Chichen Itza, originally uploaded by The Rambling Rountrees.
The Maya name “Chich’en Itza” means “At the mouth of the well of the Itza.” This derives from chi’, meaning “mouth” or “edge”, and ch’en or ch’e'en, meaning “well.” Itzá is the name of an ethnic-lineage group that gained political and economic dominance of the northern peninsula. One possible translation for Itza is “wizard (or enchantment) of the water.”[4]
The name is often represented as Chichén Itzá in Spanish and when translated into other languages from Spanish to show that both parts of the name are stressed on their final syllables. Other references prefer to employ a more rigorous orthography in which the word is written according to the Maya language, using Chich’en Itzá (pronounced IPA: [t?it?'en itsá?]). This form preserves the phonemic distinction between ch’ and ch, since the base word ch’e'en (which, however, does have a neutral tone vowel “e” in Maya and is not accented or stressed in Maya) begins with a glottalized affricate. The word “Itzá’” has a high rise final “a” that is followed by a glottal stop (indicated by the apostrophe).
There is evidence in the Chilam Balam books that there was another, earlier name for this city prior to the arrival of the Itza hegemony in northern Yucatán. This name is difficult to define because of the absence of a single standard of orthography, but it is represented variously as Uuc Yabnal,[5] Uuc Hab Nal,[6] or Uc Abnal.[7] While most sources agree the first word means seven, there is considerable debate as to the correct translation of the rest. Among the translations suggested are “Seven Bushes,” “Seven Great Houses,” or “Seven Lines of Abnal.” ~ Wikipedia
