Interpreters have sometimes played crucial roles in history. A prime example is La Malinche, also known as Malintzin, Malinalli and Doña Marina, an early-16th-century Nahua woman from the Mexican Gulf Coast. As a child she had been sold or given to Maya slave-traders from Xicalango, and thus had become bilingual. Subsequently given along with other women to the invading Spaniards, she became instrumental in the Spanish conquest of Mexico, acting as interpreter, adviser, intermediary and lover to Hernán Cortés. COUNT 5
QSN1 What roles have interpreters occasionally played in history? ANS1 crucial QSN2 Where were the slave-traders La Malinche was sold or given to from? ANS2 Xicalango QSN3 What region did La Malinche hail from? ANS3 Mexican Gulf Coast QSN4 What was La Malinche essential to? ANS4 Spanish conquest of Mexico QSN5 In addition to being an interpreter and adviser, what function did La Malinche serve for Hernán Cortés? ANS5 lover