Tajogaite and the Canarian Amazigh toponymy
I ẒUṚ AN. There is no doubt that toponymy is the main linguistic heritage of our indigenous ancestors. Indeed, most of the Guanchisms are toponyms and it can be affirmed that, saving the oral Hispanicization of these voices, our toponymy is bilingual. Although the vast majority of this lexical wealth has not been able to be translated with guarantees, it constitutes a living archive and a fundamental tool for the study of the ancient Amazigh variants of the Canary Islands. For all these reasons, it is a heritage of inestimable value that we preserve thanks to orality and that we must begin to take its conservation seriously.
The pre-colonial toponymy, unlike the Hispanic one, has been regressing for centuries against Spanish, the dominant and majority language since the mid-16th century in the Canary Islands. That is why during the last centuries we have not stopped losing names of this origin, especially microtoponyms. Social awareness is key to valuing and keeping this legacy alive.
The Amazigh toponymy is a heritage that we preserve thanks to orality and that we must take its conservation seriously.
? Tajogaite What does it mean
To try to understand the meaning of these old toponyms we have to resort to the few studies of comparative linguistics that exist. Normally, these voices are profoundly altered by Canarian Spanish, aggravated by the centuries in which the ancient Palma language is no longer spoken. However, let's look at the existing hypotheses.
The name of the volcano appears in the documentation in various ways; Tagojaite , Tajogaite and Taguajaite . At first, it was said that it could mean "Rajada Mountain" due to the existence of this small nearby volcano. Juan Bethencourt Alfonso and later Ignacio Reyes García , related it to another palmero toponym: the Tagoja Mountain (Gallegos, Barlovento). D. Wölfel relates it to the bimbape toponym Tejeguate but does not propose any interpretation. Reyes García proposes the parallelism with the Tuareg term: tăgguq (a perennial plant species that gives a spice) or tağuq (Artemisia campestris ). Jorge País points to the Guanche term “gaite” with the meaning of cake made with fern root flour, suggesting that the bush could be the fern ( Pteridium aquilinum ), very abundant in the Tajogaite plains and whose root was used to make gofio and fern buns.
?Artificial controversy
What should the new volcano of old Benahoare be called? Initially, the researcher Francisco Talavera proposed Jedey because of the proximity of that palm town to the place of the eruption. However, this took place in Tajogaite next to Cabeza de Vaca, so from the beginning some specialists and, finally, the Canary Islands Volcanological Institute (INVOLCAN) proposed that it be called that.
For the archaeologist from La Palma, Jorge Pais Pais , who initially proposed calling the Tajogaite volcano Tacande , explains that “ In La Palma, even the volcanoes lose their name and are now called mountains or, simply, with the toponym of the place where they burst ". For this reason, País proposes that it be called Tajogaite or Montaña de Tajogaite " because it is the place where it was born, because it does not lend itself to any type of confusion and because, like some of the historical eruptions, it has deep roots. indigenous that can be traced back to more than 2,000 years old ." The Castilian volcanologist Juan Carlos Carracedo commented that "he had first thought of calling it Cabeza Vaca. But Tajogaite, which is an aboriginal word, indicates the point where the first crack is located through which the magma came out on the afternoon of September 19. Tajogaite seems to me to be an apt name for the new volcano on La Palma ”.
"Tajogaite is the place where (the eruption) saw the light, because it does not lend itself to any type of confusion and because, like some of the historical eruptions, it has indigenous roots"
However, in the media and institutions the name of the place seems uncomfortable and for some reason the ancestral palm toponymy is not respected. The press and television (including the Canary Islands) influenced the denomination “ Cumbre Vieja ” Volcano or “ La Palma ” Volcano. The fact that the beautiful island has numerous volcanoes was ignored and, to make matters worse, many are located on the Cumbre Vieja ridge, so it is not specified which volcano we would be talking about. In this same line of hostility, the Cabildo of La Palma seems to show itself, which, through the Reviving the Valley Project, prompted a non-binding vote to choose a name. A strange poll that casually divided Tajogaite's option, making it difficult for her to be definitively elected and, however, was not enough to prevent her from being elected by majority . It gives the impression that the media and institutions are not aware that changing the name of the place would definitively bury the toponym that the ancient palm trees gave to that place and that their descendants kept from generation to generation until today.
conclusion
Despite Tajogaite being the area where the eruption erupted and being the name proposed and supported by INVOLCAN as well as historians and the majority of citizens, it has generated some controversy. The reasons for this controversy are not clear but it seems that they come from a rejection of the fact that it is a Guanche toponym. Fortunately, there are not a few Canarians who increasingly value our oldest toponymic legacy; the amazigh. However, it will not ultimately be the institutions that set the denomination, it will be the clappers and all the Canarian speakers.
TO KNOW MORE:
-Tajogaite is the name chosen for the volcano by popular consultation
-The name of the volcano causes controversy. Javier Salas in Newspaper Newspaper
-Imeslan: I'm sorry. By Ignatius Reyes Garcia
-Tajojaite volcano. All the information and last minute about the volcano of La Palma.
-Tajogaite. By Jorge Pais Pais
-The Guanchisms: Tagojaite / Tajogaite. By Maximiano Trapero
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