Re: [tied] Guanches in the Canary Islands

--- In cybalist@..., Miguel Carrasquer Vidal <mcv@...> wrote:

> On Thu, 29 Mar 2001 23:23:50 -0000, dvj1uk@... wrote:
>
> >Not really a linguistic question but one that I hope is of

interest.

> >When the Spanish conquered the Canary islands in the 15th century
> >they described the population of the islands, the so called

Guanches,

> >as being tall,often fair haired and blue eyed. Their society was

what

> >we would call neolithic and they apparently had no seafaring

skills.

> >Their origin is wreathed in mystery. Amongst the suggestions that
> >I've come across is that they were descendents of Cro-Magnon man,
> >(surely not),
>
> Surely yes (but so is everybody else in Europe, North-Africa and the
> Near East).
>
> >that they were related to the Berbers of North Africa,
> >descendents of some Ibero-Celtic people,(unlikely?),and even that
> >some Nordic tribe settled there,(the most unlikely of all, given

the

> >lack of navigational skills?).
>
> The Berber theory is the most likely, as it is apparently confirmed

by

> what little linguistic data there is. (Lack of navigational skills

is

> irrelevant: they must have had them once in order to reach the
> islands).
>
> >I'm told that the name Guanche comes
> >from their native language and means 'man'. Does anyone know any

more

> >about their language and does it give a clue as to their origin?
>
> I don't know much about the language, merely the numerals as they

are

> given in Mark Rosenfelder's web page

(www.zompist.com/numbers.shtml).

> The following is my interpretation of them:
>
> The numbers from Gran Canaria:
> 1. nait < ?
> 2. sm-etti ~ Berber *sin (?)
> 3. amelo-tti < ?
> 4. acod-etti ~ Berber *(o)kkuz.
> 5. simus-etti ~ Berber *semmus
> 6. ses-etti ~ Berber *sad.is
> 7. sa-tti ~ Berber *sa:
> 8. tama-tti ~ Berber *ta:m
> 9. alda marava ~ Berber *ad.d.aw meraw
> 10. marava ~ Berber meraw
>
> The numbers from Tenerife:
> 1. ben ~ Berber *iwen > *iyen
> 2. lini ~ Berber *sin (< *s'in ?)
> 3. amia-t, cf. GC amelo-tti
> 4. arba < Sem. 'arba`-
> 5. cansa < Sem. xamsa-
> 6. sumus ~ Berber *semmus "5" ("and one" elided)
> 7. sà-t ~ Berber *sa:
> 8. se-t ~ Berber *kirad. > *s^rad. "3" ("five and" elided) (?)
> 9. aco-t ~ Berber *(o)kkuz. "4" ("five and" elided)
> 10. marago ~ Berber *meraw (< *maraGo ?)
>
> For amelotti/amiat "3", cf. perhaps Egyptian */xamtaw/ "3".
>
> >Finally, and I hope this isn't a daft question, could there be

some

> >environmental factor to explain their 'fair' appearance; for

instance

> >dietaty or chemical?
>

> Genes. There are "fair haired, blue-eyed" Berbers in the Atlas
> mountains of Morocco as well.

Yes, obviously genetic but what I was really wanting to know was why
certain populations,such as the Guanches, northern Europeans and
even some Australian Aboriginies have a tendency towards lighter
hair or eye coloration. Is it just a genetic accident or was there
some environmental factor that changed the appearance of man as he
spread around the world?
Thanks for your useful replies to my other questions.

>
>
> =======================
> Miguel Carrasquer Vidal
> mcv@...