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European Influence on the Ara Wak Language of Guiana

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European Influence on the Ara Wak Language of Guiana EUROPEAN INFLUENCE ON THE ARA WAK LANGUAGE OF GUIANA BY THOMAS E. PENARD and ARTHUR P. PENARD In collecting material for a vocabulary of the Arawak language as spoken to-day in Surinam, it has been inte- resting to note such words as are used for cultural ele- ments introduced by Europeans, for which the aborigines had no equivalent terms previous to the discovery of the New World. In many instances the Indians found suffi- cient means of expression in their own tongue, inventing suitable descriptive phrases, or constructing new words with Arawak roots. As a rule, however, they were content to adopt foreign words or to form hybrid combinations. The sources from which they drew were Spanish, Portu- guese, English, and Dutch. Probably the earliest contact of Arawaks with Euro- peans was with the Spaniards, whose influence on the In- dian language is still seen in such words as w&to *) (mu- lato), mulatto; &a/>wssma (capucino) (Schumann), long beard; &>o (tiro), cannon; ara^flèosa (arcabuz), gun; èafo (bala), ball, shot, lead; èwtóra (plomo), (Schumann), tin; wwyo (navio?), ship; femowa (timon), rudder; mno (remo), oar; &ara/>awa (campana), bell; ue/# (vela), sail; èaw^rw (bandera), flag; Aarma (cadena), chain; wassete (mache- *) The spelling of Arawak words, except where taken from the works of other writers, is in accordance with the system of orthography (phonetic) outlined by C. H. de Goeje in his Études Linguistiques Caraïbes, 1909, p. 75. Negro-English words conform with those in C. H. Focke's Neger-En- gelsch Woordenboek, Leiden, 1855. The following abbreviations are used: Ar., Arawak; Sp., Spanish; Port., Portuguese; Eng., English; D., Dutch; Neg., Negro-English. Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 01:15:46PM via free access 166 EUROPEAN INFLUENCE ON THE te) (Schumann, p. 174), cutlass; /orta/fssa (fortaleza) (Schumann), a cemented wall; sa/>ato (zapato), shoe; sarafo/mj (sombrero), hat; &a?m'sa (camisa), apron; «/ƒ- Zm> (alfiler), pin; &arfe (carta), paper; />e/ata (plata), mo- ney; ^flz^oyo (caballo), horse; èm&o (borrico), ass; ^o/^o (pollino), ass; mo/a (mula), mule; èa&a (vaca), cow; &a- èara (cabra), goat — Kappler has caèn'ta; ^or&M (puerco), hog; _/>ero (perro), dog; kfa (gallina), domestic fowl; and ^/a^wfl (platano), plantain. It will be seen that the words of Spanish origin pertain for the most part to nau- tical matters and colonization. The word «ra^aèosfl applies particularly to the muzzle- loading gun. It has been combined with Arawak terms to express matters relating to fire-arms, as follows: Breech-loading gun, ^oraz-dozmro-ara£a&osa. Single-barreled gun, ^oa>flya-rm>&o-arfl&tf&osa, from /Aozpoya, alone, and gm'o&o, mouth. Double-barreled gun, fo'ama^/w-rero&o-araAa&osa, from ètflma, two, and erero^o, mouth. Gun barrel, ara^aeosa-ern'oAo, from erero&o, mouth. Gun stock, ara&a&0sa-iaya, from iflya, tree, wood. Hammer, ara^fl&os«-Aoyo^oè^g-Aowa, from j>o&/taw(?), report, and £owa, thumb or thing. Trigger, ara£flèosa-/a?'o&ote-£owa, from/anm (?), to kill, and &owa, thumb or thing. Ramrod, araAaèosa-/o&/w//ja-&<raa, from Zo&Ao, inside, and Aowa, thing. Charge of powder, ara&a&osa-/o£Aoio, from Ü0M0, inside. Percussion cap, ara^aèosa-an, from an', tooth. Gun flint, ara^aèosa-an' (Schumann has arrfl^aèMssa an), This name was no doubt suggested by the resem- blance of the flint to a tooth. Its subsequent application to the percussion cap was perfectly natural. (Compare Focke, p. 53). Report of a gun, araAaèosa-j/oMow, from j'oMow, report Other terms pertaining to guns and shooting are: Gunpowder, Ao/oöara, ^o/oèra, &wZw^>ara, perhaps from the Spanish ^>ofoora, or the Arawak £M/-, weak, and lead. Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 01:15:46PM via free access ARAWAK LANGUAGE OF GUIANA 167 Ball, or shot, èa/a-man'tasa, from èa/a, lead, raatöa» (?), to make, and sa, egg. Pistol, ^j'sfoZo, from Spanish, Portuguese, English, or Dutch. Revolver, jyoAo&oro-jyo&A(m, literally and quite appro- priately, "full of reports". Further we have the following Spanish-Arawak hy- brids: Sailor, W7/yo-/o&Aodi, from Sp. waiw (?), ship, and Ar. /o^Aorfi, people. Mast, utf/a-doya, from Sp. i>e/a, sail, and Ar. daya, tree. Gold money, ^eZata-^orero, from Sp. ^>tafo, money, and Ar. &wfe, red or yellow. Silver money, ^/ata-AanVaro, from Sp. ^>/ata, money, and Ar. Aa/ira, white. Shoemaker, sa^>fl^M-fl/w, from Sp. za/>afo, shoe, and Ar. afo'w, maker. Writer, £arte-a/m, from Sp. carta, letter, and Ar. a/zw, maker. Horse stall, ^aze'ayo-j'aZa, from Sp. ca&a/Zo, horse, and Ar.jya/tf, pen. "Para-grass" ^), ^az£;ayo-^fl/awya, from Sp. caèflZ/o, horse, and Ar. &a/aw, grass. Cow shed, èa^a-^ya/a, from Sp. vaca, cow, and Ar. 3/afo, pen. Ox, steer, or bull, èflAa-wai^z, from Sp. aaca, cow, and Ar. waii7j, man. Hen, ^fl/ma-/tzaro, from Sp. ga//ma, hen, and Ar. Ataro, woman. Rooster, ^fl/wa-waüZi, from Sp. gaZ/wa, hen, and Ar. tt>aü/j, man. Chicken, or egg, kl««-sa, from Sp. ^a//ma, hen, and Ar. sa, child. Henhouse, £aZma-s&'Az#a, from Sp. ga//z«a, hen, and Ar. Sifo^a, house. In the seventeenth century a large number of Portu- guese Jews moved from Brazil to Surinam and settled there. These, no doubt, helped to preserve the Spanish ') Panicuw «wwidjanMrn Lam. Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 01:15:46PM via free access 168 EUROPEAN INFLUENCE ON THE words which had already been introduced, and perhaps contributed a few of their own. The similarity of these two European languages would, in most cases, make it difficult to decide to which the Ara wak was indebted. The effect of this Brazillian influx upon the language of the negro, however, cannot be denied. A vocabulary of the Saramacca bush-negro dialect, collected in the eight- eenth century by C. L. Schumann, and published by Hugo Schuchardt (1914), shows how important the Por- tuguese influence must have been. The Indian borrowed from the European only names of objects new to him, but the negro took many of the most common-place terms, for which he must already have had proper equi- valents. It would be absurd, for example, to think that the latter had no words for "mouth", "tree", or "forest", just because he saw fit to adopt the Portuguese words "boca", "pao", and "mato". This difference in the cha- racter of words taken by the negro and the Indian is not one of accident. It has a much deeper meaning. It de- monstrates most convincingly on the one hand the black man's ready response to new conditions, and on the other the red man's unyielding attitude. The Spanish or Portuguese words have persisted prac- tically without change for centuries. It is only in compa- ratively recent times that some have been replaced. For example a flag is now referred to as//flgra, from the Dutch vlag", although the Spanish word "bandera" is still heard. The substitution of &e/w, from the Dutch "ket- ting", for &amwt, from the Spanish "cadena", is of the same nature. They are merely shifts from one foreign language to another. But with the word for cow it is dif- , ferent. A new Arawak word, £ayo/£r<?, apparently having reference to the lowing of this animal (from &a, posses- sing, and^ofe, throat), is now more frequently used than the old word &«&«, from the Spanish "vaca". Similarly, feraowa (H. C. Focke), rudder; saraèe/m* (Schumann), hat; and Aa^wssma (Schumann), "the beard when it is long", have been replaced respectively by steering thing; ^z^awa, a native head gear; and Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 01:15:46PM via free access ARAWAK LANGUAGE OF GUIANA 169 , long beard. Such changes are of more than ordinary interest because they mark a tendency to discard long- established foreign words for others with Arawak roots. Dutch and English have exerted their influence almost entirely through the medium of the so-called Negro- English. This jargon is familiar to the majority of Indians living near the coast, and is employed in practically all their intercourse with the whites and the blacks. Con- sidering their close contact with civilization, it is re- markable that the language of the Surinam Arawak has not suffered more than it has from the Negro-English. Among the words originating from Dutch or English we recognize the following: England, £«g£/awto, form D. Zswgefowi. Englishman, ym'sm, form Neg. Jgwgm*, English. Priest, ^>asforo, from Neg. ^as/oro, D. ^>asfo<?r. Master, èasta, from Neg. èasia, D. èasfoaaw. There are two other Arawak words meaning master, i. e. èa/i7z (or èanVï) and/o^o (or ƒ«<&). The former is frequently used in combinations with names of animals to denote certain birds of prey; the latter has the significance of "teacher". City, /orfo, from Neg. /ofo, D. /or£. This word applies particularly to the city of Paramaribo where Fort Zee- landia is situated. City dweller, /orfogow^o, from /orfo, city, and gowrfo or ü, one who comes from. Schumann gives the meaning of w£tówü as "geburtig". Cannon-ball, AogeZ (Schumann), from D. Chain, &efew, from Neg. &£fo'd3W, D. ^6i Flag./fogra, from Neg. //ag?•a, D. y/a Board, ƒ>/•awga, from Neg. ^>/'awgfl, D. Club, &odya, from Neg. ^o^;'a, Eng. c Lamp, /a;w^)w, from Neg.
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