On the ancient language of the natives of Tenerife : a paper contributed to the Anthropological Section of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, 1891 / by John, Marquess of Bute.

  • John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute
Date:
[1891]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the ancient language of the natives of Tenerife : a paper contributed to the Anthropological Section of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, 1891 / by John, Marquess of Bute. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    look like the same name, and, as already observed, I am inclined to identify it with the Tagaire which appears in the derivative Bentagaire and which we are informed meant “ lofty ridge.” Fayra. Cited by Dr. Chil from Bory de St. Vincent, and mentioned in the Revista de Canarias (III. 306). It is said to have been used in Lanzerote as well as Tenerife to indicate a round stone in a place of worship. Franz von Loeher, in his book “ Los Germanos en las Canarias” (p. 130) suggests the connection of this word with the Gothic vehio “sacred,” veihan, “to consecrate,” and veiha, “ a priest.” There was certainly somewhere in the Canaries an high-priest whose title was Faycan, but I have not come across any proof that such a personage existed in Tenerife. Guaiota (Nunez de la Pena) or Guayota (Viera), “ the devil,” Huayote, “ the spirit of evil,” according to Viana. This was the spirit supposed to live on the Peak and send out the eruptions. The root is evidently Guaya, “ spirit,” and if there is a bad sense, it must be in the termination ota. It seems to me, however, possible that this may be only an error for a superlative termination in to (guayato), and mean “the mighty spirit.” And it must be remembered that the Spaniards had not only a great tendency, like the ancient Romans, to credit the savages with whom they came in contact with a participation in their own religious ideas, but also to look upon their gods as devils : in this sense Marin y Cubas applies the word “ demonio” to the apparition of Hucancha, which was looked on by the natives as divine. The difference between -ta and -to may possibly be one of gender, as in the Greek -rurog and -tutyi j especially as the termination a in Guaya and Iguaya looks like a feminine. Guan, “ son of—” (Viera). This is the interesting word which also appears as Ben and even Ven, and is the root of such words as Guanchtinerf and the corruption Guanche. I need only remark here, to show the frequency of the initial digamma, that Dr. Chil gives more than eighty words so beginning, while there are thirty com-
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