malinalli

Central Nahuatl

Etymology

From Classical Nahuatl malinalli.

Noun

malinalli

1. (it is) a twisted or braided grass stalk used as a building material

Classical Nahuatl

The glyph corresponding to the day ōme malīnalli (“two twisted straw”), as depicted in the codex Magliabechiano.

Alternative forms

• malinale, malinali (obsolete spellings)

Etymology

From malīna (“to twist”) +‎ -lli.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ma.liːˈná.lːi]

Noun

malīnalli (inanimate)

1. (it is) a twisted or braided grass stalk used as a building material
   • 1555, Alonso de Molina, Aqui comienca vn vocabulario en la lengua castellana y mexicana, f. 187r:

     Paja para hazer caſas.   ocoçacatl.malinalli.çacacueitl.

     Straw used to build houses. ocoçacatl. malinalli. çacacueitl.

2. (it is) the twelfth of the twenty day signs of the tōnalpōhualli; a bundle of grass growing from a human jaw
   • 16th c., Codex Magliabechiano, f. 12v.

     Vme maljnalj / q quiere dezir dos / yeruas deſte / nonbre por q tor / çer quiere dezir / maljnale

     Vme maljnalj. which means “two weeds of this name”, because maljnale is also to say “to twist”.

Related terms

• (plants used as a building material): ocōzacatl, zacacuēitl

References

• Rémi Siméon (1885) Diccionario de la lengua náhuatl o mexicana, Siglo Veintiuno Editores, page 251
• Krystyna M. Libura (2002) Los días y dioses del Códice Borgia, Ediciones Tecolote, page 13