-tla:n and -tlan

[Chichiltic Coyotl]

The short answer to your query is that there are two locative suffixes and
both are spelt the same. The only difference is the vowel length: -tla:n
(long vowel length) and -tlan.

Unfortunately, this is where it gets a little confusing. I located two
sources to explain the meanings, however, both sources contradict each other
when referring to the vowel length.

The sources with their explanations are:

1) "An Analytical Dictionary of Nahuatl - 1983 Edition"
========================================================
-tla:n (long vowel) meaning "place of / place at". In the dictionary the "a"
has a small line above (a macron, I believe) and this marks the vowel as
long. This suffix connects directly to a noun stem when creating place
names.
e.g. Tepoztla:n i.e tepoztli + -tla:n

-tlan meaning "below, next to (the base of), among". This suffix can only
affix to a noun stem to form a place name via -ti- (a thing called a
ligature or a connector).
e.g. Cuauhtitlan  i.e. cuahuitl + ti + tlan

2) "A Posting By F Karttunen - May 1999"
========================================
"There are two locative suffixes that are spelled '-tlan'. One is actually
-tlan with a short vowel and means 'place of/at'.
The other is -tla:n and means 'below, next to the base of'. You can tell
these two apart even if vowel length is not marked, because the second one,
-tla:n, attaches to the noun with -ti-."

These are the two sources. As you can see they are very similar except for
the contradiction in which suffix has a long vowel. Which one is correct - I
do not know. Maybe someone on the list can clarify.


>
>When a Nahuatl placename means "among the X", it seems to be sometimes
>{X-tlan} and sometimes {X-titlan), e.g. {Tula} < {Tollan} = "among the
>reeds",
>{Tenochtitlan} = "among the rock prickly-pears". And I found a
>mixed-language
>placename {Hidalgotitlan}. What decides whether to insert the "-ti-"?
>
>Re names, is {Ci:tlalya:ni} acceptable for "star traveller"?

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