Tlacaelel

[John F. Schwaller]

In teaching my class on the Mexica I always try to translate the names 
of the characters who play such an important role in their history.  
There are good translations for the names of the huei tlahtoque, but how 
would one translate Tlacaelel, the famous cihuacoatl?

I have always thought that it was more related to anguish and suffering 
(tlacaellotl) than to liver (tlacaelli).  Along the lines of anguish we 
have Molina's gloss of "tlacaellelli" - The one who is dispossessed, 
punished, or who has great poverty, for having been avaricious, cruel, 
without mercy towards the poor, when he had abundance with which to aid 
them and do good toward them"



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

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