Principal English Translation:
Horacio Carochi / English:
yēhua = earlier
ye yēhua = a longer time, a good while ago
ye cuēl yēhua ōnitlaquâ = it is a long time since I ate
ye huel yēhua ōnitlaquâ = It is a very long time since I ate
Horacio Carochi, S.J., Grammar of the Mexican Language with an Explanation of its Adverbs (1645), translated and edited with commentary by James Lockhart, UCLA Latin American Studies Volume 89 (Stanford: Stanford University Press, UCLA Latin American Center Publications, 2001), 355.