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216
MEXICO.
which is within one foot, it will be perceived, of the height assigned to this spot by Mr. Glennie.
I present you with a sketch of the outline of the mountain, on which the different elevations are marked, so that the whole of these measurements will be at once mapped out before you.
outline of popocatepetl[1].
- ↑ This is a difficult word to pronounce, but it is easy in comparison with many of the Indian words you may hear uttered every day in the markets of Mexico. "Nothing", says Humboldt, "strikes the European more in the Aztec, Nahuatl, or Mexican language, than the excessive length of the words. This length does not always depend on their being compounded, as in the Greek, the German, and the Sanskrit, but on the manner of forming the substantive, the plural or the superlative. A kiss is called tetenuamiquisliztli; a word formed from the verb tenuamiqui, to embrace, and the additive particles te and listli. In the same manner we have tletelena, to ask, and tetlatelanitiztli, a demand; tleahiouiltia, to torment. To form the plural, the Aztecs in several words double the first syllable: as miztli, a cat: mimiztiz, cats: tochtli, a rabit: totechtis, rabbits. Tis is the termination which indicates the plural. Sometimes, the duplication is made in the midst of a word; for instance, ichpechtli, a girl; ichpopechtin girls; telpochtli, a boy; telpopechtin, boys. The most remarkable sample I have met with a real composition of words, is found in the word amatleuilolitquitteatiaztlenauitlis, which signifies, the reward-given-to-the-messenger-who-carries-a-paper-on-which-is painted-tidings. This word, which forms by itself an Alexandrian line, contains amatl, paper (of the agave;) cuiloc, to paint, or trace hyeroglyphs; and tlaztlahwitli, the wages or salary of a workman." The word netlazemahuizteapizcatzin which signifies, venerable-priest-whom-I-cherish-as-my-father, is used by the Mexicans in addressing the priests. In the Aztec language, the letters B,D,F,G, and R, are wanting."—Humboldt's Researches, vol.ii, p.256. Fol. Essay vol. i. p. 129.
