(eh)ecatl

[M Launey]

Yes, « Cerro del viento » es Ecatepec (/eka-tepe:-k/ or possibly /e:ka-tepe:-k/)

In the common word for « wind », written ehecatl, èecatl or just eecatl in the texts, we find a reduplication with saltillo.

The pronunciation of the saltillo is unclear from the descriptions of classical Nahuatl. In modern dialects, you can find a glottal occlusive /Ɂ/ or spirant /h/, according to the dialect and/or the place in the word (and sometimes it is just mute), but I must confess that I'm not very proficient in modern Nahuatl dialectology.

I can’t remember seeing ecatl in the corpus, but it is very common in composition, such as (precisely) Ecatepec, eca-toc-o « he is pushed by the wind », etc. (there is half a page of such compound words in Molina’s dictionary).

For the length of /e/ : I do not know convincing evidence. I can’t find the word (nor the verb eheca, èeca) in Carochi’s (1645) nor in Aldama and Guevara’s (1754) grammars, that mark vowel length. Karttunen in her dictionary gives it long : ehēca = /e’ēka/. Maybe she takes some evidence from the Bancroft Dialogues, where vowel length is also marked, but she doesn't mention it and I realize that my copy of the Bancroft has been lost somewhere in my latest move. As far as I know, there is no evidence for /eɁ/. In Milpa Alta, where the saltillo would appear very clearly in this position, you find yehyecatl (with the common diphtongization of initial /e/, and an unfortunately unclear vowel length), not *yehyehcatl. I’m ready to consider other evidence.

Best

M.L.




> Message du 22/09/14 20:44
> De : micc2 at cox.net
> A : nahuatl at lists.famsi.org, "Michael McCafferty" 
> Copie à : 
> Objet : Re: [Nahuat-l] Nahuatl Digest, Vol 350, Issue 2
> 
> wouldn't it be ehecatepec? Like today's "Ecatepec" outside of Mexico City....
> 
> 
> 
> ...."Good question. It looks like it had two pronunciations in the old days. 
> 
> But first, your term means 'viento' not 'cerro del viento. 
> 
> For your term, Andrews has Ehehcatl......"
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