King versus Tlahtoāni

In recent articles, I have used “king” interchangeably with the Nahuatl title “tlahtoāni.” There’s been some pushback from armchair experts in Nahuatl and Nahua culture who insist I am wrong.

Well, I’m not. Let me explain what you clearly don’t know.

Buckle up. We’re going down the rabbit hole, friends.

First things first. “Tlahtoāni” was the title given to the person who ruled over an “āltepētl” or city-state / kingdom.

It comes from the verb “ihtoa” (speak, say, decree) in its special form “tlahtoa.” The “tla-” there is the inanimate indefinite object prefix. It basically means “stuff.”

So “tlahtoa” literally translates to “say or decree stuff.”

It had three major uses in Classical Nahuatl:

1. “To speak of things”
2. “[For an animal] to make noise”
3. “To rule/govern/supervise” (with a locative)

The last one is what we need to explore to understand the title.

• If I say “īpan nitlahtoa,” it means “I’m in charge of it.”
• If I say “oncān tlahtoa notahtzin,” it means “my father governs over there.”
• If I say “Mēhxico titlahtoa,” it means “You rule Mexico.”

Because we literally decree stuff in those places … see the connection?

Now, from this verb “tlahtoa” an adjective/noun was formed using the -ni suffix that indicates an…