Nawat grammar facts for kids

The Nawat language, also known as Pipil, is a special language spoken by the Pipil people in western El Salvador and the Nicarao people in Nicaragua. It's part of the bigger Uto-Aztecan language family, which includes many languages spoken in North and Central America. Sadly, Nawat is an endangered language, meaning fewer and fewer people speak it today.

Sounds of Nawat

The Nawat language has its own unique sounds, just like English or Spanish. Let's look at the basic sounds and how words are stressed.

Vowels and Consonants

Nawat has five main vowel sounds:

Basic Vowels

	Front	Back
High	i	u
Mid	e
Low	a

The 'u' sound can sometimes sound like 'o', but it's usually more like 'u'. Long and short vowel sounds used to be important, changing word meanings, but this difference is mostly gone now.

Here are the main consonant sounds:

Basic Consonants

	Lips	Tongue to ridge	Middle of tongue	Back of tongue	Back of tongue + lips	Throat
Plosives	p	t		k	kw
Affricates		tz	ch
Fricatives		s	sh			j
Nasals	m	n
Liquids		l
Semivowels			y		w

The 'k' sound can sometimes sound like 'g' or a soft 'gh' sound. The 'n' sound can change depending on the sounds around it. For example, it can sound like 'm' before 'p', or like the 'ny' in "canyon" before 'ch'.

Word Stress

Most Nawat words are stressed on the second-to-last syllable (like "banana" - ba-NA-na). But some words are stressed on the very last syllable, especially short words or words that show something is small (like "kitty-CAT").

How Sounds Fit Together

Nawat words are built from syllables that can be simple (like "a" or "kal") or have a consonant, then a vowel, then another consonant (like "mis-tun").

• kal 'house'
• at 'water'
• mis-tun 'cat'

Some consonants, like 'm' and 'kw', don't usually appear at the end of a syllable. If they would, they change: 'm' becomes 'n', and 'kw' becomes 'k'.

• tekuma-t 'gourd' but nu-tekun 'my gourd'
• ki-tzakwa 'he closes it' but tzak-tuk 'closed'

The 'j' sound is also special; it usually doesn't start a word or follow another consonant.

Adding 'y' or 'w' Sounds

Sometimes, when two vowels are next to each other in a word, a 'y' sound (like in "yes") or a 'w' sound (like in "water") is added between them.

• miak 'many' becomes like miyak
• se-uk 'other' becomes like seyuk'

Repeating Sounds (Reduplication)

Nawat often repeats the first part of a word to change its meaning. This is called Reduplication. For example, kunet means 'child', but ku-kunet means 'children'. Sometimes, a 'j' sound is added in the middle of the repeated part, like ku-j-kunet for 'children'. This is often used to make nouns or adjectives plural (more than one) or to show that an action happens many times.

• tamal 'tortilla' → taj-tamal 'tortillas'
• mistun 'cat' → mij-mistun 'cats'
• taketza 'he talks' → taj-taketza 'he converses' (talks a lot)

Noun Phrases: Describing Things

A noun phrase is a group of words that acts like a noun. It can include words that tell you "which one" or "how many."

Words that Point and Count

Nawat uses words like ne ('the'), se ('a' or 'an'), ini ('this'), and uni ('that') to point out nouns.

• ne takat 'the man'
• ini techan 'this village'

Words like miak ('many') and ume ('two') tell you how many.

• miak kal 'many houses'
• ume siwat 'two women'

These words can also stand alone, like saying "many" instead of "many houses."

Showing Who Owns Something (Possession)

In Nawat, you add small parts to the beginning of a noun to show who it belongs to. These are called prefixes.

Possessive Prefixes

	One Owner	Many Owners
I/Me	nu- 'my'	tu- 'our'
You	mu- 'your'	anmu- 'your' (plural)
He/She/It	i- 'his/her/its'	in- 'their'

• nu-yak 'my nose'
• i-eltiw 'his/her sister'
• tu-mistun 'our cat'

Some nouns, like body parts or family members, always need one of these prefixes. You can't just say "a nose"; you have to say "a his-nose" (se iyak).

Nouns can also change their ending (their suffix) depending on whether they have an owner or not.

• ne kune-t 'the child' (no owner) → ne nu-kune-w 'my child' (with owner)

Making Nouns Plural

Nouns can become plural (more than one) in two ways:

• By Reduplication (repeating part of the word), like mistun 'cat' → mij-mistun 'cats'.
• By adding a plural suffix like -met or -ket, like taka-t 'man' → taka-met 'men'.

For things you own, there's a special plural ending -wan for family members, like nu-elti-w 'my sister' → nu-elti-wan 'my sisters'. Otherwise, you use reduplication for possessed items too.

Adjectives: Describing Nouns

Adjectives (words that describe nouns) can go before or after the noun.

• se selek iswat or se iswat selek 'a tender leaf'

If you have many items, you don't always need to make the noun plural if a number word (like "two") is already there.

• ume mistun 'two cats' (no need to say "two cats-plural")

Pronouns and Adverbs

Pronouns are words like "I," "you," "he," "she," "it," "we," "they." In Nawat, pronouns don't change their form based on their role in the sentence.

Personal Pronouns

One Person	Many People
naja 'I/me' taja 'you' yaja 'he/him, she/her, it'	tejemet 'we/us' anmejemet 'you' (plural) yejemet 'they/them'

There are also words that point to things (demonstrative pronouns), places (place adverbs), and tell you how or when (other adverbs).

• ini 'this'
• nikan 'here'
• ashkan 'now, today'

Words like ká 'who?' and kan? 'where?' are used for questions.

Prepositions and Relationals

Prepositions are small words that show relationships, like "in," "on," "with."

• ka tiupan 'to the church'
• tik ne techan 'in the village'
• wan ne siwat 'with the woman'

Relationals are like special nouns that show relationships, often about space. For example, ijtik means 'in' or 'inside'. They often have a possessive prefix, like nu-jpak 'on or over me'.

Verbs: Actions and States

Verbs are action words or words that describe a state of being.

Subject and Object Markers

Nawat verbs use prefixes (small parts at the beginning) to show who is doing the action (the subject) and who is receiving the action (the object).

Subject and Object Prefixes

Number	Person	Subject Prefixes	Object Prefixes
One	1st (I)	ni-	nech-
	2nd (You)	ti-, shi-	metz-
	3rd (He/She/It)	- (nothing)	ki- / -k-
Many	1st (We)	ti-	tech-
	2nd (You)	an(h)-, shi-	metzin(h)-
	3rd (They)	- (nothing)	kin(h)-

• nipanu 'I pass'
• nikpia 'I have it' (ni- for I, -k- for it)
• panut 'They pass' (the -t shows plural subject)

Tenses: When Things Happen

Nawat verbs use different suffixes (small parts at the end) to show when an action happens or its state.

Tense Endings

	One Subject	Many Subjects
Present	-	-t
Past	-ki, -k, -, -j	-ket
Perfect	-tuk	-tiwit
Future	-s	-sket
Conditional	-skia	-skiat
Perfect Conditional	-tuskia	-tuskiat
Imperfect/Pluperfect	-tuya	-tuyat
Subjunctive/Imperative	-	-kan
Participle	-tuk

The Present, Perfect, and Subjunctive tenses aren't always about a specific time. They can mean an ongoing action, a completed action, or a possible action.

• Present: Ne kujkunet kuchit. 'The children are sleeping.'
• Perfect: Yaja pejki kikwa ne tortaj kimakatuk inan. 'He started to eat the bun his mother had given him.'
• Subjunctive: Kilwij ma walmukwepa. 'He told her to come back.'

The Imperative (commands) is like the subjunctive but without the word ma.

• Shikalaki wan shimutali! Come in and sit down!

Verb Types (Conjugation Classes)

Nawat verbs fall into different groups based on how they change for different tenses. For example, some verbs lose their final vowel in the past tense, while others keep it. There are also a few irregular verbs, like yawi 'go' and witz 'come', which have special forms.

Directional Prefix

The prefix wal- means 'towards the speaker' (like "come here"). It's added to verbs to show movement towards the person speaking.

• kiski 'went out' → walkiski 'came out (towards me)'

How Sentences are Built (Syntax)

Sentences Without Verbs

Sometimes, Nawat sentences don't need a verb at all! You can just put a noun or an adjective after the subject.

• Ini Carlos. 'This is Carlos.'
• Carlos tumak. 'Carlos is fat.'
• Naja ni-Carlos. 'I am Carlos.'

You can also add katka to show something was true in the past.

• Naja ni-tumak katka. 'I was fat.'

Intransitive and Transitive Verbs

Verbs are either intransitive or transitive.

• Intransitive verbs don't have an object (they don't act on something).

* Nuteku tekiti tik ne mil. 'My father works in the cornfield.' (tekiti 'works' has no object)

• Transitive verbs always have an object (they act on something).

* (Naja) nikpia se tiltik mistun. 'I have a black cat.' (nikpia 'I have' acts on 'a black cat')

Changing Verb Meaning (Valency Changes)

Nawat has ways to change how many "things" a verb acts on.

• The suffix -tia can make an intransitive verb transitive (make it act on something). This is called a causative.

* miki 'die' (intransitive) → -mik-tia 'kill' (transitive, meaning "cause to die")

• The prefix ta- means the object is not specific.

* Yaja ta-kwa 'He eats.' (He eats something, but we don't say what)

• The prefix mu- can mean:

* Reflexive: The action is done to oneself. -paka 'wash' → mu-paka 'wash oneself'. * Reciprocal: The action is done to each other. -ita 'see' → mu-ita 'see each other'. * Middle: The action happens to the subject. -namiktia 'marry (someone)' → mu-namiktia 'get married'.

Verb Chains

Nawat often puts verbs together in a chain, especially when they share the same subject.

• Niajki nitaketza iwan. 'I went to speak to him.' (Literally: 'I went I speak with him.')
• Yaja mutalia chuka. 'He is sitting (there) crying.' (Literally: 'He sits he cries.')

This "verb chain" is also used for future actions or ongoing actions:

• Naja niyaw nimumachtia Nawat. 'I am going to learn Nawat.'
• Tejemet tinemit titakwat. 'We are eating.'

Saying "No" (Negation)

To make a sentence negative, you put a negative word right before the verb or non-verb part.

• The most common negative word is inte (or shorter te, tesu).

* Ne siwatket inte walajtiwit. 'The women have not come.' * Naja te ni-Carlos. 'I am not Carlos.'

• Maka or má is used for commands not to do something.

* Maka shalmukwepa! 'Don't come back!'

Asking Questions

For "yes" or "no" questions, Nawat doesn't change the sentence structure. You just say it with a questioning tone.

• Taja tikmati? 'Do you know?'

For "who," "what," "where" questions, you use a question word at the beginning.

• Tay horaj tinemit? 'What time is it?' (Literally: 'What hour are we (at)?')

Joining Sentences (Coordination and Subordination)

• Wan or iwan means 'and' or 'with'.
• Su means 'if'.

* Su te nitekiti, te tiawit titakwat. 'If I do not work we will not eat.'

• Kwak means 'when'.

* Kwak niajsik, te nemituya aka. 'When I arrived, there wasn't anybody there.'

Words and Their Origins (Lexicon)

General Vocabulary

Most Nawat words are very old and shared with other Nahuatl languages in Mexico. Nawat also has some words borrowed from other local languages and many words from Spanish. Sometimes, new Nawat words are created from old Nawat parts, or words are borrowed from Mexican Nahuatl.

Making New Words (Derivation)

You can make new words in Nawat by adding prefixes or suffixes.

• Adding -k or -tik to make adjectives: ista-t 'salt' → ista-k 'white'.
• Adding -tia to make a verb cause something: miki 'die' → -mik-tia 'kill'.
• Adding -tzin or -chin to make things small or show respect: te-t 'stone' → te-chin 'little stone'.

Sound Words (Ideophones)

Nawat has special words called Ideophones that describe sounds or how things look or feel. They often repeat sounds and are used to make verbs.

• kelu-ni 'break (intransitive)' (describes a breaking sound/action)
• cha-chala-ka 'chatter' (describes a chattering sound)

Putting Words Together (Incorporation and Compounds)

Nawat can combine words to make new ones. This is called incorporation when a noun-like word is added directly to the verb. For example, body parts are often incorporated into verbs:

• a- 'water' + -paka 'wash' → -a-paka 'wash (in water)'
• ish- 'eye/face' + -mati 'know' → -ish-mati 'know, recognize'
• ma- 'hand' + -paka 'wash' → -ma-paka 'wash hands'

Other words can also be combined to form compounds:

• a- 'water' + kua- 'snake' → a-kua-t 'eel'
• kujtan 'forest' + kuyam-et 'pig' → kujtan-kuyam-et 'peccary' (a type of wild pig)

Borrowed Words (Loanwords)

Nawat has borrowed many words from Spanish, like mas 'more' and pero 'but'. Some old Spanish words have changed their meaning or form in Nawat.

• pelu 'dog' (from Spanish perro)
• tumin 'coin, money' (from older Spanish tomín)

When Nawat speakers want to use a Spanish verb, they can't just change its ending like Nawat verbs. Instead, they use the Nawat verb -chiwa 'make, do' before the Spanish verb.

• nikchiwa escribir 'I write' (literally 'I do write')

Different Ways of Speaking (Dialect Variation)

Nawat is spoken in slightly different ways in different areas of El Salvador, like Izalco, Cuisnahuat, and Santo Domingo. These differences can be in:

• Sounds: How some sounds are pronounced.
• Word Forms: How plural words are made or how verbs change. For example, the word for 'what' can be tey, ta, or tay depending on the dialect.
• Sentence Structure: How sentences are put together.
• Vocabulary: Different words for the same thing. For example, 'be born' can be takati or nesi.

How Nawat is Written (Spelling Systems)

Over time, different people have written Nawat using different spelling rules. The spelling system used in this article is one of the more modern ones.

See also

In Spanish: Gramática del Náhuat para niños