albacea.

(a loanword from Spanish)

Headword: 
albacea.
Principal English Translation: 

executor of a will (see attestations)

Orthographic Variants: 
albasea, albansea, albasia, alfasea, aluacia, aluacia
Lockhart’s Nahuatl as Written: 

albacēah = executor of a will, Sp. albacea
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), 210.

Attestations from sources in English: 

alquazias, alquazeastin, alquaziasme = various spellings for albaceas (some with the q crossed out in afterthought?) all in the same document, the eighteenth obligation given to members of a cofradía or lay brotherhood (Central Mexico, 1552)
Fray Alonso de Molina, Nahua Confraternities in Early Colonial Mexico: The 1552 Nahuatl Ordinances of fray Alonso de Molina, OFM, ed. and trans., Barry D. Sell (Berkeley: Academy of American Franciscan History, 2002), 122.

imixpa noalbasea ihuan notestigos = before my executor and my witnesses (San Pedro Calimaya, Toluca Valley, 1755)
Caterina Pizzigoni, ed., Testaments of Toluca (Stanford: Stanford University Press and UCLA Latin American Center Publications, 2007), 195.

noalbasiashua yesque ca yehuatzi = my executors are to be (San Bartolomé Tlatelolco, Toluca Valley, 1731)
Caterina Pizzigoni, ed., Testaments of Toluca (Stanford: Stanford University Press and UCLA Latin American Center Publications, 2007), 96.

Yhua niquitohua y nohualvasiahua yesque huatzinzti Do bernaVel niColas yhua JuÇeph de la Cruz = And I say that those who are to be my executors are don Bernabé Nicolás and Josef de la Cruz
(San Bartolomé Tlatelolco, Toluca Valley, 1715)
Caterina Pizzigoni, ed., Testaments of Toluca (Stanford: Stanford University Press and UCLA Latin American Center Publications, 2007), 94.

imixpa aluaciasme = in the presence of the executors (San Bartolomé Atenco, Coyoacan, 1617)
Beyond the Codices, eds. Arthur J.O. Anderson, Frances Berdan, and James Lockhart (Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center, 1976), Doc. 3, 62–63.

yn noalbaceas yezque (Tlaxcala, 1566)
Beyond the Codices, eds. Arthur J.O. Anderson, Frances Berdan, and James Lockhart (Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center, 1976), Doc. 1.

yn nopan motlatoltizque niquinnonahuatilia alfaceas yn ipa[n] motlatoltizque naniman = as to those who will speak for me, I appoint as my executors who can speak for my soul... (Coyoacan, 1588)
Beyond the Codices, eds. Arthur J.O. Anderson, Frances Berdan, and James Lockhart (Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center, 1976), Doc. 2, 56–57.

y noalbaçiashuan (Chiucnauhapan, Coyoacan, 1608)
Frances Karttunen and James Lockhart, Nahuatl in the Middle Years: Language Contact Phenomena in Texts of the Colonial Period, Linguistics 85 (Los Angeles, University of California Publications, 1976), Doc. 3.

yehuan quimati y noalbaceashuan (Coyoacan, 1622)
Beyond the Codices, eds. Arthur J.O. Anderson, Frances Berdan, and James Lockhart (Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center, 1976), Doc. 4.

noalbanse[...] (Centlalpan, Chalco, 1736)
Frances Karttunen and James Lockhart, Nahuatl in the Middle Years: Language Contact Phenomena in Texts of the Colonial Period, Linguistics 85 (Los Angeles, University of California Publications, 1976), Doc. 10.

aquihque nopan motlatoltisque noalbaseas (Metepec, 1795)
Beyond the Codices, eds. Arthur J.O. Anderson, Frances Berdan, and James Lockhart (Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center, 1976), Doc. 6.

yhuan niquitohua Ca nehuatl ninochihua albaSea nicnopalehuilis nicnocuitlahuiz yn canin toctiez yn itlalnacayo. = “And I say that I make myself executor; I will help her and take care of where her earthly body will lie buried” (Pizzigoni ed. 2007: 89).
Loans in Colonial and Modern Nahuatl, eds. Agnieszka Brylak, Julia Madajczak, Justyna Olko, and John Sullivan, Trends in Linguistics Documentation 35 (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2020), 69.

Axcan domingo yc xiii mani metztli y novienbre mil y quios y ochenta ano͞ s yn tehuantin martin de s.diago anton Jacobo albacias topileque otinotzalloqueynipanpaynomiquilliqueynatle quichiuhtiaque testamento yn itoca catca miguel Ecoc yhua yn inamic catca. = “Today, Sunday, the 13rd of the month of November of the year 1580, we, Martín de Santiago and Antón Jacobo, executors-topileque, were called because one whose name was Miguel Ecoc and his late wife died without making testaments” (Cline & León- Portilla eds. 1983: 84).
Loans in Colonial and Modern Nahuatl, eds. Agnieszka Brylak, Julia Madajczak, Justyna Olko, and John Sullivan, Trends in Linguistics Documentation 35 (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2020), 69.

ynhua niquitohua notepa- tlatoCatzin moChictzinos noAlvasia Ca llehuatzin Dn tomas Julia ytla quali quimoChilis Ca tto Dios quimoxtlahuilis nopanpa. = “And I say that the one who is to become my intercessor and executor is don Tomás Julián; if he does it well, our lord God will reward him on my behalf” (Melton- Villanueva ed. 2012: 244).
Loans in Colonial and Modern Nahuatl, eds. Agnieszka Brylak, Julia Madajczak, Justyna Olko, and John Sullivan, Trends in Linguistics Documentation 35 (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2020), 69.

yxpanomochiuhmi͞n͞ des.diago albaçia topille. = “Done before Martín de Santiago, executor- topileh” (Culhuacan, 1580–1581; Cline & León-Portilla eds. 1983: 106).
Loans in Colonial and Modern Nahuatl, eds. Agnieszka Brylak, Julia Madajczak, Justyna Olko, and John Sullivan, Trends in Linguistics Documentation 35 (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2020), 69.

Ymixpan omochiuh augustin vazquez Miguel Joseph po de sanct nicollas dio Ellias aluaçia topilleque barbara tlacoh ynac yn cocoxqui ye momiquilliznequi. = “Done before Agustín Vázquez, Miguel Josef, Pedro de San Nicolás, and Diego Elías, executors-topilehqueh; Bárbara
alambre albacea major Tlaco, wife of the sick person who is about to die” (Culhuacan, 1580–1581; Cline & León-Portilla eds. 1983: 170).
Loans in Colonial and Modern Nahuatl, eds. Agnieszka Brylak, Julia Madajczak, Justyna Olko, and John Sullivan, Trends in Linguistics Documentation 35 (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2020), 69.

ytetzinco pouhqui yn magna tiacanpa yn inamictzin gabriel maldo alvaçea mayor. = “And it belongs to Magdalena Tiacapan, wife of Gabriel Maldonado, chief executor” (Culhuacan 1580–1581; Cline & León-Portilla eds. 1983: 58).
Loans in Colonial and Modern Nahuatl, eds. Agnieszka Brylak, Julia Madajczak, Justyna Olko, and John Sullivan, Trends in Linguistics Documentation 35 (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2020), 70.

Ininn omochiuh testamento yntencopatzinco yn yehuantzitzi alvaçeasti gabriel maldo alvaçea mayor m͞i͞n de sdiago Antonio Jacobo aluaçilesme. = “This testament was done by the order of the exec- utors, Gabriel Maldonado, chief executor, and Martín de Santiago, and Antonio Jacobo, alguaciles” (Culhuacan 1580–1581; Cline & León-Portilla eds. 1983:
Loans in Colonial and Modern Nahuatl, eds. Agnieszka Brylak, Julia Madajczak, Justyna Olko, and John Sullivan, Trends in Linguistics Documentation 35 (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2020), 79.

Imixpantzinco alvaçeas gabriel maldonado alvaçea mayor marti de s tiago anton Jacobo alguaçilesme. “Before the executors, Gabriel Maldonado, chief executor, and Martín de Santiago and Antón Jacobo, alguaciles” (Culhuacan 1580–1581; Cline & León-Portilla eds. 1983:
Loans in Colonial and Modern Nahuatl, eds. Agnieszka Brylak, Julia Madajczak, Justyna Olko, and John Sullivan, Trends in Linguistics Documentation 35 (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2020), 70.

Attestations from sources in Spanish: 

Auh in izquitetl misas nopan mochiuaz yeuan quimatih in albaceas = Y las misas que por mí se hobieren de decir, dejo en manos de mis albaceas (Ocotelulco, Tlaxcala, 1562)
Vidas y bienes olvidados: Testamentos indígenas novohispanos, vol. 2, Testamentos en náhuatl y castellano del siglo XVI, eds., Teresa Rojas Rabiela, Elsa Leticia Rea López, Constantino Medina Lima (Mexico: Consejo Nacional de Ciencias Tecnología, 1999), 126–127.

nitlanauatia yn albaceas mochiuan ytoca Diegu de las Casas euatl ypan tlatoz ynopilhuan = mando que ha de ser mi albecea Diego de las Casas, que hablará por mis hijos
Vidas y bienes olvidados: Testamentos indígenas novohispanos, vol. 1, Testamentos en castellano del siglo XVI y en náhuatl y castellano de Ocotelulco de los siglos XVI y XVII, eds. Teresa Rojas Rabiela, Elsa Leticia Rea López, y Constantino Medina Lima (Mexico: CIESAS, 1999), 220–221.

niquinixquetza noalvaceasua = nombro por mis albaceas (Ciudad de Mexico, 1577)
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), 172.

albaceasme (doble plural)
Martín de León, Camino al cielo en lengua mexicana (Mexico: Diego López, 1611), f. 140r.

See also: