Yucatan etymology

[Jim Rader]

Hope someone is out there not on vacation from their computers.
Happy Holidays to all from the snowy northeast US.

Lyle Campbell, in his book _American Indian Languages: The
Historical Linguistics of Native America_ (p. 403, n. 27) has the
following as an etymology of "Yucatec":

"Apparently from Nahuatl <yo(?)ka(:)-> 'richness, inheritance' + <-
te:ka-> 'inhabitant of place of'; compare <Yucatan>, from
<yo(?)ka(:)-> 'richness' + <-tla:n> 'place of'."

Is this a generally accepted etymology?  I can't find a stem
<yo(?)ka(:)-> in the few resources I have at hand (Fran Karttunen's
dictionary, the vocabulary to Andrews' textbook).  "Yucatan" looks
to be of Nahuatl origin, but is there a "Yocatlan" actually attested
in the Sahagunian corpus or elsewhere?

Thanks for any help--Jim Rader


Jim Rader
Etymology Editor
Merriam-Webster, Inc.
47 Federal St., P.O. Box 281
Springfield MA 01102
http://www.merriamwebster.com