-tecatl (-teco), -tlan

[Frye, David L]

Thanks for the correction. I shouldn't have tried answering without Frances Karttunen's Analytical Dictionary in front of me. She has: 
 
-te:ca-tl (pl, -te:cah), "This ending replaces -TLA:N in place names to yield 'resident of, person from' that place, TEPOZTE:CATL 'person from Tepoztlan.'"
 
-tla:n "Place of, at... This commonly forms place names." (etc.)
 
 

________________________________

From: Nahua language and culture discussion on behalf of Steffen Haurholm-Larsen
Sent: Thu 10/14/2004 8:00 AM
To: NAHUAT-L at LISTS.UMN.EDU
Subject: Regarding Frye's analysis of Zacatlan

As I was reading the message below which was a response to the "Coahuila"
discussion I could'nt help but notice the analysis of "zacatlan" as
consisting of "zacatl" and a supposed suffix "-an" to form the locative
expression of "the grass place" or "place of grass". In the analysis the
suffix "-an" is translated as "place".
I do belive, however, that this suffix does not exist in nahuatl, at least
not in that form. I think that the suffix in use here is "-tlan" meaning
originally "under" but tanking the meaning of "by" or "at"(Michel Launey:
1992, p. 219.) Then the analysis would be that by the derrivation the word
"zacatl" looses its indefinit suffix "-tl" and in stead is suffigated
"-tlan" to form the placename "Zacatlan".
It is the same suffix that appears in the placename of the Mexica capital
Tenochtitlan only in that particular case with the ligature "-ti-" between
the nominal root and the suffix.

My best regards
Steffen Haurholm- Larsen,
University of Copenhagen