Water spirits (nanacatl/ahuacueh)

[Juergen Stowasser]

tom grigsby schrieb:

> Dear David,
> Thanks for you input regarding the “chan.”  I don’t know the term, but it
> probably comes from “chantia,” morar en un lugar, according to de Molina.

yes, it does. "chane" means literally "habitant" (e.g. habitant of an altepetl
or a house). But as David pointed out, the term is also applied to "spirits",
"owners" of a place: in northern Veracruz "chanehque" are described as "duenos
de lugares" . They are said to mock people sometimes ("broman como duendes").
There are achanehque (a-chane) = water spirits and tepechanehque = mountain
owners/spirits.

best
Jürgen

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Juergen Stowasser
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