Probably from Nahuatl
tene "lip-possessor; one who speaks well or vigorously", itself derived from
tentli "lip, mouth; voice, word" and the possessive suffix
-e, combined with the suffix
-pal "through, by means of". This may have derived from a transliteration of
la lengua, a Spanish sobriquet of the famous translator
Malinche meaning "the interpreter; the tongue".