The Categorial Status of Body Part Prepositions in Valley Zapotec ...

(44) Oc740, lines 5-6
lanni quichii escriptura de benta
in paper bill of sale
'in the bill of sale'
Below in (45) lanij seems to be used meaning 'in (the possession of).' The Spanish
translation of this section, ytten beinte pesos que me deve Pasqual pere, 'and twenty pesos
that Pascual Peres owes me', seems to preclude a meaning of 'twenty pesos are located in
Pascual Peres,' although possible it could mean 'in Pasual Peres' house'.
(45) Co721, page 5, line 8
alarij gaalee pesos nij n-oo lanij Pascual Peres
and twenty pesos REL NEU-be.loc in Pascual Peres
'along with twenty pesos that are in (the possession of) Pascual Peres'
Additionally, lani seems to be used to mean 'on' as in (46) below.
(46) Oc686, page 2, line 7
firma xiteni=tonoo lani testamento niri
signature of=1p on will this
'our signatures on this will'
Finally, lani occurs in a complex expression laane-yo, which apparently literally
means 'in the house,' but is used simply to mean 'in.' The use of this word in modern
SLQZ is restricted to inside buildings: “la'nyu'uh … inside, in… used only before certain
nouns referring to buildings, such as liihahz 'house' and scweel 'school' ” (Munro, Lopez,
et al. 1999). In the Colonial example below, it is used to express 'in the month of
October'.
(47) Hu643, line 2-4
Ana co-xopa gobicha r-izaa chiy laane-yo beo octubre
now PERF-six sun HAB-fall day in-house month October
in
'Today, the sixth day in the month of October'
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