View source for Chinampa

The word '''chinampa''' (first English attestation 1832 [[Haugen, Jason D. 2009. Borrowed borrowings: Nahuatl loan words in English. Lexis: Journal in English Lexicology, (3).|Haugen 2009]]), is from the Nahuatl ''china:mpa'' /''china:mi-pa''/ "fence-loc". 

''[[Chinamitl]]'' referring to a fence of sticks, reeds or stalks staked into the ground, seems to be analyzable as ''chi-nami-tl'' /point-wall-abs/. The root ''-nami-'' "wall" is not attested independently, but can be inferred from this word and from another word ''[[tenamitl]]'' meaning "stone wall" (te- meaning "stone, rock"). The ''chi''- in turn is likely the same ''chi'' as in ''chima:lli'' "shield", which I believe refers to "points", i.e. the pointy parts of weapons. This comes from PCN *''tsi'' "point".

[[Category:English entries]]
[[Category:Proto-Nahuatl roots]]