Central Nahuatl

Noun

tonatih ‎(inanimate)

1. Human.

References

• Medina, Genaro. (1999) Curso de Nahuatl, University of Americas, Cholula, Puebla p. 88.

Classical Nahuatl

Noun

tlācatl ‎(plural tlācah)

1. person
2. slave (when possessed, cf. tlācohtli).

Nahuatl

Etymology

From Proto-Nahuan *tla:katla, from Proto-Uto-Aztecan *ta:ka. Cognate with Tetelcingo Nahuatl tlöcatl

Alternative forms

• tlācatl (Carochi; grammars and dictionaries)
• ta̱ga' (Mecayapan and Tatahuicapan)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɬaːkatɬ/
• IPA^(key): /taːɡaʔ/ (Mecayapan and Tatahuicapan)

Noun

tlacatl

1. (obsolete) a person; a human being
   • 1555: Alonso de Molina, Aqui comienca un vocabulario en la lengua castellana y mexicana, f. 194v

     Perſona. tlacatl.

   • 1645: Horacio Carochi, Arte de la lengua mexicana con la declaración de los adverbios della, f. 4r

     Tlācatl, perſona. Plural, tlācâ, perſonas

2. (obsolete) a high-ranking person; a lord; a lady
   • 16C: Bernardino de Sahagún, Florentine Codex, book 10, chapter 4

     in tlacatl uei uecapan, mauiztic, imacaxtli, tlamauhtia, tlacamachoni

     (A noble person [is] great, superior of lineage, wonderful, revered. He merits respect; [he is] due obedience.)

   • 17C: Fernando Alvarado Tezozomoc, Chimalpahin, Cronica mexicayotl

     ye no nehuatl Don hernando de aluarado teçoçomoc. nixhuiuh yn tlacatl catca huey tlatohuani Moteuhcçomatzin xocoyotl. yn omotlapiellico yn oquimopachilhuico huey altepetl nican Mexico tenochtitlan. ytlaçoychpochtzin ytech oniquiz. yn tlacatl cihuapilli nonantzin ytocatzin Doña Fran^ca de Moteuhcçoma

     (I, don Hernando de Alvarado Teçoçomoc, am also a grandson of the late lord, the great ruler Moteucçomatzin Xocoyotl, who guarded the great altepetl here, Mexico Tenochtitlan. I issued from his beloved daughter, the lady, the noblewoman, my mother, named doña Francisca de Moteucçoma.)

3. (obsolete) A slave (when possessed).
4. A man; an adult male.
   • 1972: Luz Jiménez, Fernando Horcasitas (ed.), Life and Death in Milpa Alta, p. 2

     Noca yahue tlaca tequitizque cihuame noihqui tlacoa ompa tianquizco

     While the men were off at work, the women went to the market place to buy things.

Usage notes

The root of tlacatl serves as the suppletive root for the possessed forms of tlacohtli ‎(“slave”).

Synonyms

• (person): macehualli
• (male): oquichtli

Derived terms

References

• Andrews, J. Richard (2003) Workbook for Introduction to Classical Nahuatl, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, pages 256–257
• Brewer, Forrest; Jean G. Brewer (1962) Vocabulario mexicano de Telecingo, Morelos: castellano-mexicano, mexicano-castellano, México: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, pages 52, 101, 240
• Chimalpahin Quauhtlehuanitzin, Domingo Francisco de San Antón Muñón (1997) Codex Chimalpahin: Volume 1, tr. by Arthur J. O. Anderson and Susan Schroeder, Norman and London: University of Oklahoma Press, pages 62–63
• Karttunen, Frances (1983) An Analytical Dictionary of Nahuatl, Austin: University of Texas Press, page 253
• Lockhart, James (2001) Nahuatl as Written, Stanford: Stanford University Press, pages 235–236
• Sahagún, Bernardino de (1961) Florentine Codex: Book 10 - The People, tr. by Arthur J. O. Anderson and Charles E. Dibble, Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, page 15
• Wolgemuth, Carl et al. (2002) Diccionario náhuatl de los municipios de Mecayapan y Tatahuicapan de Juárez, Veracruz, 2nd electronic ed., Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, pages 171, 239