• General rules
• Older borrowed forms
• Adding of affixes
• Examples
• People's names
• Borrowed verbs
• Fruits

There are recordings of most of the examples, marked . The sound files average less than 50Kb.

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General rules

When loan words from Spanish are brought into Mösiehuali̱ (Tetelcingo Nahuatl) several kinds of systematic changes are made.

• For each stressed vowel in Spanish, the corresponding long (i.e. tense or diphthongized) Mösiehuali̱ vowel is substituted. (See the Tetelcingo vowel chart.)
• Similarly, the "short" vowels are substituted for the corresponding Spanish un-stressed vowels.
• Regardless of where the stress falls in Spanish, the normal Mösiehuali̱ penultimate stress is imposed.

Various changes in the consonants and syllable structure may also occur, in order to bring the word into conformity with the normal patterns of Nahuatl. Two common changes are:

• the disappearance of a word-final n
• the insertion of a vowel (often the "short" version of whichever Spanish vowel comes next) in order to break up and make pronounceable clusters of consonants which are not permitted in Mösiehuali̱.

Words that in Spanish end in an unstressed vowel

• end in j [h] in Mösiehuali̱. But,
• word-final j is not pronounced. As a result, this j is written only when a suffix or another stem follows it.

To words that in Spanish end in a stressed vowel

• an n is added in Mösiehuali̱. As in the above-mentioned case of j,
• the n is neither pronounced nor written when in final position.

The phoneme /w/ is labial in Mösiehuali̱ when it precedes a front vowel. In such cases it is pronounced (and written) like the b [β] of Spanish. In some of those cases it is voiceless [ɸ], and thus corresponds, both in pronunciation and orthography, rather to the f of Spanish. As a result:

• Spanish hu ([w]) shows up as b or f preceding a front vowel
• b and f become hu or ju [W] preceding a back vowel

Consonants may also suffer the effects of other morphophonemic rules of Mösiehuali̱. For example, obstruents generally become j [h] when they precede an identical (or closely similar) obstruent. One such case is that of cruz cross, where z [s] becomes j before tz.

Older borrowed forms

In loans which are a century or more old, there was less tolerance for some of the foreign phonemes which are permitted in later borrowings. For instance:

• the voiced stops or fricatives b, d, and g, turn voiceless: p, t, and c/qu [k]
• d may be pronounced l or r
• r becomes l or sometimes t

Combinations of phonemes which do not exist in native Nahuatl words may be simplified or reinterpreted. For example:

• br may become pl or pel
• ue may become owe

Spanish s and j [h] were pronounced differently in the time of the older loans, As a result:

• s often becomes x [š]
• j often becomes x [š]

In the older borrowings it seems also that there was more of a tendency to hear long vowels. Vowels that in Spanish carry a secondary accent, or which are followed by a nasal, may be interpreted as long.

A number of borrowed words have two forms, one older and the other more recent. Generally the older borrowings involve more changes, the newer fewer. Examples given below include Sabado Saturday, cruz cross, and pobre poor.

Adding affixes

To any stem that is produced according to these rules, the normal Mösiehuali̱ affixes for the appropriate grammatical class (part of speech) can be added. Sometimes the meaning of the stem will shift as well.

Examples

The following examples exemplify these patterns. (The sound files attached to the examples average about 40K.)

Nahuatl	Original Spanish	Summary of the Changes	Meaning of the original Spanish
bute [βúte]	bote	ó > u (the corresponding long vowel), final j [h] does not appear	(tin) can
nobutejua [noβutéhwɔ]	mis botes	ó > u, affixes no- my and -hua plural possessed, final j [h] appears	my (tin) cans
arus [ářus]	arroz [ar̃ós]	ó > u, rr > r, penultimate stress	rice
capi̱tö [kapÍtɔa]	capitán [kapitán]	á > ö, non-stressed i > i̱ , n disappears, penultimate stress	captain
capi̱tönte [kapItɔ́ante]	capitanes	same, plus plural -te; final n appears	captains
Josie [hʊ́sie]	José [hosé]	é > ie, penultimate stress	Joseph
Tomös [tʊ́mɔas]	Tomás	á > ö, penultimate stress	Thomas
Mönobiel [mɔanóβiel]	Manuel [manuél]	anué interpreted as ànuwé, é > ie, à > ö, unaccented u > o, w > β before a front vowel, penultimate stress	Immanuel
Xohuönajtzi [šowɔanáhtsi]	Juana [hwána]	ju [hw] > xohu [šow], á > ö, add -tzi honorific, final j [h] appears, penultimate stress	Jane
fiebes [hɸiéβes]	jueves [hwéβes]	hw > f [hw > hɸ], é > ie	Thursday
xöbatu [šɔaβátu]	sábado [sáβaðò]	(older form) s > x, á > ö, d > t, ò > u, penultimate stress	Saturday
söbro [sɔ́aβřo]	sábado	(newer form) á > ö, ábadò > ábro, penultimate stress (preserved)	Saturday
xapu [šápu]	jabón [haβón]	ó > u, b > p, j > x, final n disappears	soap
cafie [káhɸie]	café [kafé]	é > ie, f > hw, final n does not appear, penultimate stress	coffee
cafientic [kahɸiéntIk]	color café	add -ti̱c adjective, final n appears	brown (coffee-color)
corujtzi [kořúhtsi]	cruz [křus]	(older form) crú > corú, add -tzi honorific, s > j [h] before tz	cross
crujtzi [křúhtsi]	cruz	(newer form) add -tzi honorific, s > j [h] before tz	cross
porube [pořúβe]	pobre [póβře]	(older form) póbr > prób > porób, ó > u, final j [h] does not appear	poor
prube [přúβe]	pobre	(newer form) póbr > prób, ó > u, final j [h] does not appear	poor
Di̱us [ðÍyus]	Dios [ð iós]	ó > u, i > i̱ , penultimate stress	God
xomplielojme [šomplielóhme]	sombrero(s) [sombřeřo]	s > x, br > pl, r > l, é > ie, add me plural, final j [h] appears, penultimate stress	hats
xöntocalco [šɔantokálko]	santo [sánto]	á > ö, s > x, add cal-co house-place = saints' shrine, final j [h] exceptionally fails to appear	saint
qui̱xtiöno /  qui̱xti̱yöno [kIštiɔ́ano] / [kIštIyɔ́ano]	cristiano [křistiáno]	outsider, foreigner á > ö, unstressed i > i̱, cr > qu [kr > k], s > x, (ti > ti̱y), final j [h] does not appear.	Christian
xejnulajte /  xenulajte [šehnuláhte] / [šenuláhte]	señora(s) [señyóřa]	outsiders, foreigners (women) ó > u, s > x, ñ > ( j) n, r > l, add -te plural, final j [h] appears	ladies, my ladies

People's names

The names of adults are marked honorifically. Adult men's names normally take the almost-prefixal form ru sir, Mr. (It is derived from the Spanish form don by normal processes for older borrowings.) So don Manuel comes out in Mösiehuali̱ as  ru Mönobiel. The names of adult women (with the exception of one's own wife) take the honorific suffix -tzi, as in  Xohuönajtzi (doña) Juana or Lady Jane.

Borrowed verbs

When verbs are borrowed from Spanish into Mösiehuali̱, the infinitive form is used (the form that ends in -ar, -er, or - ir). To it is added the ending -oa [-owa] if the verb is transitive, or -i̱bi̱ if it is intransitive. Then the appropriate subject and object prefixes are added, and any other affixes of time, aspect, etc. that may be required. For example:

Nahuatl	Original Spanish	Summary of the Changes	Meaning of the original Spanish
pasöri̱bi̱ [pasɔařÍβI]	pasa [pasář]	á > ö, add - i̱bi̱ , penultimate stress	it happens
pasöri̱bi̱s [pasɔařÍβIs]	pasará	The same, plus -s future	it will happen
qui̱pasöroa [kIpasɔařówa]	le pasa	á > ö, add -oa, mark object with qui̱-	it happens to him/her
qui̱mpasöro [kImpasɔ́ařo]	les pasó	the same, with qui̱m- them, and deletion of final -a in preterite.	it happened to them
cöhuantöroa [kɔawantɔařówa]	lo aguanta [àɣwantář]	á/à > ö, gu > hu, add -oa, mark object c-, penultimate stress	he/she bears it
ti̱jconsentiroöya [tIhkonsentiřowɔ́aya]	lo consentíamos [konsentíř]	add -oa and other affixes, penultimate stress	we spoiled him/her
conbenieri̱bi̱ [komβenieřÍβI]	conviene [komβeníř]	convenir > mistakenly borrowed as if it were convener, é > ie, add -i̱bi̱, penultimate stress	it is proper, appropriate
mi̱tzcombenieroa [mItskomβenieřówɔ]	te conviene	add -oa, mark object mi̱tz- you sg., penultimate stress	it behooves you

Fruits

A particularly interesting group of loans consists of names of certain agricultural products, mostly fruits, with the inclusion of a bird, the dove or pigeon. These apparently were borrowed in pluralized form even though their meanings may be singular, and they end in x rather than the s of the modern Spanish form. They also exhibit certain other anomalies; for instance, both alöxöx orange and plötöni̱x banana have the long a vowel ö for a non-stressed a as well as a stressed one (where it is expected); plötöni̱x has i̱ where the Spanish has o; three of these words end in xöx or the almost indistinguishably similar xox, which no other words of the language do, and so forth.

Nahuatl	Original Spanish	Summary of the Changes	Meaning of the original Spanish
öhuax [ɔ́awaš]	habas [áβas]	á > ö, β > w before a non-front vowel, s > x	chickpeas
plötöni̱x [plɔatɔ́anIš]	plátano(s) [plátanos]	á > ö, a > ö (exceptional), o > i̱ (exceptional), s > x, penultimate stress	banana(s)
nobiexöx [noβi̱éšɔaš]	nuez, nueces [nuéses]	nué interpreted as nowé, é > ie, w > β before a front vowel, s > x, e > ɔa (exceptional)	nut(s)
öxox [ɔ́ašoš]	ajo(s) [áhos]	á > ö, j > x, s > x	garlic(s)
icox [íkoš]	higo(s) [ígos]	g > k, s > x	fig(s)
alöxöx [alɔ́ašɔaš]	naranja(s) [nařáŋhas]	n interpreted as article (i)n + separate word aranja, r > l, án > ö, a > ö (exceptional), j > x, s > x	orange(s)
palumax [palúmaš]	paloma(s) [palómas]	ó > u, stress	dove(s), pigeon(s)

--David Tuggy

The Mösiehuali̱ speaker whose voice is heard in the sound files is Trinidad Ramírez Amaro.

• A greeting in Mösiehuali̱
• See how to build the following long word in Mösiehuali̱: nehualmoyecastemojmoluni̱jtzinuti̱nemi̱squiöni̱.
• Mösiehuali̱ vowels
• Mösiehuali̱ consonants
• Mösiehuali̱ honorifics

• Vocabulario mexicano de Tetelcingo
• Richard S. Pittman's "The Phonemes of Tetelcingo (Morelos) Nahuatl" gives more information about the vowels and consonants of Mösiehuali̱.