LESSON 7Hello people, welcome to lesson 7. Thanks for following.
So let’s see the endings for courtesy, respect. The first ending is
TZINTLI. We use it in all nouns that have the regular endings (
TL, TLI, LI), examples:
Ichpochtli (young lady) – Ichpochtzintli (honorable young lady, my lady)
Tlayolli (corn) – Tlayoltzintli (honorable corn)
Tahtli (father) – Tahtzintli (honorable father)
Nantli (mother) – Nantzintli (honorable mother)
Xochitl (flower) – Xochitzintli (honorable flower)
The nouns that don’t have any of the regular endings, and names as well, will have the ending
TZIN added in order to make it a noun of courtesy, examples:
Michin (fish) – Michintzin (honorable fish)
Huehue (old/old man) – Huehuetzin (honorable old man)
Mayahuel (female name) - Mayahueltzin
Now, in plural, the ending for all nouns will be
TZITZIN/ TZITZINTIN. Examples:
Tahtli (father) – Tahtin (fathers) – Tahtzitzin(tin) (honorable fathers)
Xochitl (flower) – Xochimeh (flowers) – Xochitzitzin(tin) (honorable flowers)
That’s the way we form nouns of courtesy or respect. Now, as usual, they will change a bit when using possessive pronouns. In singular, the ending will be
TZIN as well, but for every noun, no matter what ending they have. Examples:
Noxochiuh (my flower) – Noxochitzin (my honorable flower)
Moteuh (your rock) – Motetzin (your honorable rock)
Icitlal (his star) – Icitlaltzin (his honorable star)
Finally, for plural we use the ending
TZITZIHUAN. Examples:
Noxochihuan (my flowers) – Noxochitzitzihuan (my honorable flowers)
Motehuan (your rocks) – Motetzitzihuan (your honorable rocks)
Icitlalhuan (his stars) – Icitlaltzitzihuan (his honorable stars)
That’s pretty much all you need to know about nouns of courtesy. There’s a theory that says that this is the reason why Mexican Spanish speakers use so many diminutives when talking: agüita, por favorcito, abuelita, ahorita, rapidito, etc. A result of the need people had to use these tzin/tzintli endings for everything, to make the words softer to the listener. Interesting, huh.
So to summarize what we’ve seen about the noun, let’s give one final example using all forms:
Yolcatl – animal
Yolcameh – animals
Noyolcauh – my animal
Moyolcauh – your animal
Iyolcauh – his animal
Toyolcauh – our animal
Anmoyolcauh – your (plural) animal
Inyolcauh – their animal
Noyolcahuan – my animals
Yolcatzintli – honorable animal
Yolcatzitzintin – honorable animals
Noyolcatzitzihuan – my honorable animals
Now let’s see some phrases where in English you would use the verb “to be” which doesn’t really exist in Nahuatl, and let’s use the main demonstrative pronouns
ININ (This) and
INON (That). As in English, there is no gender in Nahuatl.
Inin huehue nocol = this old man is my grandfather
Inintzin huehuetzin nocoltzin = this honorable old man is my h. grandfather
Colli = grand father
Inin ilamatl nocih = this old lady is my grandmother
Initzin ilamatzintli nocihtzin = this honorable old lady is my h. grandmother
Ilamatl = old lady
Cihtli = grandmother
Inontzin cihuatzintli nonantzin = that honorable lady is my mother
Nocneuh itoca Marco = my brother’s name is Marco
Nocneuhtzin itocatzin Marco (with courtesy)
Finally, some extra vocabulary:
Quen/Quenin? = how?
Quen mihtoa…? = how is it said?/ how do you say…?
Tlen/tlein? = what?
Tlen quihtoznequi…? = what does it mean?/ what does… mean?
Tlahtolli = word / language
Ixayotl = tear
Cuitlatl = excrement
Teocuitlatl = gold (literally “divine excrement”)
Yolic = slow(ly)
Cenyeliztli = family
Ixhuitl = grandson/granddaughter
Cuacue = cow
Chichi = dog
Mizton/ Miztontli = cat (yay that's me
)
Have fun, see you next week!
Si la vida te da la espalda, agárrale las nalgas.