suchioa

[Caroline Dodds]

Apologies to all those who have requested that I cite the passage.

The reason that I didn't give more context at the time is the the term is a title, not part of a text. It comes from the Florentine Codex, Book 10, The People and is the title to the section presented in the facing text as that concerning 'The Pervert'. I am doing some research on Aztec gender and sexuality, which is why I was trying to trace the roots of the word (to try and examine its implications). I am wondering now whether it is simply a case that Sahagún was told by his informants that this was the meaning of the term - you would, however, expect some kind of logical root. 

I do not have the Nahuatl passage here, but will have to look it up when I next am in the library. If anyone is able to supply it so that we can continue the discussion then that would be much appreciated. The original is from the Florentine Codex, Book 10, The People, p. 37 (from the 1961 Dibble and Anderson edition). For purposes of identification, the English translation of the text which follows the  heading Suchioa/Pervert is: "The pervert [is] of feminine speech, of feminine mode of address. [If a woman, she is] of masculine speech, of masculine mode of address; [she has] a vulva, a crushed vulva, a friction-loving vulva. [He is] a corrupter, a deranger; one who deprives one of his reason. She rubs her vulva on one; she perverts, confuses, corrupts one."

Thanks for all who have offered helpful comments despite my inadequate quotation!

Yours,
Caroline
----
History Faculty
University of Cambridge
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