Voces amerindias prehispanas en la Geographia Historica Orientalis de Hans Hansen Skonning

Abstract

This article discusses words from the languages of the natives of the New World that appear in the work of Hans Hansen Skonning, a printer and ringer in Aarhus in the 17th century. His book was published in Aarhus in 1641. An Icelandic translation from 1676 is preserved in a manuscript in the Royal Library’s Manuscript Collection in Copenhagen. And several chapters from Hansen Skonning’s book are preserved in various manuscripts in Iceland, including in Ein ágæt, nytsöm, fróðleg, lystileg, skemmtirík og artug bók... (1660–[80?]) by Magnús Jónsson. The chapters of this book that deal with the discovery, traditions and religions of the New World contain native American words and names. 54 words make up the corpus that was examined. Most of the words are from Quechua, the language of the Incas in Peru and neighboring countries. There are also words from the language of the Aztecs in Mexico and natives of the Greater and Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean. Some of the words discussed, for example cocoa and maize, have been adopted into many languages of the world.