English

Noun

Nahuatlato ‎(plural Nahuatlatos)

1. A person who is proficient in the Nahuatl language
2. (archaic) the Nahuatl language

English

Alternative forms

• naguatato (obsolete)

Noun

nahuatlato ‎(plural nahuatlatos)

1. An interpreter in an indigenous language, not necessarily Nahuatl.
   • 1708, Bartholomé Leonardo de Argensola (Spanish), John Stevens (English tr.), The Discovery and Conquest of the Molucco and Philippine Islands, p. 119

     tranſlated from the Malaye Language, by the King’s Naguatatos, ſo they there call the Interpreters.

   • 1995, Susan Kellogg, Law and the Transformation of Aztec Culture, 1500–1700, p. 23

     In Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza’s 1548 compilation of ordinances, a number deal with the nahuatlatos, prohibiting them from receiving gifts or bribes from Spaniards or Indians, hearing cases in their houses, or acting as procuradores, or soliciters.

2. A scholar of Nahuatl.
   • 1997, H. B. Nicholson, Primeros Memoriales, p. 12

     It was my hope that the project could be completed with the aid of two of her most esteemed fellow Nahuatlatos and Sahagún scholars, Arthur Anderson and Charles Dibble.

   • 2006, Stafford Poole, The Guadalupan Controversies in Mexico, p. 114

     In the year 2000 the celebrated Mexican historian and nahuatlato, Miguel León-Portilla, published his own translation and commentary.

Classical Nahuatl

Noun

nahuatlato

1. Alternative spelling of nahuatlahtoh

Spanish

Alternative forms

• naguatato (obsolete)
• naguatlato

Etymology

From Classical Nahuatl nāhuatlahtoh.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /na.waˈtla.to/
• Rhymes: -ato

Noun

nahuatlato m ‎(plural nahuatlatos, feminine nahuatlata)

1. (historical) A person who spoke Nahuatl and Spanish and could serve as an interpreter.
   • 1539, Inquisitorial trial of the cacique of Tetzcoco

     mi Procurador ha dado la memoria de los testigos al naguatato

     (my attorney has given the witnesses' recollections to the interpreter)

2. A person who speaks, studies or translates Nahuatl.
   • 1992, Berta Ares, Jesús Bustamante, Francisco Castilla, Fermín del Pino, Humanismo y vision del otro en la España moderna, C.S.I.C., page 10:

     JESUS BUSTAMANTE es filólogo y nahuatlato, además de etnohistoriador, […]

     JESUS BUSTAMANTE is a philologist and nahuatlato, as well as an ethnohistorian, […]

Related terms

• náhuatl
• nahuatlismo

References

• Carlos Montemayor et al. (2009) Diccionario del náhuatl en el español de México, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, page 94