tonalli.

"The tonalli was a sort of soul, located in the crown of the head, that regulated body temperature and growth and played a major role in determining a person's character and fate. Tonalli loss resulted in illness and, if healing ceremonies were not performed, death."
Louise M. Burkhart, Holy Wednesday: A Nahua Drama from Early Colonial Mexico (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1996), 190.

tonalli = "a solar-derived animating force"
Allison Caplan, "The Living Feather: Tonalli in Nahua Featherwork Production," Ethnohistory 67:3 (July 2020), 383.

"Anderson and Dibble’s rendering of 'ilhuicatl' as 'the celestial part' I take to refer to the link between the body’s tonalli and solar heat (tona). A flow of energy from the sun into the body occurs at one’s birth. The curvature of the head parallels the sun’s arc in the sky, linking individuals with the cosmos via the body (Kruell 2016, 9). Below the opening entries, the list further describes the head’s qualities.
ilhuicatl [the celestial part]
quitoznequi, totzontecon [that is to say, our head],
tlalnamiquini [the rememberer],
tlamatini [the knower],
tlancaiutl [achievement, destiny],
tzonquizcaiutl [conclusion, fate],
mauiziotl [honor],
mauiztioani [venerable] (FC, Bk. 10, f. 73r)"
Ezequiel G. Stear, Nahua Horizons: Writing, Persuasion, and Futurities in Colonial Mexico (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2025), 97–98. Some orthographic variants: tlancayotl, tzonquizcayotl, mahuizyotl, and mahuiztiyoani.

"Xiuhtecuhtli conflates notions of turquoise as fire-heat (tonalli) and time...."
H.B. Nicholson, cited by Patrick Thomas Hajovsky, On the Lips of Others: Moteuczoma's Fame in Aztec Monuments and Rituals (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2015), 88 and 161, note 96.

"The term tonalli is as polysemantic today as it was during the colonial period." It also has the following meanings: "summertime, solar heat, day, day sign, personal destiny determined by the day of birth, feast, soul or spirit and something that is destined or is the property of a specific person." In the autonomous era, "the tonalli was said to derive from the highest celestial plane, the Omeyocan or 'place of duality,' and to be infused in the child at birth during a name-giving ceremony." It was also "the key link between the individual and the gods." Its "center is located in the head" and "is characterized as responsible for each person's vital power, physical growth, temperament, and cognition or rationality."
J. Jorge Klor de Alva, "Aztec Spirituality and Nahuatlized Christianity," in South and Meso-American Native Spirituality, ed. Gary H. Gossen in collaboration with Miguel Leeo_Portilla (New York: Crossroad, 1993), 184.

"An Indigenous man named Agustín Díaz testified that he became "sick with fear" in 1721 after suffering an accident while cutting palmetto in the monte. As he slept later than night, Díaz fell from a bench, confirming his loss of tonalli. Because a prolongued absence of tonalli resulted in certain death, Díaz's situation was very serious (Ruiz de Alarcón 1984:161; González 2017: 48. Indigenous ritualists diagnosed loss of tonalli (soul, or animistic entity) after a fall or sudden accident disrupted one's spiritual equilibrium."
Anderson Hagler, "Accessing the Divine: Indigenous Medical Specialists, Catholic Priests, and Nonorthodox Methods of Healing in Colonial Mexico," Ethnohistory 71:1 (January 2025), 31.

Yoan vmpa qujmoncaoaia pipiltzitzinti, in moteneoaia tlacateteuhti: iehoãtin in vntecuezcomeque, in qualli intonal: noujan temoloia, patiiotiloia = And there they took children, known as "human banners"--those who had two cowlicks of hair and whose day signs were favorable. They were sought everywhere, and brought. (sixteenth century, central Mexico)
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), 42.

When possessed, as in "itonal" or "ytonal," this could mean the "rightful due" of the rulers, according to a long section in the Primeros Memoriales that discusses all the things that rulers had coming to them by right of rulership, and "yntonal" or "ytonal" is used extensively. The list comes to appear to be a list of the kinds of things they could expect as tributes. (sixteenth century, central Mexico)
Fray Bernardino de Sahagún, Primeros Memoriales, ed. Thelma D. Sullivan, et al. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1997), 224–28.

tlatolloya iquac in muchivaya tequantonalli cemilhuitonalli = there was accusation, because of these things, when there was a beastly day sign (central Mexico, sixteenth century)
Fray Bernardino de Sahagún, Primeros Memoriales, ed. Thelma D. Sullivan, et al. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1997), 245.

ytonalloamaneapã = his stole with the sun symbol [on it]
Fray Bernardino de Sahagún, Primeros Memoriales, ed. Thelma D. Sullivan, et al. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1997), 101.

ytonalocac = his sandals with the sun symbol [on them]
Fray Bernardino de Sahagún, Primeros Memoriales, ed. Thelma D. Sullivan, et al. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1997), 101.

Oc nocetonal, oc mocetonal. Iquac mitoa: intla tequani onechquazquia, anozo tequani coatl ipan onicholo, zan achi in onechoalquazquia, oninotlalotiuetz = One more day for me, one more day for you. This is said when a wild beast was about to devour me, or a poisonous snake was going to bite me and I leaped over him and fled.
Thelma D. Sullivan, "Nahuatl Proverbs, Conundrums, and Metaphors, Collected by Sahagún," Estudios de Cultura Náhuatl 4 (1963), 114–115.

Auh in iehoantin tonalpouhque: achto vel ic tlatlanja, in quenman vel otlacat piltontli: in cujx aiamo vel iooalnepantla: ic itech qujpoaia in tonalli, î cemjlvitlapoali, in oqujz. Auh intla oqujz iooalnepantla, tlacatia: itech qujpoaia in tonalli, î cemjlvitlapoalli, in oallatoqujlia: auh intla vel iooalli ixelivian tlacatia: necoc qujpoaia in tonalli. Auh njman qujttaia in jmamux: vncan qujttaia, in quenamj imaceoal piltontli: in cujx qualli, in cujx noҫo amo: in juh catca itoloca î cemjlvitlapoalli: in jpan otlacat = But these soothsayers first inquired carefully exactly when the baby was born. If it was perhaps not yet exactly midnight, then they assigned the day to the day sign which had passed. But if he had been born when midnight had passed, they assigned the day to the day sign which followed. And if he had been born exactly at the division of the night, they assigned the day to both [day signs]. And then they looked at their books; there they saw the sort of merit of the baby, perhaps good, or perhaps not, according as was the mandate of the day sign on which he was born (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), 197.

Axcan ipan miercoles çempuali macuiltonal metztli enero = Today, on Wednesday, 25th day of the month of January
This "sample text" (with our own added translation by SW) is found on the page for this item in the website "Nahuatl-Nawat in Central America," http://nahuatl-nawat.org/items/show/15. It is dated 1600 and is described as "Anales de Comunidad," from Santa María Concepción Tecpán, Escuintla, Guatemala. Contributors of the item are Sergio Romero and Lawrence Feldman.

Cē- Ātl Ītōnal = His-tonal is One Water [i.e., the tree] (Atenango, between Mexico City and Acapulco, 1629)
Hernando Ruiz de Alarcón, Treatise on the Heathen Superstitions That Today Live Among the Indians Native to This New Spain, 1629, eds. and transl. J. Richard Andrews and Ross Hassig (Norman and London: University of Oklahoma Press, 1984), 83.

ipampa ca çan ixquich in tezcatl in tlatapani, teteyni, xexelihui, nononquaquiça, auh in tonalli, ca amo quen mochihua = for it is just all of the mirror that is broken, shattered, divided up and separated, but the sun is undisturbed
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), 149.

Iho xolopitine in axcan ye o àmopan tonac ye o [a]mopan tlathuic auh oc noma anquinequi in tlayohuayan mixticomac a[n]nemizque amicampa àmotepotzco = Ah, O foolish ones, the sun [of the true faith] has come upon you, [the true faith] has dawned on you, and you still want to live in the darkness of sin and the gloom [of ignorance]!
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), 81.

auh in iquac in ie moztla oneoazque in ipan qualli tonalli. Niman ie ic mâmouia moxima in nican mexico = And when it was the day before they would set out on a good day sign, thereupon they once and for all washed their heads with soap and cut their hair here in Mexico. (16th century, Mexico City)
Fray Bernardino de Sahagún, Florentine Codex, Book 9—The Merchants, trans. Charles E. Dubble and Arthur J.O. Anderson (Santa Fe, New Mexico; The School of American Research and the University of Utah, 1959), 9.

ompoaltonal = forty days
John Bierhorst, Cantares Mexicanos: Songs of the Aztecs (1985), 276–277.

ipampa ca çan ixquich in tezcatl in tlatapani, teteyni, xexelihui, nononquaquiça, auh in tonalli, ca amo quen mochihua = porque solo el Espejo es el que se quiebra diuide, y haze partes, pero el Sol, no se diuide, ni muda
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), 148–149.

[quez]quitonaltipan = en cuantos días (Tlaxcala, 1662–1692)
Juan Buenaventura Zapata y Mendoza, Historia cronológica de la Noble Ciudad de Tlaxcala, transcripción paleográfica, traducción, presentación y notas por Luis Reyes García y Andrea Martínez Baracs (Tlaxcala y México: Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, Secretaría de Extensión Universitaria y Difusión Cultural, y Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social, 1995), 684–685.

Iho xolopitine in axcan ye o àmopan tonac ye o [a]mopan tlathuic auh oc noma anquinequi in tlayohuayan mixticomac a[n]nemizque amicampa àmotepotzco = O ciegos, y perdidos, que hauiendoos amanecido el claro, y resplandeciente Sol de nuestra Santa Fè: querays andar, y proseguir en perpetuas tinieblas!
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), 80–81.

1691 años ocualoc tonali... yn otlayohua nesque sisitlantin tzatzique caxtilme yhuan totome auh yn ochipahuac tonali huel ypa chi[cu]naui hora = 1691, se eclipsó el sol... se obscureció, aparecieron las estrellas, gritaron los gallos y los pájaros. El sol se limpió a las nueve horas. (Tlaxcala, 1662–1692)
Juan Buenaventura Zapata y Mendoza, Historia cronológica de la Noble Ciudad de Tlaxcala, transcripción paleográfica, traducción, presentación y notas por Luis Reyes García y Andrea Martínez Baracs (Tlaxcala y México: Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, Secretaría de Extensión Universitaria y Difusión Cultural, y Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social, 1995), 642–643.

ma tto dios amitamotlacopielis amitzmotlacochicauilis mochipa tonalis yoali = Que nuestro Señpr Dios os guarde siempre en su amor y os fortalezca todo el día y toda la noche (seventeenth-century Guatemala)
Fernando Horcasitas y Alfred Lemmon, "El Tratado de Santa Eulalia: un manuscrito musical náhuatl," Tlalocan 12 (1997), 110–111.

oqualuc tonali amo tel otlayohuac = eclipsó el sol, aunque en verdad no obscureció (Tlaxcala, 1662–1692)
Juan Buenaventura Zapata y Mendoza, Historia cronológica de la Noble Ciudad de Tlaxcala, transcripción paleográfica, traducción, presentación y notas por Luis Reyes García y Andrea Martínez Baracs (Tlaxcala y México: Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, Secretaría de Extensión Universitaria y Difusión Cultural, y Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social, 1995), 348–349.

to:nal = tonalli
Ne tane:stoc ca tu:nal tamiste:ntoc ne corra:l. = El di:a de sol cubre el corral. Yec to:nal Juana. = Buenos di:as Juana. (Sonsonate, El Salvador, Nahuat or Pipil, s. XX)
Tirso Canales, Nahuat (San Salvador: Universidad de El Salvador, Editorial Universitaria, 1996), 19–20.

Ma za xoconmiti. Timotoliniz. Ma zan nel nozo mixcuac xocontlali. Motonal motoliniz. Ma zan achi xoconmopaloti. = Por favor sólo bebe (un poco de pulque.) Tendrás necesidad. O en verdad sólo ponlo sobre la frente. Tu tonalli estará necesitado. Por favor prueba un poco.
Alfredo López Austin, Cuerpo humano e ideología (México: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto de Investigaciones Antropológicas, 1984), 235.

yc tonanli y calaquia Molhuia poniente yn omotaMachiuh ynic patlahuac ynic tonanlia yquizaya Molhuia oriente yhuan yc poniemte zenpohuali yhuan macuili uara Auh ynic norte yhuan ynic sur yepohuali yhuan chiquey vara = de ancho, por donde sale el sol, llamado oriente. Por poniente, y de largo, por donde sale el sol, llamado oriente. Por poniente mide 30 varas. (Tetzcoco, 1759)
Benjamin Daniel Johnson, “Transcripción de los documentos Nahuas de Tezcoco en los Papeles de la Embajada Americana resguardados en el Archivo Histórico de la Biblioteca Nacional de Antropología e Historia de México”, en Documentos nahuas de Tezcoco, Vol. 1, ed. Javier Eduardo Ramírez López (Texcoco: Diócesis de Texcoco, 2018), 210–211.

Ce tonaltica ocalactehuac cente tlacatl cuacuahue = Cierto día entró (a la casa) un hombre toro (s. XX, Milpa Alta)
Los cuentos en náhuatl de Doña Luz Jiménez, recop. Fernando Horcasitas y Sarah O. de Ford (México: UNAM, 1979), 36–37.