![]() gauderio (low person, cattle rustler) > derisive *gauducho' > gaúcho and gaucho gauderio (peasant, one who enjoys life) > Urug. Romani) gachó (foreigner) > Andalusian gachó (bohemian, wanderer) > Arg. huaso) (countryman or cowboy) > guacho > gaucho Groussac 1893 Groussac 1904 Paullada 1961 Rona 1964 Ĭhilean Quichua or Araucanian guaso (modern sp. ![]() Guacho > gaucho is an improbable metathesis. Quichua huajcho or wáhča (orphan, abandoned, maverick) > colonial Sp. No proof that it was not the other way round Pehuenche cachu (friend) or Araucanian kauchu (astute man) > Argentine gaucho Groussac 1904 Paullada 1961 Trifilo 1964 Gibson 1892 That Indians could not have pronounced "chaucho" is untenable. ![]() Same root as English gawky (awkward, uncouth)Įarliest theory (1820), dismissed as "humorous" įrench gauche (rough, uncouth) > Argentine gaucho.Īrabic chauch (herder) > Andalusian Spanish chaucho > guttural Amerindian gaucho Of the following explanations, Rona said that only #5, #8 and #9 might be taken seriously. ![]() The etymologist Joan Corominas said most of these theories were "not worthy of discussion". Most seem to have been conjured up by finding a word that looks something like gaucho and guessing that it changed to its present form, perhaps without awareness that there are sound laws that describe how languages and words really evolve over time. They can proliferate because "there is no documentation of any sort that will fix its origin to any time, place or language". Already in 1933 an author counted 36 different theories more recently, over fifty. Many explanations have been proposed, but no-one really knows how the word "gaucho" originated. In Portuguese the word gaúcho means "an inhabitant of the plains of Rio Grande do Sul or the Pampas of Argentina of European and indigenous American descent who devotes himself to lassoing and raising cattle and horses" gaúcho has also acquired a metonymic signification in Brazil, meaning anyone, even an urban dweller, who is a citizen of the State of Rio Grande do Sul. Because historical gauchos were reputed to be brave, if unruly, the word is also applied metaphorically to mean "noble, brave and generous", but also "one who is skillful in subtle tricks, crafty". In Argentina and Uruguay today, gaucho can refer to any "country person, experienced in traditional livestock farming". The gaucho in some respects resembled members of other nineteenth century rural, horse-based cultures such as the North American cowboy ( vaquero in Spanish), huaso of Central Chile, the Peruvian chalan or morochuco, the Venezuelan and Colombian llanero, the Ecuadorian chagra, the Hawaiian paniolo, the Mexican charro, and the Portuguese campino.Īccording to the Diccionario de la lengua española, in its historical sense a gaucho was a " mestizo who, in the 18th and 19th centuries, inhabited Argentina, Uruguay, and Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, and was a migratory horseman, and adept in cattle work". Beginning late in the 19th century, after the heyday of the gauchos, they were celebrated by South American writers. Gauchos became greatly admired and renowned in legend, folklore, and literature and became an important part of their regional cultural tradition. The figure of the gaucho is a folk symbol of Argentina, Uruguay, Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, and the south of Chilean Patagonia. Gaucho from Argentina, photographed in Peru, 1868Ī gaucho ( Spanish: ) or gaúcho ( Portuguese: ) is a skilled horseman, reputed to be brave and unruly.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |