Central Nahuatl

Proper noun

Mēxihco

1. Tenochtitlan; an altepetl and capital of the Aztec empire.

Synonyms

• Tenochtitlan

Derived terms

• mexihcatl

References

• Mancilla Sepúlveda, Héctor. (2000) Lecciones de Nahuatl, Hirata Editorial, México DF. p. 158.
• Frances Karttunen (1992) An Analytical Dictionary of Nahuatl, University of Oklahoma Press, page 145

Classical Nahuatl

Etymology

Uncertain. Possibly 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]. Some theories link the place name to metl ‎(“maguey”) and cihtli ‎(“hare”), though both these constituents are phonetically unviable.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [meːˈʃíʔ.ko]

Proper noun

Mēxihco (locative)

1. Tenochtitlan; an altepetl and capital of the Aztec empire.

Synonyms

• Tenochtitlan

Derived terms

• mēxihcatl
• mēxihcopa, mēxihcopahuīc

Descendants

• Spanish: México

References

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