Note 406 — Chapter VI · [263]

The Mexican language, in particular, is most flexible; admitting of combinations so easily that the most simple ideas are often buried under a load of accessories. The forms of expression, though picturesque, were thus made exceedingly cumbrous. A “priest,” for example, was called notlazomahuizteopixcatatzin, meaning “venerable minister of God, that I love as my father.” A still more comprehensive word is amatlacuilolitquitcatlaxtlahuitli, signifying “the reward given to a messenger who bears a hieroglyphical map conveying intelligence.”