ichpochtli

Classical Nahuatl

Alternative forms

• ychpuchtli (obsolete spelling)

Etymology

Karttunen notes that ichpōchtli (“maiden, young woman”) and coordinate tēlpōchtli (“young man”) both form the plural by reduplicating the pōch- element, which suggests that *pōchtli, though not attested freely, is a stem in its own right, and that *ich- acts as a modifier. The word acquired the sense of “virgin” after the Spanish conquest.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [it͡ʃˈpoːt͡ʃ.t͡ɬi]

Noun

ichpōchtli (animate, plural ichpōpōchtin)

1. maiden; a young, unmarried woman
   • 1571, Alonso de Molina, Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana y mexicana y castellana, f. 47r. col. 2.

     Donzella. ychpuchtli.

     A maiden. ychpuchtli.

   • 1571, Idem, Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana y mexicana y castellana, f. 32v. col. 1.

     Ichpochtli. virgen,o muger por caſar.

     Ichpochtli. a virgin, or a woman yet to be married.

2. virgin
   • 1571, Alonso de Molina, Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana y mexicana y castellana, f. 117v. col. 2.

     Virgen o donzella.ocuel ychpuchtli.

     A virgin or maiden. ocuel ychpuchtli.

3. (when possessed) daughter

Synonyms

• (young woman): ichpōcatl

Derived terms

• ichpōcheh
• ichpōchpil
• ichpōchpol

• ichpōchtiāchcāuh
• ichpōchtlahuēlīlōc
• ichpōchtōntli

• ichpōchtōtolin
• ichpōchtzin

Related terms

• tēlpōchtli

References

• Frances Karttunen (1992) An Analytical Dictionary of Nahuatl, University of Oklahoma Press, page 93
• Horacio Carochi (2001) Grammar of the Mexican language with an explanation of its adverbs (1645), Stanford University Press, page 502