Queridos listeros:
I'm trying to find the etymology for Central American Spanish tenguereche --a small lizard similar to an iguana. Variations include tenguerete, tenguere, etc.
It doesn't show up on the DRAE in any variant form.
I can't be Nawat, since Nawat does not have /r/ and, in any case, is very different from any Nawat word for lizard (of which there are a half dozen or so). The ending -che, however, is often a relic of Nawat -tsin, a diminutive. So the root seems to be tenguer(e).
It's not Mayan, given that Mayan languages, from what I've seen, tend to be mono and bi-syllabic and I don't think any of them have final /r/.
It may be Taíno (Arawakan) but I know nothing about Taíno and the word doesn't seem to exist in the Spanish-speaking
Caribbean.
It may be Guanche --but someone who knows Guanche would have to determine that. The form /t-engere-t/ suggests a possible Berber origin, but who knows.
It may be from Basque, but someone who knows Basque would have to figure that out.
I don't know of any similar forms in Spain or elsewhere.
I know this isn't traditional IE stuff, but it would give the know-it-alls a chance to stop fighting and show their real stuff.
Gracias a todos