DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49270#0182
Canarian Speech
107
3. achmayex [atmayce (Gal. 1)], guayaxerax, achoron, achamam, ‘the mother of the sustainer
of heaven and earth’.
4. alzanxiquian abcanabac [abcanahac], xerax, ‘the place of union of the son of the great’.
5. atguaychafunataman, ‘he who holds or possesses the sky ’.
The most intelligible of these formulas is the last. Reading ch as t, as in chamato, §3, cf. (Tam.)
(g)wa ittefen atuman, or, using the habitual form itettefen, (Shil.) itattafen, an expression meaning ‘he who
habitually holds or supports atuman (the sky) ’. The verb is the 3 sg. habitual and participial form of
ettef, ‘to grasp, to hold, to keep ’. But the at-, ac-, ach- remains unexplained.
The ach- in Achguayaxerax is separable, for it is omitted in the third formula, and also by Viana and
Galindo. The achahucanac of the second formula is cited by A iana as hucanech. Perhaps it had
very little meaning, for in the third formula achmayex is translated ‘the mother ’. This was one of the
proofs adduced by Lord Bute in support of his belief that ach was the definite article. But in this instance
the article is necessary in Spanish or the word ‘mother’ would be in the vocative.
This obscure prefix at-, ac~, ach- may be a demonstrative particle analogous with the (Q.) d, ‘it, he
is’, (d nek ag moqqoren fellah, ‘it is I who am bigger than thee’; guri aqjun d ammellal, ‘ I have a white
dog’, literally ‘I have a dog, it is white’). This d is the same as that found in (Tam., Q.) da, ‘here ’,
(Shil.) d, ‘here’; (M.) da, ‘this’, (Shil.) ad, ‘this’, (Zen.) ad, it, ‘this’. These words carry with them
the verb ‘is’ understood. Achmayex would therefore mean ‘it is the mother’.
But it may mean more, for in Berber ‘ the mother of so and so ’ must be rendered ‘ his or her mother of
so and so ’. (Tait.) imma-s n Maskeri, ‘the mother, (lit. his mother) of Masqueray ’; (Q.) imma-s burgaz
agi, ‘ his mother of this man ’. In achmayex (achmaycd), to be read mayes, maise, we may find the suffix -s,
‘ his ’. The word for ‘ mother’ is here and in (Tam.) via. The suffix in Tenerife may have been -is with a
-y- inserted between the two vowels. But the sign of the genetive n has been omitted after -mayex, -mayce.
In the first three formulas of Espinosa a verbal form is apparent in achguayaxerax which is translated
‘sustainer, he that sustains’. In Berber ‘sustainer’ would be rendered by ‘he who sustains ’. The verb
would be put in the 3 sg. participial or relative form, and be governed by a relative pronoun (tf)wa.
Neglecting ach-, the guayaxerax, if the translation is correct, means ‘he who sustains’. There is no
verb in Berber exactly like aseras or aherah with the above meaning, though (Tait.) gerah, ‘ to keep, to
guard, to lock up’ is not very far removed. From the Berber point of view, yaxerax is incomplete for
it ought to end with -n. Fortunately this termination can be recovered from the variant guayerxeran
of Galindo. By the transposition of r and x, we get -exereran and as x and r are so often confounded
the last r can be read x with the resultant exerexan. Guayaxerax then appears as a mutilated form of
guayaxeraxan and in point of form is on all fours with (Tait.) iegerahen, ‘ he who keeps ’. Galindo trans-
lates guayaxcraxi, ‘he who holds or possesses the world’ and chaxiraxi, ‘she who carries him that holds
or possesses the world ’. The latter name was given to the Virgin Mary when the natives became ac-
quainted with her. Both of these forms are evidently incomplete and abbreviated. If the ch in chaxiraxi
can be read as t, as in chamato, §3, then laxiraxi is probably shortened from ta-taxiraxi(t) and is the
feminine of (g'jwa-yaxeraxifn). In formula 2, achahurahan seems to mean ‘the great ’, and with it may be
compared (Tait.) ihuharen, ‘very large, wide’. The word may have reference to the spaciousness of
the sky.
Benesmer (Gal. 1), venesmer (Gal. 2), venesmen (Viera), ‘August’. For -esmer, cf. (Tait.) asam-
mar, ‘intense sunlight’; (Tait.) iwet n asammar, ‘a sunstroke’, (Tait.) isisammer, ‘he who warms
himself in the sun ’. So venesmer may stand for uin n asammar, ‘ those (days) of intense sunlight or heat ’.
I read n as nn, for in all Sp. loan words from Ar. a double n becomes n.
§9. Palma.
ADAGO (Gal.), ‘goat’s milk ’, ‘a goat’ (Viera), with metathesis of d and g, cf.—-
(Shil.) agad, ‘he-goat’.
Possibly (M.) ad, ‘here is’, (Shil.) agu, ‘milk’.
107
3. achmayex [atmayce (Gal. 1)], guayaxerax, achoron, achamam, ‘the mother of the sustainer
of heaven and earth’.
4. alzanxiquian abcanabac [abcanahac], xerax, ‘the place of union of the son of the great’.
5. atguaychafunataman, ‘he who holds or possesses the sky ’.
The most intelligible of these formulas is the last. Reading ch as t, as in chamato, §3, cf. (Tam.)
(g)wa ittefen atuman, or, using the habitual form itettefen, (Shil.) itattafen, an expression meaning ‘he who
habitually holds or supports atuman (the sky) ’. The verb is the 3 sg. habitual and participial form of
ettef, ‘to grasp, to hold, to keep ’. But the at-, ac-, ach- remains unexplained.
The ach- in Achguayaxerax is separable, for it is omitted in the third formula, and also by Viana and
Galindo. The achahucanac of the second formula is cited by A iana as hucanech. Perhaps it had
very little meaning, for in the third formula achmayex is translated ‘the mother ’. This was one of the
proofs adduced by Lord Bute in support of his belief that ach was the definite article. But in this instance
the article is necessary in Spanish or the word ‘mother’ would be in the vocative.
This obscure prefix at-, ac~, ach- may be a demonstrative particle analogous with the (Q.) d, ‘it, he
is’, (d nek ag moqqoren fellah, ‘it is I who am bigger than thee’; guri aqjun d ammellal, ‘ I have a white
dog’, literally ‘I have a dog, it is white’). This d is the same as that found in (Tam., Q.) da, ‘here ’,
(Shil.) d, ‘here’; (M.) da, ‘this’, (Shil.) ad, ‘this’, (Zen.) ad, it, ‘this’. These words carry with them
the verb ‘is’ understood. Achmayex would therefore mean ‘it is the mother’.
But it may mean more, for in Berber ‘ the mother of so and so ’ must be rendered ‘ his or her mother of
so and so ’. (Tait.) imma-s n Maskeri, ‘the mother, (lit. his mother) of Masqueray ’; (Q.) imma-s burgaz
agi, ‘ his mother of this man ’. In achmayex (achmaycd), to be read mayes, maise, we may find the suffix -s,
‘ his ’. The word for ‘ mother’ is here and in (Tam.) via. The suffix in Tenerife may have been -is with a
-y- inserted between the two vowels. But the sign of the genetive n has been omitted after -mayex, -mayce.
In the first three formulas of Espinosa a verbal form is apparent in achguayaxerax which is translated
‘sustainer, he that sustains’. In Berber ‘sustainer’ would be rendered by ‘he who sustains ’. The verb
would be put in the 3 sg. participial or relative form, and be governed by a relative pronoun (tf)wa.
Neglecting ach-, the guayaxerax, if the translation is correct, means ‘he who sustains’. There is no
verb in Berber exactly like aseras or aherah with the above meaning, though (Tait.) gerah, ‘ to keep, to
guard, to lock up’ is not very far removed. From the Berber point of view, yaxerax is incomplete for
it ought to end with -n. Fortunately this termination can be recovered from the variant guayerxeran
of Galindo. By the transposition of r and x, we get -exereran and as x and r are so often confounded
the last r can be read x with the resultant exerexan. Guayaxerax then appears as a mutilated form of
guayaxeraxan and in point of form is on all fours with (Tait.) iegerahen, ‘ he who keeps ’. Galindo trans-
lates guayaxcraxi, ‘he who holds or possesses the world’ and chaxiraxi, ‘she who carries him that holds
or possesses the world ’. The latter name was given to the Virgin Mary when the natives became ac-
quainted with her. Both of these forms are evidently incomplete and abbreviated. If the ch in chaxiraxi
can be read as t, as in chamato, §3, then laxiraxi is probably shortened from ta-taxiraxi(t) and is the
feminine of (g'jwa-yaxeraxifn). In formula 2, achahurahan seems to mean ‘the great ’, and with it may be
compared (Tait.) ihuharen, ‘very large, wide’. The word may have reference to the spaciousness of
the sky.
Benesmer (Gal. 1), venesmer (Gal. 2), venesmen (Viera), ‘August’. For -esmer, cf. (Tait.) asam-
mar, ‘intense sunlight’; (Tait.) iwet n asammar, ‘a sunstroke’, (Tait.) isisammer, ‘he who warms
himself in the sun ’. So venesmer may stand for uin n asammar, ‘ those (days) of intense sunlight or heat ’.
I read n as nn, for in all Sp. loan words from Ar. a double n becomes n.
§9. Palma.
ADAGO (Gal.), ‘goat’s milk ’, ‘a goat’ (Viera), with metathesis of d and g, cf.—-
(Shil.) agad, ‘he-goat’.
Possibly (M.) ad, ‘here is’, (Shil.) agu, ‘milk’.