Animacy[obj]: Whether the indefinite object is human or non-human.
The Animacy feature in Highland Puebla Nahuatl is relevant for indefinite object prefixes on Verbs. Specifically, there is one indefinite object prefix for indefinite human objects (te-), and another for indefinite non-human objects (ta-). We use the layered features in order to be explicit that this feature only applies to the object of the Verb, not to any of the other arguments which can also be encoded in the Verb.
Hum: human
Examples
- [azz] niteitstinemi “Ando viendo personas.” (“I go around seeing people.”)
Nhum: Non-human
Examples
- [azz] nitaoni “Yo tomo (cosas/bebidas).” (“I drink things.”)