Chilli

The word 'chilli ("Capsicum annuum", first attested ) comes from Nahuatl <chilli> /tʃi:l-li/ of the same meaning.

The Nahua root chil- "chilli" is most likely derived in one of two ways:

. from Pre-Nahua *tsira "red" from PSUA *sita "red". One argument for this derivation is that one of the words for "red" in Nahuatl is <chichi:ltic> /tʃitʃi:ltik/ which is often thought to be derived from the word for chilli. The form *tsira is not supported by cognates in Coracholan, but it would not an unexpected development from *sita "red" given stress on the first syllable, which would motivate a fortis reflex of *s and a lenis reflex of *t, giving *síta > *tsíra, following lateralization of the r the unaccented second syllable is then lost with compensatory lengthening of the vowel in the first syllable *tsíra > *tsi:l, and then the ts is palatalized giving /tʃi:l/ .

or