Words of Nahuatl Origin

[a8803917]

chile comes from the nahuatl-word "chilli" (cf also "chiltic"=red) and
chocolate - as i know - from "xocolatl" ("atl"=water and "xokolli"="sour

fruit", both are also nahuatl words)
concerning the etymology of "cacao"(cacaoatl in nahuatl) i was told in
the nahua region of northern veracruz that the word derives from
"cacahuatic"= "hueco al dentro", what would make certain sense of you
think of the sound when you shake a cacao seed - but i´m not 100% sure
in that and would be pleased to hear the opinion of a linguist to that
question)

                          saludos, juergen

Jorge Perez de Lara schrieb:

> A clarification concerning a listero's recent posting:
>
> >I am wondering if there is a list of english and/or spanish words
> >that are strictly nahuatl in origin. I think chili and chocolate
> >are two of the examples.
>
>   "Chili" is actually a mis-spelling of the word "chile" and
> although this word probably has a Nahuatl origin, I am not
> completely sure of it. The foodstuff that goes by this name is
> not called "chile" in any other Spanish-speaking country outside
> Mexico and parts of Central America, but instead is called "ají".
>
>   As for "chocolate", this word is only partially Nahuatl in
> origin. The cacao (this word is probably an Mixe-Zoquean in
> origin: "kakaw") drink consumed by the elites in a lot of
> Mesoamerica was actually known as "cacauatl" (literally, cacao
> water) among Nahuatl-speaking peoples at the time of the arrival
> of the Spaniards. The word "chocolate" by which it became known
> throughout the world was probably generated by mixing the Mayan
> name for the beverage "chocol-ha" (hot water) and its Nahuatl
> name, to produce the word "chocol-atl", which ultimately became
> "chocolate" (the ubiquitous Nahuatl word "atl" was always turned
> into "ate" -pronounced 'a-tay' in Spanish-). Sophie and Mike Coe,
> in their wonderful 'The True History of Chocolate', posit that
> the Spaniards did not like the idea of drinking a dark brown
> beverage that went by the name of "caca...". Although this is an
> amusing possibility to consider, the truth is that nobody knows
> how they came to mix the Mayan and Nahuatl names for the beverage.
>
> Jorge Perez de Lara
> Mexico
>
> jorgepl at infosel.net.mx

--
Juergen Stowasser
Burggasse 114/2/8
A-1070 Wien/Vien(n)a
Austria