an earwig (Psalis americana), or something forked (see Karttunen)
IPAspelling:
mɑʃɑlli
Frances Karttunen:
MAXAL-LI pl: -TIN earwig (Psalis americana), something forked / tijerilla (animalito) (T), horqueta, horcón (Z,X for CUAUHMAXAL-LI) [(1)Tp. 140, (4)Zp. 69, 122, 148, 149]. Despite the vowel length discrepancy, this appears to be related to MĀXTLA-TL ‘breechclout.’ M has maxaltic ‘something divided like a road or the crotch of a tree.’ The absolutive form is attested in the compound CUAUHMAXAL-LI. It is possible that the insect name should take absolutive –IN rather than –TLI. T is ambiguous between the two. Frances Karttunen, An Analytical Dictionary of Nahuatl (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1992), 141.