altepetl

[zorrah at ATT.NET]

Maybe I didn’t understand the lesson in the “Chimalpahin” thread, but can someone please clarify why "altepetl" does not follow the general assimilation patterns as these other examples do:

General Assimilation Examples:

1)  na:huatl + tlahto:lli (word, language) = na:huallahto:lli 'Nahuatl language'

2)  a:tl + tla:lli (earth) = a:tla:lli 'irrigated land'

3)  a:tl + tlapechtli (bed) = a:tlape:chtli 'slope, side of a gully'

Also, in examples 2 and 3, is it the presence of the long vowel “a:” stem that is left after the -tl is dropped, only to be confronted with a twin “absolutive suffix-looking tl-” (of course the tl- of tla:lli or tlape:chtli is NOT absolutive)

Looking at altepetl, is it the strong “a:” stem again, who this time will accept a half-image or mirror-image of its former self?

4)  a:tl (water) + tepe:tl (hill) = a:ltepe:tl (town, pueblo)

What is going on here?

citlalin xochime
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