Nahuatl

Alternative forms

• tonale
• tonajli (Guerrero)
• tunali̱ (Tetelcingo)
• itó̱nal (Mecayapan and Tatahuicapan; possessed)

Noun

tonalli

1. The warmth of the sun.
   • 17C: Bernardino de Sahagún; Chimalpahin (copyist), Exercicio quotidiano, f. 22r

     ynic omotetzinco ceceuh yn itztic in cecec ticmottititzino cecuiztli auh in tonalli in mitonaltzin ticmomatemilitia

     (when punishing cold and iciness at times chilled you; you found freezing cold; and [in] the heat you wiped the perspiration with your hand.)

2. Day.
   • 16C: Bernardino de Sahagún, Florentine Codex, book 1, chapter 12

     qujnaoatia, yn iqujn oallaz: qujpepena in tonalli, qujtta yn jamux, yn jtlacujlol: qujtta, yn iqujn qualli tonalli, yn ieccan, in qualcan

     (He instructed him when he should come; he chose the day. He consulted his sacred almanac, he noted the good day, the good time, the favorable time.)

   • 1888: Miguel Trinidad Palma (trans.), Constitución Federal de los Estados-Unidos de Mexicanos

     ipan 16 itonal in Setiembre

     (on the 16th day of September)

   • 2000: Severiana Estrada Vásquez; Arnulfo Prado & David Tuggy (ed. and tr.), Ya wejkawitl oksé tlamantle oyeka

     Yonmej tonaltin mach okipiayaj tlanextle

     In those days they didn't have electricity

3. Day sign.
   • 17C: Annals of Cuauhtitlan, 7:47–49

     auh yn iuh quimatia yn iquac hualneztiuh yn tleyn ypan tonalli çeçentlamantin ỹpan yauh mìyotia quinmina quintlahuelia

     (And so, when he goes forth, they know on what day sign he casts light on certain people, venting his anger against them, shooting them with darts.)

4. (possessed) Privilege.
   • 16C: Florentine Codex, book 10, chapter 26

     qualli iectli, ioani, tetonal tecpilatl, tlâtôcaatl

     (good, superior, potable [chocolate]: the privilege, the drink of nobles, of rulers)

   • 17C: Pedro Calderón de la Barca; Bartolomé de Alva (trans.), El Gran Teatro del Mundo, f. 3r.

     Nomacehual notonal yn tlatquitl nipapaquiz ninotlamachtiz

     (Property is my reward, my fate. I wil be joyful and rich.)

5. (possessed) Soul; spirit; shadow.
   • 16C: Bernardino de Sahagún, Florentine Codex, book 10, chapter 29

     mjtoaia vmpa tiiocoelo in timaceoalti, vmpa vitz in totonal: in jquac motlalia, in jquac chipinj piltzintli, vmpa oallauh in jntonal, imjtic calaquj

     (It was said that there were we, the common people, created; thence came our souls. When babies were conceived, when they dropped [from heaven], their souls came from there; they entered into their [mother’s] wombs.)

Synonyms

• (sun) tonatiuh
• (day) ilhuitl

Derived terms

References

• Bierhorst, John (ed.) (1992) Codex Chimalpopoca: The Text in Nahuatl with a Glossary and Grammatical Notes, Tucson & London: The University of Arizona Press, pages 12, 181
• Bierhorst, John (trans.) (1992) History and Mythology of the Aztecs: The Codex Chimalpopoca, Tucson: The University of Arizona Press, page 36
• Brewer, Forrest; Jean G. Brewer (1962) Vocabulario mexicano de Telecingo, Morelos: castellano-mexicano, mexicano-castellano, México: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, pages 6, 7, 12, 34, 92, 135, 242
• Chimalpahin et al. (1997) Codex Chimalpahin, ed. and trans. by Arthur J. O. Anderson & Susan Schroeder, Norman and London: University of Oklahoma Press, pages vol. 2, pp. 154–155
• Karttunen, Francis (1983) An Analytical Dictionary of Nahuatl, Austin: University of Texas Press, page 246
• Lockhart, James (2001) Nahuatl as Written: Lessons in Older Written Nahuatl, with Copious Examples and Texts, Stanford: Stanford University Press, page 240
• Mason, David et al. (2004) Tiuelis titlajtlajtos náhuatl: Puede hablar el náhuatl, 2nd ed. edition, Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, pages 45, 83, 85, 154
• Sahagún, Bernardino de (1981) Florentine Codex, tr. by Arthur J. O. Anderson & Charles E. Dibble, 2nd ed., rev. edition, Salt Lake City: The University of Utah Press, pages part 2, p. 24; part 11, pp. 93, 169
• Sell, Barry D.; Louise M. Burkhart; Elizabeth R. Wright (eds. and trans.) (2008) Nahuatl Theater, Volume 3: Spanish Golden Age Drama in Mexican Translation, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, page 75
• 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 68, 194, 261