tlacamayeh
[tɬaːkamaːjeʔ]
The English word bear is translated into Nahuatl as tlacamayeh.
tlacamayeh is a noun used to refer to a large mammal of the family Ursidae.
Meaning: large mammal of family Ursidae (noun)
Did you know?
- The word tlacamayeh is a compound built from roots that literally mean 'man-eater'.
- Because bears are not indigenous to the heartland of the Aztec Empire, the concept of a 'bear' was virtually absent from classical Nahuatl poetry and codices.
- Nahuatl uses a process called agglutination to form tlacamayeh, sticking multiple small meaning-units together to create a single long word.
Example sentences for Nahuatl are not verified yet.
Example conversation
Two people are looking at a picture book of animals.
- CitlaliXicoténcatl, ¿tlein ca in tlacamayeh?Xicoténcatl, what are the bears?
- XicoténcatlTlacamayeh ca in tlacuani tlapalli.Bears are colorful eaters.
- CitlaliNiyehuatl tlacamayeh tlen ca in tlalpan.I see bears that are on the ground.
- XicoténcatlQuahui tlacamayeh in tlalpan.Bears live on the ground.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “bear” translations and entries tlacamayeh, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
