[Aztlan] Yaocihuatl

[Lynda Manning-Schwartz]

According to J. Richard Andrews' book, Introduction to Classical Nahuatl,
the following translations may apply (colon indicates long vowel):

TE:- is the third person nonspecific human object possessor prefix,
"someone" or "people"
TLA- is the third person nonspecific nonhuman object possessor prefix,
"something" or "things"
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.

Note also that
TO:L-IN is "reed, rush, bulrush" as in TO:L-T-E:-CA-TL "an inhabitant of
Tollan"  or a "Toltec"
If TLA-TO:L-YA:O:-TL is really the construction of this word, then "discord"
is possibly glossed as "thing (property?) of a Toltec foe (warrior)" 

-----Original Message-----
From: aztlan-bounces at lists.famsi.org [mailto:aztlan-bounces at lists.famsi.org]
On Behalf Of Dodds Pennock, Dr C.E.
Sent: Friday, August 07, 2009 7:16 AM
To: aztlan at lists.famsi.org
Subject: [Aztlan] Yaocihuatl

Dear colleagues,

Forgive the cross-posting, as I know there are many colleagues on both the
Nahuat-l and Aztlan lists.

I am currently writing an article on the 'Women of Discord' in Aztec history
and would be grateful for your help in interpreting the name of the goddess
'Yaocihuatl'. It is most often translated as 'War/Warrior Woman', but Susan
Gillespie, in 'The Aztec Kings' translates the term as 'War Woman' on p.59
and as 'Woman of Discord' on p.213. The former translation seems the most
obvious, although there are obviously linguistic roots with the term
'tlatolyaotl' (translated as 'discord' in the Florentine Codex). I'd be very
grateful for any thoughts colleagues can offer on the translation or
interpretation of this name. 

Many thanks,
Caroline
-------
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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