[Aztlan] Yaocihuatl

[John F. Schwaller]

Let's be a bit more careful.  We have the implied comparison (corollary) 
of two very different words:
chi:hua - a verb stem meaning to make something (long -i-)
cihua:tl - a noun stem meaning woman (long -a-)
-Please note the difference in vowel length

They are very different words, they just happen to have some of the same 
letters.  But to use an English example, "parts" and "traps" are not at 
all the same word.

yaocihuatl is very different from yaochihua



Lynda Manning-Schwartz wrote:
> According to J. Richard Andrews' book, Introduction to Classical Nahuatl,
> the following translations may apply (colon indicates long vowel):
>
> (stuff deleted)
> YA:O:-TL is "enemy" often embedded, as for example, TE:-(YA:O:-CHI:HUA >
> YA:O:-CHI:UH) "to wage (human) war", where
> CHI:HUA > CHI:UH with prefix TE:- is "to beget someone or to engender
> someone" or with prefix TLA- is "to make something" and with both prefixes
> TE:-TLA-CHI:HU-IA is "to do something to someone, to bewitch someone"
> CIHUA:-TL is "woman"; as a modifier, it comes before the noun modified; for
> example, 
> CIHUA:-MAZA:-TL is "female deer, doe"
>
> So YA:O:-CIHUA:-TL would imply a direct translation of "War Woman" with
> perhaps the implied CHI:HUA:-TL corollary "person who makes (human) war or
> causes war". In a goddess, this trait might very well be related to an
> implied ability to create discord in humans.
>
>   


-- 
*****************************
John F. Schwaller
President
SUNY - Potsdam
44 Pierrepont Ave.
Potsdam, NY  13676
Tel. 315-267-2100
FAX 315-267-2496

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