El problema de quauh- en quauhpilli, quauhtlatoani y palabras parecidas

Abstract

In this article the meaning of the entity quauh- in the words quauhpilli, quauhtlatoani etc., is discussed. They have been interpreted traditionally as ‘noblemen’ and ‘sovereign’ –respectively– ‘for the personal military merits’, because the origin of quauhhas been considered from quauhtli ‘eagle’, metaphorically ‘soldier’. The author states, first, the entity might originate from quauhtli ‘eagle’, as well as from quahuitl ‘tree, wood, stake’ (in the sources the phonetic distinction between [a] and [a] is missed), second, there is a solid base to affirm that in the analyzed words quauh- comes from quahuitl and its meaning is ‘quasi’, ‘relatively equal but worse’. Following these findings the existence of the supposed acquired nobility among the Aztecs should be rethought.