Nikwīka = I sing.
NiPēdroh = I am Peter.
Nikwīka niPēdroh = I, Peter, sing.

Ahtleh = It’s nothing.
Ītōkā = It’s his name.
Ahtleh ītōkā = He has no name.

Titihtōtīskeh = We shall dance.
TOtomih = We are Otomis.
Titihtōtīskeh tOtomih = We Otomis shall dance.

Ahkwalli = It’s not good.
Īmōntah = It’s her father-in-law.
Ahkwalli īmōntah = Her father-in-law is bad.

Kwix tlanamakanih? = Do they usually sell things?
Pōchtēkah = They are merchants.
Kwix tlanamakanih Pōchtēkah? = Do merchants usually sell things?

Onkah = It’s there.
Īxōxal = It’s his hernia.
Onkah īxōxal = He has a hernia.

Onyes = It will be there.
Notēnyo = It’s my fame.
Onyes notēnyo = I will have fame.

Ok onkah = It’s still there.
Ītah = It’s his father.
Ok onkah ītah = He still has a father.

Ītlak = It’s its trunk.
Kwawitl = It’s a tree.
Ītlak kwawitl = It’s a trunk of a tree.

Īnnān = She is their mom.
Noknīwān = They are my friends.
Īnnān noknīwān = She’s my friends’s mom.

Īkal = It’s his house.
Īknīw = It’s his friend.
Pēdroh = It’s Peter.
Īkal īknīw Pēdroh = It’s Peter’s friend’s house.

Ōnikkwah = I ate it.
Ītew = It’s their egg(s).
Tōtolin = It’s a turkey.
Ōnikkwah ītew tōtolin = I ate turkey’s egg/eggs.

Yeh = It’s her.
Īn = It’s this.
Yeh īn = This is her.

Kwix ōtikchīw? = Did you do it?
Ōn = It’s that.
Kwix ōtikchīw ōn? = Did you do that?

Tleh? = What is it?
Tikihtoh = You said it.
Tleh tikihtoh? = What did you say?

Āk? = Who is it?
Yehwātl = It’s her.
Āk yehwātl? = Who is she?

Ak? = Who is it?
Īāxkā = It’s her stuff.
Ak īāxkā? = Whose stuff is it?

Hi everyone, I teach a course in Spanish for which I’ve assigned some excerpts from sahagun’s Book XI, where the notion of teotl is mentioned. Besides that source, what other primary sources have you found helpful for discussing the notion of teotl? I will Be assigning Maffie’s chapter from Aztec Thought, but I would love to be able to work with sources in Spanish.

Hello! For fun and practice, I was translating this quote from Emiliano Zapata into Classical Nahuatl but wasn’t sure how to translate “para” in this instance. Aulex translates “con/para él” as “ika” into standard Nahuatl, suggesting the instrumental is used, so would I use “-tica” in Classical Nahuatl? Or would “-pampa” work better? I can also see “-tech,” “-huic,” or “-pa” being possible. Or is this to literal of a translation? Is there another verb or construction that would be used to translate this?

I also wasn’t sure how to translate “justicia” since it seems the Spanish word has been borrowed into Nahuatl since colonial times.

Thanks in advance for any help you have to offer! Tlazohcamati!

Here’s the original quote, followed by the English translation and my attempt at a Classical Nahuatl translation:

“Si no hay justicia para el pueblo, que no haya paz para el gobierno.”

“If there’s no justice for the people, let there not be peace for the government.”

“Intla impampa in macehualtin ahmo ca justicia, ic ipampa in tepacholiztli macamo yez yectlamatcayeliztli.”

I'm just playing around with the language to make a funny phrase

So I reckon this means "I beat my meat"

But I want to know if I need the C so we know that the verb is about the following noun

I’m not too familiar with all the grammar rules of Nahuatl any guidance would be appreciated thanks in advance 🙏

I am well aware of the limitations of machine translation, especially with a language that has a comparatively limited bilingual corpus, like Nahuatl. That said, it is fun to play with Google Translate's recently introduced Huasteca Nahuatl translator.

It is said that there is no copula in Nahuatl. But Google Translate uses "eli" in very simple sentences that you'd think would be sentences with the best chance of successful translation.

For example, "your dad is a teacher" is translated as "motata eli se tlamachtijketl."

I checked and "eli" is indeed listed as "to be" in Eastern Huasteca Nahuatl in Wiktionary. It's also in Yan Garcia's Huasteca Nahuatl book, Learn Nahuatl. However in Learn Nahuatl it specifically says that it's only used in future and past tenses, e.g. "your dad was a teacher," or "your dad will be a teacher." And in those cases it wouldn't be eli, but eliyaya and elis, respectively.

Interestingly, Google Translate gets "your dad was a teacher" and "your dad will be a teacher" correct.

So what's up with "eli"? Is it ever used in the present?

Would this be pronounced nikwalwika or nichwalwika?

Also when words have auh in them how does that sound

Thank you

Hola, soy nuevo en la comunidad, y me uní justamente porque quiero aprender nahuatl, y quisiera saber si alguien me podría pasar y recomendar recursos o materiales para así empezar con el idioma. De antemano muchas gracias.

In the 90s a Harvard student set up a website called "I can eat glass" with translations into 150 languages.

Ethan Mollick, a then-student at Harvard, chose the unorthodox phrase because he believed visitors to foreign countries typically learn common phrases in the foreign language such as "where is the bathroom?" which instantly reveal they are tourists. "But, if one says 'I can eat glass, it doesn't hurt me,' you will be viewed as an insane native, and treated with dignity and respect", Mollick explained

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Can_Eat_Glass

But despite being a meme for 30 years, I can't find a Nahuatl translation.

Maybe it would be nihueli niccua tezcatl, ahmo nechcocohua?

Ni+hueli = I am able
Ni+c+cua = (I) eat (it)
Tezcatl = glass (or mirror)
Ahmo = not
∅+nech+cocohua = it hurts me

(Xochitl Quia^Flor-Lluvia)=de flores, esa es la idea al menos, el punto es que sea el nombre de una empresa, Suena bien para un hablante? tal vez estoy masacrando el idioma, como escribiría un hablante "lluvia de flores"? Gracias de antemano! C:

So I'm learning about reflexive prefixes and I can't wrap my head around why this isn't "yourselves/themselves" do it and it turns into "it is done"

Same with cahua. Why does this turn into "It is left/delivered"

I’m looking for names that are unisex or male leaning for a work I’m thinking of writing and I want a name inspired by the language I’m in love with the name Xitlali but I can’t find a male equivalent for it and I’ve seen name variations for sun names as well and I don’t seem too convinced. I’m open to anything as long as the name is fitting for a hero.

I would like to make sure my translation and pronunciation are correct.

Edit: Getting too many people offering to google translate. Please must know how to speak Náhuatl. Thanks

I found it in my home. Not really sure whose it is or what it may represent. But it’s a pretty nice quality.

Any input would be appreciated

How would one say “long-haired” and “dark-skinned” in Nahuatl? And how would one find this out? I’m still just a beginner learner and am having a difficult time finding a dictionary of sorts to help with certain words or phrases that is accurate.

In Fermin Herrera’s dictionary there’s two entries for chameleon, but when I go to the Nahuatl portion it lists cuemitl as meaning furrow trench cultivated land plowed land . Why does the English side have both words, but the change in meaning on the Nahuatl side

Hola, estoy tratando de buscar como se dice luna en Nahuatl, pero online me salen diferentes formas en diferentes sitios. Será lo mismo o hay una que esta mal o no?

Muchas Gracias por la ayuda

Hi! I'm making a tabletop roleplaying game module for Mothership and the aliens of the setting are Aztecian alligator-men. Everything I know about the Aztec comes from histories of the conquistadors and Spanish colonialism and The Road to El Dorado so I'm searching for a greater understanding of the culture I've based my idea on.

My questions are: 1) What are good (well-researched and well-written ((no textbooks)) about the Aztec Empire? 2) Is https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/ an okay resource to get names for places or should I seek the ideas of someone closer to the subject at hand? and 3) Do you know any knowledged people (including yourselves) who could advise me? I can pay, not a lot since I'm a freelance/self-published writer, but it would be financial compensation.

Hey there,

I have no one to practice with so I talk to my fish

I have been saying "nimitzmaca motlacual" when I feed him. "ticahua" you leave when he swims off. Variations of tinechitta or nimitzitta when I notice him.

I call him Michitzin like he's royalty

I would just like someone to confirm that my conversations with my fish are grammatically correct and any suggestions

I’m starting a new venture and I want to honor the indigenous peoples of Mexico, so I’m choosing a Nahuatl word for it: Pialli.

I’ve read it means hello, but also “I carry you in my heart”. I supposed it’s like in Spanish when we say “you’re missing from me” as a way to say “I miss you” (me haces falta), but I cant confirm it.

I liked it because my venture is regarding Mexico and “carrying mexico in my heart” so I’d love to make sure it’s what I think it means.

Thanks!

In my poor understanding of the nahuatl, if I were to say "white wave" I would say something like izta + acueyotl/amimilli... But that makes me end with 2 A's in iztaamimilli. My first impulse would be to remove 1 of the A's and leave it as iztamimilli... But that would maybe seem to mean I am using the word mimilli instead of amimilli. How does one correctly merge these words?

In Louise Burkhart's book Before Guadalupe: The Virgin Mary in Early Colonial Nahuatl Literature, there is an excerpt from Sahagún's account of the Annunciation where he gives a version of the "Ave Maria" text. I can't figure out one word: tiquimmopanauilia. Could someone please break this word down grammatically for me? Thanks in advance!

The text in question reads:

Cihuapillē, cenca titlaçotlaloni, cenca tijectēnēoaloni in ispantzinco Dios:
Īnic titlacnōpilhuiani, tiquimmopanauilia īn īsquichti cioa.

Oh noblewoman, you are very worthy of love, you are very praiseworthy before God! You are the most fortunate of all women!

My friend has a nahuatl middle name, kosakalli, and he won't tell me what it means. I tried google but nothing came up.

Can anyone translate and if possible provide a pronunciation?

Various historical sources attest to the existence of a Toltec queen. Putting aside whether this is history or mythology, she has at least four different variations of her name.

Clavijero and Torquemada both use "Xiuhtlzaltzin." Ixtlilxochitl instead opts for "Xuihquentzin" in his Historia de la Nación Chichimeca, but then also uses "Xiuhcaltzin" and "Xiuhtlaltzin" elsewhere (see Chavero's Obras Históricas).

Do any of these make more sense either in grammer or meaning in Nahuatl?

Wikipedia (citing Bustamante) gives a translation of Xiuhtlaltzin as "Flower of the Little Earth," but that seems incredibly wrong. The xiuh- prefix is remarkably slippery in translation, coming from xihuitl which can mean comet, fire, year, turquoise, or even green herb, depending on the context. But it's definitely not xochitl as Bustamante seems to think.

Just sticking with xiuh- referring to turquoise, I would give my brute force translation of the names as something like:

• Xiuhtlaltzin: Lady Turquoise (green/grassy?) Field, assuming "tlalli" is in there.

• Xiuhcaltzin: Lady Turquoise House, assuming "calli."

• Xiuhquentzin: Lady Somewhat Green? Using "quen," but I'll admit this one doesn't make much sense even to me

• Xiuhtzaltzin: Lady Between Turquoise? Using "tzalan," but perhaps this makes more sense if the xiuh prefix refers to years or even Calendar Rounds. This Queen only reigned for four years, so maybe the name is "Lady Between the Years" and is some clever wordplay on her being a bit of a placeholder between more prominent Toltec kings.

Anyways, my Nahuatl is garbage, so I'd love to hear what everyone here thinks.