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Saturday, May 15, 2010

Jalapa, who's Your Papa?


Breakfast tacos inspired some word detective work this morning. It started with a large container of "Nacho slices" from Costco, for about $3.85, a great buy for jalapeño peppers.

Jalapeño peppers are becoming part of the mainstream American diet, and the English language is "owning" or "appropriating" the word, as well as the tasty pepper, changing the word used to refer to the hot little chile from jalapeño to "nacho slice". Here's a little backstory:

Jalapa is the capital of the Mexican state of Veracruz. There are about 400,000 people living there, and there is a university and a phenomenal anthropology museum with those great (as in enormous) and mysterious basalt heads that arrived there via waterways and the hard work of slaves thousands of years ago. It's high in the mountains and cool, with lots of trees and rain. It's near Coatepec and Xico, where the best coffee and mole sauces come from. I've been there three times. Once with no money (as in no, none, zilch) and two other times with lots of money (as in my wallet contained two credit cards). I mention this apropos of nothing, other than to say Jalapa is beautiful regardless of the money you may have. The sycamore trees in the park are taller than any I've ever seen, and three people holding hands would not be able to connect around their wide speckled trunks.

Xalapa, the Nauhuatl word for the town, translates to sandy land of water. When the Spanish came they appended the colonial governor's name, Enriquez to the town, but it's known as Jalapa or Xalapa interchangeably. That's how the name jalapeño came to be. The chile was grown there, and started its conquest of the Americas from that rainy, mountain terrain.

So, let's keep track, now: language migration/appropriation # 1: Native tribe names a town. The original name of the chile is lost as far as I know, and it becomes over time known as a jalapeño.

Language migration/appropriation #2: Ends at South Carolina, whose soldiers fought in the Mexican War at Jalapa. They returned to their homes enamored of where they had served, and named their town Jalapa. Pronounced with a hard "j" like in "jelly."

Language migration/appropriation #3: From Detroit. Cars made in the U.S. that were rusted and knocked around were exported for purchase by ship that landed in Veracruz harbor in the 1930's and 1940's, where they were transported to be repaired and resold in the city of Jalapa. Thus the English word for old junky car was born, "jalopy."

So it goes; language is alive; it changes spelling, meaning and it's fun to trace its journey. Next time you have a nacho with the mean green slice upon it, say thanks to the Aztecs and God knows who before them made that jalapeño possible.

Here is a cool link for more commonly known words that trace their roots to Nauhatl.
http://www.mexica.net/nahuatl/nahuawds.html

2 comments:

  1. Sean Cuellar LongMay 15, 2010 at 9:59 AM

    Wow. I feel as though I attending language class this morning. Thanks for the lesson, the insight and especially thanks for your colorful writing.

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  2. Very interesting, Linda! I love knowing more about words and interminglings of cultures.

    Cindy Herbert

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