what is Inspiration in Nahuatl

[Edwin Rutsch]

Greetings
I had posted a call earlier for an article about the Nahuatl  word for
inspiration. See
http://humanityquest.com/Themes/Inspiration/ArticleGuidelines/
No takers yet..
 
I would like to start a discussion about the Nahuatl  word for
inspiration.
 
It was suggested that yolchicahua  and yollotia refer to inspiration in
Nahuatl , see below..  Any comments?
 
edwin
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Edwin, I wanted to know whether you refer to inhalation/breathing or the
abstract sense- I know that Nahuatl incorporates the word for breath in
a variety of senses- the verb meaning "to endure suffering or work hard
to subsist/acquire something" is ihiyohuia, literally "to apply one's
breath [to something]"(see Karttunen's dictionary 1983).
 
I believe that the word for breath itself can extend to references to
ephemeral life energy evidenced by breath. If it was used to refer to
expenditure as hardship, semantically there should be a sense in which
it is used in an opposite way. But it is the word related to "heart",
yolli that becomes a modifier to refer to being incited, excited or
inspired to act. yolchicahua combines yol- with the verb chicahua
meaning "to animate or strengthen." This results in the meaning "to
incite one or oneself to bravery," which seems pretty close to inspire.
In the story of St.Francis in Nahuatl, God inspires Francis using the
transitive verb yollotia. Good luck, then, with your project.  JOANNA M
SANCHEZ 
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I was meaning the abstract sense of inspiration,- heightened sense of
enthusiasm and energy, and sometimes creativity. The focus is not on the
actual physical sense of drawing in air, which however does act as a
metaphor for the abstract/spiritual sense.
Interesting about ihiyohuia. It has a similarity to Aspire, (rough or
audible breathing). I think the idea behind this is if your striving for
a goal, like in a running race, you would have rough or audible
breathing. The Latin root word spirare forms the base of other English
words, such as; aspire (rough or audible breathing), 
conspire (breathe together), 
expire (breathe out), 
perspire (breathe through), 
transpire (breathe across) 
and spirit (breath of life). 
Yollotia sounds like it would then be Divine inspiration.
edwin
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