Tula vs. Teotihuacan

[John Sullivan, Ph.D.]

Listeros,
	Here is what I know about how the word "Teotihuacan" is put together.
	First, the ending "-can" is actually two pieces: the "-ca-" is the  
old preterite suffix, which is used as a ligature between what come  
before, a preterite agentive noun, and what comes at the end, in this  
case, the locative "-n". So, the idea is that in most cases (there is  
an exception, which I comment on below), when you see "-can", it will  
be stuck on the end of a preterite agentive noun.
	Second, the most common agentive formations that have "-can" stuck  
on them are made up of a noun, with one of three suffixes stuck on  
the end: "-eh" and "-huah" mean "owner of something", and "-yoh",  
also means "owner of something", but with the special sense of  
"covered with something". All three of these suffixes are preterite  
agentive formations, so they can take "-can".
	Third, in a few cases, "-can" is stuck on a regular noun stem.
	So finally, you have to ask yourself the question: what is the noun  
that comes before the "-can" in Teotihuacan. Is it the "teotihuah"  
which has the preterite agentive "-huah". In this case it would mean  
"place of the owner(s) of "teoti-tl" or teotih-tli", whatever that  
means. This is why I suggested originally that the "-ti-" may be a  
form of "tletl/tlitl/titl", "fire", giving "place of the owners of  
divine fire" or something like that.
	It is also possible that the noun before "-can" is a regular  
preterite agentive noun, "teotihuac" (coming from a hypothetical  
class 1 verb) or "teotihuah(qui)" (coming from a hypothetical class 4  
verb). In any case I have never heard of these verbs.
	Finally, it is possible that this is a rare case of "-can" being  
stuck on a regular noun. In this case there would be a noun,  
"teotihua-tl", or teotihuah-tli". And I have never heard of these  
either.
	This is why the etymology of Teotihuacan is not transparent. And as  
far as I know, it has not been explained.
John

John Sullivan, Ph.D.
Profesor de lengua y cultura nahua
Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas
Instituto de Docencia e Investigación Etnológica de Zacatecas, A.C.
Tacuba 152, int. 47
Centro Histórico
Zacatecas, Zac. 98000
México
Oficina: +52 (492) 925-3415
Fax: +52 (492) 925-3416
Domicilio: +52 (492) 768-6048
Celular: +52 (492) 118-0854
idiez at mac.com
www.idiez.org.mx




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