etimology of tzictli

[Ian Mursell]

Dear Friends,

I'm doing some simple research on the origin of chewing gum for our
educational website on the Aztecs (for UK schools), and am getting confused
over the usage of the words chicle and tzictli.

I¹ve read the key section in Book 10 of the Florentine Codex (Dibble and
Anderson ed.), but am confused by the reference to chicle: it comes after a
description of bitumen (!) which reads ŒBitumen is used for two purposes.
The first is to be mixed with pulverized tobacco, so that the pulverized
tobacco may be made pleasing. The pleasing scent of the tobacco with bitumen
spreads over the whole land. As its second use, it is used by women; they
chew the bitumen. And what they chew is named chicle. They do not chew it
alone; they provide it with axin. They mix it with axin. It cannot be chewed
alone; it crumbles. And in this manner it is improved: axin is provided,
axin is mixed in, so that it is softened, smoothed....¹  Then it goes on to
talk about its social use. ŒAxin¹ by the way appears to be Œan oily
yellowish substance which is produced by a scale insect of the same name
upon the branches of trees¹.  There¹s no reference at all here to the
chicozapote tree, where I thought chicle came/comes from!

There¹s also a reference at the end of the chapter to ŒMountain chicle¹ or
wild chicle that is also chewed.  It says Œthe mountain chicle is a herb;
the substance is extracted from its root¹.

'Bitumen' is translated from 'chapuputli', chicle from 'tzictli', and
mountain chicle from 'tepetzictli'.  And the word for bitumen-mixed-chicle
appears to be 'tlaaxnelolli'.

Would anyone be able to shed some light on the Nahuatl words for me - and
indeed on anything to do with chewing bitumen, for that matter!  Not being
able to read Nahuatl, I quickly get stuck...

Many thanks in anticipation.

Ian

Ian Mursell
Director
Mexicolore
28 Warriner Gardens
London SW11 4EB, U.K.
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7622 9577
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7498 3643
www.mexicolore.co.uk
Ian.Mursell at btinternet.com
info at mexicolore.co.uk

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