article on Aztecs

[R. Joe Campbell]

On Sat, 7 Aug 1999 CCBtlevine at aol.com wrote:

   There's no myth to be destroyed on the semantics of "catzahuac" and
related words.  The verb stem is "catza:hua" and a perusal of the related
words indicates that the color of 'dark' or 'black' (for anything) was
intermingled with 'to get dirty'.  It's not clear that the Nahuatl
speakers made any value judgment about the relationship, but they *did*
recognize that something that gets dirty looks more black than white.
Molina (from whom Simeon benefited to a high degree), was an on-the-spot
observer and participator in using the language, so I have included his
citations at the end of this message.

   On the relationship of "cacatzac" and "cacahuatl", since "cacatzac" is
a reduplicated form of "catzahua", all they share is "ca".  Well, crows
("ca:ca:lo:tl") are black and there is no likely derivation there either.
Seriously, we can't throw away pieces of words that "no nos convienen" and
relate form and meaning in a way that doesn't take into account the
'building blocks' of the language and their variations.  In other words,
we need to look at a larger piece of the spiderweb of Nahuatl.


> Simeon's dictionary shows cacatzac an adjective meaning black, not dirty.  It
> shows cacatzactli for a black person.  I am not certain of the root.  But, it
> may come from cacahuatl, meaning cacao.  I can't find anything that would
> indicate, in Nahuatl, that the root has anything to do with dirt.  Do you
> know of anything?  In other words, they, the black spaniards, would seem to
> be the chocolate colored gods rather than the dirty gods.  Perhaps another
> myth should be destroyed.
>


Best regards,

Joe

p.s.  the first form is a regularized spelling and the {{...}} form is
Molina's literal spelling.
  M5 = 1555 edition
  M1 = 1571 (Spanish/Mexicano)
  M2 = 1571 (Mexicano/Spanish)

The following numbers refer to location by folio.


acatzahualiztli. {{acatzaualiztli}}  limpieza. 55m-156r-12
acatzahualiztli. {{acatzaualiztli}}  limpieza. 71m1-78-14

cacatzac. {{cacatzac}}  negro de guinea. 55m-180r-14
cacatzac. {{cacatzac}}  negro de guinea. 71m1-89-16
cacatzac. {{cacatzac}}  hombre negro, o negra. 71m2-10-4-06-2

cacatzactli. {{cacatzactli}}  hombre negro, o negra. 71m2-10-4-07-2

catzactia (ni). {{catzactia =ni}}  ensuziarse. 55m-106r-8
catzactia (ni). {{catzactia =ni}}  ensuziarse. 71m1-55-10
catzactia (ni). {{catzactia =ni=onicatzactiac. vel. onicatzactix}}  pararse
 suzio. 71m2-12-3-42-2

catzactic. {{catzactic}}  hosco bazo en color. 55m-142v-11
catzactic. {{catzactic}}  morena cosa baza. 55m-176r-14
catzactic. {{catzactic}}  suzia cosa. 55m-197v-19
catzactic. {{catzactic}}  suzio por no estar lauado. 55m-197v-19
catzactic. {{catzactic}}  hosco bazo en color. 71m1-72-13
catzactic. {{catzactic}}  morena cosa baza. 71m1-87-15
catzactic. {{catzactic}}  suzia cosa. 71m1-111-20
catzactic. {{catzactic}}  suzio por no estar lauado. 71m1-100-20
catzactic. {{catzactic}}  cosa suzia. 71m2-12-3-43-2

catzactilia (nitla). {{catzactilia =nitla}}  ensuziar algo. 55m-106r-8
catzactilia (nitla). {{catzactilia =nitla}}  ensuziar algo. 71m1-55-10
catzactilia (nitla). {{catzactilia =nitla=onitlacatzactili}}  ensuziar
 algo. 71m2-12-3-44-2

catzactililli (tla-invert.2). {{tlacatzactililli}}  ensuziada cosa.
 55m-106r-8
catzactililli (tla-invert.2). {{tlacatzactililli}}  ensuziada cosa.
 71m1-55-10

catzactiliztil. {{catzactiliztil}}  suziedad. 55m-197v-19

catzactiliztli. {{catzactiliztli}}  suziedad. 71m1-111-20
catzactiliztli. {{catzactiliztli}}  suziedad. 71m2-12-4-01-2

catzahua (ni). {{catzaua =ni}}  ensuziarse. 55m-106r-8
catzahua (ni). {{catzaua =ni}}  ensuziarse. 71m1-55-10

catzahua (nino). {{catzaua =nino=oninocatzauh}}  ensuziarse.
 71m2-12-4-03-2

catzahua (ni). {{catzaua =ni=onicatzauac. vel. onicatzauh}}  pararse suzio.
 71m2-12-4-02-2

catzahua (nite). {{catzaua =nite=onitecatzauh}}  ensuziar a otro.
 71m2-12-4-04-2

catzahua (nitla). {{catzaua =nitla}}  ensuziar algo. 55m-106r-8
catzahua (nitla). {{catzaua =nitla}}  estragar. 55m-119v-9
catzahua (nitla). {{catzaua =nitla}}  ensuziar algo. 71m1-55-10
catzahua (nitla). {{catzaua =nitla}}  estragar. 71m1-61-11
catzahua (nitla). {{busca estragar}}  percudir. 71m1-95-17

catzahuac. {{catzauac}}  suzia cosa. 55m-197v-19
catzahuac. {{catzauac}}  suzio por no estar lauado. 55m-197v-19
catzahuac. {{catzauac}}  suzia cosa. 71m1-111-20
catzahuac. {{catzauac}}  suzio por no estar lauado. 71m1-100-20
catzahuac. {{catzauac}}  cosa suzia. 71m2-12-4-05-2

catzahuac (amo -invert.2). {{amocatzauac}}  limpia cosa. 71m1-78-14
catzahuac (amo-invert.2). {{amo catzauac}}  limpia cosa. 55m-156r-12

catzahualiztli. {{catzaualiztli}}  estrago. 55m-119v-9
catzahualiztli. {{catzaualiztli}}  suziedad. 55m-197v-19
catzahualiztli. {{catzaualiztli}}  estrago. 71m1-61-11
catzahualiztli. {{catzaualiztli}}  suziedad. 71m1-111-20
catzahualiztli. {{catzaualiztli}}  suziedad. 71m2-12-4-06-2

catzahualli (tla-invert.2). {{tlacatzaualli}}  ensuziada cosa. 71m1-55-10

catzahuani (tla-invert.2). {{tlacatzauani}}  estragador. 55m-119v-9
catzahuani (tla-invert.2). {{tlacatzauani}}  ensuziador. 71m1-55-10
catzahuani (tla-invert.2). {{tlacatzauani}}  estragador. 71m1-61-11

catzauh (te-invert.2). {{tecatzauh}}  cosa que ensuzia. 55m-056v-4
catzauh (te-invert.2). {{tecatzauh}}  cosa que ensuzia. 71m1-31-6
catzauh (te-invert.2). {{tecatzauh}}  cosa que ensuzia a otro.
 71m2-092-1-21-16

catzauhtli (tla-invert.2). {{tlacatzauhtli}}  ensuziada cosa. 55m-106r-8
catzauhtli (tla-invert.2). {{tlacatzauhtli}}  ensuziada cosa. 71m1-55-10
catzauhtli (tla-invert.2). {{tlacatzauhtli}}  estragado. 71m1-61-11

ixcatzahuac (n). {{ixcatzauac =n=onixcatzauac}}  tener suzia la cara, o la
 haz. 71m2-44-4-21-8

toacatzauhtli. {{toacatzauhtli}}  estragado. 55m-119v-9