[Aztlan] Yaocihuatl

[Dodds Pennock, Dr C.E.]

Many thanks to all those colleagues who have responded so far with helpful information. It's much appreciated and very helpful in trying to clarify this. I realise there is ambiguity, and that Gillespie is justified in interpreting in either way as appropriate. I'm just trying to get a sense of the word, whether it provides any clues to the specific nature of the goddess, and if one translation is more compelling than another. 

I think that John is right to clarify the cihuatl = woman aspect of this. Not only linguistically, but also contextually (and from Spanish glosses, e.g. Torquemada) the 'woman' element of Yaocihuatl is clear. It is the 'yao' component which appears ambiguous.

Thanks again for all your responses (thus far and future)!
Caroline
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Dr Caroline Dodds Pennock
Lecturer in Early Modern History
School of Historical Studies
University of Leicester
University Road
Leicester
LE1 7RH

email: ced22 at le.ac.uk
http://www.le.ac.uk/history/people/ced22.html
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