Body-part terms and morphological complexity in P’urhepecha

P’urhepecha has two sets of words for body parts: morphologically simple and derived. Derived terms predominate, and can be divided into two sub-groups: a larger sub-group containing a body-part locative suffix, and a second one lacking such a suffix. The inclusion of a body-part locative suffix in the independent lexemes highlights the salience of this set of suffixes, as well as an interesting dichotomy between diachronic conservatism and innovation in the language.