octli.

Headword: 
octli.
Principal English Translation: 

pulque, a local alcoholic beverage (see Molina and Karttunen); sometimes translated as "wine"

Orthographic Variants: 
uctli
IPAspelling: 
oktɬi
Alonso de Molina: 

octli. vino. Alonso de Molina, Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana y mexicana y castellana, 1571, part 2, Nahuatl to Spanish, f. 75v. col. 2. Thanks to Joe Campbell for providing the transcription.

Frances Karttunen: 

OC-TLI pulque / vino (M), pulque (C) Z has a long vowel in this item, but in abundant attestation elsewhere it is short. Frances Karttunen, An Analytical Dictionary of Nahuatl (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1992), 176.

Attestations from sources in English: 

Auh yeçe ma huel iuh xicmatican yhuan ma huel yuh ye in amoyolo, ca amo amechmaquixtia in in ixpantzinco in Dios, in anquitoa, ca yehuatl in octli quichihua, ca aocmo nicmati in tlen onicchiuh in tlen onicnotequiuhti? = Yet know when and be certain that it will not save you before God to say "the pulque did it, I no longer know what I did [or] what I was responsible for." Bartolomé de Alva, A Guide to Confession Large and Small in the Mexican Language, 1634, eds. Barry D. Sell and John Frederick Schwaller, with Lu Ann Homza (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1999), 125. Cuix titepachtlalia? Cuix tocnamacac? = Do you sell tepache? Do you sell pulque? Bartolomé de Alva, A Guide to Confession Large and Small in the Mexican Language, 1634, eds. Barry D. Sell and John Frederick Schwaller, with Lu Ann Homza (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1999), 97. in zan ce xicali, octli noço çentecontontli, vino ic anquimictlantlaça, in amoyolia, yhuan ipampa anquimaca in tlacatecolotl. Auh in manel Cacatzactin, Chinotin noço Iapontin, mochintin amoca huetzca amoca paqui ic amechtlatzohuilia = for just one gourd vessel of pulque or one little clay pot of wine you cast your souls into hell and because of it you give them to the devil. Even the Blacks, the Chinese or the Japanese all laugh at you and enjoy your misfortunes Bartolomé de Alva, A Guide to Confession Large and Small in the Mexican Language, 1634, eds. Barry D. Sell and John Frederick Schwaller, with Lu Ann Homza (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1999), 93. in yehuantin atlacuihuayab tlaca ynic motlayecoltiaya yztac octli = the people of Tacubaya, who make their living with white pulque (It is not clear to us if this means simply pulque in general, or if white pulque is a special kind. Molina gives white wine for iztac octli) (early seventeenth century, central New Spain) Annals of His Time: Don Domingo de San Antón Muñón Chimalpahin Quauhtlehuanitzin, James Lockhart, Susan Schroeder, and Doris Namala, eds. and transl. (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2006), 50–51. auh in icoac ocõtoiauh octilj nimã ic muchi tlacatl quiya in vctlj, nimã ic peva in tetlavãtiloya = And when they had poured the octli then everyone drank it; then they began to serve the people octli. Fray Bernardino de Sahagún, Primeros Memoriales, ed. Thelma D. Sullivan, et al. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1997), 72. In tetlaoan, in apaztli. Quitoznequi: octli. Inin tlatolli, intechpa mitoaya: in aquin tlaoanaya, in azo piltontli, azo telpuchtli, anozo ichpuchtli, in ayamo ueue, in ayamo ilama: iluiloya: tlacaoaltiloya. Xiccaoa. = The cup and the bowl. This means pulque and these words were said to someone who was drinking, such as a child --a boy or a girl-- not an old man or woman. He was reprimanded and told: "Stop drinking..." Thelma D. Sullivan, "Nahuatl Proverbs, Conundrums, and Metaphors, Collected by Sahagún," Estudios de Cultura Náhuatl 4 (1963), 170–171. in mjtoa, Octli: ca ytzin, ca yneloaio: in aqualli in aiectli, in polioanj = What is called octli is the origin, the root of the evil, of the bad, of perdition (central Mexico, sixteenth century) Fr. Bernardino de Sahagún, Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New Spain; Book 6 -- Rhetoric and Moral Philosophy, No. 14, Part 7, eds. and transl. Arthur J. O. Anderson and Charles E. Dibble (Santa Fe and Salt Lake City: School of American Research and the University of Utah, 1961), 68. in octli vel qujtlacoa, vel qujҫoloa in tlacaiotl, in ieliziotl: qujtotivi in vevetque. Vel tetlacaҫoҫoltili in octli, aiectli, aqualli, aioanj, aqualonj = The pulque completely harmeth, completely ruineth humanity, the character of things; [so] the old men went saying. The pulque maketh a glutton of one; it is bad, evil, undrinkable, inedible (central Mexico, sixteenth century) Fr. Bernardino de Sahagún, Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New Spain; Book 6 -- Rhetoric and Moral Philosophy, No. 14, Part 7, eds. and transl. Arthur J. O. Anderson and Charles E. Dibble (Santa Fe and Salt Lake City: School of American Research and the University of Utah, 1961), 69. ic tetetzotzontivi in octli, ic temecanjtivi = go stoning people on account of pulque; they go hanging people because of it (central Mexico, sixteenth century) Fr. Bernardino de Sahagún, Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New Spain; Book 6 -- Rhetoric and Moral Philosophy, No. 14, Part 7, eds. and transl. Arthur J. O. Anderson and Charles E. Dibble (Santa Fe and Salt Lake City: School of American Research and the University of Utah, 1961), 69. Ipampa ca in ie vecauh, in octli intech qujtlamjliaia in totochtin, in qujnmoteotiaia vevetque = It is because in times of old, wine was falsely attributed to the rabbits, whom the ancients one worshipped (central Mexico, sixteenth century) Fr. Bernardino de Sahagún, Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New Spain; Book 6 -- Rhetoric and Moral Philosophy, No. 14, Part 7, eds. and transl. Arthur J. O. Anderson and Charles E. Dibble (Santa Fe and Salt Lake City: School of American Research and the University of Utah, 1961), 230.octli.
yn ocaxitique, qujmaca vctli: auh yn vctli nappa coniavilla in malli: auh çatepan conj piaztica = When he had brought him there, he offered him wine; and the captive raised the wine four times [as an offering], and afterwards drank it with a long hollow gourd. (16th century, Mexico City)
Fr. Bernardino de Sahagún, Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New Spain; Book 2—The Ceremonies, No. 14, Part III, eds. and transl. Arthur J. O. Anderson and Charles E. Dibble (Santa Fe and Salt Lake City: School of American Research and the University of Utah, 1951), 50–51.auh izqujatecontica qujmana tiçavctli, contlatla iehecalhuja: çatepan iuhqujnma conmjna, njman ic conj = And he offered white wine in a round gourd, and he threatened it. Afterwards, in like manner, he shot it with an arrow, and then drank it. (16th century, Mexico City)
Fr. Bernardino de Sahagún, Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New Spain; Book 2—The Ceremonies, No. 14, Part III, eds. and transl. Arthur J. O. Anderson and Charles E. Dibble (Santa Fe and Salt Lake City: School of American Research and the University of Utah, 1951), 58.

Attestations from sources in Spanish: 

anmo ma octli quique yn quitova iva yolque tlavanque amon neli = no tomaron vino dicen sus parientes. Se embriagaron no es verdad? (Tlaxcala, 1562)
Catálogo de documentos escritos en Náhuatl, siglo XVI, vol. I (México, Gobierno del Estado de Tlaxcala, 2013), 12.

in moqueztlatzinia, in macopiloa, in tocuilehua, in tzatzi, in oyoa; in yuhqui mixitl, in yuhqui tlapatl, in yuhqui uctli, nanacatl in oquic, in oquicua, in aocmo quimati = [y que] como si hubiera bebido o comido la yerba que embriaga, el tlápatl, el pulque, el hongo, ya no entiende (centro de México, s. XVI)
Josefina García Quintana, "Exhortación de un padre a su hijo; texto recogido por Andrés de Olmos," Estudios de Cultura Náhuatl 11 (1974), 154–155.

yvan vel quimocuitlavizque ynic camo octlaliloz amo no teyxpan ocnamacoz auh in tla ymacuiltecpantiyan aca neҫiz octlalia anoҫo ocnamaca yn aquiqui tequitlatoque yc cavaltilozque yntequitlatocayo yvan castolilvitl teylpiloyan yezque = Y cuidarán que no se ponga a fermentar el pulque y que tampoco públicamente se venda. Y si en sus cinco veintenas sucede que alguien fermenta pulque o que lo vende, a los tequitlatoque se les hará abandonar su puesto y quince días estarán en la cárcel (Cuauhtinchan, Puebla, s. XVI)
Luis Reyes García, "Ordenanzas para el gobierno de Cuauhtinchan, año de 1559," Estudios de Cultura Náhuatl 10 (1972), 278–279.

ahmo quiquiz in xochiqualli xococ, ahmo no quiconiz coztic octli = no lo tomará la fruta cruda no también lo tomará amarillo pulque (centro de México, s. XVIII)
Neville Stiles, Jeff Burnham, James Nauman, "Los concejos médicos del Dr. Bartolache sobre las pastillas de fierro: Un documento colonial en el náhuatl del siglo XVIII," Estudios de Cultural Náhuatl 19 (1989), 269–287, ver página 280.

in tla español octlaliz totocoz Castilla[n] = Si un español fermenta pulque será desterrado a Castilla (ca. 1582, Mexico City)
Luis Reyes García, ¿Como te confundes? ¿Acaso no somos conquistados? Anales de Juan Bautista (Mexico: Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social, Biblioteca Lorenzo Boturini Insigne y Nacional Basílica de Guadalupe, 2001), 182–183.

Cuix titepachtlalia? Cuix tocnamacac? = Eres por ventura Tepachera, ò vendes pulque
Bartolomé de Alva, A Guide to Confession Large and Small in the Mexican Language, 1634, eds. Barry D. Sell and John Frederick Schwaller, with Lu Ann Homza (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1999), 96–97.

in zan ce xicali, octli noço çentecontontli, vino ic anquimictlantlaça, in amoyolia, yhuan ipampa anquimaca in tlacatecolotl. Auh in manel Cacatzactin, Chinotin noço Iapontin, mochintin amoca huetzca amoca paqui ic amechtlatzohuilia = por vna xicara de pulque, ó tecomate de vino, echeys vuestras almas al infierno, y las days al Demonio. Y avn los Negros, Chinos, Y Iapones[es], se admiran, y os lo tienen á mal, viendo quan facil, y mudable sea vuestra condicion
Bartolomé de Alva, A Guide to Confession Large and Small in the Mexican Language, 1634, eds. Barry D. Sell and John Frederick Schwaller, with Lu Ann Homza (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1999), 92–93.

achitzin octzintli = poco de vino (Tlatelolco, 1558)
Luis Reyes García, Eustaquio Celestino Solís, Armando Valencia Ríos, et al, Documentos nauas de la Ciudad de México del siglo XVI (México: Centro de Investigación y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social y Archivo General de la Nación, 1996), 76.

Ipampa ca in ie vecauh, in octli intech qujtlamjliaia in totochtin, in qujnmoteotiaia vevetque = Este refran se dize de las condiciones diuersas de los hombres dizen ie iuhquj itoch: esse tiene esa condicion (centro de Mexico, s. XVI)
Fr. Bernardino de Sahagún, Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New Spain; Book 6 -- Rhetoric and Moral Philosophy, No. 14, Part 7, eds. and transl. Arthur J. O. Anderson and Charles E. Dibble (Santa Fe and Salt Lake City: School of American Research and the University of Utah, 1961), 230.