Apitzahuacan etc.: The case for verb + -ca:n

[Gordon Whittaker]

Hi John,

You certainly have suggested an interesting alternative analysis for
Apitzahuacan. Of course, we're still stuck with Teotihuacan, which is
usually interpreted as derived from verbal teo:tihua + -ca:n, ignoring the
fact that the name is usually (even fashionably among scholars trying to
score a point or two for exactness at conferences!) pronounced
Teo:tihua'ca:n with a glottal stop, suggesting the chain -hua'-ca:n. As
you know, I am one of the sceptics unconvinced that the name derives from
a verb (originally). In this case, I much prefer an original Teo:hua'ca:n
(as in present-day Tehuacan).

But let's consider some other potential cases for intransitive verb +
-ca:n. Dyckerhoff and Prem in their 1990 study list the following:
     Tlamelahuacan, from tla- + mela:hua 'be(come) straight'
     Caxahuacan, from caxa:hua 'be(come) thin; recede (as of water)'
     Apitzahuacan, from a:- 'water' + pitza:hua 'be(come) thin'
       (to which I would add the meaning 'be(come) narrow')
Dykerhoff and Prem do mention the existence of the participial forms
mela:huac and pitza:huac, but do not seem to regard them as directly
involved in the toponyms.

According to Dyckerhoff and Prem, there are also other types of
intransitive verb + -ca:n, including:
    1. verbs ending in -iuh (from -ihui) and -auh (from -ahui):
       Yahualiuhcan 'Where It is Round', from yahualihui 'be(come) round'
       Tzoncoliuhcan 'Where Hair is Curly / Where It is Curly Like Hair',
         from tzon- 'hair' + co:lihui 'be(come) curled/curly'
       Itztlacozauhcan 'Where the Obsidian is Yellowy / Where Things Are
         Yellowy Like Obsidian', from itz- 'obsidian' + tla- + *cozahui
         'be(come) yellow'
       Icxicozauhcan 'Where Feet are Yellowy', from icxi- 'foot' +
         *cozahui (as above).
    2. verbs ending in -uh (from -hui):
       Yayauhcan 'Where It is Dark', from yaya:hui 'be(come) dark'
       Cua(uh)tlatlauhcan 'Where Heads (or Trees) are Red' (could this be
         Ireland?!), from cua:- 'head' or cuauh- 'tree' + *tlatla:hui
         'be(come) red'
       Atlatlauhcan 'Where the Water is Red', from a:- + *tlatla:hui
       Cuaxoxouhcan 'Where Heads are Blue/Green', from cua:- (as above) +
         xoxo:hui 'be(come) blue/green'.

John, I have to admit, the case for Dyckerhoff and Prem's intransitive
verb + -ca:n is weaker -- if we take these examples in isolation -- than
the case for participle + -ca:n. Above all, in my opinion, because the
derivations require unattested (but, however, solidly reconstructible)
colour verbs in two instances (the starred forms). In contrast, we would
have the attested participles/adjectives mela:huac, caxa:huac, pitza:huac,
yahualiuhqui, co:liuhqui, cozauhqui, yaya:uhqui, tlatla:uhqui, and
xoxo:uhqui.

But there do remain many instances where an etymology involving a deverbal
nominal rather than a verb directly is less plausible. Here are some
examples from an inventory in Dyckerhoff and Prem listing cases of
transitive verb + -ca:n:
    1. Cacalomacan 'Where One Catches Crows', from ca:ca:lo:- 'crow' + ma:
       'catch'
    2. Nacapahuazcan 'Where One Cooks Meat in a Pot', from naca- 'meat' +
       pa:huaci 'cook in a pot'
    3. Tzacualpacan 'Where One Washes the Pyramid', from tzacual- 'hillock;
       (temple-)pyramid' + pa:ca 'wash'

I rather like their etymology for Tlalocan (yeah, I know, who doesn't have
a pet etymology for Tlaloc?!):
    Tlalocan 'Where He Lies Stretched Out On (or As) the Earth', from
tla:l- 'earth' + o 'lie stretched out'. This pertains to the fact that
Tlaloc and the subordinate Tlaloque live in, and are associated with,
the earth, and that the so-called chacmools in their Nahua form
represent Tlaloc stretched out on the earth to receive hearts.

I think there are still plenty of details worth discussing here, and in
many instances I think the analysis can go either way.

Best,
Gordon


> Gordon,
> 	Your example, "There are parallels for toponyms compounded of
> intransitive verb + -ca:n. For example, A:pitza:huaca:n 'Where the
> Water is Narrow'." seemed to blow a hole in the idea that -can is only
> used with preterite nouns. However, Molina has "Pitzauac. cosa
> delgada, (etc)". As we know, the combining form of these kinds of
> nouns is produced by changing the final "c" of the preterite to the
> older "ca", giving "pitzahuaca-". The locative "n" is then suffixed to
> form the place name. "Pitzahua" is both intransitive and transitive,
> so a decision would have to be made as to whether "atl" is functioning
> as an object or an adverb.
> 	The sense of apitzahuacan is pretty much the same is cholollan (from
> "chololli", "salto de agua"): it's the place where the river ravine
> narrows, producing a gush of water, reminiscent of the "breaking of
> the water" of the lake of Aztlan, pregnant with the original nahua
> clan founders.
> John
>
> John Sullivan, Ph.D.
> Professor of Nahua language and culture
> Universidad Aut?noma de Zacatecas
> Zacatecas Institute of Teaching and Research in Ethnology
> Tacuba 152, int. 43
> Centro Hist?rico
> Zacatecas, Zac. 98000
> Mexico
> Work: +52 (492) 925-3415
> Fax: +1 (858) 724-3030 (U.S.A.)
> Home: +52 (492) 768-6048
> Mobile: +52 1 (492) 103-0195
> idiez at me.com
> www.macehualli.org


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gordon Whittaker
Professor
Linguistische Anthropologie und Altamerikanistik
Seminar fuer Romanische Philologie
Universitaet Goettingen
Humboldtallee 19
37073 Goettingen
Germany
tel./fax (priv.): ++49-5594-89333
tel. (office): ++49-551-394188
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


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