[Aztlan] Totonac & Itza Maya language: "chiki"

[Nick Hopkins]

Chiki and similar words are also the words for "basket" in Cholan languages and languages of the Cuchumatanes and some other Mayan languages.  Kaufman (Mayan Etymological Dictionary, on FAMSI) says it comes from Nahuatl chikiwitl, which might explain why it is similar in Totonac and Mayan (i.e., borrowed from the same source).  That doesn't say anything about Muskogean...Nick Hopkins  

> Date: Mon, 24 Aug 2009 15:12:35 -0400
> From: gdaniels99 at tds.net
> To: aztlan at lists.famsi.org
> Subject: [Aztlan]  Totonac & Itza Maya language: "chiki"
> 
> The Totonac word for house is "chiki." The Itza Maya word "chiki" means
> "woven basket." Are these two words related in any way? For instance, a
> Totonac house would use wattle & daub construction which looks like a "woven
> basket" before the mud is applied. Thus could the Itza Maya word and Totonac
> word be related in this way? Did the Totonac borrow this word from the Itza
> or the Itza borrow it from the Totonac?
> 
> It's also interesting that in the Hitchiti language (spoken by some of the
> mound builders in the Southeastern USA) the word "chiki" also means "house."
> Does anyone know of any explanations for why this is? They also used wattle
> and daub construction as well as placing woven mats around the inside walls
> and partitions and sleeping platforms. Thus their houses could also be
> considered a "woven basket."
> 
> Does the word "chiki" mean "house" or "woven basket" in any other languages?
> 
> Thanks,
> Gary C. Daniels
> Publisher, LostWorlds.org
> http://www.LostWorlds.org
> 
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