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.
NO RUINS OF DWELLINGS.
In all the remains of ancient cities or holy places hitherto discovered in Central America, there are temples or oratories, and so-called palaces, but not a sign of human habitations; even the palaces are apparently too small for comfortable habitation, and the temples would not admit more than four or five persons at the same time. Herrera says there “were so many and such stately Stone Buildings that it was amazing; and the greatest Wonder is, that, having no Use of any Metal, they were able to raise such Structures, which seem to have been Temples, for their Houses were always of Timber and thatched.” Always of less durable material than stone, the houses have disappeared, and we must not infer that there were no dwellers about the places where we find to-day only monuments of the dead or religious edifices. At the present time there is many a village in Guatemala where the church is the only building of masonry, all the houses being of the most perishable materials, as palm stems and leaves, bark and mud. If the town of Livingston were destroyed to-day and not rebuilt, there would be nothing on the site after two years to show that men had ever lived there.
It would certainly be interesting to learn why many of the temples have doors, passages, and even rooms that a man of average stature cannot stand erect in.