chocolatl

Central Nahuatl

Alternative forms

• (Tlaxcala): chokolatl

Etymology

Cognate to Classical Nahuatl chocolatl

Noun

chocolatl

1. chocolate

Classical Nahuatl

Etymology

Uncertain. First attested circa 1580.

According to Dakin and Wichmman, from earlier chicolātl, from chicol[li] (“beater stick”) +‎ ā (“water, drink”) +‎ -tl (absolutive suffix), in reference to the beverage’s method of preparation. This theory is supported by modern Nahuatl cognates and early attestations in other languages having the vowel ⟨i⟩ (e.g., Asturian chicolate).

An older theory, defended by Ascensión Triviño, derives the word from earlier xocoātl (glossed as “a certain maize beverage” by Luis de Molina in the 1500s), from xococ (“to make bitter”) +‎ ā +‎ -tl. Dakin and Wichmann claim the change of /ʃ/ to /tʃ/ within Nahuatl is unheard of in similar contexts.

Other theories include:

• From earlier *xocolātl, from xocolia (“to make bitter”) +‎ ā +‎ -tl.
• From Yucatec Maya chokol (“hot”) +‎ ā +‎ -tl.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tʃokolaːt͡ɬ/

Noun

chocolātl

1. A drink with pulverized toasted cacao beans and water, described as cold and foamy. Sometimes fermented and sometimes as a thick drink. It can include a variety of additional ingredients (chili, bee honey, pochotl seeds, pulverized maize corn, vanilla seeds, and many others).

Descendants

• Central Nahuatl: chocolatl
• Central Huasteca Nahuatl: chokolatl
• → Spanish: chocolate (see there for further descendants)

References

• Ed. Simon Varey, transl. Rafael Chabrán, Cynthia L. Chamberlin, and Simon Varey. (2000) The Mexican Treasury: The Writings of Dr. Francisco Hernández, Stanford University Press, p. 109.
• de Sahagún, Bernardino. (1585) Historia general de las cosas de la Nueva España, vol. 3, cap. XXVI, p. 68.

Eastern Huasteca Nahuatl

Etymology

Cognate to Classical Nahuatl chocolatl

Noun

chocolatl

1. chocolate

Northern Puebla Nahuatl

Noun

chocolatl

1. chocolate (clarification of this definition is needed)

References

• Brockway, Earl; Hershey de Brockway, Trudy; Santos Valdés, Leodegario (2018), Diccionario náhuatl del norte del estado de Puebla (Series de vocabularios y diccionarios indígenas "Mariano Silva y Aceves"; 42)‎^[2] (in Spanish), segunda ILV edición (versión electrónica) edition, Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, A.C., page 34