Editing Guanche language

{{Short description|Extinct language of the Canary Islands}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Guanche
| states           = Spain ([[Canary Islands]])
| region           = Canary Islands
| ethnicity        = [[Guanches]]
| extinct          = 17th century<ref name=Kossman/>
| ref              = 
| familycolor      = Afro-Asiatic
| fam2             = [[Berber languages|Berber]]?
| iso3             = gnc
| glotto           = guan1277
| glottorefname    = Guanche
| linglist         = gnc
| fam1             = [[Afro-Asiatic]]?
}}

'''Guanche''' is an [[extinct language]] or [[dialect continuum]] that was spoken by the [[Guanches]] of the [[Canary Islands]] until the 16th or 17th century. It died out after the [[conquest of the Canary Islands]] as the Guanche ethnic group was assimilated into the dominant [[Spanish culture]]. The Guanche language is known today through sentences and individual words that were recorded by early geographers, as well as through several place-names and some Guanche words that were retained in the [[Canarian Spanish|Canary Islanders' Spanish]].

==Classification==
Guanche has not been classified with any certainty. Many [[linguistics|linguists]] propose that Guanche was likely a [[Berber language]], or at least genealogically related to the Berber languages to some extent as an [[Afroasiatic languages|Afroasiatic language]].<ref>Richard Hayward, 2000, "Afroasiatic", in Heine & Nurse eds, ''African Languages,'' Cambridge University Press</ref><ref>Andrew Dalby, ''Dictionary of Languages'', 1998, p. 88 "Guanche, indigenous language of the Canary Islands, is generally thought to have been a Berber language."</ref><ref>Bynon J., "The contribution of linguistics to history in the field of Berber studies." In: Dalby D, (editor) ''Language and history in Africa'' New York: Africana Publishing Corporation, 1970, p 64-77.</ref><ref name="Militarev 2018">{{Cite web |last=Militarev |first=Alexander |date=2018 |title=Libyo-Berbers-Tuaregs-Canarians (Tamâhaq Tuaregs in the Canary Islands in the Context of Ethno-Linguistic Prehistory of Libyo-Berbers: Linguistic and Inscriptional Evidence)|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329403424  |website=Research Gate}}</ref> However, recognizable Berber words are primarily agricultural or livestock vocabulary, whereas no Berber grammatical inflections have been identified, and there is a large stock of vocabulary that does not bear any resemblance to Berber whatsoever. It may be that Guanche had a stratum of Berber vocabulary but was otherwise unrelated to Berber.<ref name=Kossman>Maarten Kossmann, [https://www.academia.edu/8902056/Berber_subclassification_preliminary_version_ Berber subclassification (preliminary version)], Leiden (2011)</ref> Other strong similarities to the Berber languages are reflected in their counting system, while some authors suggest the Canarian branch would be a sister branch to the surviving continental Berber languages, splitting off during the early development of the language family and before the ''terminus post quem'' for the origin of Proto-Berber.<ref name="Militarev 2018"/>

==History==
The name ''Guanche'' originally referred to a "man from [[Tenerife]]",<ref name=Britannica>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Guanches |volume= 12 | pages = 650–651, line two |quote= ....man of Teneriffe,” corrupted, according to Nuñez de la Peña, by Spaniards into Guanchos}}</ref> and only later did it come to refer to all native inhabitants of the [[Canary Islands]]. Different dialects of the [[language]] were spoken across the [[archipelago]]. Archaeological finds on the Canaries include both [[Tifinagh|Libyco-Berber]] and [[Punic language|Punic]] inscriptions in [[petroglyphs|rock carvings]], although early accounts stated the Guanches themselves did not possess a system of writing.

The first reliable account of the Guanche language was provided by the Genovese explorer [[Nicoloso da Recco]] in 1341, with a list of the numbers 1–19, possibly from [[Fuerteventura]]. Recco's account reveals a [[Base 10|base-10]] counting system with strong similarities to [[Berber language|Berber]] [[numbers]].

[[Silbo Gomero language|Silbo]], originally a whistled form of Guanche speech used for communicating over long distances, was used on [[La Gomera]], [[El Hierro]], [[Tenerife]], and [[Gran Canaria]]. As the Guanche language became extinct, a [[Spanish language|Spanish]] version of Silbo was adopted by some inhabitants of the [[Canary Islands]].

==Numerals==
Guanche numerals are attested from several sources, not always in good agreement (Barrios 1997). Some of the discrepancies may be due to copy errors, some to [[gender]] distinctions, and others to [[Arabic]] borrowings in later elicitations. Recco's early 1341 record notably uses Italian-influenced spelling.

{|class=wikitable
|-
![[Number]]!!Recco<br>(1341)!!Cairasco<br>(song, 1582)!!Cedeño<br>(c. 1685)!!Marín de Cubas<br>(1687, 1694)!!Sosa<br>(copy of 1678)!!Abreu<br>(attrib. to 1632)!!Reyes<br>(1995 reconstruction)!![[Proto-Berber]]
|-
![[1]]
|vait*
|*be
|ben, ven-ir-
|becen~been, ben-ir-
|ben, ben-ir-
|been (ben?), ben-i-
|*wên
|*yiwan
|-
![[2]]
|smetti, smatta-
|*smi
|liin, lin-ir-
|liin, sin-ir-~lin-ir-
|lini (sijn)
|lini, lini-
|*sîn
|*sin
|-
![[3]]
|amelotti, amierat-
|*amat
|amiet
|amiet~amiat, am-ir-
|amiat (amiet)
|amiat
|*amiat
|*karaḍ
|-
![[4]]
|acodetti, acodat-
|*aco
|arba
|arba
|arba
|arba
|*akod
|*hakkuẓ
|-
![[5]]
|simusetti, simusat-
|*somus
|canza~canse
|canza
|cansa
|canza
|*sumus
|*sammus
|-
![[6]]
|sesetti, sesatti-
|?
|sumus
|sumui~sumus
|sumus
|smmous
|*sed
|*saḍis
|-
![[7]]
|satti
|*set
|sat
|sat
|sat (sá)
|sat
|*sa
|*sah
|-
![[8]]
|tamatti
|*tamo
|set
|set
|set
|set
|*tam
|*tam
|-
![[9]]
|alda-marava,
nait
|?
|acet~acot
|acot
|acot
|acot
|*aldamoraw
|*tiẓ(ẓ)ah~tuẓah
|-
![[10]]
|marava
|*marago
|marago
|marago
|marago
|marago
|*maraw~maragʷ
|*maraw
|}
<nowiki>*</nowiki> Also {{transliteration|gnc|nait}},' an apparent copy error. Similarly with {{transliteration|gnc|alda-morana}} for expected *{{transliteration|gnc|italic=no|alda-marava}}.

Later attestations of 11–19 were formed by linking the digit and ten with ''-ir'': {{transliteration|gnc|benirmarago, linirmarago,}} etc. 20–90 were similar, but contracted: {{transliteration|gnc|linago, amiago,}} etc. [[100]] was {{transliteration|gnc|maraguin}}, apparently 10 with the Berber plural ''-en''. Recco only recorded [[1]]–16; the combining forms for 11–16, which did not have this ''-ir-'', are included as the hyphenated forms in the table above.

[[Spanish language|Spanish]] does not distinguish {{IPA|[b]}} and {{IPA|[v]}}, so ''been'' is consistent with *veen. The Berber feminine ends in ''-t'', as in [[Shilha language|Shilha]] [[1]]: ''yan'' (m), ''yat'' (f); [[2]]: ''sin'' (m), ''snat'' (f), and this may explain discrepancies such as ''been'' and ''vait'' for 'one'.

Cairasco is a misparsed counting song, {{transliteration|gnc|besmia mat acosomuset tamobenir marago}}. ''Ses'' '[[6]]' may have got lost in the middle of {{transliteration|gnc|somuset}} ( ← *{{transliteration|gnc|italic=no|somussesset}}).

Starting with Cedeño, new roots for '[[2]]' and '[[9]]' appear ('9' perhaps the old root for '[[4]]'), new roots for '[[4]]' and '[[5]]' (''arba, kansa'') appear to be Arabic borrowings, and old '[[5]]', '[[6]]', '[[7]]' offset to '[[6]]', '[[7]]', '[[8]]'.

==Vocabulary==
Below are selected Guanche vocabulary items from a 16th-century list by [[Alonso de Espinosa]], as edited and translated by [[Clements Robert Markham]] (1907):<ref>{{citation-attribution|1=Espinosa, Alonso de; Markham, Clements Robert (ed.). 1907. ''[https://archive.org/details/guanchesofteneri00espirich The Guanches of Tenerife, the holy image of Our Lady of Candelaria, and the Spanish conquest and settlement]''. (Works issued by the Hakluyt Society, second series, 21.) London: [[Hakluyt Society]]. 229pp. }}</ref>{{rp|xx-xxiv}}

:{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Guanche !! English gloss
|-
| adara || lake 
|-
| afaro || grain
|-
| aguere || lake
|-
| ahof, aho || milk
|-
| ahoren || barley meal roasted with butter
|-
| amen || sun
|-
| ana || sheep
|-
| ara || goat
|-
| aran || farm
|-
| xaxo || deceased; mummy
|-
| banot || spear
|-
| cancha || dog
|-
| cel || moon
|-
| chafa || lofty mountain ridge
|-
| chafaña || toasted grain
|-
| chamato || woman
|-
| coran || man
|-
| coraja || red owl
|-
| e-c, e-g || I (1st person)
|-
| era, iera || your
|-
| guan; ben || son (in reality "one of")<ref>{{Cite web|last=Reyes |first=Ignacio |date=2017-09-14 |title=Guan |url=https://imeslan.com/2017/09/14/guan/ |access-date=2021-11-26|website=DICCIONARIO ÍNSULOAMAZIQ |language=es}}</ref>
|-
| guañac || people; state
|-
| guaya || spirit, life
|-
| guijon, guyon || ships (-''n'' ‘plural’)
|-
| guirre || vulture (''[[Neophron percnopterus]]'')
|-
| hacichei || beans, vetches
|-
| hari || multitude, people
|-
| jarco || mummy
|-
| manse || shore
|-
| mayec || mother
|-
| n-amet || bone
|-
| o-che || melted butter
|-
| petut || father?
|-
| t || thou, thy
|-
| th || they
|-
| tabayba || ''[[Euphorbia]]''
|-
| tabona || obsidian knife
|-
| tagasaste || ''[[Cytisus proliferus]]'' (var.)
|-
| taginaste || ''[[Echium]] strictum''
|-
| tamarco || coat of skins
|-
| tara || barley
|-
| taraire, tagaire || alternative name for Mt. Teid
|-
| xerco || shoe
|-
| xerax || sky
|-
| zonfa || navel
|}

Below are some additional basic vocabulary words in various Guanche dialects, from Wölfel (1965):<ref>Wölfel, Dominik Josef. 1965. ''Monumenta linguae Canariae: Die kanarischen Sprachdenkmäler''. Graz, Austria: [[Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt]].</ref>

:{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Guanche !! gloss !! dialect (island)
|-
| guan, cotan || man || 
|-
| chamato || woman || 
|-
| hari || people, multitude || [[Tenerife]]
|-
| doramas || nostrils || [[Gran Canaria]]
|-
| adargoma || shoulder || Gran Canaria
|-
| atacaicate || heart || Gran Canaria
|-
| garuaic || fist || 
|-
| zonfa || navel || Tenerife
|-
| agoñe || bone || Tenerife
|-
| taber || good || La [[La Palma|Palma]]
|-
| tigotan || sky || La Palma
|-
| [[Achamán]] || sky, God || Tenerife
|-
| [[magec]] || sun || Tenerife, Gran Canaria?
|-
| ahemon || water || [[El Hierro|Hierro]]
|-
| aala(mon) || water || [[La Gomera|Gomera]], Hierro
|-
| ade || water || La Palma
|-
| ide || fire || Tenerife
|-
| tacande || volcanic field || La Palma
|-
| cancha || dog || Gran Canaria, Tenerife
|-
| garehagua || dog || La Palma
|}

==References==
<references />

==Further reading==
*Osorio Acevedo, Francisco. 2003. ''Gran diccionario guanche: el diccionario de la lengua de los aborígenes canarios''. Tenerife: CajaCanarias. {{ISBN|9788479264253}}
*Villarroya, José Luis de Pando. 1996. ''Diccionario de voces guanches''. Toledo: Pando Ediciones.
*Villarroya, José Luis de Pando. 1987. ''Diccionario de la lengua Guanche''. Madrid: Pando Ediciones.
*Zyhlarz, Ernst. 1950. Das kanarische Berberisch in seinem sprachgeschichtlichen Milieu. ''Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenländischen Gesellschaft'' 100: 403-460.
*Esteban, José M. 2003. [https://www.acta.es/recursos/revista-digital-manuales-formativos/316-030 Vocabulario canario guanche]. ''Autores científico-técnicos y académicos'' 30:119-129.

==External links==
{{EB1911 Poster|Guanches}}
*[http://tesis.bbtk.ull.es/ccssyhum/cs159.pdf José Barrios: Sistemas de numeración y calendarios de las poblaciones bereberes de Gran Canaria y Tenerife en los siglos XIV-XV] (PhD Dissertation, 1997)
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20140303004248/http://afrika.univie.ac.at/fileadmin/user_upload/i_afrikawissenschaften/occasional_papers/paper_04_boehm.pdf Gerhard Böhm: Monumentos de la Lengua Canaria e Inscripciones Líbicas] (Department of African Studies, University of Vienna - Occasional Paper No. 4 / February 2006)

{{Berber languages}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guanche Language}}
[[Category:Berber languages]]
[[Category:Culture of the Canary Islands]]
[[Category:Extinct languages of Spain]]
[[Category:Medieval languages]]
[[Category:Guanche]]
[[Category:Unclassified languages of Africa]]
[[Category:Extinct languages of Africa]]
[[Category:Languages extinct in the 17th century]]