The Güegüence A Comedy Ballet in the Nahuatl-Spanish Dialect of Nicaragua

The Güegüence; A Comedy Ballet in the Nahuatl-Spanish Dialect of Nicaragua

1. The Nahuas and Mangues of Nicaragua. Among the outlying colonies of that important people whose chief seat was in the Valley of Mexico, and who are variously known as Aztecs, Mexicans or Nahuas, were several in Central America. "One of these," writes Mr. Squier, "occupied the principal islands in the Lake of Nicaragua, the narrow isthmus which intervenes between that lake and the Pacific, and probably a portion of the country to the southward, as far as the gulf of Nicoya. Their country was less than a hundred miles long, by twenty-five broad; yet here they preserved the same language and institutions, and practiced the same religious rites, with the people of the same stock who dwelt more than two thousand miles distant, on the plateau of Anahuac, from whom they were separated by numerous powerful nations, speaking different languages, and having distinct organizations."[1] This Nahuatl tribe gave the name to the Province, Nicaragua, this being, according to some early authorities, the personal appellation of their chief at the epoch of their discovery, in 1522, and, according to others, their national name.[2] For no sufficient reasons, Mr. Squier applied to them the term Niquirans, and Dr. Berendt Nicaraos, but it seems better to retain, as distinctive for them, the name Nicaraguans, or, more specifically, "the Nahuas of Nicaragua." "Nicaragua" is [vi] undoubtedly a Nahuatl word, but, as the letter r is not found in that language, the precise original form is uncertain. Father Francisco Vasquez explained it as a compound of the Nahuatl nican, "here," and anahuacos, "here dwell those from Anahuac;"[3] or it may be from nican and nahua (plural form of nahuatl), "here dwell those speaking the Nahuatl tongue;" or, as a personal name of a chief, it may be ni calaquiya, "I entered into, or took possession." ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 40559
Author: Brinton, Daniel G. (Daniel Garrison)
Release Date: Aug 22, 2012
Format: eBook
Language: English

Contributors

Editor: Brinton, Daniel G. (Daniel Garrison), 1837-1899