Um tökuorð úr málum frumbyggja Rómönsku-Ameríku í íslensku og nokkrum Evrópumálum

Abstract

This article discusses some indoamerican loanwords of prehispanic origin (Nahuatl, Quechua, Taino, Caribe, Maya and Aymara) in Icelandic and some European languages which have been borrowed via Spanish, as well as their history, their journey from one language to another, their adoption and assimilation to the system of the recipient language. The first written sources of the indoamerican borrowings are old Spanish texts, mainly navigation books and chronicles, from the 15th and 16th century. The indoamerican loanwords were incorporated into French, German and Eng- lish in the 16th, 17th and 18th century, and came via these languages to the Nordic languages in the 18th and 19th cenrury. In most cases, Icelandic borrowed the words via Danish in the 18th, 19th and 20th century. The concepts subject to borrowing were mainly connected with fauna, flora, products, navigation etc. Finally the words canoe, hurricane, tomato and guano are studied and discussed as examples of words of indoamerican origin in Icelandic and some other European languages.