Words of Nahuatl Origin

[marisol]

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There is a fantastic book:

"The True History of Chocolate"
by Sophie and Michael D. Coe
Thames and Hudson, London

including, among thousands of interesting things, an extensive analysis of
the etymology of the words "cacao" and "chocolate". The issue was discussed
in this list a couple of years ago if I remember well, under the subject
"Theobroma cacao".  Maybe John Swaller recalls the outcome.

By the way, does anyone know if the book has been translated into Spanish or
other Neo-Latin languages?

Susana Moraleda



-----Original Message-----
From: micc <micc at home.com>
To: Multiple recipients of list <nahuat-l at server.umt.edu>
Date: giovedì 2 dicembre 1999 2.20
Subject: Re: Words of Nahuatl Origin


>The cacao part appears to be a direct loan word from the maya....who
>seemed to enjoy it amost as much as I do today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>
>a8803917 wrote:
>>
>> 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
>
>


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