to be (spread out); at, located at; is / are; to extend out (geographically)
cenca chicahuac manca quiyahuitl = the rains were very heavy (early seventeenth century, central New Spain)
oc Se pedaSo Solar nican Mantica tlaMimilolpa = another piece of a lot here in Tlamimilolpan (San Pedro Calimaya, Toluca Valley, 1755)
With lands, mani comes down to "to be." It used to have the meaning of being spread out. But in testaments, mani is more often associated with tlalli than ca or onoc or anything similar.
mantica = at (located at)
oncan mani, ompa mani = at yn onpa mani yn itocayoca = at a place called
neztimani = is / are, appear / appears at In the Techialoyan manuscripts, neztimani may be saying this is appearing in reference to what appears in the pictorial portion of the manuscripts.
yn canin mamani altepetlali = where the town lands lie
moch niz neztimani = everything here stands on record
yn imanca = where something is (in older texts of a non-mundane nature)
in motetel, in motzaqual imanca = where thy mounds, thy pyramids are located (central Mexico, sixteenth century)
Mani can also have a temporal location meaning, as with dates, i.e. in or on such and such a day. But we don't translate it when it means day -- just say the 13th, or whatever number. For example, we see "ic 22 ilhuitl mani de Junios 1586 años" (the 22nd of June, 1586) in the Nahuatl baptismal records from Tlatelolco.
yn intlamanitiliz catca yn oc yehuantin tlateotocanime / yn tachtoncohcolhuan catca in maca çan tlayohuayan yn oc ce cahuitl ipan onemico. yc motlapololtiaya yn ayemo yuh impan huallacia yn itlanextzin yn iximachocatzin yn ineltococatzin tto jesu xp̄ō. yn iuh axcan ipan ye ticate yn iteycnelilizticatzinco yn itepalehuilizticatzinco in titlaneltocacatzitzinhuan = This was the custom of our early ancestors, who were still idolaters living in darkness in [those] other times. Such was their confusion before the light, knowledge, and faith of our Lord Jesus Christ had reached them as now, in our times, [these benefits reach] us believers through His grace and favor. (central Mexico, early seventeenth century)
çan ix[qui]ch çacatimani = Todo estaba abandonado (Tetzcoco, 1572)
Tonatiuh quixnamicti manic etemanic ynin yn tetlaliayan yez yhuan yn ithualli yn cepan ithual mochihuaz = La que está enfrente del sol, que está en tres piezas, éstas juntas han de estar que el patio, que nunca se quite y siempre ha de estar ansí (Xochimilco, 1621)
Yn nomil atlalli yzquican imamani yc ceccan Atzaqualoyan Tianquiztonco meyotoc etemani Teçoquipan ontemani = mis tierras de riego están una en el lugar que llaman (Atzacualoian), otra en Tianguistonco, poblada de magueyes, la tercera en dos suertes en el paraje que llaman Thezoquipan (Tetepango, Hidalgo, 1586)
Yn nomil atlalli yzquican imamani yc ceccan Atzaqualoyan Tianquiztonco meyotoc etemani Teçoquipan ontemani = mis tierras de riego están una en el lugar que llaman (Atzacualoian), otra en Tianguistonco, poblada de magueyes, la tercera en dos suertes en el paraje que llaman Thezoquipan (Tetepango, Hidalgo, 1586)
auh ynic oca mani ymilditech Juan de Rosas catca = Y las que se encuentran siuadas junto a la sementera que fue de[l difunto] Juan de Rosas (Coyoacan, 1560)
yc omilhuitl mani meztli abril = a dos andados del mes de abril (San Juan Teotihuacan, 1563)
mani (o) neztimani = se extienden (para hablar de tierras)