Words of Nahuatl Origin

Jim Rader jrader at m-w.com
Wed Dec 1 21:00:18 UTC 1999


I believe Karen Dakin was one of the authors of this article, because
she mentioned it to me in e-correspondence last May.  The other
author is Soeren Wichmann.  Their theory is that the Nahuatl etymon
was <chikola:tl>, a word she says is attested in eastern Nahuatl
dialects.  I hesitate to provide further details if the article is
now in print and the data is presented somewhat differently.  Is
Karen on this list?  Maybe she could respond.  I haven't seen the
article.

Jim Rader



> At 11:07 AM 12/1/1999 -0700, you wrote:
> >chocolate - as i know - from "xocolatl" ("atl"=water and "xokolli"="sour
> >
> >fruit", both are also nahuatl words)
>
> There is an article which is appearing in Ancient Mesoamerica which
> questions this etymology.  As I recall the authors conclude that the word
> actually come from the use of the "molinillo" to stir up the chocolate for
> drinking.  If anyone knows the reference I'd appreciate it.  I saw the
> article under submission but don't know if/when it was ever published.
>
> J. F. Schwaller
>
>
> John Frederick Schwaller                             schwallr at selway.umt.edu
> Associate Provost                                        406-243-4722
> The University of Montana                           FAX 406-243-5937
>                           http://www.umt.edu/history/NAHUATL/
>



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