Nahuatl honorifics
Encyclopedia
Nahuatl honorifics refers to the set of linguistic elements and morphological systems
found in the Nahuatl
group of related languages and dialects, that are used to mark degrees of respect and relative social standing and distance for the speaker and subject(s) of discourse. These systems of honorific
or reverential address have been noted for both the 16th-century contact-era recorded form (Classical Nahuatl
) and its living modern-day descendant Nahuatl dialects
and speech communities. The system of honorifics observed for Nahuatl languages is a highly complex one, employing both free and bound morpheme
s that may attach to noun
s, verb
s, postpositions and other grammatical elements, providing a gradation of reverential address options whose use is governed by cultural and social norms within the Nahuatl speech community. Linguists have identified at least four distinct levels of honorific address within and among Nahuatl languages and dialects.
The four levels of honor or reverence include an “intimate” or “subordinate” Level I, a “neutral,” “distant” or “first respect” Level II, a “reverential” Level III, and finally, the sacred, “ultra-reverential” compadrazgo Level IV used in religious contexts.
Compadres, or godparents, who are established as kin through religious ritual, are the only members of the community to whom this highest level of reverence is applied. The morphemes used to express these four levels of honor are a linguistic manifestation of the social structure and politeness strategies of Nahuatl culture. Factors such as age, kinship, occupation, fluency in Nahuatl, and the cultural value of compadrazgo are primary in determining the level of reverence one merits. The four levels of honor are supported by a framework of cultural, and especially religious, beliefs and values. Honorific usage also varies slightly among the dialects, a variation closely tied to socioeconomic status, respect for tradition, indigenous solidarity, and a region’s degree of contact with other speech communities.
Morphology (linguistics)
In linguistics, morphology is the identification, analysis and description, in a language, of the structure of morphemes and other linguistic units, such as words, affixes, parts of speech, intonation/stress, or implied context...
found in the Nahuatl
Nahuatl
Nahuatl is thought to mean "a good, clear sound" This language name has several spellings, among them náhuatl , Naoatl, Nauatl, Nahuatl, Nawatl. In a back formation from the name of the language, the ethnic group of Nahuatl speakers are called Nahua...
group of related languages and dialects, that are used to mark degrees of respect and relative social standing and distance for the speaker and subject(s) of discourse. These systems of honorific
Honorific
An honorific is a word or expression with connotations conveying esteem or respect when used in addressing or referring to a person. Sometimes, the term is used not quite correctly to refer to an honorary title...
or reverential address have been noted for both the 16th-century contact-era recorded form (Classical Nahuatl
Classical Nahuatl
Classical Nahuatl is a term used to describe the variants of the Nahuatl language that were spoken in the Valley of Mexico — and central Mexico as a lingua franca — at the time of the 16th-century Spanish conquest of Mexico...
) and its living modern-day descendant Nahuatl dialects
Nahuatl dialects
The many dialects of the Nahuatl language belong to the Nahuan branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family, and form a group of linguistic varieties spoken in central Mexico...
and speech communities. The system of honorifics observed for Nahuatl languages is a highly complex one, employing both free and bound morpheme
Bound morpheme
In morphology, a bound morpheme is a morpheme that only appears as part of a larger word; a free morpheme is one that can stand alone.Affixes are always bound. English language affixes are either prefixes or suffixes. E.g., -ment in "shipment" and pre- in "prefix"...
s that may attach to noun
Noun
In linguistics, a noun is a member of a large, open lexical category whose members can occur as the main word in the subject of a clause, the object of a verb, or the object of a preposition .Lexical categories are defined in terms of how their members combine with other kinds of...
s, verb
Verb
A verb, from the Latin verbum meaning word, is a word that in syntax conveys an action , or a state of being . In the usual description of English, the basic form, with or without the particle to, is the infinitive...
s, postpositions and other grammatical elements, providing a gradation of reverential address options whose use is governed by cultural and social norms within the Nahuatl speech community. Linguists have identified at least four distinct levels of honorific address within and among Nahuatl languages and dialects.
The four levels of honor or reverence include an “intimate” or “subordinate” Level I, a “neutral,” “distant” or “first respect” Level II, a “reverential” Level III, and finally, the sacred, “ultra-reverential” compadrazgo Level IV used in religious contexts.
Compadres, or godparents, who are established as kin through religious ritual, are the only members of the community to whom this highest level of reverence is applied. The morphemes used to express these four levels of honor are a linguistic manifestation of the social structure and politeness strategies of Nahuatl culture. Factors such as age, kinship, occupation, fluency in Nahuatl, and the cultural value of compadrazgo are primary in determining the level of reverence one merits. The four levels of honor are supported by a framework of cultural, and especially religious, beliefs and values. Honorific usage also varies slightly among the dialects, a variation closely tied to socioeconomic status, respect for tradition, indigenous solidarity, and a region’s degree of contact with other speech communities.
See also
- Honorifics (linguistics)Honorifics (linguistics)In linguistics, an honorific is a grammatical or morphosyntactic form that encodes the relative social status of the participants of the conversation...
- Honorific speech in Japanese
- Korean honorificsKorean honorificsThe Korean language reflects the important observance of a speaker or writer's relationships with both the subject of the sentence and the audience. Korean grammar uses an extensive system of honorifics to reflect the speaker's relationship to the subject of the sentence and speech levels to...
- Thai honorificsThai honorificsHonorifics are a class of words or grammatical morphemes that encode a wide variety of social relationships between interlocutors or between interlocutors and referents. Honorific phenomena in Thai include honorific registers, honorific pronominals, and honorific particles.-Historical...