European influence on the Arawak language of Guiana

Abstract

In collecting material for a vocabulary of the Arawak language as spoken to-day in Surinam, it has been interesting to note such words as are used for cultural elements 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 sufficient 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, Portuguese, English, and Dutch. Probably the earliest contact of Arawaks with Europeans was with the Spaniards, whose influence on the Indian language is still seen in such words as mulato x) (mulato), mulatto; kapussina (capucino) (Schumann), long beard; tiro (tiro), cannon; arakabosa (arcabuz), gun; bala (bala), ball, shot, lead; bulum (plomo), (Schumann), tin; miyo (navio?), ship; temona (timon), rudder; remo (remo), oar; kampana (campana), bell; vela (vela), sail; banderu (bandera), flag; kar ena (cadena), chain; masseta (mache-