Principal English Translation:
to move someone to pity (see Lockhart); or, to cause someone to show compassion for oneself (see Molina); or, to give reason to feel pity toward one (see Karttunen)
Alonso de Molina:
tlaocoltia. nite. (pret. onitetlaocolti.) dar ocasion a otro, paraque se compadezca de mi.
Alonso de Molina, Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana y mexicana y castellana, 1571, part 2, Nahuatl to Spanish, f. 129v. col. 2. Thanks to Joe Campbell for providing the transcription.
tlaocoltia. nech. (pret. onechtlaocolti.) ponerme otro compassion, o tener compassion de alguno.
Alonso de Molina, Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana y mexicana y castellana, 1571, part 2, Nahuatl to Spanish, f. 129v. col. 2. Thanks to Joe Campbell for providing the transcription.
Frances Karttunen:
TLAŌCOLTIĀ vrefl, vt to feel pity; to give someone reason to feel pity toward one / tiene lástima (T), entristecer a otro o poner compassion a otro (M), dar occasion a otro para que se compadezca de mi (M for first pers. sg. subject) [(1)Cf.108r, (6)Tp.161,212, (1)Zp.173]. caus. TLAŌCOY(A).TLAŌCOLTILIĀ applic. TLAŌCOLTIĀ.TLAŌCOLTĪLŌ nonact. TLAŌCOLTIĀ.
Frances Karttunen, An Analytical Dictionary of Nahuatl (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1992), 287.
Lockhart’s Nahuatl as Written:
nic. to move someone to pity, acts as causative of tlaōcoya, though the final -ya is not reflected.
James Lockhart, Nahuatl as Written: Lessons in Older Written Nahuatl, with Copious Examples and Texts (Stanford: Stanford University Press and UCLA Latin American Studies, 2001), 237.
Attestations from sources in English:
tiquitlanico yn motetlacoliliz yn titotlatocauh yn titorrey = we have come in order to request your compassion, you our ruler and king (Jalostotitlan, 1611)
Beyond the Codices, eds. Arthur J.O. Anderson, Frances Berdan, and James Lockhart (Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center, 1976), Doc. 27, 172–173.