• @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    5
    edit-2
    6 months ago

    Nahuatl calling the planet

    Even the term “planet” here is noisy, as it implies knowledge of an orb floating and/or spinning in space.

    Maybe a better (less modern scientific) term in this case would be “world”, which could have been “what I have seen and have heard about, plus the regions beyond where dragons lie”, as an equivalent to “one, two, three, many”.

    • Lvxferre
      link
      fedilink
      4
      edit-2
      6 months ago

      Fair point - notlahtlacōl. “World” does seem more accurate.

      I wouldn’t be surprised if modern Nahuatl varieties used tlālticpactli to refer to the planet itself. (Still, my example is from Classical Nahuatl, so your correction is spot on.)