Talk:Chihuahua

Etymology

Etymology is not Spanish. — This unsigned comment was added by Xihuanmollinia (talk • contribs).

Do you suggest it entered English directly from a native language? — Ungoliant ^(falai) 20:39, 31 January 2021 (UTC)

This state’s name is particularly tricky haha. Perhaps it could show more as the English etymology listing for the State of Illinois: ‘ From a French adaptation of an Algonquian (perhaps Ojibwe) name derived from Miami ilenweewa (“he speaks the regular way”).’. There are a lot words that entered English via from Spanish through a native language- see Coyote page, it says from Spanish and then Proto-Nahuan. Just found it odd, The Spanish lists the state’s etymology as unknown too! there is a Wikipedia page with some possible etymologies for Chihuahua (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Mexican_state_name_etymologies) — This unsigned comment was added by Xihuanmollinia (talk • contribs).

@Xihuanmollinia, that’s a good point, the section is lacking some important information. I wouldn’t characterise it as “not Spanish” though; there’s no incorrect information in the section as it stands.

We use this “inverted order” (i.e. from B via A as opposed to the typical from A, from B) somewhat arbitrarily. I get the impression that it is mainly used when the intermediary language is felt to not have contributed significantly to the semantic, phonetic or grammatical properties of the word as it exists in the target language. But this is not always the case: in the German entry for Illinois there is inverted order emphasising the French etymon even though the pronunciation is clearly based on the English version.

If you want to, you can add {{etystub|en|explanation as to why you think the etymology section needs to be expanded}} to sections with this issue. But in this case, I wouldn’t expect anything further than “, of unknown origin” if there are no serious contenders; conjectures should be added to the Spanish entry instead. The Wikipedia article cites a travel guide... not a good sign!

The section ought to explain how the dog sense developed too, so there’s that. — Ungoliant ^(falai) 01:29, 5 February 2021 (UTC)

Usage as (part of) interjection

I have provisionally added

====Related terms====

* {{l|en|ay, chihuahua||interjection of surprise, ''etc.''}}

under the English noun ("type of dog") entry. Please check the syntax and amend it if needed.

I don't actually know if it fits better in that location or under the English proper noun ("a place ...") entry. And/or under the (Mexican) Spanish entry.

Furthermore, I would argue that it is used not only as part of an interjection, as in Ay, chihuahua!, but also on its own as an interjection, as in Chihuahua!.

—DIV (1.145.84.34 10:33, 16 August 2021 (UTC))