Tepotzoa

[R. Joe Campbell]

Fritz,

    BINGO!!  (qualified)  I have been looking for some evidence that would 
help decide whether it might be -huah or -oa (intransitive verb off 
"tepotztli").  As Miqueltzi has pointed out, the spelling is ambiguous, so 
it might be either one.

    But my vote is for -oa (in spite of Dibble and Anderson's translation 
on page 105, FC, Book 1: "it has a back").  My intuition (which I haven't 
weighed in milligrams lately) is it more likely means "he [the priest] 
makes use of his back".   The -oa intransitive verber is probably 
under-recognized in Nahuatl vocabulary.

    Some examples:

   ayacachoa      he makes use of a rattle

   cacamamachaloa he opens and closes his mouth (he uses his jaw)

   camanaloa      he makes use of a jest; he jokes

   caxoa          he uses a bowl [caxitl]

   chichipiazoa   he launches a long spit [chihchitl] like a "piyaztli"

   cocotzoa       he runs (makes use of his "cotztli" [calf])

   tlaxcaloa      he makes/produces tortillas

   mahpiloa       he points (makes use of his finger)

   popoa          he sweeps (uses a popotl) [No! not "sips"!]

   quiquizoa      he plays a trumpet [quiquiztli]

   tamaloa        he makes/produces tamales

   teponazoa      he plays a teponaztli (log drum)

   tlacualoa      he makes/produces food [tlacualli]


Saludos,

Joe

p.s.  We are lucky that through some phonological process or scribal 
error, it didn't get written "tepozoa" or we'd be trying to stretch
the semantics of those priests' actions to fit 'iron'.  }8-)



On Fri, 24 Feb 2006, John F. Schwaller wrote:
>
> Would not this be a denominal verb built on the noun "tepotztli" "back" 
> turning the noun into a class 3 verb?   The translation of this into English 
> would be difficult however, perhaps "to be a back."
>