Imperativos y otras expresiones directivas en el p’urhepecha de Ihuatzio

Abstract

This paper is a descriptive study of the imperatives in P’urhepecha language of the community of Ihuatzio. Although the imperative and prohibitive (or vedative) for the second person singular and plural are described in all reference grammars of P’urhepecha (Foster 1969; Wares 1974; de Wolf 1989; Chamoreau 2009), there has been little discussion of the existence of non-canonical imperatives in the language, that is, those of the first and third person singular and plural (Aikhenvald 2010, 2017). The present paper provides evidence for the existence of these non-canonical imperatives in this language and demonstrates the complexity of this category that had generally deserved little attention. Additionally, some nuances of meaning with auxiliary verbs will be accounted for, as well as some other ways of expressing directives in the language.