Ehecatl (MH733r)

The reduplication of the first syllable of the name in this divine force (as it appears in the gloss) is unusual in glosses associated with hieroglyphs. The usual spelling is Ecatl, which we have tried to preserve. Further research is required to understand the differences between ecatl (air, breath), and ehecatl (wind). But, if the shortening of the name is intentional, it may be a response to the edict of 1540 prohibiting the naming of Nahua children after deities that led to a favoring of Ecatl over Ehecatl, as a kind of disguise. See Norma Angélica Castilla Palma, "Las huellas del oficio y lo sagrado en los nombres nahuas de familias y barrios de Cholula," Dimensión Antropológica v. 65 (sept.-dic. 2015), 186. Castilla also mentions how there were pressures to stop using names from the tonalpohualli, and this led to the dropping of the number that went with the day name. Such a number is absent here. So the whole result is a lessening of the sacred aspects, perhaps mainly for the sake of outsiders.