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contlalli.

Headword: 
contlalli.
Principal English Translation: 

clay, the earth used for making pottery (see attestations)

Attestations from sources in English: 

"Niconchiva, napilolchiva, njtzotzocolchiva, njcaxchiva, njteconchiva, napazchiva: in çaço tlein njcchiva, njçoquichiva" [Niconchihua, napilolchihua, nitzotzocolchihua, nicaxchihua, nitecochihua, napazchihua: in zazo tlein nicchihua, nizoquichihua. (modification of the orthography by SW)] = "I make ollas. I make water jars. I make large water jars. I make bowls, pots, basins. Whatsoever I make, I make of clay." (1570s, central Mexico)
Sahagún, Bernardino de, Antonio Valeriano, Alonso Vegerano, Martín Jacobita, Pedro de San Buenaventura, Diego de Grado, Bonifacio Maximiliano, Mateo Severino, et al. Historia general de las cosas de Nueva España (Florentine Codex), Ms. Mediceo Palatino 218–20, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Florence, MiBACT, 1577. Available at Digital Florentine Codex/Códice Florentino Digital, edited by Kim N. Richter, Alicia Maria Houtrouw, Kevin Terraciano, Jeanette Peterson, Diana Magaloni, and Lisa Sousa, bk. 11, fol. 231r. Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute, 2023. https://florentinecodex.getty.edu/en/book/11/folio/231r . Accessed 9 January 2026.

themes: 
Ceramics, Pottery
See also: 
comitl.
tlalli.