The taino influence in our language

Taino is the name of our radio station. Nowadays, there is a countless number of words having a taino origin; even the term Cuba has a lot to do with this ethnic group.

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24 de junio de 2019 - By Mercedes Hernández

Taino is the name of our radio station. Nowadays, there is a countless  number of words having a taino origin; even the term Cuba has a lot to do with this ethnic group. There are other words like hamaca -hammock-, huracán -hurricane-, carey -hawksbill-, Caribe -Caribbean-, zunzún -Hummingbird- and guayaba -guava belonging to this group.

The barbacoa, for instance, comes from tainos' settlements, and today is an extra room Cubans build as a second floor for the visit of unexpected family members or to expand their house. The bohío was the tainos' dwelling, a sort of hut made of wood, straw and mud, which we can see today in intricate areas of the mountains and  even in non-so intricate regions.

Other terms as canoa -canoe-, carey -hawksbill-, cacique -Indian chief-, also come from the same time and there's no need to explain them, since they are daily used in our land. This also happens with words like casabe -cassava-, arepa or crêpes, batey -a sort of hut-, boricua, guanábana -a fruit belonging to the custard-apple tree-, iguana -a kind of lizard- and guasasa -a flying insect that bothers too much especially human eyes.

 

The cayuco is another term very used today, consisting in one-piece little boat, made of an emptied tree trunk, smaller than a canoe, having a flat bottom without keel, driven and steered with a very wide paddle, used in the Antilles and other parts of America; although, today it also refers to the ship or boat used by African illegal immigrants to enter in Europe.

We may keep on talking for a big while about these words coming from a very remote time, where the main actors of the life of the country were the siboneyes, guanahatabeyes and, naturally, TAINOS' tribes.

 

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