FRAY ALONSO DE MOLINA
1513 or 1514 – 1579 or 1585
INCOMPLETE/WORK IN PROGRESS
Molina was brought to New Spain as a small boy just shortly after
the Aztec capital fell. His mother, who was soon left a widow, let him
play with Indian children, and Molina therefore grew up speaking Na-
huatl as a second tongue.
His was the first dictionary of the Nahuatl tongue (first edition, 1555)
this dictionary, a Spanish-Nahuatl and Nahuatl-Spanish dictionary,
gives us several useful ideas
(1) The Aztecs had no word simply meaning music, as we use that term for music in
the limited sense of singing they had a word, but none for music as a
generic term.
(2) Neither did they have a verb meaning play, in our sense
of playing on an instrument.
On the other hand, their language was
immensely rich in specific nouns such as, for instance:
song sung by a soprano tlaptzaualiztu
song sung to compliment someone tecuiqueualiztli
song sung to insult someone tecuicuiqueualiztli
song sung to someone else tecuicatiliztU
and although they had no generic nouns meaning- "musician," or "player,"
their language was extremely rich in specific nouns meaning
"player on the huehuetl"
player on the teponaztli,"
"flute-player," "fife-player,"
"trumpet-player," and so on. (4)
Their language was similarly rich in verbs with such varied specific meanings
as
"to sing in praise of someone,"
"to sing derisive songs,"
"to sing tenderly,"
or
"to sing in a high voice."
From Molina's dictionary, and from dictionaries of the Nahuatl
tongue, we can gather ample evidence to show that the ancient Mexicans
wholly lacked our abstract idea of music as an art an abstract idea, more-
over, which in Western civilization originated as long ago as Pythagoras
and Aristoxenus.
If the aboriginal Mexicans lacked any abstract idea of
music, it is of course a well known fact that their power of abstraction in
other fields was limited also. Ethnologists, however, while pointing out
the small number of abstractions the Mexican aborigines were able to
make, have at the same time always called attention to the profuse num-
ber of concrete ideas they were able to verbalize.
Music, then, according to the ethnologists, was only one of many life-experiences
which they valued, but could not verbalize in any generic sense.
1513 or 1514 – 1579 or 1585
INCOMPLETE/WORK IN PROGRESS
- Doctrina christiana breve traduzida en lengua mexicana (1547)[8]
- Aquí comiença un vocabulario en la lengua castellana y mexicana (1555)
- Confessionario mayor, en lengua mexicana y castellana (1565)
- Arte de la lengua mexicana y castellana (1571)
- Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana (1571)
- Confessionario breve, en lengua mexicana (1577)
Molina was brought to New Spain as a small boy just shortly after
the Aztec capital fell. His mother, who was soon left a widow, let him
play with Indian children, and Molina therefore grew up speaking Na-
huatl as a second tongue.
His was the first dictionary of the Nahuatl tongue (first edition, 1555)
this dictionary, a Spanish-Nahuatl and Nahuatl-Spanish dictionary,
gives us several useful ideas
(1) The Aztecs had no word simply meaning music, as we use that term for music in
the limited sense of singing they had a word, but none for music as a
generic term.
(2) Neither did they have a verb meaning play, in our sense
of playing on an instrument.
On the other hand, their language was
immensely rich in specific nouns such as, for instance:
song sung by a soprano tlaptzaualiztu
song sung to compliment someone tecuiqueualiztli
song sung to insult someone tecuicuiqueualiztli
song sung to someone else tecuicatiliztU
and although they had no generic nouns meaning- "musician," or "player,"
their language was extremely rich in specific nouns meaning
"player on the huehuetl"
player on the teponaztli,"
"flute-player," "fife-player,"
"trumpet-player," and so on. (4)
Their language was similarly rich in verbs with such varied specific meanings
as
"to sing in praise of someone,"
"to sing derisive songs,"
"to sing tenderly,"
or
"to sing in a high voice."
From Molina's dictionary, and from dictionaries of the Nahuatl
tongue, we can gather ample evidence to show that the ancient Mexicans
wholly lacked our abstract idea of music as an art an abstract idea, more-
over, which in Western civilization originated as long ago as Pythagoras
and Aristoxenus.
If the aboriginal Mexicans lacked any abstract idea of
music, it is of course a well known fact that their power of abstraction in
other fields was limited also. Ethnologists, however, while pointing out
the small number of abstractions the Mexican aborigines were able to
make, have at the same time always called attention to the profuse num-
ber of concrete ideas they were able to verbalize.
Music, then, according to the ethnologists, was only one of many life-experiences
which they valued, but could not verbalize in any generic sense.
