Evangelia Adamou

Predication in Ixcatec (Otomanguean)

Introduction

This paper presents the relationships that exist between a predicate, whether verbal or non-verbal, and a noun phrase (NP) in Ixcatec. The so-called predications were identified only when the language disposed of formal means to code them, such as inflectional marking, on the predicate or the NP, specialized predicates, or linear order, when applicable (see [START_REF] Frajzyngier | The role of functions in syntax[END_REF]. The predications are presented by the name of their function to achieve better cross-linguistic comparability, but each predication is introduced by a language specific definition. Under "constructions", I present the formal means that code this predication in Ixcatec and under "contrasts" the relevant predications with which the predication is in contrast. Up to four examples are presented in order to illustrate each predication, some of them being the prototypical examples, in accordance with the definition, and others more peripheral or problematic. The examples are extracted through the spontaneous conversations and the data elicited through the Pear Stories films [START_REF] Chafe | The Pear Story film[END_REF]. All the data were annotated using IPA. Glosses follow the standardized glossing rules elaborated within the project and significantly expanding the Leipzing glossing rules.

Language information

IXCATEC

Name and ISO code : ʃ h wa 2 ni 3 , better known in the literature under the name Ixcatec (IXC), ixcateco (in Spanish), based on Nahuatl ichcatl 'cotton' + -teca/tecatl 'inhabitant of a place (whose name ends in -tlan or -lan)'.

Speakers : Ten identified speakers, of whom only four are fluent. Most of them -with one exception-are in their late 80s. All are bilingual in Spanish. They have had little formal education in Spanish and no formal education in Ixcatec.

Region : Ixcatec is spoken in the municipality of Santa María Ixcatlán in the state of Oaxaca, in Mexico. Today, Santa María Ixcatlán has some 400 inhabitants but at the time of the arrival of the Spaniards in 1522 it was an important centre for the Mixteca zone with an estimated population of 10,000 to 30,000 people.

Classification : Ixcatec belongs to the Popolocan branch of the Otomanguean stock together with Ngiba/Ngigua (also known as Chocho), Popoloc, and Mazatec.

Dialectology : There are no known dialects.

Status :

Ixcatec is a critically endangered language, with less than ten speakers. An orthography was developed in the 1950s by a native Ixcatec speaker, Doroteo Jiménez, in collaboration with linguists of the Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, the Mexican branch of the Summer Institute of Linguistics. Doroteo Jiménez's orthography uses the Latin script and relies on the graphic correspondences with Spanish with some additions when necessary.

Main typological features :

Ixcatec is a tone language, with three lexically contrastive tones: a high tone, transcribed with a superscripted¹, a mid tone, transcribed with², and a low tone, transcribed with³. Its phonology is complex and not yet well understood. The existence of stress is under discussion. Consonant inventory ranges from 24 to 52 depending on whether glottalized and aspirated consonants are analyzed as clusters of two segments, complex single 20/12/2019 Predication in Ixcatec (Otomanguean) cortypo.huma-num.fr/Archives/exportPredications_N.php 2/7 segments or simple onsets followed by simple nuclei. It has five vowels which may be oral, /a e i o u/, or nasal /ã ẽ ĩ õ ũ/. Ixcatec makes a clear distinction between verbs and nouns; some adjectives may also function as predicates. It is a head-marking language, i.e., grammatical relations are marked on the verb. It has accusative alignment in indexing (A = S ≠ P), i.e., only the single argument of intransitive verbs (S) and the agent-like argument of transitive verbs (A) are indexed on the verb through suffixes. A dozen experience predicates take a different coding, namely through possessive suffixes. Ixcatec is a pro-drop language, i.e., free pronouns are optionally used for all functions, and NPs are generally omitted. It has a VS/SVO unmarked order. When an S argument is moved to the preverbal position, a cross-reference morpheme is suffixed on the verb. The Ixcatec cross-reference morphemes (-da² 'male', -k w a² 'female', and -βa³ 'animal') corefer to nouns formed with the noun classifiers, di²-'man', k w a²-'woman', ʔu²-'animal', to some animate nouns even though they have no classifier, and to the masculine and feminine third singular pronouns which bear the same suffixes as those used for the cross-reference morphemes, i.e., su¹wa¹-da² 'he' and su¹wa¹-kwa² 'she'. Noun classifiers are distinct from so-called class terms which partake in word formation for inanimates but are not associated with any crossreference morphemes.

Functions in the domain of Predication for the language Ixcatec (Otomanguean)

1.1. existential and equational

Definition

The existential predicate encodes the general existence of an entity X. It is also used as an equational predication indicating that an entity A is identical with an entity B (no occurrences in the corpus).

Construction

The existential predicate si¹.

negative existential Definition

The negative existential denies the existence of an entity.

Construction

The negative existential is expressed through the non-verbal predicate ka²ʔa².

Contrasts

The negative existential contrasts with the existential predicate si¹.

presentational Definition

The presentational predication is used to introduce a referent in a deictic situation.

Construction

The presentational predication involves the presentational predicate ʃe².

Contrasts

The presentational predicate is distinct from verbs because it does not receive any S or A suffixes. It is distinct from the other non-verbal predicates because of its form. There is a woman.

possessive Definition

The possessive predication indicates that an entity X owns/has an entity Y.

Construction The possessive predication involves the possessive predicate ja¹. It is followed by an NP and can be preceded by another NP: (NP) ja¹ NP.

Contrasts

The possessive predicate is distinct from verbs for not receiving the S or A suffixes. It is distinct from the locative and existential predicates because of its form. He has a goat.

stative locative Definition

The stative locative predication indicates the presence of an entity at the place X or of an event that occurs at the place X.

Construction

The stative locative predication involves the stative locative predicate ki¹i² which is preceded by an NP and can be followed by another NP: NP LOC (NP)

Contrasts

The stative locative predicate is distinct from verbs for not receiving the S or A suffixes and distinct from other non-verbal predicates because of its form. it stands, looks around, where is that animal.

human antipassive Definition

The antipassive triggers the suppression of the patient-like (P) and the recipient-like (R) arguments which are pragmatically identifiable. With stative predicates it indicates that the state is particularly affecting the participant.

Construction

The antipassive morpheme -mi² is suffixed on the verbs and stative predicates. what is it called, she arrives to see how we are doing.

causative Definition

The causative introduces a new argument, semantically a causer and syntactically an A argument. In several cases, the causative has been lexicalized, e.g. tse²hi² 'sell' < 'do-go'.

Construction

The causative tse²k-/tse²-attaches to verbs.

Contrasts

The causative derives from the verb tse² "to do", which is still used as a verb and an auxiliary. Note the use of tse² as a light verb with Spanish verb borrowings. As a valency-increasing suffix, the causative contrasts with the valency-decreasing antipassive and can co-occur with it suppressing the causee. He has gathered all the fruit.

instrumental Definition

The instrumental serves to add a protoypically non-human argument, often indicating that the action is realized with an instrument.

Construction

The instrumental is expressed in two ways: 1) The applicative-instrumental -ʃi² attaches to verbs or experience predicates (note some lexicalized uses). However, the applicative-instrumental does no longer seem very productive in its prototypical uses.

2) The coordinating conjunction ku² e.g. "talk with the microphone", "clean with the scarf".

Constraints

For the applicative-instrumental to be used, the object has to be in a marked position, i.e., preverbal.

Contrasts

The instrumental contrasts in particular with the comitative ka²hu², which indicates that the agent executes the action with a human co-agent. He is cleaning with his scarf, he is cleaning.

comitative Definition

The comitative indicates that the agent executes the action with a human co-agent.

Construction

An uninflected comitative morpheme, ka²hu², is used as a free morpheme. It can also be found in lexicalized verbs, e.g. ɸi²ka²hu² 'bring' < 'come-with'.

Contrasts

The comitative contrasts with the instrumental, which applies to non-human arguments.

experiencer Definition

The experiencer predication encodes that a participant is affected by the event, e.g. emotion 'be upset', 'be lazy'; bodily experience 'be sick', 'bathe', but also posture 'sit'.

Construction

The experiencer predication consists of a non-verbal predicate (not a noun or a verb) that receives the series of possessive suffixes.

Contrasts

Other non-verbal predications.

Synthesis & Discussion

To summarize, I have identified the following predications: existential and equational, presentative, possessive, stative locative, negative existential, human antipassive, causative, instrumental, comitative, sociative, experiencer, and spatial specification. However, note that the syntactic analysis is still ongoing.

Ixcatec presents a number of typologically interesting predications. In particular, the human antipassive verbal suffix, -mi² , is typologically rare in many respects [START_REF] Adamou | L'antipassif en ixcatèque[END_REF]. Unlike most languages with antipassive constructions [START_REF] Polinsky | Antipassive constructions[END_REF], Ixcatec antipassive constructions target highly individuated arguments, namely humans who are also generally speech-act participants.This is due to the origin of -mi², which most likely developed from the Proto-Popolocan **hmi 'person' (reconstructed in Veerman-Leichsenring 2004: 433 following Gudshinsky) and is still productive in compound word formation, i.e. mi 2nda 2 wa 2 ʽman', mi 2 -tʃɁa 2 ʽwoman', tʃa 2 h-mi 2 ʽpeople'. The Ixcatec antipassive triggers the suppression of the patient-like (P) and the recipient-like (R) arguments. We also note the use of the antipassive suffix with stative predicates, indicating that the state is particularly affecting the participant. Within the Otomanguean stock, one can also draw attention to the equivalent 'object-suppressive' voice in Totonac which also occurs with states and nominal roots for atelic reading [START_REF] Beck | A Grammatical Sketch of Upper Necaxa Totonac[END_REF]).

Cross-reference morphemes are of typological interest, in relation to the lexical classifiers (see Adamou 2017a for an overview of their uses in relative clauses and methodological challenges for a systematic analysis of a critically-endangered language).

Another interesting feature is the so-called "experiencer" predication. Unlike in other Popolocan languages, as Chocholtec (Ngigua/Ngiba) and Popoloc, I consider that this predication cannot be described as a case of semantic alignment in Ixcatec as it is not a pervasive feature but rather characterizes a small number of verbs [START_REF] Wichmann | The study of semantic alignment: retrospect and state of the art[END_REF]: 3 offers the following definition of semantic alignment: "an agentive S is encoded, through case marking, verbal agreement, or both, in the same way as A and non-agentive S in the same way as P" and "the agentive vs. non-agentive distinction is a pervasive feature of the grammar").

Among under-described features of Ixcatec that deserve future research is the so-called "sociative", which presents a rather wide range of uses that defy easy characterization.

Conclusion

To conclude, Ixcatec is a previously undescribed and critically-endangered language. Although it shares a number of features that characterize the Popolocan languages and more broadly the languages of the Otomanguean stock and the Mesoamerican area, Ixcatec also shows a number of interesting developments that can be of interest to typologists. Clearly, much work remains to be done and the present paper is aimed as an introduction to the complexity of this language.

  getting upset because it's so ugly <woman>.

  like when I come, I see it is clean.

  says, people got scared, that's why it has blood. ja¹ ka³ tʃʰmĩ¹ ʔa²ku³ ɾa²ʃku²ʔe¹ βa²ka²hu³ tʃʰmĩ¹ // (IXC_LEA_NARR_02_PEARSTORY-RRM_021) the fruit in his bag. He carries the fruit.

  is in his house. That's why they are going. ku² li² ki¹i² ʰngu² nda²tsĩ² /

  field, there where they talk with the microphone, he²e² ka²ndi² kwa²ɸi² di²a²le²ja¹ndro²na² ʔmẽ¹ʔõ² nda¹ra² βa²tsu²ke² ti²mã¹hũ¹ke²na² ku² su¹wa³ /came, he again said how I sweep in the heat. ki¹βe²he³ ku² pa²ni¹tu²ʔe¹ ku² ki¹βe²he³ /

  ʔi¹ɲa¹na³ ka²hu² na²la² na²ʔtʃi² ta¹ʔtʃi² kwa²tu¹tse² nda¹ra² βa²tsu¹ ndi² βa²tu¹ɸi² ka² tsi²kũ³ʔe¹ /fine with the grandmothers, the grandfathers, they do, they go for their money tʃi¹ʰngu² lĩ²ʔĩ¹ ki¹u²ʃta¹ma² ku² ki¹u²ʃta¹ma² ka²hu² ku² tʃʰmĩ¹ ki¹i² // (IXC_LEA_NARR_02_PEARSTORY-RRM_119) playing with... he is playing together with the fruit. He is there. used to express an action realized together with other participants, e.g. "go together", "meet". Some examples indicate a passive use, where the patient is promoted as a subject, e.g. "he is hot" = "the heat affects him". Examples not attested in the corpus indicate a reciprocal meaning.ConstructionThe sociative -te³ʔe³ attaches to the verb.

  getting upset because it's so ugly <woman>. me¹nda² ʔi²na¹na³ ʔmẽ¹ʔõ² sja¹ɲa³na³ tsi² tsu² ku²tse²na³ /why to do this I'm lazy, I told him.4. spatial specification DefinitionSpatial specification codes the position of a referent X with respect to a referent Y, e.g., X inside Y, X above Y, etc. Some spatial specifiers derive from body part terms.ConstructionThe spatial specifiers combine with TMA markers, but not with S or A suffixes. They generally precede the NP: SPCF.SPC NP tʃi²ka² ti¹nda¹ʰɲa³ ʔmẽ¹ʔõ² ʔa²ku² ʰngu² to²ne¹ le² ʃʰe¹ / (IXC_LEA_CONV_03_JSB-RRM_146)

  got tangled in (his) feet, because it didn't want to let go.