Saying "how are you?" in Classical Nahuatl

[LeCiagoPanda]

I'm slowly trying to learn Classical Nahuatl, and my OCD purism tendencies have kicked in so I'm trying to find non-hispanified greetings in Nahuatl, the way the Aztecs would have greeted each other. I have found basic ways to say hello, but I am cautious with the alleged ways to say the equivalent of "good morning/day/evening", as well as simply "how are you".

Most sources seem to use "cualli (time of day)" to express "good morning/day/evening", which literally means "good (time of day)". To me, this seems artificial (I'm also unsure about the syntax, it seems to lack the particle in) and Spanish-influenced but I am unsure. I've come across sites which give answers more along the line of "how did the day start?" for a morning greeting question, which seem more plausible and less like possible calques. I, however, still can't find basic statements, rather than questions (although they might have been ambiguous, in the same way "what's up?" might or might not necessitate a reply depending on context), and any proof I come across is always too scant to be able to confidently say that a certain form is correct.

Also, for basic "how are you?" I tend to come across "quen ticah", which is literally "how 2ps-be.SING", and I feel that this is an Indo-Europeanization, especially considering the way in which Nahuatl tends to deal with copulas.

None of the Nahuatl dictionaries and guides I have come across deal with this, or they just use what I feel are calques. I recognize that the greetings might be correct/legitimate, but I just have a gut feeling that they're not. I'd appreciate any more detailed/early/reliable sources (preferably from the 16th century), if any can be found. Sources also tend to disagree when it comes to Nahuatl, which is something I'm having trouble with right now.

Finally, if a way to say "you're welcome" could be found or affirmed (I found "axtlen"), then that'd be awesome. If there's a word for "please" that'd be great too, but I feel like it doesn't exist, and that they'd rather have used specific particles or suffixes to express politeness. Thanks!

[Astraios]

So you're looking for non-Europeany ways to say a Europeany phrase? Just stick with the hello words, and then if you ever travel back in time and meet an Aztec just copy the phrase they use.

Slightly more helpful edit: Lakota doesn't say "good [whatever]" or ask "how are you" unless it's an Anglicism or a genuine statement/question. Traditionally you said "hello [kinshipterm]" and maybe "it's good to see you" if you were close to the person, and that was it. I wouldn't be surprised then if Classical Nahuatl speakers didn't have a similar meaningless question/greeting either.

[Xephyr]

This post specially guest-written by vlad/Papapishu


The best source I know of for this sort of thing is Vocabulario manual de las lenguas castellana y mexicana by Pedro de Arenas (first printed some time before 1611). The first section is "palabras de salutacion", and I think I might as well quote/translate the whole thing.

Dios sea en esta casa.
Ma toTecuiyo Dios nican amochantzinco moyetztie.
"Our Lord God be here in your (pl) home."

Dios sea con todos.
Ma toTecuiyo Dios amotlan moyetztie.
"Our Lord God be with you (pl)."

Dios sea contigo.
Ma Dios motlan moyetztie.
"God be with you."

(Obviously these are Christian greetings, but variations of these were widely used in the colonial period and to the present.)

En ora buena esteis.
Ma ihuian pacca xie.
"Be peaceful." (ihuian and pacca are synonyms meaning "peacefully/gently/slowly"; c.f. moyolicahtzin below)

Como te va?
Quen tinemi?
"How are you?"

Mucho ha que no te e visto.
Ye heucauhtica in ahmo nimitzitta.
"Long time no see."

Tienes salud.
Ticpactica.
"You're happy." (maybe used like "You're looking well"?)

Me huelgo desso.
Ic nipahpaqui on.
"That makes me happy."

Me pessa desso.
Ic ninotequipachohua on.
"That worries me."

Y tu fulano, &c.
Auh in tehuatl &c.
"And as for you (whoever), etc."

Como estas
Quen tica?
"How are you?" (apparently synonymous with Quen tinemi?)

Mucho e holgado de verte.
Cenca ic nipaqui inic onmitzittac.
"I'm very glad I saw you."

Bueno.
Qualli.
"Good"/"well".

Sano.
Tichicahuac.
"You are strong."

Con salud.
Tipactinemi.
"You are happy."

Mucho me pesa de tu mal.
Cenca nechtequipachohua in mococoliz.
"Your illness worries me greatly."

Quedad con Dios.
Ma Dios motlan mocahua.
"May God remain with you."

Dios te guarde de todo mal.
Ma Dios mitzmopieli inipan ixquich ahmo qualli.
"May God protect you from all bad things."

(My impression is that "may God/Our Lord protect you" was a particularly common greeting. In modern Huasteca Nahuatl they use piyali which I assume is derived from this.)

Dios te depare lo que te conviene para su servicio.
Ma Dios mitzmonextilili in motech monequi inic ticmotlayecoltiliz.
"May God show you what you need to serve him."


Some other greetings are mentioned in Carochi's grammar (1645):

(Ma) moyolicahtzin. (pl: (Ma) amoyolicahtzin)
(Lit. "may you ... peacefully/slowly/gently")
This, Carochi says, can be used to greet someone who is coming or going or staying. So I guess it's like "aloha".

Ma nican timohuicatz.
"Welcome." (literally just the polite form of "come here")

Carochi also confirms that quen tica was actually used to mean "how are you". (He gives the polite version quen timoyetztica.) There might be other greetings scattered in Carochi, it's not easily searchable.

Apparently both quen otimixtonaltih and quen otimotlathuiltih can be used to mean "good morning". The second one literally means "how have you dawned?", which is odd because "dawn" is an impersonal verb. I don't think ixtona is attested outside of this phrase but it probably means the same thing. I can't cite primary sources for these -- it's probably in Carochi too but I can't find it.

I agree that "cualli (time of day)" sounds wrong. "Axtlen" might be real but it sounds modern rather than classical.

[LeCiagoPanda]

Thanks Astraios for the comparison with Lakota, the same thing probably applies (at least to some extent) to Nahuatl as well. And thanks Xephyr vlad/Papapishu for all the information and links, they were really helpful!

[Ser]

vlad/Papapishu, you mean. The post was guest-written, as it says at the top.