tenhuia

[M Launey]

Dear listeros,

Yes, John Sullivan’s interpretation is correct, since –huia (/-wia/) is a very productive suffix, which apparently can be used freely with any noun stem (and many locatives). The general meaning is « apply N to », and is liable to various semantic effects (I’m not sure this is the correct word). For instance (unless otherwise specified, references are from Florentine Codex, pages after Dibble and Anderson’s version, I leave alone vowel length) :

- « cover with N », « apply N on… » : (IX,93) c-on-ix-tzauc-huia’ « they cover its surface/face with glue » ; (Carochi) ni-n-ez-huia « I stain myself with blood » etc.

- « send N to », « strike/hit with N » : (XII,22) Quin-tlacatecolo-hui-z-que’ « They will bewitch them » (litt. "apply/send devils to them") ; (VI,228) o-nech-cuacua-hui-zquia « (the bull) nearly gored me » (litt. « hit me with its horn »), etc.

- « tell N to s.o. » : (XII,5) Ma ti-qu-iztlaca-hui’-tin « Let’s avoid to tell lies to him »

- « put N in… » : (XI,4) Mo-tlacomol-huia « (The tapir) gets into the pit » (litt. « applies the pit to itself »)

- « carry in N » (XII,66) C-on-acal-hui’-to’ « They went carrying him in a boat »

They are other specific, more idiosyncratic meanings, like

(III,33) O-mo-tezca-hui’ « He looked at himself in the mirror »

(VI,153) An-nech-mo-ma’pil-hui-lia’ « You point your finger at me »

(XII,63) Quin-teocal-hui’-que’ « (The Spaniards) threw (the Mexican warriors) down the temple »

And with locative/adverbial stems :

(VI,234) Ni-c-te-ixpan-huia « I accuse him publicly », lit. « I apply someone’s front to him »

(VI,122) Ti-c-ne’matca-hui-z « You’ll do it cautiously »

(XII,2) Mo-no’ma’-hui’ in tlatlac « (The temple) burnt of itself », lit. « applied itself spontaneously (the fact) that it burned »

(IV,106) Ti-c-o’-op-pa-hui-z-quê « We’ll do that in two tries » (is that correct English ?)

And with quantifiers, with –ca- (/-ka:/) :

(II,71) Qui-nauh-ca-huia’ « They join four together to carry it », litt. « They apply four to it » etc.

So « contest » is a highly plausible translation for a verb which litterally means « apply one’s lips/words to »

But ten-huitequi is of course a different formation which does not contain –huia (a compound verb : huitequi «strike, hit» with ten-  incorporated). I found an occurrence in FC (XII,2) in impersonal: ne-ten-huitec-o-ya (Dibble and Anderson's translation is: "There was the striking of the palm of the hand against the mouth": this is one of the expressions of fear when the Mexicans saw the bad omens)





There are ditransitive uses of a few verbs in –huia, as far as I know always reflexive. One is tetza(uh)-huia « take as a bad omen », litt « put N as a bad omen to oneself », e.g. (XI,70) Qui-mo-tetza-huia "He considers that it is a bad omen" . The commonest one is cuitla-huia « take care of », which I think (but am not totally sure) is related with cuitla- « back » (not « excrement »), so ni-c-no-cuitla-huia (there are hundreds of occurrences in the corpus) could mean « I apply my back to », i.e. « I carry it/him/her on my back » > « I take good care of »

Best

M.L.

> Message du 29/07/14 01:47
> De : "Michael McCafferty" 
> A : nahuatl at lists.famsi.org
> Copie à : 
> Objet : Re: [Nahuat-l] tenhuia
> 
> Quoting John Sullivan :
> 
> > Notequixpoyohuan,
> > I have come across a word that isn't in Molina or the Florentine. It
> > is in a 1663 will from Chalco Tlalmanalco. The testator says that he
> > sold a piece of land, and then says, "ahmo aquin quitenhuiz". I
> > assume this is tenhuia, nic., perhaps meaning "no one will contest
> > it", as in "to apply words to it". Any ideas?
> > John
> > _______________________________________________
> > Nahuatl mailing list
> > Nahuatl at lists.famsi.org
> > http://www.famsi.org/mailman/listinfo/nahuatl
> >
> 
> Sounds like you're on track, John. There is tenhuitequi, which includes 
> the meaning of voice, and tenhuia certainly sounds like your "to apply 
> words to".
> 
> Best,
> 
> Michael
> 
> 
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