5 and 10

[Susana Moraleda]

Niltze,
I was wondering about the intrinsic meaning of MACUILLI and MATLACTLI.
I've read many different explanations, and apparently/obviously there is 
MA- implying "hand", but then, talking to myself...
-CUILLI - could this come from CUILIA (take something for oneself)?
and
-TLACTLI - torso?

This tentative interpretation takes me to imagine a hand turned towards 
oneself and wanting to mean 5, versus both hands turned out (showing the 
torsos to oneself) and wanting to mean 10? Could this have been some 
kind of a "sign language" used by ancient Nahuatl speakers, similar to 
our own modern way of counting using our hands?

Most certainly I am completely off road, but, would anyone care to share 
with me their own findings?

Tlazohcamati huei miac
Susana
_______________________________________________
Nahuatl mailing list
Nahuatl at lists.famsi.org
http://www.famsi.org/mailman/listinfo/nahuatl