Mexihco

Central Nahuatl

Alternative forms

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): [meːˈʃíʔ.ko]

Proper noun

Mexihco (locative)

  1. Mexico (a country in North America)
  2. México (a state of Mexico)

Derived terms

Classical Nahuatl

Etymology

Uncertain. Popularly thought to derive from the stems mētztli (“moon”) + xīctli (“navel”) + the locative -co, which would yield *Mēxxīcco (“at the place of the moon's navel”). The form Mēxihco would thus imply the degemination of [ʃː] and the dissimilation of [kk] to [ʔk], with the appearance of the glottal stop automatically triggering the shortening of the preceding [iː] to [i].

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): [meːˈʃiʔ.ko]
  • Audio (Classical Nahuatl)(file)

Proper noun

Mēxihco (locative)

  1. Tenochtitlan; a city and capital of the Aztec empire.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Descendants
  • → Spanish: México

References
  • Frances Karttunen (1992) An Analytical Dictionary of Nahuatl, University of Oklahoma Press, page 145
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