to see something or someone, to look at oneself; to inspect (see Molina, Karttunen, and Lockhart)
"By way of illustration, [Eduardo de la Cruz Cruz] noted that in ceremonial settings Nahua elders repeatedly direct the younger generation to pay close attention to the elders’ words and actions with the phrases xiquitta (watch this!) and xiyehyeco (observe and practice this!). In short, as de la Cruz Cruz sees it, Nahua science is the realm of experiential and ancestral knowledges acquired through observation and interaction with humans and other-than-humans alike, in both quotidian and ceremonial settings."
In modern Huastecan Nahuatl we find the form tiitztihcac = "are you home?" This breaks down into ti- (you, singular), itz-, the combining form of the intransitive itta, used for situating things and talking about states. This verb is most often used with the -toc ending (the ligature -ti- plus the preterite as present "o" -- i.e. for someone or something to be in a certain state). Itztoc, "estar" for animals, humans, and divinities. The -ti- ligature is used with "ihcac", "to be standing," with verbes of state to talk about states of being that continue for a certain period of time. For example, mecehuia, "she sits down," mocehuihtoc, "she is seated," mocehuihtihcac, "she is still seated." So, itztihcac is how someone asks if anyone is at home. "Tocomaleh, tiitztihcac" = "Are you home, ma'am?"
Aun in jxqujch tlactl maceoalli, in tlatlatta = And all the common folk who looked on.... (central Mexico, sixteenth century)
nimitzittitia = I show it to you
ittitia = to show something to someone
Itta seems to be at the root of this: onpa titztihui = where we will go looking, i.e. the future
Could itta be at the root of this? ... otechmocnoytili = él accedió a pedir tierras para nosotros
amo niquittaz yn oquichtli çã mochipa nichpochtli niez = I will not see a man. I will always see a maiden. (late seventeenth century, Central Mexico)
in aca niquittaz in cihuatl çã mochipa nitelpochtli niezneq = I will see no woman. I want always to be a youth. (late seventeenth century, Central Mexico)
Oquimotelique appears where oquimottilique ("they saw it") would be expected. And nechmotelis appears where nechmottiliz ("he is to see me") might be expected.
A "special use [of on] with itta means to visit someone. Without the on, means to see someone."
auh yniquac ya nicocoxtica niman niquilhui Juan auh yn yeh niman yc omocentali aoquic nechitaco = y cuando ya estaba embarazada luego le dije a Juan, y el de inmediato asi se quedo sentado, ya no me fue a ver (Tlaxcala, 1565)
atlancopa ytztoc = mirando a la laguna (San Luis Huexotla, 1632)
in ahmo nimitzitta = que no te e visto
itto = pasivo de itta (Tetzcoco, 1595)