is it zin or tzin??

[Frances Karttunen]

-tzin has two distinct meanings.  It has what I think was its basic meaning,
which is an affectionate diminutive: 'dear little.'

But a second, honorific use developed for -tzin.   So Teotl inantzin is
'God's reverend mother' rather than 'God's dear little mother.'

The honorific use was and still is more geographically restricted than the
affectionate diminutive.  Up in the Huasteca the honorific -tzin is
restricted to religious terminology in Nahuatl that was introduced by
Christian evangelists some time after the conquest.

On the other hand, honorific -tzin for rulers and other influential people
was in use in the central Nahuatl-speaking area when the Spanish arrived.

By contrast with Nahuatl as spoken in the Huasteca, where honorifics are
nearly absent, Nahuatl speakers of the Tlaxcala area developed and have
retained an honorific system more complicated than that used by the Mexica
of the central valley of Mexico.

Polite speech (which involves more than adding -tzin to nouns) is so
complicated that I can't imagine how anybody manages to speak properly to
their elderly compadres.

Fran Karttunen
----------
>From: micc at home.com
>To: Multiple recipients of list <nahuat-l at server.umt.edu>
>Subject: Re: is it zin or tzin??
>Date: Mon, Feb 7, 2000, 8:13 PM
>

> my understanding is that it means "revered, or honorable, not beloved.
> Tla'zo would be love..... (i am not sure if there is a glottal stop in
> there)
>
>
> good luck!
> mario www.aguila-blanca.com
>
> GESX1CKAH at aol.com wrote:
>>
>> I was told that if you add "zin" after a word that this meant beloved... for
>> example if I used the name of earth, Tlalli and added zin to make Tlallizin
>> as beloved earth... is this correct?
>>
>> thank you
>> jess
>