The original population of Tenerife or indigenous inhabitants of Tenerife were referred to by the term “Guanche.”
This term refers to the people who lived on Tenerife before the Spanish conquest in the late 15th century. Over time, the term has been expanded and used to describe the indigenous people of all the Canary Islands. The Guanches were the first known inhabitants of the Canary Islands. Their origins have long been the subject of speculation and research. It is widely believed that they were descendants of North African Berbers.
The word “Guanche” itself is thought to come from the native words ‘guan’ (person) and ‘chinet’ (Tenerife), meaning “person of Tenerife.” This is just one theory about the etymology of the word. Over time, the term Guanche came to be used more broadly to describe the diverse groups of indigenous people living on the different islands of the archipelago, each with their own customs and languages, although they shared cultural and genetic similarities.
Guanchism
The indigenous people of Tenerife, the Guanches, had a rich culture, including unique forms of religion, social organization, and housing construction, before the Spanish conquest drastically changed their way of life. The question that now arises is the origin of the word ‘Guanche.’ Two opposing theories suggest that it could either be an aboriginal gentilicio – a guanchism – or a Gallicism that describes the ability to dodge thrown objects, referring to a tribe that inhabited the Canary Islands during the time of the conquests.
The Real Academia Española defines the word ‘Guache’ both as a synonym for Canary Islander and as the Berber language spoken by the Guanches. But where does the word Guanche come from? Is it derived from one of the original languages of the archipelago? A guanchism?
Gallicism
Tracing old sources, we find plausible arguments for the indigenous origin of the word Guanche, even if it was later phonetically adapted to the pronunciation of the Spaniards or underwent phonetic changes in the languages spoken by other European conquerors. In the thesis of emeritus professor Maximiano Trapero from the Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC), co-written with Dr. Elena Llamas, a French philologist, it is argued that the term may actually originate from a Gallicism that refers to the ability to dodge thrown objects.
Original Population in Tenerife and Meaning
The first written reference to the word Guanche dates back to 1498 in the Datas de Tenerife—documents that regulated the division of land after the conquest of the islands of Realengo (Gran Canaria, La Palma, and Tenerife)—where ‘Guanche’ was used to refer to the inhabitants, their land, and their language.
Around 1526, merchant Thomas Nichols stopped in Tenerife and noted that the indigenous people called themselves Guanches in their own language. In this sense, historian Nuñez de la Peña noted that ‘guan’ in the native language meant “person” and ‘chinec’ meant Tenerife, as Dominican friar Alonso de Espinosa had already noted with the term Achinech to refer to the island. Therefore, although it later became a Guanche term as a result of the Spanish conquerors’ use, the origin of the word can be found in the composition of guachinech, meaning “person of Tenerife” or “inhabitant of Tenerife.”
Skills
The hypothesis of guanchism modeled after Spanish pronunciation, however, finds a well-substantiated alternative in the renowned study by Maximiano Trapero and Elena Llanas Pombo. These researchers propose that the word Guanche is a Gallicism rooted in the verb guenchir and the nouns guenche and guanche, words from Old French. These words describe the sideways movement of the body to dodge something—stones, spears, or any other thrown object—a skill of the indigenous people that most captured the attention of the expeditions led by Jean de Bethencourt starting in 1402. According to this hypothesis, the term Guanche originated from the eastern islands and spread across the archipelago at the same pace as the conquest, explaining its presence in the toponymy of all the islands.
Clarity
Guanche has traditionally been associated with the indigenous people of Tenerife. Professor Trapero notes that it first appeared in writing in the aforementioned Datas de Tenerife. Once the conquest of Gran Canaria was over, along with the islands of Señorío—Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, El Hierro, and La Gomera—the scholar explains that the term Guanche could only be applied to the indigenous people of the islands that had not yet been conquered—La Palma and Tenerife—and particularly to Achinech, the last island to fall because it offered the greatest resistance.
The Encyclopedia Guanche tells us that Achined or Achineche was the name the Guanches gave to the island of Tenerife and comes from wa-n-Achinech (he of Achineche), meaning “the man who comes from Tenerife.”
Guy Devos © AI Illustration
Original population on Tenerife ©
More History [HERE]
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