What do you think is the first Americanism that came into Spanish? Yesterday, while I was looking for the origin of some funny expressions, I found an interesting article talking about the first words that came into Spanish from the New World. Borrowings from different languages have always been a good source to increase a language\u2019s vocabulary and culture, as well as gastronomy. I have to admit that I can\u2019t live without tomatoes now, one of the many contributions of Native American cultures and countries. And what about chocolate!<\/p>\n
However, the first recorded Americanism is not related with food. According to historians, when Christopher Columbus arrived to Cuba, he saw a kind of ships without sails, rafts used by natives to go from one isle to another: the canoes. The second is a relaxing one, very appropriate for this summer time; the hamaca<\/em> or hammock.<\/p>\n From 1492 onwards, a lot of new words came into Spanish, trying to express some of the unknown things that Europeans found in the New world: atmospheric phenomenons (hurac\u00e1n<\/em> – hurricane), animals such as jaguar, tibur\u00f3n or colibr\u00ed<\/em> (jaguar, shark or hummingbird), tasty food such as tomate, tabaco, aguacate, ma\u00edz, patata or papa<\/em> in most Latin American countries and some parts of Spain (tomatoe, tobacco, avocado, corn, potatoe), some cooking methods (barbacoa<\/em>-barbecue), and even social terms (cacique<\/em>-Indian chief).<\/p>\n All these words come from pre-Columbian and Caribean languages such as n\u00e1huatl, quechua, aymara, guaran\u00ed, etc, from Aztec, Mayan or Inca civilizations, and we still use them. I have only given you a few terms but… can you think about more to share with us?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00bfCual cre\u00e9is que es el primer americanismo que se introdujo en el espa\u00f1ol? Ayer, mientras estaba buscando el origen de algunas expresiones bastante curiosas, encontr\u00e9 un art\u00edculo muy interesante que hablaba de las primeras palabras que llegaron al espa\u00f1ol del Nuevo Mundo. Pr\u00e9stamos entre idiomas distintos han sido siempre una buena forma de incrementar la cultura y el vocabulario de una lengua, as\u00ed como la gastronom\u00eda. Debo admitir que ya no puedo vivir sin tomates, una de las muchas contribuciones de los pa\u00edses y culturas nativas americanas.<\/p>\n Sin embargo, el primer americanismo no est\u00e1 relacionado con la comida. Seg\u00fan los historiadores, cuando Crist\u00f3bal Col\u00f3n lleg\u00f3 a Cuba, observ\u00f3 una especie de embarcaciones sin vela, balsas que usaban los nativos para ir de una isla a otra: las canoas. El segundo es uno muy relajante, muy apropiado para este tiempo estival: la hamaca.<\/p>\n A partir de 1492, multitud de nuevos t\u00e9rminos se introdujeron en el espa\u00f1ol, intentando expresar algunas de las situaciones desconocidas que los europeos encontraron en el nuevo mundo: fen\u00f3menos atmosf\u00e9ricos (hurac\u00e1n), animales tales como el jaguar, tibur\u00f3n o colibr\u00ed, deliciosa comida como el tomate, tabaco, aguacate, ma\u00edz, patata o papa en gran parte de los pa\u00edses latinoamericanos y algunos rincones de Espa\u00f1a, algunas formas de cocinar (barbacoa) o incluso t\u00e9rminos sociales (cacique).<\/p>\n Todas estas palabras vienen de lenguas precolombinas y del caribe tales como el n\u00e1huatl, quechua, aymara, guaran\u00ed, etc, de las civilizaciones aztecas, mayas o incas, y a\u00fan las usamos. Tan solo os he ofrecido un pu\u00f1ado de t\u00e9rminos pero… \u00bfpodr\u00edais pensar m\u00e1s y compartirlos con nosotros?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What do you think is the first Americanism that came into Spanish? Yesterday, while I was looking for the origin of some funny expressions, I found an interesting article talking about the first words that came into Spanish from the New World. Borrowings from different languages have always been a good source to increase a…<\/p>\n