Jump to content

ahuatl

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Central Nahuatl

Noun

ahuatl (inanimate)

oak tree.

Classical Nahuatl

Etymology 1

From Proto-Nahuan *aawa-tl, from Proto-Uto-Aztecan *pawa-ta, with possible reinforcement from āhuātl (“horn”, see sense below) due to the tree’s antler-shaped branches.^[1]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈaː.wat͡ɬ]

Noun

āhuatl (inanimate)

oak tree
- 1555, Alonso de Molina, Aqui comienca vn vocabulario en la lengua castellana y mexicana, f. 109r:
  Enzina. auaquauitl.auatl.
  An oak tree. auaquauitl. auatl.
- Idem, f. 216v.
  Roble arbol. auaquauitl. auatl.
  An oak tree. auaquauitl. auatl.
- 1571, Alonso de Molina, Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana y mexicana y castellana, f. 57v. col. 1:
  Enzina. auaquauitl. auatl.
  An oak tree. auaquauitl. auatl.
- Idem, f. 105r. col. 2.
  Roble arbol. auaquauitl. auatl.
  An oak tree. auaquauitl. auatl.
- Idem, f. 9r. col. 2.
  Auatl. enzina,roble, guſano lanudo. o eſpina.
  Auatl. an oak tree, a woolly worm, or a thorn.

Derived terms

Etymology 2

From Proto-Nahuan *aawaa-tl, possibly from Proto-Uto-Aztecan *aw~awaC-ta (“horn”, via reduplication), based on the insect’s horns.^[2]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈaː.waːt͡ɬ]

Noun

āhuātl (animate)

A woolly kind of caterpillar.
- 1571, Alonso de Molina, Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana y mexicana y castellana, f. 9r. col. 2:
  Auatl. enzina,roble, guſano lanudo. o eſpina.
  Auatl. an oak tree, a woolly worm, or a thorn.
- 1645, Horacio Carochi, Arte de la lengua mexicana con la declaración de los adverbios della:
  āhuātl, ambas largas, gusano lanudo de arbol.
  āhuātl, with both vowels long, a woolly tree worm.

Synonyms

āhuātecolōtl

Etymology 3

Noun

ahuatl (inanimate)

obsolete spelling of ahhuatl

References

^ Stubbs, Brian D. (2020) [2011], “1553. *pawa ‘oak’”, in Uto-Aztecan: A comparative vocabulary‎^[1], revised online edition, Flower Mound, Texas: Shumway Family History Services, page 265
^ Stubbs, Brian D. (2020) [2011], “1206. *awaC / *a’awaC ‘horn’”, in Uto-Aztecan: A comparative vocabulary‎^[2], revised online edition, Flower Mound, Texas: Shumway Family History Services, page 217

Carochi, Horacio (2001), James Lockhart, transl., Grammar of the Mexican Language, with an Explanation of its Adverbs (1645), Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, pages 466–467
Karttunen, Frances (1983), An Analytical Dictionary of Nahuatl, Austin: University of Texas Press, page 8

Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=ahuatl&oldid=88574059"