Tlamatini Explained
Tlamatini (plural tlamatinime) is a Nahuatl language word meaning "someone who knows something", generally translated as "wise man". The word is analyzable as derived from the transitive verb mati "to know" with the prefix tla- indicating an unspecified inanimate object translatable by "something" and the derivational suffix -ni meaning "a person who is characterized by ...": hence tla-mati-ni "a person who is characterized by knowing something" or more to the point "a knower".[1]
The famous Nahuatl language translator and interpreter Miguel León-Portilla refers to the tlamatini as philosophers and they are the subject of his book Aztec Thought and Culture.[2] [3]
See also
References
- Book: Boone, Elizabeth Hill . Elizabeth Hill Boone. 1998 . Native Traditions in the Postconquest World, A Symposium at Dumbarton Oaks 2nd through 4th October 1992 . Pictorial Documents and Visual Thinking in Postconquest Mexico . http://www.doaks.org/publications/doaks_online_publications/Native/trad07.pdf. Elizabeth Hill Boone . Tom Cubbins. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection . Washington D.C. . 149–199 . 0-88402-239-0 . 34354931., Internet Archive copy.
- Book: León-Portilla, Miguel . Miguel León-Portilla . 1963 . Aztec Thought and Culture: A Study of the Ancient Náhuatl Mind . Civilization of the American Indian series, #67. Jack Emory Davis . Norman . . 181727.
Notes and References
- Book: https://books.google.com/books?id=kUHhAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA73 . Science and Other Cultures: Issues in Philosophies of Science and Technology . Routledge . Sandra Harding . Sandra Harding . Robert Figueroa . James Maffie . To walk in balance: an encounter between contemporary Western science and conquest-era Nahua philosophy . pbk. 2013 . 73–74 . 978-1134727322.
- Book: Use of "Tlamatini" in Aztec Thought and Culture: A Study of the Ancient Nahuatl Mind - Miguel León-Portilla . 12 December 2014. 9780806122953 . Portilla . Miguel León . 1963 .
- Book: Aztec Thought and Culture: A Study of the Ancient Nahuatl Mind . . Miguel León-Portilla . pbk, illustrated, reprint, revised. 1990 . 120 . 0806122951. Miguel León-Portilla .
