CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction
Northern Pame, an Otopamean language of the Otomanguean family San Luis Potosí, Mexico, is phonologically and morphologically complex in all its major word classes. At the same time, this
language seeks to preserve a number of universal markedness constraints such as No Complex Onsets, the Obligatory Contour Principle, the Coda Condition and the Strict Sonority Principle, which are at
times in a natural conflict with faithfulness constraints operating in the language. The result is a violation of either faithfulness or markedness as a means of perserving a higher ranking constraint; the
end product being the selection of the most optimal surface form. Northern Pame exemplifies this universal trade off between markedness or faithfulness violation and likewise, does so within a language
specific constraint ranking. This research is an investigation into the phonological and morphological descriptive facts of
Northern Pame. In addition, it is an account of the system of conflicting constraints operative in this language, a system which ultimately characterizes the linguistic competence of the native Northern
Pame speakers themselves.
1.2 Location
Northern Pame is the most northern member of the Otomanguean language family of Mexico. This language group is located in the state of San Luis Potosí, 150 miles east of the state capital, San Luis
Potosí in the Sierra Madre Oriental mountains. The Pame language family includes three separate languages, which are Northern Pame pame norte
de Alaquines, Central Pame pame central de Santa María Acapulco and Southern Pame pame de Jiliapan, HDO.. Southern Pame was last documented by Manrique 1967 at which time there were only six or
seven speakers in the villages of Jiliapan, Hidalgo and Pacula, Querétaro. Today, Southern Pame is considered to probably be extinct.
Central Pame is spoken in and around the village of Santa Maria Acapulco, San Luis Potosí. It is the most documented of the Pame languages Soustelle 1934, Gibson 1954, 1956, Olson 1963, Gibson and
Bartholomew 1979 and language use in the Central Pame region is still quite strong. Northern Pame is spoken in villages that are clustered around three primary zones: Ciudad del Maíz,
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