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]
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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![MS. in the Library at Laguna, says of the Tene- rifans:—‘‘These people were called Guanches. Their language was different to that of any other of the Canary Islands. Each island had its own language.”1 This is, perhaps, quoted in “ A pleasant description of the For- tunate Ilandes .... by the poore pilgrime,” published in London in 1583, where it is said:—“These people were called Guaches by naturall name. They spake another language cleane contrarie to the Canarians, and so consequently everie iland spake a severall language.” Mr. Glas, who wrote rather more than a century ago, and is reckoned one of the most trustworthy of the English authorities, says expressly :—“ Whether the Canarians were exiles from Africa, or not, I shall not pretend to determine; but am persuaded they came originally from thence. This may easily be proved from the similitude of customs and language in South Barbary to those of the natives of all the Canary Islands, ex- cepting Tenerife. The language of Tenerife, at the time of the conquest, had no affinity to those spoken in the rest of the islands: by the annexed specimen it seems to have some resemblance of the Peruvian or some other of the American tongues.”2 Antonio Galvanos says: — “ Every island did speak a severall language.”3 Again, we find the opinion that there were separate languages in the different islands combined with one which was common to all. Thus we read that the “ Guanches [of Tenerife] had a peculiar language quite different from the Canarians, and so in the rest, the inhabitants of every island had a distinct tongue besides the language com- mon to all ;”4 and, again, “ Every island had a peculiar dialect of one mother language which was common to them all.”5 And some writers have endeavoured to dis- tinguish particular words as local, while they specify others as being common to all the islands. Again, we 1 Note communicated to me by Mr. de G. Birch. 2 History of the Discovery and Conquest of the Canary Islands, p. 172. 3 Purchas his Pilgrimes. Pt. 2, p. 1073. 4 General Collection of Voyages, p. 537. 6 Ibid. p. 533.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22445201_0010.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
