[Aztlan] Chocolate

[Jorge Pérez de Lara]

It had always been my understanding that chocol-atl (from whence our 
"chocolate" came) was a "nahuatlization" of the original Maya name: 
chocol-ha', meaning "hot water." 'Chocol-atl' would basically have the 
same meaning, although one has to wonder why Nahuatl-speakers would go 
for only a half translation (i.e., keeping the Maya "chocol" for "hot"), 
rather than translating the whole name into their language. Could it be 
that the original name (chocol-ha') was mangled by the so-called 
"Mexicanized" Maya traders of the Gulf coast and reached the Central 
Highlands in such mangled form? I remember Linda Schele citing Aztec 
sources that speak of the Gulf-coast trading region of Nonohualco, 
glossed as "Place of the Broken Speech."

Jorge

John F. Schwaller wrote:

> There is linguistic evidence.  In an article in Ancient Mesoamerica, 
> Dakin and Wichmann suggest that the word chocolate has a Nahuatl 
> origin and refers to the sound of the molinillo so that the frothing 
> might have been an important component from before the conquest.
> Ancient Mesoamerica, vol. 11:1, Jan. 2000, pp. 55-75 "Cacao and 
> Chocolate"