220 



INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — ^PUBLICATION NO. 11 



of the 48 people listed as having a knowledge of 

 English actually have a working command of 

 this language. The 1940 census showed but 

 six individuals who could speak English. Also, 

 in 1945, there were three individuals who could 

 speak French, and two with a Icnowledge of Latin. 



The Spanish or Castilian spoken in Quiroga is 

 the type, often incorrectly referred to as the Anda- 

 lusian dialect, which dominates most of Spanish 

 America. More specifically, it belongs to the 

 dialect which obtains over most of Mexico and 

 Central America, and which is characterized by a 

 large number of words of Mexicano (Nahuatl) 

 origin, together with some words of Taino (Ara- 

 wak) derivation. In Quiroga and the old Taras- 

 can region in general there is a sub-dialect of 

 Mexican Spanish which is differentiated by the 

 comparatively large number of Tarascan words 

 employed and by certain peculiar usages of Spanish 

 words. So far as we know, no philologist has 

 studied this Michoacdn dialect which extends 

 southward into parts of Guerrero and northward 

 into Guanajuato. In this monograph there is 

 space for only a few comments on the Michoac&n 

 dialect. 



Spanish was introduced by conquerors, colonists, 

 administrators, and religious, many of whom had 

 acquired a number of Taino substantives in the 

 West Indies, and a yet larger number of Mexicano 

 nouns by reason of using Mexicano-speaking 

 Indians as allies, servants, and interpreters. 

 Consequent to the establishment of political, 

 religious, and educational headquarters in the 

 Mexicano-speaking area of the Valley of Mexico, 

 the Europeans who settled in the province of 

 Michoacan had only the Mexicano if they had 

 any Indian language. As the Tarascans learned 

 Spanish they incorporated as presumptive Spanish 

 words many words of Mexicano and Taino origin 

 which the Spaniards had adopted for material 

 items which were lacking in the Old World. In 

 this fashion such non-Tarascan and non-Spanish 

 words as guajolote (tm'key), maiz (maize), chile 

 and aji {Capsicum pepper), tabaco (tobacco), 

 metate (nether mealing stone), and cacique (chief- 

 tain) were adopted by the acculturated Tarascans 

 and the mestizos. In relatively few instances 

 Tarascan words for items of general Mexican 

 distribution were retained; e. g., huarache (sandal), 

 ciridn (Crescentia cujete), ydcata (temple mound 

 or ruin), ate (sweet or sirup), charanda (red, as in 



red earth) , tarecua (a type of hoe or digging stick) , 

 tacari (Spanish moss), chinapu (obsidian), xanamu 

 (a rock used in construction), tiripu (dodder), etc. 

 In some cases a Spanish name was retained for a 

 New World item (as tortilla, for the pancake of 

 ground nixtamal, and mano for the handstone or 

 muller) ; and in other cases a Mexicano name 

 became current for an item with a perfectly good 

 Spanish name available (e. g., petate for mat, 

 mecate for rope, and malacate for spindle whorl 

 and windlass). The reasons for such selection 

 among the Spanish, Mexicano, Taino, Tarascan, 

 and other languages have never been properly 

 investigated. In summary, the various parts of 

 speech are almost entirely Spanish, excepting the 

 nouns and a few verbs. It would be difficult to 

 decide whether more Spanish or Indian sub- 

 stantives are used in everyday speech. Certainly 

 a majority of the plants, animals, and items 

 encountered in a kitchen have Indian names. 

 For example, maiz or nixtamal ground on a 

 metate may be fiavored with chile and made into 

 a famal, or cooked on a comal to make tortillas 

 (Sp.), or else converted into atoles, pozoles, etc. 

 Also, the farmer may set out for his milpa, 

 carrying a huaje full of water, and with an ayate 

 of nequen or ixtle in which he will bring back 

 ejotes, elotes, or possibly zacate. There are only 

 a few Indian verbs, such as piscar (to harvest) 

 and the bastard verb enchilar (to make piquant 

 with chile). There are corruptions of Spanish, 

 most of them common to much of Me.xico, but a 

 few are more common here than over most of 

 Mexico, e. g., suidad for ciudad. Also there are 

 provincialisms such as the use of harto to mean 

 "very" or "exceedingly," as in harto hondo (very 

 deep) . 



One of the most interesting linguistic phenomena 

 in the area is the definite line which can be drawn 

 between the Spanish-speaking town of Quii'oga 

 and Tarascan-speaking Santa Fe de la Laguna 

 within view to the west. This demarcation is all 

 the more interesting because Santa Fe, San 

 Jer6nimo, and San Andres are in the municipality 

 of Quiroga, and their inhabitants must go to 

 Quiroga to market, to pay taxes, to be inscribed 

 in the civil register, etc. Furthermore, farmers 

 of Santa Fe cultivate lands right to the "walls" of 

 Quiroga town. However, it remains to be seen 

 how long the retention of Tarascan can with- 

 stand the presence of a paved through highway, 



