Tlacaelel

[Frances Karttunen]

>
>  On the surface, though, it would seem to be more Liver Man based on 
> tlacatl and elli, with reduplication of the -el- of liver.
>
>

But shouldn't we take into account that in attributive constructions 
like this, the second element is the head, and the first element is the 
modifier?

Cf. tla:catecolo:tl  'a human sort of owl' (an owl that is not really a 
simple owl but the companion animal or animal manifestation of a human 
shaman)

So tla:ca- would be 'a human sort of……'

And the "elel" part would be the head of the construction.

Hence a human sort of "elel," whatever an "elel" might be. (I assume 
it's actually e:lel)

e:lel- (vowel of the first syllable long) appears in the verbs 
e:lelahci and e:lelqui:za, both having to do with suffering.  Oddly 
enough, a derivation from e:lelqui:za is causative e:lelqui:xtia: 'to 
cause someone to relax' or even 'to entertain someone.'

e:l- is 'liver,' which was considered by the Nahuah to be the bodily 
seat of strong emotions (whereas the heart, yo:l-, was considered the 
seat of volition). Getting delivered (qui:xtia:) from strong emotions 
would certainly be a way to get into a state of relaxation.

How one gets from e:l to e:lel is a morphological mystery.

Joe, could you favor us with a list of e:l- and e:lel attestions?