Mecate and other Nahuatl words
 
The other day, my husband told his Colombian mother that we bought some “mecate” for the hammock. She didn’t understand the word. Mecate (rope) is a word used only in Mexico and Central America, regions where Nahuatl was spoken at the time of the Spanish conquest. Many words that end in -ate and -ote come from Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs in Mexico, and of the Chorotegas in Costa Rica. Mecate, for example, comes from the Nahuatl word mecatl. Some words of Nahuatl origin are part of the Spanish language: chocolate, tomate, aguacate, coyote, ocelote. Other words are part of the regional vocabulary. Here’s a list of -ate/-ote words used in Costa Rica that my Colombian in-laws would probably not understand. Animals guapote (type of fish) pizote (coatis) tecolote (owl) zaguate (mutt) zopilote (vulture) Food ayote (pumpkin) camote (sweet potato) chayote (zucchini) elote (corn) jocote (small fruit known as ciruela de palo in Colombia) zapote (sapodilla plum) Other mecate (rope) pochote (type of tree) tanate (a lot) zacate (grass)
Monday, April 20, 2009