THE NAMES OF GUATEMALTECAN TOWNS.
It is uncertain whether at the present day any of the aboriginal names of places survive, for the successive invaders from the North or from beyond the seas, if they did not utterly destroy towns, imposed new names on the conquered places. We speak of the ruins of Palenque or of Quirigua, but we do not know the former names of these places, and call them, for convenience, by the name of the nearest modern village. Much ingenuity has been expended in the derivation of Indian names still extant, even the name of the republic itself being one of the undetermined ones; for while Guatemala is undoubtedly taken from the name of the Cakchiquel capital, Tecpan Quahtemalan, it is not known whether this was named for Prince Jieutemal, or indeed whether the prince of that name ever existed. Quiché is derived from qui, “many,” and che, “trees;” or from queche, quechelau, meaning “a forest,”—an inappropriate name now. No less questionable are the derivations of Tucurúb, “town of owls;” Es(Itz)cuintla(n), “land of dogs;” Izmachi, “black hair;” and many others.
The termination pan means a “standard” or “chief place;” hence, Mayapan of the Mayas, and Totonicapan of the Totonaques. Tepec is a “mountain,” or “high place;” hence, Alotepeque, Coatepeque, Olintepeque, Jilotepeque, and Quezaltepeque,—all of them in mountainous regions, the second being a volcano of considerable height. Tlan means a “city” or “home;” hence, Atitlan, “the home of the old woman (Atit),” Zapotitlan, etc. The most common termination is tenango, a Mexican word with much the same meaning as tlan,—Huehuetenango being equivalent to “the ancient abode;” Chimaltenango to “the House of the Shield.”
A troublesome matter is the varying and uncertain orthography of most of the names now in use. Goattemala, Gautemala, Guatimala, are all used by writers. The termination pan is often in official publications spelled pam. Quezaltenango is properly, though seldom, written Quetzaltenango; and Cumarcah or Gumarcah, Izabal or Yzabal, Jutiapa or Xutiapa, are common variations. The omission of the letter n in such words as Montezuma and Montagua, and at the end of Escuintlan, is the rule in Guatemala; but foreign writers do not always regard it. The interchange of b and v is common,—as bejuco or vejuco; benta or venta. So far as sound goes, the name of the large macaw may be Juacamalla or Guacamaya. Tzololà was one form of Sololà; Taltic, of Tactic; and Mictlan, of Mita.
It is quite possible that Soconusco is derived from xoconochtli, a word meaning “wild figs,” and Honduras from fonduras, meaning “depths,” although the application may not be clear at the present day. More satisfactory are Michatoyatl, “a river abounding in fish;” Paxa, “water which separates,”—the Rio Pax, or Paz, having always been the boundary between Guatemala and San Salvador. Tonalá, the “City of the Sun,” and Gumarca(a)h, “ruined houses,” are generally admitted to be correct derivations.
The Spanish invaders exhibited slight inventive powers, and some half a dozen saints were made godfathers and godmothers to all the Indian towns that were important enough to be rechristened; and Santos Juan, José, Tomas, and Marcos, and Santas Maria, Lucia, Ana, and Catarina are the favorites, although Pedro, Esteban, Jago, Miguel, Antonio, Cristoval, Pablo, Izabal, and Clara are by no means neglected. The proper name of the capital city of Guatemala is Santiago (St. James); and if the ambitious projects dear to the late President Barrios should be accomplished, as seems not improbable, England will have to be satisfied with St. George, and leave “The Court of St. James” to the Central American kingdom.
To the Anglo-Saxon such names as True Cross, Holy Cross, Thanks to God, City of Angels, Nativity, and Holy Saviour seem wholly inappropriate as names of places; but to the devout Spaniard they were evidently favorite appellations. Nor are they very different from Praise-God Barebones, Faith, Prudence, and the like, which we know were not uncommon appellatives among the Puritans.