Fwd: Re: (no subject)

[Michael McCafferty]

----- Forwarded message from tom_grigsby at yahoo.com -----
    Date: Sat, 28 Aug 2010 04:00:53 -0700 (PDT)
    From: grigsby tom <tom_grigsby at yahoo.com>
Reply-To: grigsby tom <tom_grigsby at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Nahuat-l] (no subject)
      To: Michael McCafferty <mmccaffe at indiana.edu>

Dear Michael,
Thanks for your input.
I agree concerning the mystery.  The village has just about run out of 
competent Nahuatl speakers and I suspect the term had undergone some 
changes by the younger generation.  I'd suspect that it was originally 
something along the lines that Sullivan has suggested: Atzohtzonpantla 
- water+reduplicated hair+spreads out. 
Thanks again,
Tom


G.S. Rakovski St., No.79
Boboshevo, 2660 Bulgaria
GSM: 359 0899 784 081

--- On Sat, 8/28/10, Michael McCafferty <mmccaffe at indiana.edu> wrote:


From: Michael McCafferty <mmccaffe at indiana.edu>
Subject: Re: [Nahuat-l] (no subject)
To: "John Sullivan" <idiez at me.com>
Cc: nahuatl at lists.famsi.org
Date: Saturday, August 28, 2010, 5:27 AM


Perhaps it reduplicated historically orthographically, that is, despite
its pronunciation.

It's a mystery. It appears no one can tell what it means.

Michael

Quoting John Sullivan <idiez at me.com>:

> One problem is that tzontli doesn't reduplicate with the "n". It
> would be tzohtzon- or tzo:tzon- or tzotzon-.
> John
>
> On Aug 26, 2010, at 9:09 PM, Michael McCafferty wrote:
>
>> Tom:
>>
>> Interesting name.
>>
>> Maybe someone has a good, quick answer for you. Here's what I can see
>> on the surface of things.
>>
>> tzompa:mitl is Nahuatl for 'coral tree'
>>
>> tzompantli is Nahuatl for 'skull rack'
>>
>> Either could give you "tzompantla", indicating a "place where there is
>> an abundance," /-tlah/, of either coral trees or skull racks. Vowel
>> length is the diff.
>>
>> "tzontzompantla" would appear to indicate a distributive nature for
>> the above.
>>
>> A- in "Atzontzompantla" would turn all this into water. Splash!
>>
>> Now what does this mean? I don't know.
>>
>> Maybe there is or was a spring in the area that, as it came out of the
>> ground, radiated in a way that reminded people, visually, of the
>> flowers of a coral tree?
>>
>> Michael
>>
>>
>> Quoting grigsby tom <tom_grigsby at yahoo.com>:
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Estimados Listeros,
>>>
>>> A long time ago I collected for the village ojo de agua the word
>>> Atzontzompantla, which in Tepoztecan folk etymology was said to mean
>>> "the place where the water spreads out like hair."  from ? water+head
>>> hair+flag-like.  Any other suggestions or is this an acceptable gloss?
>>> Thanks,
>>>
>>> Tom Grigsby
>>>
>>> Actually the old folks waxed a lot more poetic and with romantic
>>> license with something like, "Place where the water spreads out like
>>> the hair of a woman."
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Nahuatl mailing list
>> Nahuatl at lists.famsi.org
>> http://www.famsi.org/mailman/listinfo/nahuatl
>
>



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