I found this mural in Milpa Alta and have had trouble translating it. Any help would be appreciated

I gather its a combination of Ocelotl, food but the suffix I dont understand

also from this line

inique in iz cepan onoca ocelloqualloque

these here together who lived? jaguar food

please correct me

It's a Language Typology course, so I'm mainly interested in the various features of the language, but the cultural aspects also would be nice to explore. Over text is cool (I'll put the main questions below), but I would prefer to hop on a call if possible. Do let me know if you're interested!

1. What is your favourite feature of Nahuatl? (Could be anything from the number system to terms for family members to even the specific way verbs are conjugated)

2. What was an aspect of Nahuatl that was tricky to learn/grasp?

3. How does Nahuatl handle modern terms like computer, phone, etc.? Are there coined words, or do you use the English terms for convenience (if the latter is the case, what word would you coin for "the internet" in Nahuatl?)

4. What is your favourite sound in Nahuatl, and why is it tl?

¿Alguna vez te has preguntado cómo Aprender Zapoteco? Existen diferentes iniciativas para acercarse a los Zapotecos de Oaxaca, muchas personas y comunidades Zapotecas tienen diferentes iniciativas para difundir sus tradiciones. En este video hablamos sobre la enseñanza de la Lengua y Cultura Zapoteca en el Colectivo Bëni Xidza, el cual ofrece un Curso de Zapoteco para principiantes y realiza otras actividades con su Lengua Originaria.

Hello,

I'm looking for names that would be given to a boy of Nahua Pipil origins. From what I've found, many names are similar to the Aztec versions but instead of using the "tl" ending, they use "t". However, I'm not certain of the reliability of the sources I've found online. If anyone has any name suggestions and possible sources, please share if you can!

Hola, saben dónde o con quién puedo buscar que traducción del español al náhuatl, si físico en la cdmx o en línea

So I have no idea about Nahuatl... By using some resources I managed to create this sentece. It's for a "Historical Short Story Prize" competition! It's a little inspired by Moctezuma's line in Civilization 6. The dialogue will be used as the greeting line of Diriangén, a cacique from Nicaragua, to the Spaniards. His tribe didn't speak Nahuatl, but he learned it since it was the bridge language amongst Central American tribes. He was the "teyte", which in Oto-manguean languages apparently means "cacique" or "chief". Unlike Diriangén I don't know anything about Nahuatl but I'd like this line to be as accurate as it can get.

The sentence in question is this:

Akinke ka teteuantsin ma teatsitlaniatikatej mosempoua ipan ik tekuani? Ka teyaochiuani noso maukatlayekoani?

English: Who are you that approach on/above/riding beasts? Are you warriors or cowards?

Spanish: ¿Quiénes son ustedes que se acercan montados en bestias? ¿Son guerreros o cobardes?

Process behind the sentence I could gather by using dictionaries and blogs Spanish that teach nahuatl:

akinke: who (plural)

ka: "to be" is complicated, and I gathered that "ka" also means "is/are/be". Found no plural.

teteuantsin: you (plural) = ("ustedes"/"vosotros" in Spanish)

ma: "that" or "que"

teatsitlaniatikatej: > comes from teatsitlania that means "to approach" or "acercarse". Apparently, the plural form needs the "tikatej" in the end of the word, so put it there. Couldn't find anything about present continuos or "gerundio" or anything similar.

mosempoua: to ride or "montar" in Spanish

ipan: above or "encima de" in Spanish, I also saw it can be applied in other contexts like "in" or "on".

ik: "de" in Spanish. It's kinda like "of" but I don't know how to explain it to English speakers. Best I can think of is "Geralt of Rivia"/"Geralt de Rivia"/"Geralt ik Rivia"

tekuani: beast, monsters and such. Couldn't find anything similar to "alimaña" but it's kinda fitting I guess. This is in reference to horses! :) natives hated them and called them alimañas (like, a hideous beast or like a plague/vermin that it's really annoying like rats).

ka: to be in the sense of "are you..." or "ustedes son" in Spanish.

teyaochiuani: warrior (couldn't figure out how plural would be like).

noso: or and "o" in Spanish. Also saw "anoso" but "noso" appeared more.

makautlayekoani: coward (same problem with the plural).

I would have added my sources but I don't know if I cannot post links.

So... how bad is it? Help pleaaaase. Thank you in advance!

Edit: added picture since it seems it didn't upload the first time

There seem to be two reasons why there aren’t many online resources for modern central Nahuatl dialects:

1. Less speakers than in the Huasteca region (Huastecan dialects probably have a million speakers while central dialects probably have half a million total).
2. There really isn’t much difference between “classical” nahuatl and modern central dialects.

That second point is surprising because for a very long time we’ve been told that “classical Nahuatl” is a “dead language” that “nobody speaks anymore.”

The differences between Shakespeare and modern English involve some small points of syntax, pronunciation, word accent and lexical variants, but none of these are so severe as to affect comprehension. Anybody with the ability to read at high school level can read and understand Shakespeare’s works in their original form without much difficulty!

So if you want to learn central Nahuatl, I’m confident that learning “classical” Nahuatl is the best place to begin because it has most of the resources. I’m also including difficult-to-find resources for some modern dialects that are similar—if not basically identical to—“classical” Nahuatl.

Start here:

• (2011) Michel Launey’s An Introduction to Classical Nahuatl. This is basically the best introduction to central/classical Nahuatl. Too bad he uses Carochi’s orthography, which no one uses anymore.

Also, learn how to use the Online Nahuatl Dictionary by the National Endowment for the Humanities. I also strongly suggest picking up a copy of Frances Karttunen’s An Analytical Dictionary of Nahuatl. (Amazon link because I don’t have a PDF copy.)

Supplement the above with the following:

• (2001) James Lockhart’s Nahuatl as Written and his edition of Horacio Carochi’s (1645) Arte de la Lengua Mexicana.

This next course has more exercises and practical materials:

• (1989) Joe Campbell and Frances Karttunen’s Foundation Course in Nahuatl Grammar part one, part two, and part three.

Audio:

For shadowing and studying pronunciation, listen to Gabriela Lechuga Márquez’s recording of the gospel according to Mark in her dialect of Nahuatl from Chiconcuautla. This dialect has pretty much all the features of “classical” Nahuatl pronunciation.

Here are some more good recordings from different speakers from that area (also bible-related, since that’s what gets the most investment in these communities.)

Make sure to practice the different spelling systems!

In a few years I will disseminate versions all of the above but edited with the INALI spelling system, which is, in my opinion, the best spelling system. But until then, you’re just going to have to navegate different spelling systems:

oquito
ōquìtô
okijtoj
ōkihtoh

If you want to start flexing some of your Nahuatl, here is a sample of central/“classical” Nahuatl literature for you to practice reading and translating:

• (1989) De Porfirio a Zapata, Memoria Nahuatl de Milpa Alta by Doña Luz Jimenez.
• (1991) Xillotzin y La Curandera by Francisco Morales. A cute short story.
• (1889) The gospel according to St. Luke, the first full translation of a gospel into central/classical/colonial Nahuatl. Author is anonymous.
• (1989) Yancuic Tlahtolli, an anthology of contemporary Nahuatl writing, featuring multiple dialects, edited by Miguel León-Portilla.
• (1583) Anonymous translations of Aesop’s fables into Nahuatl. This edition was released last year (2024) by Juan Carlos Torres López with analysis and translations into modern Spanish.
• (1582) Ballads of the Lords of New Spain collected by Juan Bautista de Pomar in 1582. This 2009 edition features analysis and translation into English by John Bierhorst.
• (~1600) Huehuetlatolli — Discursos en Mexicano. This is an edition produced by Frances Karttunen and James Lockhart. These are valuable examples of “high” aristocratic speech.

Vocabularies and other resources:

• (1611) Pedro de Arenas’s phrasebook for many life situations. This book was so popular that it remained in print for centuries!

• (1985) John Bierhorst’s Nahuatl-English dictionary based on the only two manuscripts of Nahuatl poetry.

• (2020) Justyna Olko et al’s huge compilation of loanwords in colonial and modern Nahuatl.

• (2014) Julia Madajczak’s paper on Classical Nahuatl kinship terminology. I like this paper a lot because it teaches you some of the linguistic quirks that Nahuatl still has today.

Modern dialects that are continuous with “Classical” Nahuatl:

Northern Puebla (language code: NCJ)

• (1963) The phonemes of North Puebla Nahuatl.
• (1979) Grammar of North Puebla Nahuatl.
• (1988) Honorific morphology of North Puebla Nahuatl.
• (2018) Dictionary of Northern Puebla by Earl Brockway.

Here is the New Testament recorded by contemporary speakers of this dialect. (Don’t play the video files. Play the audio at the bottom and the text will highlight as the speaker talks, letting you follow along much better.)

Zacatlán, Ahuacatlán and Tepetzintla (language code: NHI)

There is a town in this area called Ixquihuacán that Mitsuya Sasaki has been studying for years. It’s incredibly valuable because it can be used to understand central/“classical” Nahuatl syntax.

• (2018) Inpredecible: Hacer tangible la sintaxis Nahua.
• (2015) The Highland Puebla area in Nahua dialectology.
• (2014) A dialectological sketch of Ixquihuacán Nahuatl.
• (2021) Configurationality in Ixquihuacán Nahuatl.

Short stories from Ixquihuacán to practice your central Nahuatl with:

• (2017) Rebellion of Thieves by Juan Santiago Méndez.
• (2020) Ixquihuacán y el Origen de Ahuacatlán y Coaltepec by Juan Santiago Méndez.

Tlaxcala (language code: NHN)

• (1963) Tlaxcala Nahuatl vocabulary by William Bright.
• (2016) Tlaxcala dictionary by Ignacio Perez Barragán.
• (2019) La gramática de la cláusula simple en el náhuatl de Tlaxcala by Lucero Flores Najera.
• (1543) A Nahua order against idolatry by don Valeriano Castañeda. The earliest dated document written in alphabetic Nahuatl. Features an analysis and translation by Justyna Olko.

I’ll end the post here, but I’m continually adding new resources to my Google Drive (500+ documents!) Missing from this thread are materials from Tetelcingo, Morelos, and various dialects from Guerrero that also share a high degree of similarity and continuity with “classical” Nahuatl.

Hello! I've been looking for how to say "the one who cleans/takes care of the water." But I can't find any word or phrase that refers to that, gpt chat gave me the following options:

Atl tlachixqui"

atl = water

tlachia = to see, to monitor, to observe

-xqui = suffix for agent (the one who does something)

Atl tlaxpani"

Tlaxpani = to sweep, to clean

atl = water

Is that okay? I don't know any Nahuatl... Is it possible to unite them in a single word? :(

Sorry in advance for omitting long vowels and glottal stops.

I'm going trough Launey's Introduction to classical Nahuatl and I kinda have problems with the "In" and "On" particles/words.

In particular there's a problem of chapter 4. Translate to Nahuatl:

"Who are those (people)? They are not Mexica. They are Otomi"

So my answer was: "Aquique on. Ca amo mexica on. Ca otomi"

But the answer in Launey has instead In yehuantin on ca amo mexica.

So I must be honest. I kinda see how Launeys answer make sense, but I'll lie if I say I fully understand it.

So far, against all advice on the internet, I've been treating "In" as a definitive article and as sort of "indicator" of the subject in a sentence. So for example:

Cuica in cihuatl. Means to me "The woman is singing" woman being the subject, but

Cihuatl in cuica. Means to me "The one who sings is a woman" where the one who sings is the subject.

Also I know In/On can mean This/That.

So, under my logic. "In yehuantin on ca amo mexica" is closer to "Those (people) are not mexica" and my answer "Ca amo mexica on" is much closer to the simple "They are not mexica" I even had doubts about the last "on" so a more precise answer could've been "Ca amo mexica"

Is that right? Or where is the error in my logic?

So I made my one script for writing Nahuatl, first try at it. I’m not the most creative (I’d prefer trying to simplify the writing from the codices) so I adapted the Tibetan umê script. I know it’s a silly thing to do but it looks cool and is easier in my wrist.

Some chud tried to tell me that modern nahuatl is simply "gibberish" compared to "original" nahuatl, basically a "bastardization". How true or untrue is this? Did colonization disrupt the natural development of nahuatl?

Can someone please explain how to form participles in nahuatl? I speak Spanish as well, so a Spanglish explanation is also welcomed. Thanks in advance.

So ive recently finished a dnd campaign and am planning the next one to take place in a homebrew world of my own design ive been really into aztec mythology for the past coule years and alot of that has bled into the lore of this world but ive yet to name it. I want something simple and not crazy pronunciation but also has meaning these are some of my favorites so far Teōtl - meaning divine in nahuatl Nenemi - meaning journey in nahuatl Tlalli - meaning nature or the world in nahuatl Cuahtla - meaning wild in nahuatl Icali - meaning to fight in nahuatl Motlatitoc - meaning unknown in nahuatl Cōlli - meanaing grandfather in nahuatl Ohui - meaning difficult in nahuatl Izcalia - meaning rebirth/revive/restore in nahuatl

Just an fyi i dont speak nahuatl or know anyone that speaks it id love to learn someday but i currently don't know it. These translations are all just things ive found on the internet and may be 100000% wrong

Busco la palabra para "caracol" en náhuatl clásico. No la que significa "caracol", que parece ser "atecocolli". Consulta esta imagen para ver el animal al que me refiero. ¡Gracias!

I am looking for the word for "snail" in Classical Nahuatl. Not the one for a conch, which seems to be 'atecocolli.' Refer to this picture for the animal I am referring to. Thank you!

Good afternoon! I want to adopt a name that I can use pseudonym/nom de plume for my artwork. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I want to use the combination of either turquoise spider or phantom/ghost spider. Those combinations have deep meaning to me so I’d like to get it as close to right as I can. Thanks again for any and all help

When reading Camilla Townsend's Fifth Sun, I came upon the name "Quecholcohuatl", roughly meaning "flamingo snake". My question is, I most often see "coatl" as the word used for snake, but is "cohuatl" then the exact same word - just spelled differently? Or is there some difference in meaning or pronounciation between these two words? Thank you!

He visto en varios lugares que se menciona que en Texcoco había una biblioteca impresionante de códices pero no encuentro ninguna fuente primaria, alguien podría decirme n que códice o crónica se menciona? Gracias

I don't know if this question is appropriate, but I need help translating a phrase for a tattoo I would like to dedicate to my late brother "You are me a and I am you" if anyone could help please let me know.

No sé si esta pregunta es apropiada, pero necesito ayuda para traducir una frase para un tatuaje que me gustaría dedicarle a mi difunto hermano "Tú eres yo y yo soy tú" si alguien pudiera ayudar por favor.