altepetl

From Classical Nahuatl āltepētl, from ātl tepētl, literally “water [and] hill”.

altepetl (plural altepetls or altepemeh)

1. A Nahua community; a pueblo.

• pallette, platelet

altepetl

1. city.

• IPA^(key): [aːɬˈte.peːt͡ɬ]

altepetl (inanimate)

1. (Amecameca, Cholula, Milpa Alta, Texcoco and Tlaxcala): City.

• Herrera López, Hermilo (2015); Diccionario de la lengua Náhuatl de Texcoco, Instituto Mexiquense de los pueblos indígenas. Academia de la lengua náhuatl de Texcoco, Mexico City, Mexico.
• Medina, Genaro. (1999) Curso de Nahuatl, University of Americas, Cholula, Puebla.

A contraction of ātl tepētl, compound of ātl (“water”) +‎ tepētl (“hill”), two constituents perceived as being essential for life. The compound is odd in retaining the l of ātl; the expected compound would be *ātepētl.

• IPA^(key): /aːltepeːt͡ɬ/
• IPA^(key): [aːɬ.ˈté.peːt͡ɬ]

āltepētl (animate, plural āltepēmeh)

1. (inanimate, not pluralized) altepetl; a town or city.
2. (animate, pluralized) The people of an altepetl.
   • 17C: Chimalpahin, Record of the Arrival of the Mexica Azteca When They Came Here to Mexico Tenochtitlan

     oncan ynpan acico yn chicuey altepeme macehualtin oncan chanonoque yn culhuacan

     (They there arrived among the people of the eight altepetl domiciled in Culhuacan)

• ātl tepētl

• Andrews, J. Richard (2003) Workbook for Introduction to Classical Nahuatl, revised edition edition, University of Oklahoma Press, page 205
• Chimalpahin Cuauhtlehuanitzin, Domingo Francisco de San Antón Muñón (1997) Arthur J. O. Anderson, Susan Schroeder, transl., Codex Chimalpahin, volume 2, University of Oklahoma Press, pages 18–19
• Karttunen, Frances (1983) An Analytical Dictionary of Nahuatl, University of Texas Press, page 9
• Lockhart, James (2001) Nahuatl as Written, Stanford University Press, page 210

Cognate to Classical Nahuatl āltepētl.

altepetl (plural altepetini)

1. altepetl, city, town.

From Classical Nahuatl āltepētl.

altepetl

1. city.