[Nahuat-l] tlaixpamitl, cuatitlamitl

[John Sullivan, Ph.D.]

Listeros,
	Now that I'm on a roll, I'll throw something else out.
1a. tlaixpamitl, "altar" (absolutive noun)
1b. notlaixpan, "my altar", (possessed noun)
1c. Xictlali xochitl tlaixpan, "Put the flowers on the altar",  
(relational word)

2a. cuatitlamitl, "monte, uncleared land" (absolutive noun)
2b. nocuatitlan, "my uncleared land" (possessed noun)
3b. yahqui cuatitlan totomictito, "he went into the woods to hunt some  
birds" (relational word).

	So, the question is, what came first: the chicken or the egg? Is the  
relational word (-tlan) simply the reduced form of a noun (tlamitl),  
or was the noun built on the relational word?
John
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