Purepecha and Spanish/Contrastive grammar

tsz-spa Tests

Lack of prepositions

Sentences in Purepechan can either include prepositions or have a locative. Purepechan was originally an agglutinative language and we have seen a lot of Spanish influence; the implementation of prepositions could be from Spanish influence.

• (tsz) Xí íntskuska itsini maríkwani → (spa) Yo di agua a la niña

  (tsz) xí<n><sg> íntskuska<v><tv><pres><perf><p1> itsini<n><sg><obj> maríkwani<n><sg><obj> → (spa) yo<prn><tn><p1><mf><sg> dar<vblex> agua<n><f> a<pr> la<det><def><sg> niña<n><f>

• (tsz) Xwánu ikíasti xí xinkóni → (spa) Juan enojo conmigo

  (tsz) Xwánu<np><sg> ikíasti<v><iv><perf><pres><p3> xí<n><sg> xinkóni<prep> → (spa) Juan<np><ant> enojar<vblex> conmigo<prn><tn><p1><mf><sg>

Object and Locative Overlap

Location of the noun can be indicated by a locative suffix (-rhu) or a object suffix (-ni).

• (tsz) Kwakásti máru rámani anátapuni → (spa) Moje algunas ramas en el árbol

  (tsz) kwakásti<v><tv><perf><pres><p3> máru<det> rámani<n><sg><obj> anátapuni<n><sg><obj> → (spa) mojar<vblex> algunas<det><ind><m> ramas<n><f> en<pr> el<det><def><sg> árbol<n><m>

• (tsz) Kwakásti máru rámani anátapurhu → (spa) Moje algunas ramas en el árbol

  (tsz) kwakásti<v><tv><perf><pres><p3> máru<det> rámani<n><sg><obj> anátapurhu<n><sg><loc> → (spa) mojar<vblex> algunas<det><ind><m> ramas<n><f> en<pr> el<det><def><sg> árbol<n><m>

• (tsz) Kurhústi pwértani táani → (spa) Quemó la puerta en la casa

  (tsz) kurhústi<v><tv><perf><pres><p3> pwértani<n><sg><obj> táani<n><sg><obj> → (spa) quemar<vblex> la<det><def><sg> puerta<det><f> en<pr> la<det><def><sg> casa<n><f>

• (tsz) Kurhústi pwértani táarhu → (spa) Quemó la puerta en la casa

  (tsz) kurhústi<v><tv><perf><pres><p3> pwértani<n><sg><obj> táarhu<n><sg><loc> → (spa) quemar<vblex> la<det><def><sg> puerta<det><f> en<pr> la<det><def><sg> casa<n><f>

Spanish introduces tonals

Translating into Spanish introduces a tonal tag for words that are differentiated with a tone

Spanish introduces gender

Nouns in Purepechan do not have gender and they have one verb ending that refers to an ambiguous he/she/they.

Verb tenses are indicated by suffixes in tsz but they’re conjugated in Spanish

Purepechan is an agglutinative language so the verbs keep the same lemma, attaching suffixes to change the meaning of the verb (tense, mood, person). Spanish conjugates their verbs.