|
|
|
|
|
|
|
-tepecatl/-tepecah would yield -tepec (... hill-place or ... mountain-place) in the singular. For this reason Xaltepecatl/Xaltepecah is anglicized as Xaltepeca/Xaltepecas (not Xaltepec/Xaltepecs); and for the same purpose of avoiding a place name, Cuauhnahuacatl/Cuauhnahuacah is anglicized as Cuauhnahuaca/Cuauhnahuacas, and so forth. In most instances, I have not used gentile names that do not conform to the generalities noted above. But where unavoidable (e.g., Mazahuaque [Mazahuahqueh], sing. Mazahua [Mazahuah]), to form the plural I have added -s to the singular (e.g., Mazahua, pl. Mazahuas). |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
One word in particular requires attention. Pochteca, the term commonly used to designate the traditional Aztec merchants, is a gentile noun derived from Pochtlan, the name of a ward of Tenochtitlan-Tlatelolco. Originally pochtecatl (pl. pochtecah) referred only to a person(s) from that ward. According to the first technique for anglicization described above, the anglicized singular would be pochtec and the plural would be pochtecs. However, the original gentile meaning of the word was superseded by its professional meaning. These people were significant not as residents of a particular ward but as merchants, regardless of their residence. For that reason, and to conform to tradition in the Mesoamerican literature, I have retained the proper Nahuatl forms of their name: pochtecah (sing. pochtecatl). |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
All town names found in the sources have been altered to what they should be if standardly rendered. But in order to ease the readers' task, I have not included the glottalized h in town names, or in their derivative gentile names. Thus, for example, Mexihco becomes Mexico, and Tetzcohco becomes Tetzcoco. The complete spellings are included with the town names in the index. Generally this presents few difficulties. Tenochtitlan, Xochimilco, Chalco Atenco, Tlatelolco, Tlacopan, and many others remain unaltered. Others have been changed somewhat. I have standardized the names of towns of little note, because their nonstandard spellings have had no opportunity to take hold. In addition I have altered the names of a few noted cities, among them Texcoco (to Tetzcoco), Toluca (to Tolocan), Tula (to Tollan), and Tlaxcala (to Tlaxcallan). To orient the reader, when the town is first introduced, the conventional spelling follows the standard one. While this may cause some initial discomfiture, the value of the standardized orthography far outweighs any |
|
|
|
|
|