In the phrase,
| xpi | ûn-ba | hma | magetzi, |
| he had | give them | (had) | heaven, |
both subject and object, the latter inclosed in a synthesis with the radical of the theme, the former phonetically altered and coalesced with a tense particle, are included in the double tense-sign, x-hma. This is as real an example of incorporation as can be found in any American language.
Ordinary synthesis of words, other than verbs, is by no means rare in Othomi. Simple juxtaposition, which Naxera states to be the rule, is not all universal. Such a statement by him leads us to suspect that he had only that elementary knowledge of the tongue which Neve refers to in a forcible passage in his Reglas. He writes: “A good share of the difficulty of this tongue lies in its custom of syncope; and because the tyros who make use of it do not syncopate it, their compositions are so rough and lacking in harmony to the ears of the natives that the latter count their talk as no better than that of horse-jockeys, as we would say.”[[306]]
The extent of this syncopation is occasionally to such a degree that only a fragment of the original word is retained. As:
The charcoal-vendor, na māthiâ.
Here na is a demonstrative particle like the Aztec in, and māthiâ is a compound pà, to sell, and thêhñâ, charcoal.
The expression,
y mahny oqha, he loves God,
is to be analyzed,