a'. (TMZ) HAB-hurts face=1s My face hurts. b. Nàa're' zòob=a' loh me'es. (TMZ) I NEU.sit=1s FACE table I am sitting on the table. All of the BP terms used in locative constructions such as these are presented in Table 3 below, along with their locative meanings, which have been simplified for this table. The locative meanings of the words differ not only from language to language, but in a few instances from speaker to speaker within the same language. For some SLQZ speakers, cwe'eh cannot be used as a human body part. For more discussion of this, see Section 2.1. Table 3. Body Parts Terms and Meanings TMZ SLQZ body part meaning locative meaning cwe'eh cwe'eh (95) 'side' 'beside' dehts dehts (104) 'back' 'behind' guë'ëhcy gue'ehcy (123) 'head' 'on top of' làa'iny làa'iny (142) 'stomach' 'in' lohoh lohoh (156) 'face' 'on, in front of' nnaàa' nnaàa' (192) 'hand' 'on' (a branch) ni'ih ni'ih (181) 'foot' 'under, beneath' ru'uh ru'uh (303) 'mouth' 'at the edge of' têë'ix têë'ix (343) 'chest' 'beside' zh:àa' zh:àa' (383) 'bottom' 'behind, under' zh:àa'cw zh:àa'cw (383) 'upper arm' 'on' (a branch) zh:ààa'n zh:ààa'n (384) 'bottom' 'behind, under' Numbers in parentheses following the TMZ and SLQZ words refer to page numbers in Munro, Lopez, et al. (1999). 3 VZ languages exhibit complex phonological alternations in verb and noun paradigms, of which the change from loh to lù= is typical. I will not discuss these here. 7
Some linguists studying Zapotec languages have assumed that BP locatives are nouns and that the locative meaning is derived through metaphorical extension. In a paper which explains in great detail the metaphorical system employed in the use of body parts as locatives, MacLaury (1989) says of Ayoquesco Zapotec: 4 [the] body-part locatives are not prepositions, because there is no justification for setting them apart from their primary classification as nouns. Unlike English prepositions, they are identical in form to the nouns applied to body organs, their use in syntax is optional, they only add specificity to other locative expressions, they do not complicate syntax, they do not denote direction, and they do not mark grammatical relations as do case markers (120). It is important to note that MacLaury's comment is only a footnote in a paper which describes the system of metaphor. The focus of his paper is not to justify his assertion regarding the syntactic status of these words. Jensen de López (2002), who studies acquisition of San Marcos Tlapazola Zapotec, states: Where English employs prepositions, Zapotec relies… on human body part nouns in referring to the spatial relationship between a trajectory and a landmark object. Zapotec body-part spatial terms are nouns or nounderived items which are identical to the nouns used for referring to human body parts… The grammatical and semantic systems of the SMT Zapotec BP terms are grammatically and semantically very different from that of Indo-European prepositions (123). However, the categorial status of the BP prepositions is not the focus of her paper, either. To my knowledge, there has been no work done directly on the categorial status of the BP terms as locatives in any Zapotec language. 4 Ayoquesco Zapotec is spoken in "Santa María Ayoquesco de Aldama, District of Zimatlán, Oaxaca, Mexico… in the southern extreme of the Valley of Oaxaca" (MacLaury 1989: 119). 8
- Page 1: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angele
- Page 4 and 5: TABLE OF CONTENTS Title Page i Sign
- Page 6 and 7: 4.4.1 Dissociation between Acquisit
- Page 8 and 9: TABLE OF FIGURES Figure 1. Map of M
- Page 10 and 11: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I sincerely thank
- Page 12 and 13: The Categorial Status of Body Part
- Page 14 and 15: SLQZ has been described in a dictio
- Page 16 and 17: VZ languages have six vowels, as pr
- Page 20 and 21: Other linguists have commented on t
- Page 22 and 23: Table 4. Possessed Body Parts in Va
- Page 24 and 25: tables are not intended to be an ex
- Page 26 and 27: cannot, even though it seems as tho
- Page 28 and 29: other possessed nouns should also o
- Page 30 and 31: constructions are nouns, one would
- Page 32 and 33: Figure 3. Snake on Upside-down Car
- Page 34 and 35: Figure 5. Snake under Car Figure 6.
- Page 36 and 37: If one were to analyze BP prepositi
- Page 38 and 39: Constructions using directional ver
- Page 40 and 41: 2.9.3 Projecting Space This extensi
- Page 42 and 43: . Rbèez=a' làa'iny Sann Lu'uc. (S
- Page 44 and 45: allow for some types of morpho-synt
- Page 46 and 47: Table 11. BP Terms as Prepositions
- Page 48 and 49: 3.1.3 Queque 'head' I found no inst
- Page 50 and 51: 3.2 Examples of Body Part Prepositi
- Page 52 and 53: (39) Co721, page 5, lines 12-15 Laa
- Page 54 and 55: 3.2.3 Rua 'at the edge of' The only
- Page 56 and 57: 4.1 Participants Four children were
- Page 58 and 59: The children were tested in their h
- Page 60 and 61: epresenting the picture on the left
- Page 62 and 63: Table 14. Body Part Test Left Pictu
- Page 64 and 65: while still natural. Upon consultat
- Page 66 and 67: Table 15. Body Part Preposition Tes
. Nàa're' zòob=a' làa'<strong>in</strong>y co'ch. (TMZ)<br />
I NEU.sit STOMACH car<br />
I am sitt<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> the car.<br />
(4) a. R-ahcnah lù 3 =a'. (TMZ)<br />
HAB-hurts face=1s<br />
My face hurts.<br />
b. Nàa're' zòob=a' loh me'es. (TMZ)<br />
I NEU.sit=1s FACE table<br />
I am sitt<strong>in</strong>g on the table.<br />
All <strong>of</strong> the BP terms used <strong>in</strong> locative constructions such as these are presented <strong>in</strong><br />
Table 3 below, along with their locative mean<strong>in</strong>gs, which have been simplified for this<br />
table. <strong>The</strong> locative mean<strong>in</strong>gs <strong>of</strong> the words differ not only from language to language, but<br />
<strong>in</strong> a few <strong>in</strong>stances from speaker to speaker with<strong>in</strong> the same language. For some SLQZ<br />
speakers, cwe'eh cannot be used as a human body part. For more discussion <strong>of</strong> this, see<br />
Section 2.1.<br />
Table 3. <strong>Body</strong> <strong>Part</strong>s Terms and Mean<strong>in</strong>gs<br />
TMZ SLQZ body part mean<strong>in</strong>g locative mean<strong>in</strong>g<br />
cwe'eh cwe'eh (95) 'side' 'beside'<br />
dehts dehts (104) 'back' 'beh<strong>in</strong>d'<br />
guë'ëhcy gue'ehcy (123) 'head' 'on top <strong>of</strong>'<br />
làa'<strong>in</strong>y làa'<strong>in</strong>y (142) 'stomach' '<strong>in</strong>'<br />
lohoh lohoh (156) 'face' 'on, <strong>in</strong> front <strong>of</strong>'<br />
nnaàa' nnaàa' (192) 'hand' 'on' (a branch)<br />
ni'ih ni'ih (181) 'foot' 'under, beneath'<br />
ru'uh ru'uh (303) 'mouth' 'at the edge <strong>of</strong>'<br />
têë'ix têë'ix (343) 'chest' 'beside'<br />
zh:àa' zh:àa' (383) 'bottom' 'beh<strong>in</strong>d, under'<br />
zh:àa'cw zh:àa'cw (383) 'upper arm' 'on' (a branch)<br />
zh:ààa'n zh:ààa'n (384) 'bottom' 'beh<strong>in</strong>d, under'<br />
Numbers <strong>in</strong> parentheses follow<strong>in</strong>g the TMZ and SLQZ words refer to page numbers <strong>in</strong> Munro,<br />
Lopez, et al. (1999).<br />
3 VZ languages exhibit complex phonological alternations <strong>in</strong> verb and noun paradigms,<br />
<strong>of</strong> which the change from loh to lù= is typical. I will not discuss these here.<br />
7
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