Tepehua Thought-Song: A Case of Semantic Signaling

Author(s): Charles L. Boilés

Source: Ethnomusicology, Vol. 11, No. 3, (Sep., 1967), pp. 267-292
Published by: University of Illinois Press on behalf of Society for Ethnomusicology
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/850266
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 TEPEHUATHOUGHT-SONG:
A CASE OF SEMANTIC SIGNALING*
Charles L. Boiles

he ritual music of the Tepehua tribe of northern Veracruz pre-

sents for the ethnomusicologist a most fascinating case of se-
mantic signaling. In the context of ritual actions, these songs are
textless; however, investigation has shown that all the participants in
the ritual are capable, outside the ritual situation, of quoting consist-
ent texts for the songs. This would indicate that the music stimu-
lates the participants to associate semantic content with melodic out-
line in an essentially wordless environment. I have called these
songs "thought-songs" to indicate both the nature of the semantic
signaling and the religious nature of the communication.
Thought-songs are used in the cult of Halakiitunti, "the moving
of the things." Within its ritual, instrumentalists play this music at
ceremonies for curing psychosomatic illness, for securing rain and
good crops, for restoring harmony to daily life, and for preparing
the proper departure of the dead to the other world. A priest offici-
ates at these ceremonies, and, when they are realized on a grand
scale, he is accompanied by a violinist and a guitarist.
The Tepehuas say that the music is speaking, and the highest
praise for a violinist is to be told that one can hear "all the people
talking" in his performance. This music holds communication with
all deities and humans, living or dead, who are present at the cere-
mony. It can call people or spiritual entities to the ritual center and
can instruct them in something they must do or comment on what is
occurring. At times it prepares them for events about to occur.
These thought-songs are the non-verbal adjunct to every act of the
participants.
Anyone present at the ceremony can tell a questioner what the
music is saying. Some informants have tried to sing the texts out of
the ritual context; however, the brevity of the melody line made it
impossible to sing them in other than two modified forms. One of
these is a strophic song with a shortened version of the text. The
other is also strophic in character but it uses lengthy sentences.
This results in a type of psalmody with great distortion of original
rhythmic values.
One can better appreciate the nature of this communication by

*Ed. note: This paper was awarded the Jaap Kunst Prize of the Society
for Ethnomusicology for 1966.

267
268 BOIL]S: TEPEHUA THOUGHT-SONG

knowing something of the ceremony itself. The whole ritual or any

of its parts may be performed wherever its symbolic objects are as-
sembled in front of an altar. These objects represent all the ma-
terial and spiritual elements which are believed to affect the macro-
cosm of a person, group of persons, or the community. The priest
is manipulating material objects, but to the tribesmen, the "moving
of the things" implies that the spirits are being moved.
The first duty of the priest is to determine the magnitude of the
ceremony to be realized. He performs a divination by lighting a
candle and burning copal incense. While invoking his deities, he
pours a libation on the ground in front of his altar. Then a bit of
beeswax is dropped into the incense brazier, and in the smoke that
rises from it, the priest discerns the shape or nature of the spirit
that is molesting the sick person. Perhaps a spirit of anger was
born of a family quarrel and is causing the illness. If the sick per-
son had been frightened while in a particular location, he would be
told that the spirit of that place had stolen an animus from a part of
his body and that it must be restored. The diagnosis will decide
which parts of the ritual are to receive more importance. Then the
priest announces the type of ceremony needed and the day on which
it will begin.
About half an hour before the ceremony, the musicians arrive
and tune their instruments. If everything is not quite ready, they
will play a song telling the people to hurry and assemble all the
things. At the proper moment they play the song which indicates that
the priest and his spirit companion have arrived and are anxious to
begin their work.
Ritual cleansing occupies the first section of the ceremony. A
marigold dipped in a mixture of cane alcohol and wild honey is used
to "wash" the objects placed on two tables in front of the altar. The
music announces that spirits are entering the ceremonial center. In
order to avoid malevolence from them, paper dolls representing these
spirits are painted with the blood of a small chick. Throughout every
activity, an appropriate song is played over and over, from six to
twenty-five times, until the sequence is finished.
The person or persons for whom the ceremony is performed
must be purified by the priest. A bundle made of palm fronds, sprigs
of box hedge, marigolds, and a chicken is brought forth. The priest
holds this over the incense before using it to make twenty brushing
strokes in the air around the person's body. While the music speaks
of the imminent death of the chicken, the priest slits its throat and
drips its blood over all the objects and dolls on the tables. The
chicken is then taken outside the dwelling and left to die near a cross
that stands in front of the doorway. With this, the first section of
the ceremony concludes.
The priest and musicians rest a bit while others finish making
 BOILES:TEPEHUATHOUGHT-SONG 269

bouquets of palm fronds, a marigold, and a beeswax candle. These

bouquets are called makshInti and symbolically represent a hand.
When the musicians begin to play again, everyone takes his makshanti
and assembles near the tables. The song tells that a ceremony for
asking favor and pardon is to begin. All who are present must ask
pardon of one another and of the fathers and mothers of the gods,
people, and things. This is effected by exchanging the bouquets and
making a reverential gesture, which consists of nodding one's head
toward each shoulder of the other person. The song of the interces-
sor is played while the priest directs this activity. Then the music
tells the people to exchange their makshinti for others that are lying
on the altar. These latter acquire the power to represent members
of the spirit world from their association with the altar. Through
this exchange, the participants ask pardon of the spirits. Afterward,
everyone places his bouquet on the tables. Chickens are again sac-
rificed and their blood dripped over all the things that are on the
table. All the objects that have received this blood are then wrapped
in a banana leaf and reserved for burial after the ceremony.
During the rest period that ensues, the chickens are cleaned and
boiled. When the musicians begin to play songs of offering, the
cooked chickens are placed on the tables and altar. The music con-
tinues while bread, tortillas, and cups of coffee are placed beside
the chickens. Cigarettes are lit for the spirits. Libations of soda
pop, beer, and cane alcohol are poured at strategic points about the
tables and in front of the altar. Beeswax candles are lighted and
placed among the food offerings. After the spirits have received the
essence of the food, everything is removed from the tables during a
lull in the ritual activity. Fresh coffee has been brewed and is now
served to all who are present.
At this point, the roles of many of the participants become re-
defined. In all the preceding activities, the people acted as worship-
pers. Everyone participated in lighting candles, putting copal in the
incense braziers, placing offerings on the tables, or lighting ciga-
rettes. Even the many prayers of the priest were those of an earth-
ly being invoking deities. Now the music says he has become a
spirit priest officiating in the other world. The tables, altar, and
ritual objects turn to gold. The priestess who assists him becomes
the great midwife, "our-grandmother-of-the-vapor-bath," who is the
patroness of midwives and curers of pre-Columbian times (Sahagin
1956:1,48). Two men and two women become the four guardians of
the great table which is the world. Others become the spiritual god-
fathers of the person or persons for whom the ritual is performed.
The rhythm of the music has changed to a dance pattern asso-
ciated with lakatuhun hatupasdfqat, the marijuana goddess known in
Spanish as Santa Rosa. The Tepehuas believe that she represents
the seven sacred thoughts of god. In order to understand these divine
270 BOILPS: TEPEHUA THOUGHT-SONG

thoughts, the participants masticate a leaf of marijuana, the plant

endowed by the goddess with a power that will now control them and
cause them to speak wisely. The music now says Santa Rosa is
coming to them, singing happily and dancing as she nears the cere-
monial center. As the marijuana and its music suffuse their minds,
they truly become the surrogate representatives of the spirit world.
The scene that is now enacted demonstrates what the gods are
doing in the spirit world in order to bring the real world and the
cosmos back to a state of order. If a person has lost an animus
from some part of his body, it is restored. If the candle which rep-
resents his life is about to be extinguished, a new one is lighted for
him. If phantom jaguars have come out of the earth, the earth must
be propitiated and the phantoms exorcised. In effect, any factor
which is awry in the scheme of the cosmos is dramatically repre-
sented and put in order. At the conclusion of these activities, the
four guardians of the world seize the corners of the table and begin
to dance, moving the table around, causing the earth to resume its
proper movement.
The ceremonies conclude with general dancing around the table.
The priest, in both his spiritual and physical capacity, has com-
pleted his handiwork. The things have been moved. The musicians
gradually change from dancing tunes to those which announce the de-
parture of the spirits. After all dancing has ceased and all the gods
have gone, the musicians play the song of the table which announces
that food is about to be served. After the feasting, the priest en-
joins three days of sexual abstinence upon all who have participated
in the ceremony. If he has been officiating at a house other than his
own, the musicians and men of the family will accompany him, and
a walking song is played as he returns to his dwelling.
The complexity of this ritual illustrates some of the ways in
which ascribed meaning functions through its melodies. Supernatural
participation is assured by attracting deities to the ceremonial cen-
ter. These songs also prompt the human participants in their activ-
ities and thereby maintain order in the ceremony. In addition, songs
associated with the marijuana spirit can induce euphoria even without
actual use of the drug. Any time that the songs are played, it is be-
lieved that the physical and spiritual worlds are drawn together and
that candles and incense must be burned and a libation poured for
the spirits.
Among the Tepehuas, these songs are considered to be a part of
a ritual tradition that has been handed down through many genera-
tions. In order to learn the music, the instrumentalists must sit
through many ceremonial sessions. They practice in private until
they have mastered the style. The violinist is the master musician,
for it is through his melodies that the music speaks. Anyone who
aspires to his position must first play guitar accompaniment at the
 BOIL]S: TEPEHUA THOUGHT-SONG 271

ceremonies. During rest periods, the guitarist will be allowed to

try out some of the tunes, and the violinist will give him pointers
on his style.
The six songs presented at this time are part of a collection of
forty-five that were recorded in Pisaflores, Veracruz, in June of
1966. All the songs of this set, as well as some of those not pre-
sented here, were consulted in order to decipher the complex musi-
cal code. In the near future, a study of the complete collection will
be ready for publication.
The accompanying texts were recorded by Pedro Hernandez, a
Tepehua priest, and were translated into Spanish by Jos6 Marquez,
one of the village elders. Much of the material of these texts con-
stitutes information which is already known by the Tepehua and forms
a subliminal context that is automatically associated with the ritual
music. Shorter versions of some of these texts were collected in
1963. In the shorter versions, only the kernel ideas were given. A
comparison of a short text with a longer one (see Song 6) shows that
the basic message content is identical in both of them, but the wealth
of detail given in the longer version explains the subliminal context
in which the song is heard and understood.
All the songs used for this paper are based on equitonic modes
in which the steps are 175 cents apart. This feature of the violin
melodies is also present in unaccompanied vocal renditions of the
same music. The equitonic consistency is further demonstrated by
the tuning of the lower two strings of the violin an interval of 525
cents apart, while the second, third, and fourth strings are tuned 700
cents apart. In Figure 1, the open strings of the violin are repre-
sented by white notes and intermediary pitches are shown by black
notes. The cents value placed over each of those notes is relative
to the lowest string, which is sounded at 205 v.d. These tunings and
the pitches used in performance were checked on the Strobotuner of
the Laboratory of Ethnomusicology at Tulane University. Variance
from the indicated pitches is rarely more than 5 cents. With re-
spect to the preciseness of these tunings, it must be stated that
Tepehuas are not concerned with absoluteness of pitch as a phenom-
enon and that this exactitude only reflects a pitch memory that is
accustomed to the production of these particular sounds.

0 175 350 525 700 875 1050 1225 1400 1575 1750 1925 2100 2275 2450

_ _'- _
205 v.d.

Figure 1.
272 BOILIS: TEPEHUA THOUGHT-SONG

Semantic signaling in Tepehua ritual music occurs at various

levels of discourse. Musical elements which have semantic meaning
can be glossed by associating sound pattern X of songs A, B, and C
with idea Y that is unique to the texts for these songs. These sound
patterns may involve a single element such as an interval, a rhyth-
mic pattern, a complex motive, the position of motives within a mu-
sical continuum, the transposition of a previously heard motive, or
any combination of these. In effect, these songs constitute commu-
nication as complex as any spoken linguistic code and can be analyzed
according to linguistic procedures. Therefore, a transformational
grammar has been written to show how the semantic code is signaled
by various types of melodic and rhythmic motives.
Rhythm and accent are the means for distinguishing individual
motives in these songs. The first tone of each motive receives a
heavy accent, and each motive has the duration of four minimal time
units which are grouped in figures of an eighth and two sixteenth
notes, two eighth notes, an eighth note triplet, or a quarter note.
These rhythmic figures form the motival nuclei that, in the continua
of each song, occupy positions corresponding to parts of speech.
Each nucleus is modified by the meanings of the intervals combined
with it.
The continua of a song are those sections of music in time-
space which can be descriptively identified by the presence of any
features functioning as continuum boundary markers. In these songs,
such boundary markers are the static silences at the beginning and
end of each song and the quarter notes that terminate every group of
sixteen minimal time units. Usually, four motives form a continuum,
and there are at least two continua in every song. The first two
motives of a continuum form a noun phrase, and the last two function
as a verb phrase. The noun phrase consists of a noun (motive A)
and a prepositional phrase or a relative clause (motive B), the latter
being an imbedded sentence. The verb phrase is composed of an op-
tional gerund, a participle (motive C), and a verb (motive D). Prep-
ositions, adjectives, verbal adjectives, adverbs, and gerunds are de-
noted by the intervals which join one motive to another. Gerunds and
prepositions are indicated by the intervals preceding a motival nucle-
us, but adjectival and adverbial modifiers are the intervals that fol-
low these nuclei. Verb tense is established according to the absence,
increase, or decrease of cycles per second, i.e., type of interval di-
rection used, in approaching the final pitch of a continuum.
Basic meanings are assigned to intervals regardless of the pitch
level at which they occur (see Figure 2). In these examples, an as-
terisk is used to indicate a non-grammatical or incorrect interpre-
tation of the material.
 BOILISS: TEPEHUA THOUGHT-SONG 273

350f = the act of asking pardon

But not:
350f = *the act of offering

f =theactofaskin
pardon
350f = the act of asking pardon

Figure 2.

New meanings can be derived when one or more intervals are

combined to form complex motives of various types. Such motives
in Tepehua songs usually have one factor in common, i.e., sameness
of proportion and/or direction in terms of intervals (see Figure 3).
The meaning assigned to these reduplicating intervals is sometimes
related to that of the simple interval. This is also true of cases in
which dissimilar intervals form a complex motive. However, in the
latter case, the type of motival nucleus and its position within the
continuum determine the meaning given the complex motive (see Fig-
ure 4).

But not:
0) 175r 175r 175r 175r 350r 175r

But not: ^- r P
_
350f
_r 350f 350f 350r
Figure 3.

But not:
350r 525r = *near the altarI
350r 5 25r = * near the altar
350r 525r = near the altar

Figure 4.

Most of the complex motives subject to rhythmic contexts are

coterminous with the rhythmic pattern of an eighth and two sixteenth
274 BOILIS: TEPEHUA THOUGHT-SONG

notes and are found within the noun phrase portion of the music.
Those that occur in nominative positions will have meanings relating
to the semantic interpretations given for a single interval. When this
rhythmic pattern occupies the position assigned to relative clauses,
it is associated with the intercessor; and in this case the intervals,
whether single or reduplicating, will retain their original meanings
although it is the intercessor that executes the action indicated by
each interval.
In any song, repetition of one of its prior musical statements
(i.e., continua or parts of them) affects the message in two ways.
Redundancy is used to establish the context of a song. The rhythmic
pattern of a continuum must be heard at least once before its full
context is understood. Usually, the first continuum of a song, or its
rhythmic pattern, is repeated so that signals which were heard dur-
ing the first playing can be correctly interpreted. Another type of
redundancy utilizes repetition by means of melodic transposition. The
transposition adds a new context, altering the original meaning of the
message, in which the divine Father-Mother becomes involved in the
action associated with the original motives (see Figure 5).

M4
- - J
350r 350f = arriving for asking pardon 350r 350f = arriving for asking pardon
of our Father-Mother

Figure 5.

The conventions of the transformational grammar are fairly

standard; however, it has been necessary to add some new signs and
amplify the interpretations of others in order to accommodate mu-
sical material to a linguistic scheme. Therefore, the following def-
initions of all the signs are given so that they may be easily inter-
preted. The # is used for indicating boundary markers of a song,
and // shows the boundary markers of continua within a song. A
single arrow means that the element listed by the rule can be writ-
ten as whatever follows the arrow. Thus rule 1 of the grammar
states that a song can be written as a continuum plus another con-
tinuum. A set of parentheses around an element shows that it is
optional in the sense that it might or might not be used in a struc-
ture being described. Braces show that the elements enclosed with-
in them are optional in the sense that one or the other of those ele-
ments must be used in that position of the structure. In this way,
rule 3 states that a noun phrase is written as a noun plus a possible
adjective plus either a prepositional phrase or a relative clause.
Brackets denote that each level of elements designated within them
 BOIL]S: TEPEHUA THOUGHT-SONG 275

can be written according to the respective level of elements included

within corresponding brackets on the other side of the arrow. A
diagonal line means "in the environment of," and if the environment
must be specified, a horizontal line in front of the environmental
element shows that what is being described precedes the environ-
ment or, if the line is placed after the environmental element, the
described feature follows said environment. An illustration of these
conventions is found in rule 9. Here, it is shown that a noun can be
written as a motive if it occurs before an adjective or after a prep-
osition and that a participle can also be written as a motive if it oc-
curs before a verb marker.
The first sixteen rules of this grammar are its base rules.
Whatever is stated in these rules is always operative in any song
unless a specific transformational rule is applicable. These trans-
formational rules are written with a double arrow which denotes that
whatever is given in the domain of the rule will be "rewritten as"
whatever is indicated after the arrow. Thus the specific intervals
listed in rule 15 are made the object of an obligatory transformation
(Tob) in rule 17. This rule states that when these intervals are
joined to a verb marker they will be rewritten as the verb tenses
indicated. Another type of obligatory transformation is illustrated by
rule 23. In this rule the letter X denotes any element of a continuum
which, in the environment of transposition, is automatically consid-
ered to be in a context associating the element's indicated action
with the divine Father-Mother.
Optional transformations (Topt) are rare in this grammar. Rule
24 illustrates the optional organization of continua within a song.
The colon placed inside the continua boundary markers used in this
rule indicates that the continuum in that particular position may be
repeated.
Conjoining of parts of several continua is shown in rule 25
(Tconj). This rule states that the various continua shown in its do-
main can be combined in the manner indicated to the right of the
transformational arrow if the participles and verbs of each of the
continua are equal and if their respective nouns and relative clauses
are not.
A transformational rule covering embedded sentences (Temb) is
illustrated in rule 26. The structure written on the upper level of
the single brace is the matrix sentence which has a relative dummy
embedded in it. On the lower level of this brace, the symbols N' +
Verbal adjective define the sentence which is to be embedded in the
position indicated by the relative dummy. The use of a relative
dummy and the embedding of a relative clause is indicated in the
phrase trees of Figures 6a and 6b by the symbol WH which signifies
who, whom, whose, which, etc.
The reader will note that all intervals used in the grammar are
276 BOILSS: TEPEHUA THOUGHT-SONG

expressed in terms of cents. I should like to have used Kolinski's

method for writing these intervals, but in view of the fact that only
one of them corresponds to those used in Western music, I have
preferred to note the number of cents, rising or falling, that identify
the intervals used in Tepehua music.

GRAMMAR FOR TEPEHUA CULT SONGS

1. #Song# ) //Continuum// + //Continuum//

2. //C// - Noun Phrase + Verb Phrase

Prepositional Phrase
3. NP - Noun + (Adjective) P
+i
Relative

4. Relative > Relative dummy

5. Prep. Phrase - * Preposition + Noun

6. Verb Phrase -) (Gerund) + Participle + Verb

7. Verb - Tense + Verb Marker

8. Tense -* Past, Present, Future

NounotiveAdj
9.Noun Motive (Prep
Participle / Verb mkr

10. Motive - Motival Nucleus + Modifier(s)

Mod / Motival Nucleus

IPAd'{} Motive
11. Ger i > Interval(s) Motive_
{PastV
tPresa / Verb Marker
(Fut
 BOILES: TEPEHUA THOUGHT-SONG 277

r Motival Nucleus J

12. -

Verb Marker J

13. Interval >- Intl, Int2

r/
175r
175f
14. Intl 1<350r/ / g -
3350f /
rr=rising
if=falling 52
525r /
J700f,/

r75f1
15. Int2 *- 0 /

l75rJ

-0 place, being in a place

175r presence, act of being present
175f consolation, act of consoling
16. 350r arrival, act of arriving
350f act of asking pardon
525r salutation, act of greeting
J70f. _happy, state of happiness II

17-. Tob agreement

175f Past
0 + Verb Marker -= Pres
175r Fut

18. Tob interval reduplication

0 +0 -place, being in a place
175r + 175r act of giving (offering)
175f + 175f act of coming
350r + 350r act of bringing
350f + 350f act of kneeling (asking pardon)
350r + 525r being near tables and alter
278 BOILES: TEPEHUA THOUGHT-SONG

19. Tob dissimilar intervals

350f + 0 yonder-place (of asking pardon)
// _350f + 175r divine thought

20. Tob positional rhythmic motive

//Noun + | , Intercessor

21. Tob complex positional motive

//Noun + J Int Int J Intercessor executes action in-
dicated by intervals

22. Tob rhythmic context

Jr
3 3

J J + J sacrifice context

r +(1 .n[ | =J
asking pardon context

?I+ i r~
i J7~ ~intercession ; context

23. Tob transposition

X / transposition - X / Father-Mother context

24. Topt

//:C://+ //c// +</ :C

IS~~ {,//c//
#Song# ==/ + //C// + //C// + //C//

L//:C :// + //:C :// J

25. Tconj
NP +Rel +Part +Vb )
NP' +Rel' +Part' +Vb' -==NP+Rel_NP'+Rel'_NP"+Rel"+Part"+Vb"
NP "+Rel "+Part "+Vb
where: Vb" = Vb, Vb' NP' / NP"
Part" = Part, Part' Rel / Rel', Rel"
NP / NP', NP" Rel' / Rel"
 BOILES: TEPEHUA THOUGHT-SONG 279

26. Temb
N +Adj_Rd Part+Vb} +Vb
N+Adj_N'+VbAdj_Part
N' + VbAdj

where: N/N'

An analysis of the songs will illustrate how thoughts are com-

municated through this music. Phrase trees for song 1 show the ex-
act nature of its construction (see Figures 6a and 6b). For the sake
of clarity, diacritical markings are not used above any tone; the
reader may refer to Figure 1 in order to ascertain the exact pitches
represented.

Song 1.

Text:
The music surely must know
What they will give to the thought
For whom it is needed
Or where it will arrive
And who it is that will ask pardon,
Just as the music knows what is to be played.
Where it has gone to be present,
There is that one who went to arrive in the home of a poor friend,
Because he wants them to ask favor for him,
Because he wants them to give him what he needs for his life.
Thus did they do it when the light was given,
When they commanded in this world.
For yonder will be used the thought they gave him,
That with which he will enter where he arrived.
And with it will begin that (ceremony)
Where he went to visit.

Song 1 consists of two continua, each of which is repeated (rules 1

and 24). The initial playing of the first continuum allows the listener to
identify the rhythmic pattern, which signals the context for the whole
280 BOILI~S: TEPEHUA THOUGHT-SONG

N.P. V. P.

N Adj. Rel. Part. Verb

\ \ C
/\A
Tense VM

N.P. P.

N. Vb.Adj.
I
motive motive

Motival Nucleus Mot. Nuc.

J J J J J
//: 1925 1575 1750 1 2100 1750 1925:/I

Mod. Mod. Mod.

350f 175r 175r 0 350f 175r

Divine Thought Act of WH

I
Becing in
I Fl ITURE
Asking
givt ng a place pardon

Figure 6a.

message, and to interpret the melodic material accordingly. This par-

ticular pattern is played when the participants in the ritual must form a
group for asking pardon of one another and of the gods (rule 22). There-
fore, the context of this message is that of asking pardon.
The first motive of this continuum has a nucleus of an eighth and two
sixteenth notes which is covered by the transformational rule applying to
complex motives with dissimilar intervals (rule 19). Comparison with
other songs shows that in the position of first motive in any continuum
the intervals 350f + 175r jointly refer to the divine thought. Further-
more, the interval 175r that connects the first motive to the second is
 BOILES: TEPEHUA THOUGHT-SONG 281

N. P V.P.

N Adj Re Prrt. Verb

C Tense VM

N.P. VP.

N VbAdj

Mc)tive M otive Motive

Mo,t. Nuc. Mot. Nuc. Mot. Nuc.

r J J J J J
II: 1925 1575 1575 1750 1575 1400 1225 1//

Mo d Mod Mod Mad

35( Df 0 350f 175r 175r 175r I 175f 175f 175f

Yon
Yoncler-place WH
v Act o conmil PAST
Asking Giving offering Being
pardon ]nr c presen t

Intercessor

Figure 6b.

subject to a reduplication rule under which the combination of 175r +

175r is associated with the act of giving (rule 18). Thus the combination
of 350f + 175r + 175r forms a noun phrase which is translated "the given
divine thought."
The use of a conjoining interval in association with a noun automat-
ically indicates that the following motive will be a relative clause. Motive
282 BOILES: TEPEHUA THOUGHT-SONG

two has only one interval, 175r, which means the "act of being present."
This motive is joined to motive three by an unchanging pitch for which
the interval 0 signifies "being in a place." In the context of a relative
clause, these intervals signal something related to the nominative case.
In this instance, the message is "whose presence is in that place."
The third motive is always related in some way to the verb
(rules 6 and 9). Usually, its function is that of a participle which
defines the action of the verb. In this case, this motive is formed
around the interval 350f which, in the environment of a verb marker,
indicates asking pardon.
The final motive of the continuum is a single pitch with the du-
ration of a quarter note. This motive always acts as a verb marker
(rule 12), and its tense is interpreted according to the type of inter-
val that joins the third motive to it (rules 7, 11, 15 and 17). In this
continuum, that interval is 175r which indicates future tense when
placed in this environment. Thus the full message of the first con-
tinuum is in future tense and should read, "The given divine thought,
whose presence will be in that place, where there will be pardon
asked."
In the second continuum of Song 1, the first three motives are
complex and all of them have the motival nucleus of an eighth and
two sixteenth notes. The intervals 350f + 0 of the first motive, in
conjunction with the following interval 350f, refer to "yonder pardon-
asking place." When the above-mentioned motival nucleus is used in
the second position of any continuum, the "intercessor" becomes the
subject of the relative clause (rule 20), and the intercessor executes
the action of the intervals which modify this positional motive (rule
21). Within the motival nucleus of this relative clause, the intervals
175r + 175r signify the "act of giving" (rule 18), and the conjoining
interval of 175r is a verbal adjective (rule 26) which means the "act
of being present" (rule 16). The full statement of this relative clause
is "whose offering-giving intercessor is present." The third motive
is composed of the intervals 175f + 175f. These take the meaning of
the "act of coming." They modify the verb which is in past tense as
indicated by the conjoining interval 175f. The message for this con-
tinuum should read, "The yonder pardon-asking place, whose offer-
ing-giving intercessor is present, where it (the divine thought) was
coming." If considered together, the two continua for Song 1 mu-
sically make the following statement: "The given divine thought will
be present in yonder pardon-asking place whose offering-giving in-
tercessor is there where it was coming." An examination of the
corresponding text for Song 1 shows that these kernel ideas are the
basic message for this song.
 BOILES: TEPEHUA THOUGHT-SONG 283

Song 2.

-
Text 'J I

Text:
There was the thought,
Which though it had been,
Yet it still is.
Hardly had it been born
When there existed lads and lasses.
Even though they were not Old Ones,
In this manner they grasped the way.
Thus were they given the thought;
Thus was the life given them by their fathers.
When the music begins,
It refers to when the thought entered.
It wants to say it is happy.
Yonder it has to grasp the music
Because it knows where it is.
Now it knows where to come in,
For when it arrived where were its fathers,
It greeted them.

I. Continuum A.
A. Rhythmic context: asking pardon.
B. Noun Phrase.
1. Noun: 350f + 175r = divine thought.
2. Adjective: (in combination with previous interval) 175r = act
of giving.
2. Relative clause.
a. Noun: 525r = salutation.
b. Verbal adjective: 700f = being happy.
C. Verb Phrase.
1. Participle: 350r = act of arriving.
2. Verb: 175f/ verb marker = past tense.
D. Message: The given divine thought, whose salutation was happy,
has arrived.
284 BOILES: TEPEHUA THOUGHT-SONG

II. Continuum B.
A. Rhythmic context: asking pardon.
B. Noun Phrase.
1. Noun: 350f + 0 = yonder-place.
2. Adjective: 350f = act of asking pardon.
3. Relative clause.
a. Transposition context: Father-Mother.
b. Noun: 525r = salutation.
c. Verbal adjective: 700f = being happy.
C. Verb Phrase.
1. Participle: 350r = act of arriving.
2. Verb: 175f / verb marker = past tense.
3. Transposition context: Father-Mother.
D. Message: Yonder pardon-asking place, whose Father-Mother re-
ceived its happy salutation, where it arrived to be with
them.
III. Continuum C.
A. Rhythmic context: asking pardon.
B. Transposition context: Father-Mother.
C. Phrase organization: the same as that of continuum A.
D. Message: The divine thought given by Father-Mother, whose
salutation for Father-Mother was happy, has arrived
to be with them.

Song 3.

=. ,, :1

Text:
When they play thusly in the place where everyone is present,
Everyone is there.
All who are there are seeing what is being done,
What they are doing (things they are moving).
In that place are intervening those who are moving things,
Those who ask favor.
This song is like that of the old midwives and old curers;
Thus did they do it.
For this reason they are there,
And favor and pardon is asked of them.
The asking of favor of those who are there
Is the same as what is being played,
 BOILES: TEPEHUA THOUGHT-SONG 285

The same as what is being spoken,

The same as what is being done.
That is the only reason for playing this music.

I. Conjoined sentence.
A. Noun Phrase 1.
1. Noun: 0 = place.
2. Adjective: 0 = being in a place.
3. Relative clause.
a. Rhythmic context: noun = intercessor.
b. Modifiers.
(1). 350r = act of arriving.
(2). 175f = act of consoling.
c. Verbal adjective: 350f = asking pardon.
B. Noun Phrase 2.
1. Noun.
a. Transposition context: Father-Mother.
b. Interval: 0 = place.
2. Adjective: 350r = arriving.
3. Relative clause.
a. Rhythmic context: noun = intercessor.
b. Modifiers.
(1). 0 = being in a place.
(2). 350f = asking pardon.
c. Verbal adjective: 175f = act of consoling.
C. Noun Phrase 3.
1. Noun.
a. Transposition context: Father-Mother.
b. Interval: 0 = place.
2. Adjective: 350f = asking pardon.
3. Relative clause.
a. Rhythmic context: noun = intercessor.
b. Modifiers.
(1). 0 = being in a place.
(2). 350r = act of arriving.
c. Verbal adjective: 175f = act of consoling.
D. Verb Phrase.
1. Participle: 0 = being in a place.
2. Verb: 0 /_verb marker = present tense.
II. Message: This is the being in a place whose intercessor by arriv-
ing with consolation asks pardon, the being in the ar-
rival place of our Father-Mother whose intercessor by
asking pardon in that place is consoling, the being of
Father-Mother in the pardon-asking place whose inter-
cessor arriving to be in that place is consoling.
286 BOILES: TEPEHUA THOUGHT-SONG

Song 4.

Text:
There is the table,
All of the tables.
There are two tables for moving the things.
There is an altar.
Now they are there,
They who intervene at the altar.
Now all the tables are prepared,
And they ask favor and pardon of those who are there.
All who are participating must again ask pardon,
And all have their makshanti (floral hand).
Yonder they are asking pardon at each corner of the table.
Yonder they must ask pardon at four corners of the table.

They must also ask pardon at four corners of the other table.
They must pass by the altar.
There (at the altar) they ask pardon of our father, our mother.
Though they were sad in other times,
Now they are there dispensing pardon to each one.
The music asks pardon of our mother.
That is why our mother is there,
Because they are asking pardon.

I. Continuum A.
A. Noun Phrase.
1. Noun: 350f + 350f = act of kneeling for asking pardon.
2. Prepositional phrase: 350r + 525r = near tables and altar.
B. Verb Phrase.
1. Gerund + Participle: 350f + 350f = act of kneeling for asking
pardon.
2. Verb: 0 /_verb marker = present tense.
C. Message: The act of kneeling near tables and altar is asking
pardon by kneeling.
 BOILES: TEPEHUA THOUGHT-SONG 287

II. Continuum B.
A. Noun Phrase.
1. Noun: 350f + 0 = yonder place of asking pardon.
2. Prepositional phrase.
a. Preposition: 0 = place, being in a place.
b. Noun: 525r = salutation.
B. Verb Phrase.
1. Transposition context = Father-Mother.
2. Gerund + Participle: 350f + 350f = kneeling act of asking
pardon.
3. Verb: 0 /_verb marker = present tense.
C. Message: The yonder pardon-asking place in which place of salu-
tation there is kneeling pardon asked of our Father-
Mother.

Song 5.

$J73Tg4 L :11F

Text:
This music is played when they are going to make offering;
There at the ritual place where they make offering to their fathers,
their mothers.
Where there is a table, there is the portion of the Mother-Father.
Because they ask pardon, they are making offering;
They make offering at the altar.
There at the altar, they offer up the turkeys.
They offer up two turkeys.
In the place where there is another table,
There they give offering for our Father-Mother god in order to ask
pardon.
This is for consoling those who are our grandfathers, our grand-
mothers,
For those who are the companions of our spirits,
For those who made offering yesterday and in times past,
288 BOILIS: TEPEHUA THOUGHT-SONG

For those who are present at the great table where they are
happy and joyous, both standing and seated.
It is in a place where there is a table of gold,
Where there is a seat of gold,
Where there are plates of gold,
Where our grandfathers and grandmothers drink from goblets of
gold,
They whose names were spoken yesterday and before then.
It is they who are caring (for us) now,
And thus they are doing it.

I. Continuum A.
A. Noun Phrase.
1. Noun: 175f = act of consolation.
2. Adjective: 0 + 0 = place.
3. Relative clause.
a. Rhythmic context: intercessor.
b. Modifiers.
(1). 350f = act of asking pardon.
(2). 175r = being present.
c. Verbal adjective: 350r = act of arriving.
B. Verb Phrase.
1. Participle: 175f = act of consolation.
2. Verb: 0 /_verb marker = present tense.
C. Message: This place's consolation, whose intercessor for par-
don-asking here has arrived, is being consoled.
II. Continuum B.
A. Noun Phrase.
1. Rhythmic context: sacrifice.
2. Transposition context: Father-Mother.
3. Noun.
a. 175f = act of consoling.
b. 0 = place.
4. Prepositional phrase.
a. Preposition: 0 + 0.
b. Noun: act of consoling.
B. Verb Phrase.
1. Gerund + Participle: 175r + 175r = act of giving offering.
2. Verb: 175r /_verb marker = future tense.
C. Message: The sacrifice for our Father-Mother's consolation
place in which place of consolation it will be of-
fered.
 BOILES: TEPEHUA THOUGHT-SONG 289

III. Continuum C.
A. Transposition context: Father-Mother.
B. Noun Phrase: the same as continuum A.
C. Verb Phrase: the same as continuum A.
D. Message: This place's consolation of our Father-Mother, whose
intercessor arrives here to ask pardon of our Fa-
ther-Mother, is the consolation of our Father-
Mother.

Song 6.

1iText'wI 1
Text:
Short Version
For giving salutation,
For asking pardon of all who are present,
All those who are said to be our Fathers.

Long Version
This is for asking pardon here where one has arrived,
Where one comes to visit and ask favor of his Father-Mother,
In the place where they have come to be seated,
In the place where they are resting.
One kneels,
One kisses the earth
Asking pardon of our Father-Mother
Because one has come to the place where they are.
I come father,
I come mother,
I come to visit.
I come to visit where you are seated.
Because you are my father and mother,
I bring you something.
That which I bring you,
I come to give it to you.
290 BOIL?S: TEPEHUA THOUGHT-SONG

I. Continuum A.
A. Noun Phrase.
1. Noun: 175r + 175r = act of giving offering.
2. Relative clause.
a. Rhythmic context: intercessor.
b. Modifier: 0 = being in a place.
c. Verbal adjective: 350r + 350r = act of bringing.
B. Verb Phrase.
1. Participle: 0 = being in a place.
2. Verb: 0 /_verb marker = present tense.
C. Message: The giving of offering, whose intercessor brings it
here, is in this place.
II. Continuum B.
A. Noun Phrase.
1. Noun: 350r = act of arriving.
2. Relative clause.
a. Rhythmic context: intercessor.
b. Modifiers: 350f + 350f = kneeling act of pardon-asking.
c. Verbal adjective: 525r = act of greeting.
B. Verb Phrase.
1. Transposition context: Father-Mother.
2. Participle: 0 = being in a place.
3. Verb: 0 / verb marker = present tense.
C. Message: The arrival, when the intercessor kneels giving
greeting, where our Father-Mother is being.
III. Continuum C.
A. Noun Phrase.
1. Transposition context: Father-Mother.
2. Noun: 350r = act of arrival.
3. Adjective: 350f = pardon-asking.
4. Relative clause.
a. Rhythmic context: intercessor.
b. Modifiers.
(1). 0 = being in a place.
(2). 350f = act of asking pardon.
c. Verbal adjective: 175r = being present.
B. Verb Phrase.
1. Transposition context: Father-Mother.
2. Participle: 0 = being in a place.
3. Verb: 0 / verb marker = present tense.
C. Message: The arrival asking pardon of our Father-Mother,
whose intercessor is present in that place to ask
pardon, where our Father-Mother is being.
 BOILES: TEPEHUA THOUGHT-SONG 291

IV. Continuum D.
A. Noun Phrase.
1. Noun: 175r = act of being present.
2. Adjective: 350f = act of asking pardon.
3. Relative clause.
a. Rhythmic context: intercessor.
b. Modifier: 0 + 0 = being in a place.
c. Verbal adjective: 175f = act of consoling.
B. Verb Phrase.
1. Transposition context: Father-Mother.
2. Participle: 0 = being in a place.
3. Verb: 0 /_verb marker = present tense.
C. Message: The presence of pardon-asking, whose intercessor
is here consoling, where our Father-Mother is
being.

Several features of spoken Tepehua seem to be present in this

music. The economy of basic intervals is similar to that of root
forms in the composition of Tepehua words. Although there are
twenty-six possible intervals that could be derived from the fourteen
pitches utilized by the Tepehua violinist, only seven intervallic rela-
tionships appear in these songs. One might object that, in the gram-
mar, too many meanings are being assigned a limited amount of ma-
terial. However, this particular economy is a common feature of
many languages. A given morpheme, when associated with others,
can have a variety of unrelated meanings. The intervallic analysis
used in this study assumes that Tepehua cult music operates on the
same principle and is confirmed, furthermore, by similar types of
reduplication and positioning of morphemes in Tepehua words.
The overall structure of each continuum is somewhat similar to
that of Tepehua words which are mostly agglutinative. An excellent
example of this feature is illustrated by anlakapuchiwfn, "town hall."
The components of this word are as follows: an is a determiner that
can be translated "the" although it signifies "this is" or "it is"; laka
denotes being "inside"; pu means "the place where"; chuwi is the
root of the verb "to speak"; n is a nominalizer. Literally, this word
is like a sentence stating, "It is inside the place where there is
speaking." The reader will have noted that the meanings of the com-
ponent motives of each musical continuum, when interpreted accord-
ing to positional, rhythmic, intervallic, and transpositional contexts,
are subject to a similar type of sentence organization.
The various types of formal organization of the songs (see rule
24 of the grammar) reflect the numerous varieties of couplet that are
present in the spoken texts. Edmonson (1965) has pointed out that
couplet is common to drama and formal oratory in Middle and South
292 BOILVS: TEPEHUA THOUGHT-SONG

America and that parallelistic poetry in which all repetitions are

synonymous is the formal style of discourse for this area. The
repetitions of continua, apart from the importance of establishing
rhythmic context referents, seem to be a stylistic feature that is
related to the utilization of couplet.
The Tepehuas have a practical purpose in their use of melodies
with ascribed meaning. They have evolved a method for signaling
much information with a nice economy of effort. This non-verbal
communication frees the priest so that he may attend to other duties.
The ritual music assures that all those present are informed and
participating correctly in each part of the ceremony. Also, these
songs induce a worshipful attitude, heighten the emotional experience,
and help to achieve the "moving of the things." For a few pitches
scattered over a minute segment of time, that is an impressive
amount of activity.
Tulane University
New Orleans, Louisiana

Field research for this paper was sponsored under the program of in-
vestigation of the Instituto de Antropologfa de la Universidad Veracruzana of
Jalapa, Veracruz, Mexico. The conclusions and opinions presented here are
those of the author and are not necessarily those of the Instituto de Anthro-
pologia.

REFERENCES CITED

Edmonson, Munro S.
1965 "Literary form in the Dresden Codex." A paper read at the
American Anthropology meeting in Denver, Colorado, November
21, 1965.
Sahaguin, Bernardino de
1956 Historia general de las cosas de Nueva Espana. Mexico, D.F.:
Porrua Hermanos.