Difrasismo Explained

Difrasismo is a term derived from Spanish that is used in the study of certain Mesoamerican languages, to describe a particular grammatical construction in which two separate words are paired together to form a single metaphoric unit. This semantic and stylistic device was commonly employed throughout Mesoamerica,^[1] and features notably in historical works of Mesoamerican literature, in languages such as Classical Nahuatl and Classic Maya.

The term was first introduced by Ángel María Garibay K.^[2]

For example, in Nahuatl the expression or, literally 'the tail, the wing', is used in a metaphoric sense to mean 'the people' or 'the common folk'. The Aztecs' term in xochitl in cuicatl ['flower and song'] could refer to any artistic endeavor in general and the effect of the divine force [[teotl]]. The pair in tonan, in tota ['our mother, our father'] (which in classical Nahuatl is the only gender-neutral way to refer to a "parent") is often part of an invocation to a high god. The Nahuatl languages: {{ill|atl-tlachinolli|es ['water, burnt-earth'] or Nahuatl languages: atlachinolli pairs the elemental opposites of water and fire (each a force for both life and destruction) into a single symbol of war.^[3]

See also

• Dvandva
• Hendiadys
• Kenning
• Merism
• Parallelism (grammar)

References

• Book: Andrews, J. Richard . 2003 . Introduction to Classical Nahuatl . revised . Norman . . 552–556 . 0-8061-3452-6 . 50090230.
• Book: Bassett . Molly H. . 2015 . Aztec Gods and God-Bodies . The Fate of Earthly Things . 9780292760882 . 10.7560/760882 . University of Texas Press.
• Bright . William . William Bright. September 1990 . With one lip, with two lips: Parallelism in Nahuatl . 414607 . . 66 . 3 . 437–452 . . Washington DC . 10.2307/414607 . 93070246.
• Hull . Kerry . 2003 . Verbal Art and Performance in Ch'orti' and Maya Hieroglyphic Writing . 2152/1240 . PhD . Austin . University of Texas . 56123278.
• Web site: Aztec Philosophy . n.d. . James Maffie . Maffie . James . The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy . 2161-0002 . 2022-07-20.
• Montes de Oca Vega . Mercedes . 1997 . Los disfrasismos en el náhuatl, un problema de traducción o de conceptualización . Amérindia: Revue d'Ethnolinguistique Amerindienne . 22 . 31–44 . Paris . Société d'Études Linguistiques et Anthropologiques de France . 0221-8852 . 4199210 . es . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070528100004/http://celia.cnrs.fr/FichExt/Am/A_22_03.htm . 2007-05-28 .

Notes and References

1. Hull (2003, p.137).
2. See Hull (2003, p.137); Montes de Oca Vega (1997, p.31).
3. Web site: Mursell . Ian . The Aztec symbol for war . n.d. . Mexicolore . 2022-08-09.