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huehuetlatolli.

Headword: 
huehuetlatolli.
Principal English Translation: 

ancient history; or, the sayings of elders (see Molina); rhetorical orations (see Thelma Sullivan)

Orthographic Variants: 
uehuetlatolli
IPAspelling: 
weːwehtɬɑhtoːlli
Alonso de Molina: 

ueuetlatolli. historia antigua, o dichos de viejos.
Alonso de Molina, Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana y mexicana y castellana, 1571, part 2, Nahuatl to Spanish, f. 157r. col. 1. Thanks to Joe Campbell for providing the transcription.

Attestations from sources in English: 

"The huehuetlatolli--'story or ancient tale,' 'tale of the ancestors,' 'ancient discourse,' and 'archaic word' (García Quintana 2000:129, 133–34), or even 'words of the old people' or 'expressions of the aged ones / of our forebears (Sullivan 1986:17)--were speeches made by priests, leading ancient noblement, those who accompany the leader, elders, merchants, doctors, midwives, and spiritual healers (García Quintana 2000:134; Sullivan 1986:10). They were used on certain special occasions, such as religious celebrations, ascendance to the throne, diplomatic missions, choosing a wife, choosing a midwife, and so forth."
Katarzyna Mikulska Dabrowska, "'Secret Language' in Oral and Graphic Form: Religious-Magic Discourse in Aztec Speeches and Manuscripts," Oral Tradition 25:3 (2010), 325–363, see page 327.

huehuetlatolli = "the rhetorical orations, delivered by the king, nobles, and high-ranking elders"
Thelma D. Sullivan, "Tlatoani and Tlatocayotl in the Sahagún Manuscripts," Estudios de Cultura Náhuatl 14 (1980), 230.

themes: 
Aging (People, Things)