Tepotzoa

[idiez at MAC.COM]

Caroline,
	There are three possessor suffixes, -eh, -huah, and -yoh, which are 
attached to nouns and mean, "owner of" that noun. The last suffix, 
-yoh, extends the idea of owner to "to be covered with" the noun. All 
three suffixes are actually the singular preterite form of ancient 
verbs, and for that reason, the compound constructions, such as 
tepotzhuah, owner of a back", can be considered preterite agentive 
nouns. The plural forms of each suffix, -ehqueh, -huahqueh, and 
-yohqueh, owners of...., are actually the plural preterite forms of the 
ancient verbs.
John

John Sullivan, Ph.D.
Profesor de lengua y cultura nahua
Unidad Académica de Idiomas
Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas
Director
Instituto de Docencia e Investigación Etnológica de Zacatecas, A.C.
Tacuba 152, int. 47
Centro Histórico
Zacatecas, Zac. 98000
México
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idiez at mac.com
www.idiez.org.mx


On Feb 23, 2006, at 11:33 AM, Caroline Dodds wrote:

> Dear colleagues,
>  
> As a very occasional contributor but frequent lurker, I was hoping 
> that someone on the list might be able to help me with the term 
> 'tepotzoa'. I am writing an article about the decapitation of women in 
> sacrificial practice, and have become increasingly interested in the 
> word. It is used in the Florentine Codex (The Ceremonies, p.105) to 
> describe the practice by which the ixiptla of Xilonen is sacrificed 
> (by beheading) upon the back of a priest at the festival of Uey 
> tecuilhuitl. The text reads: "auh yn icujtlapan mjcoaia, motocaiotia 
> tepotzoa:". And the translation by Dibble and Anderson is given as 
> "And when there was dying upon his back, it was called "it has a 
> back". This makes it sound as if this is an official 'term' for this 
> form of sacrifice, and so it seems quite surprising that it does not 
> appear in relation to similar festivals (at Ochpaniztli for example).
>  
> I was wondering if anyone had come across the term in other 
> descriptions of sacrificial ritual and also about the translation as 
> 'it has a back'. Are there other possible interpretations which might 
> be placed on the term? And does the sense which comes across in the 
> term that perhaps it might be almost a unifying of the priest and 
> victim at the moment of sacrifice seem a fair one?
>  
> I would also be delighted to hear of any articles etc which deal with 
> the subject of female decapitation (particularly in ritual, rather 
> than image, although the latter is also welcome). I have obviously 
> seen quite a few, but any suggestions would be very gratefully 
> received.
>  
> Best wishes and thank you for your help.
> Caroline
> -----
> Dr. Caroline Dodds
> Junior Research Fellow
> Sidney Sussex College
> Cambridge
> CB2 3HU
>  
> Tel: 01223 (3)30867
> ced44 at cam.ac.uk
>