MASON, TEPECAXO. A PIMAX LANGUAGE OF MEXICO :V\ 



METATHESIS 



Another functional process in Tepecano, though of less importance 

 than syncope, is metathesis. This seems to obtain in certain cases 

 of favored combinations of consonants, thus 



avi'cmumku he is dying (for avi'cmumuk 



miamina'mkoin they do not pay me (for miamhra'mokiiu 



ni'igo'i.-" I am swimming (for ni'igo'goc) 



ASSIMILATION AND DISSIMILATION 



Consonantal assimilation and dissimilation is not of great importance 

 in Tepecano though examples are found. Thus v will naturally be 

 heard as b after m. For instance, 



aniumbansan I am letting you down (for aniumvansan) 



a'tiamianibo'p - a - uda We will not equal you (atiamiamvo'pauvda | 



MORPHOLOGY 



Word Stems 



PHONETIC CHJRACTERISTK > 



In contradistinction to the majority of Sonoran languages, 2I 

 Tepecano closes a great number of its words with final consonants. 

 In this, as in many other respects, it appears to resemble Southern 

 Tepehuane but to be somewhat different from Northern Tepe- 

 huane 22 . A comparison of the vocabularies demonstrates that Te- 

 pecano in most cases, and Southern Tepehuane in a slightly smaller 

 number of cases have lost the final vowel of the stem or suffix 

 which is retained in Northern Tepehuane, while in a minority of 

 cases the final vowel has been retained, the forms of the three 



11 In Tarahumare (Tellechea, op. cit.; Lumholtz, op. cit.) every word closes in a vowel; 

 in Cahita (Buelnar, op. cit. ; Peiiafiel, mss. vocabulary, Mexico), Opata (Lombardo, op. 

 cit.; Peiiatiel, mss.), Upper Pima (Russell, op. cit.), Lower Pima (Smith, op. cit.), Northern 

 Tepehuane (Rinaldini, op. cit.; Lumholtz, op. cit.), Cora (Ortega, op. cit.; Preuss, op. cit.; 

 Lumholtz, op. cit.; Peiiafiel, mss.) and Huichol (Pimentel, op. cit.; Lumholtz, op. cit.; 

 Pefiafiel; mss.) the great majority of words end in a vowel and only a restricted number 

 of consonants are permitted in this position. In the Heve (Smith, op. cit.), Tubar (Lum- 

 holtz, op. cit.) and Papago languages (Dolores, op. cit.; Peiiafiel, mss.) the number of 

 final consonants is large. 



21 Hrdlk'ka. op. cit.; Lumholtz, op. cit.; RrXAT.uiNr, op. cit. 



