Horacio Carochi

Horacio Carochi (* 1579 or 1586 in Florence as Horazio Carocci, † 1662 or 1666 in Mexico City) was a Florentine Jesuit priest who is known for his grammar of the Classical Nahuatl.

Life

Carochi was born in Florence. He went to Rome and joined the Jesuit Order. From Rome he went to the New World, the Viceroyalty of New Spain, today's Mexico. There he devoted himself to the study of the indigenous languages ​​, including Nahuatl and Otomí.

He was a friend of the bishop and later Viceroy of New Spain by Juan de Palafox y Mendoza ( 1600-1659 ).

Work

Carochi had a fairly accurate understanding of the Otomí and Nahuatl language, and he was the first grammarian, who took into account the syllable length in his spelling of Nahuatl and represented the voiceless glottal plosive with a Saltillo. His Arte de la Lengva Mexicana con la declaración de los adverbios della was laid 1645 by Juan Ruyz and became shortly afterwards of great importance. Carochi also wrote a grammar of Otomi language, which is, however, no longer exists.

Writings

• Arte de la Lengua Mexicana de todos sus con la declaración adverbios
• Vocabulario de la Lengua copioso mexicana
• Gramática de la Lengua Otomí
• Vocabulario Otomí
• Sermones en Lengua Mexicana

Expenditure

• Grammar of the Mexican Language. With an Explanation of Its Adverbs (1645 ). Translated by James Lockhart. Stanford University Press, 2001