Why are most of the Aztec Pantheon's names so hard to pronounce?

This topic is locked from further discussion.

Avatar image for th3warr1or
th3warr1or

20637

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 8

User Lists: 0

#1 th3warr1or
Member since 2007 • 20637 Posts
I assume that although we all speak a different language, a certain name would be pronounceable to all tongues(assuming that you aren't short tongued or anything).

But then I came across the name of the gods from the Aztec Pantheon, and I completely have no idea how to pronounce them at all (I mean, Thor, Odin, Heracles, Hera, Ares, Tyr, Artemis and stuff are all pretty straight forward).

Eg; Acolnahuacatl/Acolmiztli, Acuecucyoicihuati, Ayauhteotl, Chalchihuitlicue, Tezcatzontecatl, and of course Quetzalcoatl/Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli. And those are just a few.
Avatar image for 194197844077667059316682358889
194197844077667059316682358889

49173

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#2 194197844077667059316682358889
Member since 2003 • 49173 Posts
Just a matter of different languages; remember that most European languages have had some degree of influence on modern spoken English. Also, the Aztec language, Nahuatl, had fewer phonemes that most other languages, so words tend to be longer since the effective namespace is smaller than for some languages with more phonemes. Edit: Apparently, it is also a very description-oriented language.
Avatar image for hashabnelah
hashabnelah

347

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#3 hashabnelah
Member since 2009 • 347 Posts

They are in the Aztec language, unless you want to Latinize or Hispanicize the names.

Avatar image for Glow-Stick
Glow-Stick

1689

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#4 Glow-Stick
Member since 2008 • 1689 Posts

When words translated from other langauges to english, it comes out all wacky. Like in Asia, there are English definitions of the language they use but it is hard to understand the English

For example: Hospital would be like "aidhouse" or something like that

Avatar image for th3warr1or
th3warr1or

20637

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 8

User Lists: 0

#5 th3warr1or
Member since 2007 • 20637 Posts
So are the letters in those names not meant to be pronounced the way they are spelled? Because I don't understand how there are so many languages in the world, but most of them use the Roman Alphabet.
Avatar image for Teenaged
Teenaged

31764

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 3

User Lists: 0

#6 Teenaged
Member since 2007 • 31764 Posts

Short answer: different languages have different phonological systems which means different allowable combinations of their unique vocal sounds.

It may seem strange and weird to us but so do our languages seem to them.

Avatar image for 194197844077667059316682358889
194197844077667059316682358889

49173

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#7 194197844077667059316682358889
Member since 2003 • 49173 Posts
So are the letters in those names not meant to be pronounced the way they are spelled? Because I don't understand how there are so many languages in the world, but most of them use the Roman Alphabet. th3warr1or
That's a process called Romanization, using the Roman alphabet and standard English pronunciations of those letters to represent languages that use different character sets. For instance, Arabic, Russian, Japanese and Tibetan, among many others, all have completely different writing systems, but the sounds of those words can be represented in our alphabet. Almost all sounds in world languages, aside from the click consonant that occurs in some southern African languages.
Avatar image for Teenaged
Teenaged

31764

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 3

User Lists: 0

#8 Teenaged
Member since 2007 • 31764 Posts

So are the letters in those names not meant to be pronounced the way they are spelled? Because I don't understand how there are so many languages in the world, but most of them use the Roman Alphabet. th3warr1or
No, no they are most deffinetely not spelled as if they are English words and neither are they spelled as if they are direct transliterations.

EDIT: Not 100% tbh; I just remember hearing the pronunciation of a name of one emperor of the Azteks and the pronunciation although it generally "followed" the letters, it wasnt 100% simply pronunciated as it was written (as in, in a transliteration).

Avatar image for Tauruslink
Tauruslink

6586

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#9 Tauruslink
Member since 2005 • 6586 Posts
Its just a different language with different pronunciations.