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<TITLE> Re: Nahuatl Fiction / ficción Nahuatl</TITLE>
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<DIV id=idOWAReplyText63907 dir=ltr>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>It is hard to infer the
language / ethnicity of the indigenous inhabitants of a place by looking at the
place name. Place names are easily translated from one language to another, and
some places have multiple names in multiple languages. </FONT></DIV>
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<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>Almost all the place names on
the map of Oaxaca are in Nahuatl (plus the Spanish saint name): these are the
names given them originally by Nahua overlords, while the indigenous Mixtec,
Zapotec, etc. speakers continue (to this day) to call the towns by their Mixtec,
Zapotec, etc. names--which do not appear on any maps. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>The names of places all
across Guatemala are Nahuatl translations of Maya place names, which were given
not by Nahua overlords but by the Tlaxcalteca soldiers who conquered the country
under Spanish rule. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>As for Nicaragua,
...?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial size=2>In the case of Omotepec > Omotepe, the
absence of final "c" could be a local pronunciation, or it just as likely could
be a Spanish interpretation. (There is no final "c" in Spanish, and almost all
Spanish speakers will either drop it or convert it to the syllable
"que").</FONT></DIV></DIV>
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<FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>From:</B> Nahua language and culture discussion on
behalf of davius sanctex<BR><B>Sent:</B> Wed 7/21/2004 7:16 PM<BR><B>To:</B>
NAHUAT-L@lists.umn.edu<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re: Nahuatl Fiction / ficción
Nahuatl<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV>
<P><FONT size=2>But in Managua Lake there is a small island named /ometepe/
clearly one form<BR>of nahuatl /ome-tepe-k/ (in fact the litte island is formed
by two little<BR>hills). I think that this was the territory of the "nicaraos",
a people whom<BR>Spaniards saw first time books in the New World. I think it is
difficult<BR>that a placename was given by the ruling class, perhaps the
existence of a<BR>placename like /ometepe/ 'two-hill-' suggest that there was
some nahua<BR>migrations to that latitude. [in fact the lacking /-k/ suggest
that the<BR>placename /ometepe/ was from a divergent form of nahuatl].<BR><BR>Am
I dreaming about all this? :-)<BR>Davius S.<BR><BR><BR><BR>---<BR>Outgoing mail
is certified Virus Free.<BR>Checked by AVG anti-virus system (<A
href="http://www.grisoft.com">http://www.grisoft.com</A>).<BR>Version: 6.0.719 /
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12/07/2004<BR></FONT></P></DIV>
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