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K.M.LAURENCE

CONTINUITY AND CHANGE IN TRINIDADIANTOPONYMS

The practice of bestowing names on places as a mark of identifica-tion is a time-honoured one which appears in all societies, inclu-ding primitive ones. It is only natural, in any given society, forsuch names normally to derive from the language of the speechcommunity concerned. Because of this inescapable link betweentoponyms and language, place-names can provide interesting in-sights into linguistic history — and indeed into other aspects ofhistory — and their study is particularly valuable for early periodswhen more common methods of historical investigation may beinapplicable. Patterns of migration, settlement and colonizationmay, for example, be reflected in toponyms; and a close study ofa map of Trinidad provides useful and interesting clues to the is-land's demographic history as evidenced in the varied place-na-mes left behind by the different linguistic groups who, over thecenturies, have come to compose this traditionally polyglot, mul-tiracial society. However, the complex demographic history of theisland has introduced complicating factors, for the coexistence ofdifferent languages in the island as well as the superimposition ofone language over another (or others) has at times obscured thetrue origins of a particular toponym. And just as today much ofTrinidad's population is a blend of various ethnic groups, so tooits toponyms not only reflect varied linguistic traditions but attimes represent curious mergers of these traditions.

Trinidad is, by any standard, a particularly fertile field of studyas far as place-names are concerned. A quick glance at a mapreveals the diversity of the linguistic provenance of toponyms suchas:7 Guanapo, Cumana, Arouca, Caura (Amerindian-Carib and

Arawak)2 Diego Martin, San Fernando, La Brea (Spanish)3 Ste. Madeleine, Sans Souci, Pointe-a-Pierre (French)4 Mandingo, Sierra Leone (African).5 Fyzabad, Nepal, Barrackpore (East Indian)6 Freeport, Fullerton (English)

Because the last three groups present little or no difficulty andare easily recognizable for what they are, this paper will be restric-ted to a consideration of the first three, which present unexpectedproblems.

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124 K.M.LAURENCE

Discovered in 1498 by Columbus on his Third Voyage, Trinidadwas a Spanish possession until 1797 when it passed into Britishhands, and it remained British until Independence was granted toit in 1962. But these scant historical facts concerning the island'shistory tell us little of its demographic and linguistic diversity. Inthe West Indian islands, for example Barbados and Antigua, themere fact of colonization by a metropolitan power and the subse-quent implantation of the relevant colonial languages frequentlyled to the almost complete obliteration of all toponyms of otherlinguistic provenance by those of the superstrate language. Butthis did not happen in a generalized way in Trinidad wherecolonial history provides us with the merest hint of the exceeding-ly complex overall picture. What seems strange at first glance isthat, despite the fact that the island ceased to be a Spanish pos-session over 150 years ago, that during most of the modern periodthe official language of the island has been English, and that theisland never was a French colony, there still remains in modernTrinidad such a plethora of Amerindian, Spanish and Frenchtoponyms which generally date to Pre-British days. This is anunusual situation, given the more generalized tendency in theEnglish-speaking Caribbean for English toponyms to predomi-nate, and more especially, for aboriginal names to disappear. It istrue that in most of the islands certain isolated place-names fromsubstrate languages have managed to survive, but in the case ofTrinidad such survivals, especially those of Amerindian prove-nance, are disproportionately high.

The retention of Amerindian names appears to be ascribable,at least in part, to the nature of colonization and the extent ofsettlement in the island during the pre-nineteenth century pe-riod. The Spaniards arrived in Trinidad to find it peopled bytribes of different linguistic stocks — Arawakan and Cariban^.Starting with Columbus, the Spaniards proceeded to replace in-digenous toponyms with Spanish ones, a procedure characteristicof colonial regimes. According to tradition, Columbus had dedi-cated his Third Voyage to the Holy Trinity, a dedication whichmust have assumed the proportions of prophetic foresight whenthe first land he saw happened coincidentally to be a group ofthree hills in the south-eastern part of the newly discovered islandwhich he called La Trinidad. This new Spanish-derived name thusreplaced the Arawakans AT^rc, a name which, unfortunately, hasnothing to do with the picturesque translation which has beenpopularly accorded it "Land of the Humming-bird", since it


TRINIDADIANTOPONYMS 125

prosaically means simply 'island', having as cognates the formsozyo, /é^y, £<z)>, which appear elsewhere in the Caribbean^.

On this Voyage Columbus and his crew also named certaincoastal regions that they passed. Among them is Galera, thename they gave to the south-eastern tip of the island, but thisname has since been applied to the north-eastern point, thenames Galera and Galeota having been transposed 5. But on thisfirst exploratory visit to the island the Spaniards did not leavemany Spanish place-names behind, and of those that they left,some have survived either in the original form, e.g. Galera, or ina calqued form, Boca del Dragon and Boca de la Sierpe being to-day The Dragon's and the Serpent's Mouths. Others were subse-quently replaced e.g. Golfo de la Ballena, which gave way to Gol-fo de Paria, whence Gulf of Paria.

But for most of the 300 years of Spanish rule, once it had pro-ved not to yield the much coveted gold, Trinidad was left to lie ina state of neglect, while the Spaniards kept their gaze steadfastlyfixed on the fabled treasures of El Dorado on the continent. As aresult, the Colony languished in an undeveloped and unexploitedstate. During the entire period of Spanish rule, few Spanishsettlements were created, and at least before 1783, a date whichmarks the turning-point in the island's development, apart fromthe capital, San José de Oruna (St. Joseph) and its port, Puerto(de) Espana (Port-of-Spain), the only other forms of "organizedliving" were to be found in the Indian missions^. These missionsgenerally received Saints' names, but it is noteworthy that thesenames were usually juxtaposed to pre-existent Amerindian ones,hence Santa Ana de la Sabaneta (Savonetta), Nuestra Senora de laAnunciación de Sabana Grande (Savana Grande and later PrincesTown), La Purisma Conceptción de Nuestra Senora de Naparima(Naparima and San Fernando).

Through the Missions the Amerindians became hispanicized,and certainly by the early nineteenth century, and probably longbefore then, had lost all knowledge of their own languages andhad become completely monolingual Spanish speakers-*. Butdespite the hispanicization of the Amerindians, because of thelimited development of the island, many of the toponyms ofAmerindian provenance remained intact. Before the Amerin-dians lost their own languages, there must have existed a periodof bilingualism; this no doubt facilitated the passage of Amerin-dian toponyms into Spanish. The complete assimilation of theseinto the superstrate language is reflected in the fact that manysuch place-names frequently incorporate morphological elements


126 K.M.LAURENCE

(e.g. suffixes), or syntactic ones (e.g. articles, adjectives) of Spa-nish origin.

One of the most salient features characterizing Amerindian topo-nyms, not only in Trinidad, but more generally throughout theAmericas, is the way in which they tend so signify some naturalfeature — topographical, faunal or floral — and were originallysimply appellatives or common nouns which eventually came tobe elevated to the status of proper names^. There is abundantevidence for this generalized claim in Trinidad. Occasionally atribal name appears as a place-name: Cumana (found in both thenorth-east and the north-west of the island) < Cumanagoto, aCarib tribe, goto being the terminal suffix of many Cariban tribalnames?, and Tamana<Tamanaco, is the name of another Caribtribe**. But much more generalized is the tendency for Amerin-dian toponyms to represent the names of plants, trees, animalsetc. Apart from the linguistic assimilation of the Amerindians,the preservation of these aboriginal forms must have been furtherhelped by the conditions in which the Spaniards found themsel-ves; faced with a completely new and exotic world of flora andfauna, they frequently adopted the Amerindian designations andincorporated them into their lexis. The chances of survival ofthese new lexical items were increased by the fact that there wereno Spanish equivalents with which they came into conflict, butperhaps, more important to their survival was the fact that morethan half of the island's population was Amerindian for most ofthe Spanish colonial period^ and such Amerindian words andplace-names as there were became firmly entrenched.

I have indicated above that a study of these Amerindian place-names reveals the presence in the island of tribes of bothArawakan and Cariban stock. But this statement deserves somequalification, since it is possible to argue that these toponymscould have entered the island in the nineteenth century withimmigrants from Venezuela 10. It is perfectly legitimate to sounda warning note about using <?// Amerindian toponyms in Trini-dad as undisputable evidence of the patterns of pre-Columbiansettlement in the island, for unless there is clear documentationto the contrary such as is found on early maps, it is possibleto suppose that these names may be of more recent origin andmay have been brought from the mainland with Venezuelan im-migrants, whose Spanish vocabulary included loan-words fromboth Arawakan and Cariban languages. Hence the Carib word^ T.E.11 'moussara' (Byrjowz/wtf C O W M ) , figures in the



designation Los Charros, a village which lies in what is well knownto be Arawak country and is near the excavated sites of Erin andPalo Seco. This does not necessarily mean that Los Charros everwas place of Carib habitation. The noun c^ro passed generallyinto the Spanish vocabulary of the island as of Venezuela and istherefore no evidence of occupation by the Caribs. There aremany other similar cases.

However, there are some significant names of Carib provenancewhich do not belong to this category and which may reasonablybe advanced as evidence of Carib settlement. Interestingly, suchnames tend to appear in the North of the island and it is preciselyin this area that historians and chroniclers have indicated the pre-sence during the early period of Carib rather than Arawak inhabi-tan ts^ . For example, as has already been mentioned the namesCumana and Tamana are not simple appellatives but both derivefrom Carib tribal names, Cumanagoto and Tamanaco^, and infact the T. Sp. name for Tamana remains Tamanaco to the pre-sent day. These names also appear in Venezuela but they couldnot have been introduced by the nineteenth century Venezuelanimmigrants since they were to be found in Trinidad before thattime and appear in early documents^ and maps. Also, it is mostimprobable that the Arawaks would have used tribe-names of Ca-riban provenance to designate their settlements, given the tradi-tional hostility between the two groups. Furthermore, the nameTamanaco has religious and cultural connotations in Amerindianmythology and is associated with a Noah's Ark type of story of theJudeo-Christian biblical tradition. For, according to Humboldt,when the Tamanacos are asked how the human race survived thegreat deluge, which, according to their religion, as in so manyothers, is supposed to have occurred at some remote date, theyclaim that "a man and a woman saved themselves on a highmountain, called Tamanacu . . .; and casting behind them overtheir heads, the fruits of the mauritia (moriche) palm-tree, theysay the seeds contained in those fruits produced men and womenwho repeopled the earth ".15

Other Carib place-names which derive not simply from appel-latives which might have belonged to the general reservoir ofAmerindian lexical items in Spanish, but which have some fur-ther significance indicative of more direct and specific Carib linksare:Mucurapo < Cumucurapo — This name betrays a Cariban

morphological form, #/>o meaning 'place of, 'home of, and


128 K. M.LAURENCE

c«»ztfc<? 'silk-cotton tree'*".Salybia and Salibea — Breton gives Chaleibe as the Island Ca-

rib name for Trinidad. It is true that Island Carib is basicallyArawakan, but as we have already seen, the Arawakan namefor Trinidad was Kaeri, and Chaleibe must have been theCariban designation, which survived^.

Tunapuna — This name comprises two syntactical elements ofCariban provenance, /o»tf, 'water', 'river', />o»tf, 'on,upon', hence 'on the river '^.

It is possible that California and Carapichaima are also Carib inorigin, Calliponau being the term generally applied to the Carib-speaking tribes of the Antillesl9, and Chay ma being the name of aCarib tribe20.

It is also significant that in the North there are, more than else-where, toponyms deriving from Carib names for trees, plants andbirds, and while these are not of themselves conclusive proof,they do help to reinforce the theory of Carib occupation in Nor-thern Trinidad. Some of these names are:

Guanapo, 'grass'^1Cumaca, 'silk-cotton tree',Cunapo, 'redmangrove', /?Cunupia, T.E. 'mardi gras',Cachipa, T.E. 'balisier', /Chaguaramas, T.E. 'palmistepalm',Toco, Afomoww tfwzmctf»*?(El) Tucuche, 'humming-bird'

The last-mentioned example shows the noun used in conjunctionwith the Spanish definite article, indicating the incorporation ofthe lexical item into the Spanish language. Several other similartoponyms exist. Among them are:

Los CharrosLa CanoaLa Seiva, 'silk-cotton tree' (Seiva < CW&/ is Arawakan as op-

posed to the Cariban twwtfcv?)Sometimes the Spanish element is a form other than the articleand may be an adjective or another noun:Brasso Caparo, brasso < i>n7zo 'arm' of a river, and

type of monkey, Lzgo/^rcx ^ww^o/öV«Cerro Aripo and Cerro Oropuche, Om?, 'hill, mountain'Gran CouvaSavana GrandeVega de Oropuche



Spanish transformative suffixes are also similarly attached toAmerindian nouns to create other hybrid forms. One of the mostproductive suffixes thus used is -<*/, which also appears with greatfrequency in the true Spanish place-names. The -#/ suffix mayfulfil different semantic functions, and in the toponyms ofTrinidad, we see it serving as a morpheme to form a collectivenoun indicating 'a place of abundance of e.g. Are»**/, 'sandybeach', Gz»£r<?/iz/, 'a place where crabs abound'. It may thereforeindicate 'a growth of trees, a grove', Ntf/aw/ii/, 'an orange grove'.

In the following examples which show the Spanish -<?/ suffixattached to nouns of Ameridian origin, no attempt is made todistinguish Carib from Arawak, since most if not all of them, pas-sed generally into Trinidadian Spanish and the distinction istherefore not meaningful for this study.

Bejucal, ^ /«co 'liane'Cachipal, cvzc^/jtoT.E. 'balisier', ffe/rcoww sp.Carapal, c<zr»/><zT.E. 'crapaud',Mamural, w&wwwreT.E. 'mamoo',Timital, /«ZMteT.E. 'timite'

Other suffixes are to be found in:MaturitaSavonetta < Sabaneta, T.E. 'savonette',Tabaquite < Tabaquito, 'an unidentified plant'.

In some instances, however, the Amerindian name comes down inwhat is obviously a form adapted to suit Spanish phonetic habitsbut with no further change. Some of these may subsequentlyhave been modified by French or English phonetic patterns:

ArimaCocorite, T.E. 'cocoritepalm',Icacos, T.E. 'fat-pork', a tree and its fruit,Tacarigua, T.E. 'boisflot', Oc^rorcw /dgo/Tairico, 'rice grackle', 5f#/>>fo/«rtf oryzfVonz oryz/ron^2

The way in which names were sometimes modified by French andEnglish influence is not restricted to those of Amerindian origin,but also applies to £o»<z ƒ/</<? Spanish names; these were often af-fected by French influence to the extent that a significant numberof toponyms, today popularly believed to be French are to betraced to Spanish origins.

What is surprising is that because of the profound and all-per-vasive French influence on all aspects of the island's history (topo-nymy is but one facet of this), one is tempted to forget the fact


130 K.M.LAURENCE

that the island was not at any time a French possession. We haveseen the insubstantial nature of Spanish colonization and settle-ment in the island and the following statistics pertinent to the year1778 clearly illustrate this: 444 whites — 225 slaves — 939 freecoloured—1824 Amerindians23.

It was only in the last quarter of the eighteenth century that theSpanish Crown finally decided to attempt to develop the islandand a serious effort was made to woo colonists to this virgin terri-tory. It is in response to this that the island found itself inundatedwith a new, largely French, immigrant population which was ulti-mately responsible for transforming all aspects of the life of theisland — agricultural, economic, socio-cultural and linguistic.Except for government, the island became virtually French, andthis anomalous situation is well described by Borde, the principalhistorian of Spanish Trinidad, who sums up the far-reaching andall-embracing influence that the new colonists had on the island:"Sauf les troupes et les hauts fonctionnaires, on n'y voyait quedes colons francais parmi lesquels un petit nombre d'Espagnols etde rares Irlandais et Anglais se trouvaient comme noyés. Moeurs,coutumes, langage, tout y était francais''24.

The lingua franca of the island's motley population becameFrench Creole (known locally as Patois), and the island's Spanish-speakers as well as its other linguistic groups also acquired thislingua franca that had been brought in by the new colonists. Noother language — not even English — has left so lasting andprofound an imprint on Spanish and Amerindian toponyms ashave French and French Creole. The prestige and predominanceenjoyed by these superstate languages during the closing years ofthe eighteenth and for most of the nineteenth century are there-fore significant: while these languages no doubt contributed to-ponyms of French origin, it is also clear that many names which atfirst glance seem to be French, do not originally derive from thatlanguage at all, but represent gallicization of pre-existent Spanishor Amerindian models.

There are instances in which the influence of the French lan-guage operates only on a phonetic level and so instead of theSpanish pronunciation of San Juan which is [ san xwan ] or [ sanhwan ] the local pronunciation of this name is [ sa WQ ] or [ sa w5 ].French phonetic patterns therefore frequently replace these ofSpanish. This is particularly true in the case of Spanish namesending in a final vowel, it being general for such final vowels tobe lost in all types of Spanish loan-words in their passage throughFrench and French Creole into English^. Hence we have the fol-


TRINIDADIAN TOPONYMS 1 3 1

lowing forms:La Lune forMarac for Maraca (the form Maracas is also used to designate

another place)La Brea retains the Spanish spelling but is pronounced after the .

French fashion with a silent final -<zLaventille for La VentillaMatelot for Matalote (this name appears as Matalotc on Chur-

ruca's Map, but it could be a corruption of an Amerindianform)

In some examples, the spelling and/or pronunciation may beaffected. For instance Cuba of the early maps becomes and re-mains Couva; similarly Arauca>Arouca, and Caura>Coora27. Attimes the gallicized form of a Spanish original remains as an ac-ceptable French form from which it is undistinguishable e.g. LaLune, but this is not necessarily the case. Hence San Francisco be-comes San Francique (French St. Francois). One writer dubs theform Francique "a curiosity" and lists it as a French name^S, butit is perfectly clear that it is a French-influenced Spanish name, ifone bears in mind the fact that with the fall of the syllable final -swhich is characteristic of Trinidadian, and indeed Caribbean Spa-nish, the resulting Spanish form is Francico which subsequentlyloses its final -o because of French influence. Similarly Punta Gor-da 'Fat Point' (distinguished from Punta Delgada 'Thin Point')becomes the French Pointe Gourde, thereby losing its semanticsignificance, while the currently used form Laventille, which is soFrench in appearance, does not reveal at first glance the originalsignificance of the Spanish toponym La Ventilla29.

But there are other less easily discernible ways in which Frenchinfluence has managed to transform toponyms. Lavapies, withthe loss of final -J, becomes Lavapie, whence T.E. Washfoot, is adescriptive compound which illustrates the functional use towhich a stream which bears this name was put. But by popularetymology it has become and remains Lnur/uirrc.

B&»c/&wi?«.r£, a perfectly acceptable French word, appears tobe clearly a French name, its pronunciation being due to FrenchCreole phonetic patterns [blasisez]. But this toponym is undis-putabably Spanish in origin, the T. Sp. name being Blanquisel(Blanquizal(es)), 'chalk pit'. This descriptive name appears else-where in the island, where it retains the Spanish form as LosBlanquizales, and Blanquiares. But already in the nineteenth


132 K.M.LAURENCE

century the name of the coastal village in the North had beencorrupted to the form Blanchisseuse since Kingsley makes the fol-lowing pertinent comment concerning it: "The Ward of Blan-chisseuse, on the North coast, whither we were bound was of old,I understand, called Blanchi Sali, or something to that effect, sig-nifying the white cliffs. The French settlers degraded the name toits present form, and that so hopelessly, that the other day an oldnegress in Port-of-Spain puzzled the officer of Crown property byinforming him that she wanted to buy a carré in what you call thewasherwoman's!"^ Already in the nineteenth century, there-fore, under the influence of French Creole the word had becomephonetically transformed and through popular etymology, hadacquired a new meaning.

The modern names for the offshore islands, Gasparee andLittle Gasparee, present further interesting examples of popularetymology. On the early maps Gasparee appears as Gaspar orGaspar Grande, and is distinguished from another island of asimilar name, but smaller in size, which bore the Spanish dimi-nutive, — /'//o, hence Gasparillo. Alternatively, it appears as Gas-par Chico. However, these names subsequently underwent cer-tain changes, Gaspar (or Gaspar Grande) becoming, throughFrench Creole popular etymology, Gasparil, and later Gasparee,owing to the fall of final -7, a phonetic change attributable toFrench Creole and found elsewhere in the passage of French formsinto Trinidadian English^. It is possible that the Spanish nameGaspar was confused with the French dendronym g<2jr/W7/, Efi?«-^C/éwspp., which is described as a forest wood like poui, used as£o« in stick-fighting^. Today the Spanish Gaspar Grande isknown as Gasparee and the smaller island as Little Gasparee.

The adaptation of Spanish names to French forms sometimesinvolved calquing rather than simple phonetic adjustment. To-day, because of the paucity of early maps, it is frequently difficultto determine whether many of the surviving French names de-scended from previous Spanish ones, or whether they are originalFrench forms dating back to the French settlement in the lastyears of the eighteenth century. But the following may be safelyassumed to be translated forms since they appear on Crame's Map(1777)*, which is one of the few extant maps to antedate the arri-val of the French into the island:

Bande de L'Este < BandadelEste. Pointe-a-Pierre < Punta de

Carenage < Carenero PiedrasGrand Riviere < Rio Gran- Pointe Rouge < Punta Colora-

de da


r


At times only one part of the name is calqued and the resultingform is a hybrid one:

Morne Cabrite Gros Tuero R.Morne Diablo Petit Tuero R.

In the light of the above, it is perhaps surprising that someSpanish names managed to survive unscathed, but many did, andthey persist to the present day unchanged save for the expectedphonetic modification they receive through English influence.Many of these names which are now applied to towns and villageswere originally estate-names:

Aranjuez La PuertaBarataria Marabella < Sp. MarabellaBuen Intento ValenciaBuenos Ayres ValsaynEl Dorado Vistabella.El Socorro

But there are others which, like the Amerindian toponyms, arcfrequently indicative of some particular characteristic:

Arena ManzanillaArrecife Palo SecoBarroR. Penal < Sp. Penal (The formBlanquizales (Lagoon) with n appears on someBrasso < Sp. £/»2o (of a maps and there are still tra-

river) ces of its presence in the na-Brasso Piedra salized pronunciation (pïyal)Brasso Seco that one sometimes hears,Brazil particularly among olderCambural persons)Cangrejal Piedra BlancaCascajal Rancho QuemadoCedros Sangre Grande (river andCocal town)El Soldado (Island) Sangre Chiquito (river and vil-LasCuevas lage) 3 3Las Lomas TortugaLos Armadillos


134 K. M.LAURENCr

Other original Spanish names have been either wholly or partiallytranslated into English:

Dragon's Mouth Cangrejos Pt. and BayPort-of-Spain Cape Casa CruzSt. Joseph EntradaPt.The Coffee34 Point LisasThe Saddle^ Point Parasol

Quemada Pt.Barrancones Pt. The Bocas

Several French toponyms survive but these are more easily dealtwith in that, apart from their French Creole rather than standardpronunciation, they have undergone little or no change. The na-mes of French settlers are commemorated in some of these place-names:

D'Abadie LopinotLapeyrouse < La Pérouse Rousillac

Others are descriptive:La Carrière Ravine SableCroisée (pronounced) L'AnseMitan

[kwéze] after the French Petit 1'anseCreole fashion) Petit Morne

Granville Morne BleuGrand(e) Ravine

Other miscellaneous French toponyms include:Les Frères (Rocks) Trou Bouilli-Riz Pt. (possibly aPoint a Diable corruption of Trou Borelli)Tête Boeuf Trou TazardTrou Borelli

However, a substantial number of French toponyms originate inestate names, many of which are idyllic-sounding and redolent ofthe civilized type of society that the French settlers attempted torecreate in their adopted home. Among these are:

Bonne Aventure Mon ReposChamps Elysées EsperanceTerre Promise

It is appropriate to conclude with these toponyms which, byevoking "Elysian Fields " and "Promised Lands" are far removed


TRINIDAD1ANTOPONYMS 135

from the more prosaic process of naming characteristic of the Tri-nidad's first inhabitants. But the island's French place-names donot only reflect a more developed and settled society; some of thesuperficially French-sounding ones, like Blanchisseuse, illustratethe profound influence the French colonists had on the island. Astudy of this influence, as of the coexistence of toponyms of suchvaried and interacting linguistic traditions reveals yet anotherfacet of the demographic and linguistic complexity of the island,a facet which is characterized by the opposing yet harmonisingtendencies of continuity and change, of tradition and innovation.

APPENDIX

PRESENT-DAY TRINIDADIAN TOPONYMS OF AMERINDIAN, SPANISH ANDFRENCH ORIGIN

This list is meant to be representative but is not exhaustive. Unless there are in-dications to the contrary these names are of towns, villages or hamlets.

AMERINDIAN NAMES 38

Arima, Hyarima, the name of an Nepuyo chief. "Arouca, Arauca, an Arawakan tribal name.Atagual*Bejucal, bejuco 'liane'.(Brasso) Caparo, type of monkey, Lago/^rurCachipa, T. E. 'balisier', tf«/tVo«itf sp.Cachipal, cf. Cachipa.Caigual, c<z»g«tf an unidentified fruit.California, cf. p. 128.Carapal, <wtf/><zT. E. 'crapaud',Cara/w^<«;wtf, cf. p. 128.Carapo, cf. Carapal above.Caratal, carata, T. E. 'carat palm',Caroni, also a Venezuelan place-name.Caura, also a Venezuelan place-name.(Cerro) Aripo (Mt.)(Cerro) Oropuche (Mt.)"Chaguanas, Chaguanes, tribal name.Chaguaramal, c^j^«jrjOTO T.E. 'palmiste palm',Chaguaramas, cf. Chaguaramal.Cipero (River)Cocorite, racttn/o T.E. 'cocorite palm', Afax//»///<»»<» tf/^aCoora, variant forCaura, cf. p. 131.Corozal, rorozo T.E. 'banga palm'Coryal, con, can T.E. 'agouï',


136 K.M.LAURENCE

Couva, cf. p. 131-Cumaca 'silk-cotton tree',Cumana, cf. pp. 126 + 127.Cunapo, 'red mangrove',Cunupia, T.A. 'mardi gras',Curepe, also a Venezuelan place-name.Curucayo, 'incense tree', Co/w7<?rtf o/^c(El) Mamo (River)(El) Tucuche (Mt.) cf. p. 128.Gran Couva, cf. Couva above.Guaico, 'type of reed'.Guamal, £»JOTO T.E. 'pois doux',Guanapo, 'grass'.Guapo, plant with a tuberous root.GuayaguayareIcacos, z'caco T.E. 'fat pork',(La) Canoa (River)La Seiva, j«;i>j 'silk cotton tree',Los Charros, cAaro 'moussara', B>r.ro»/»7tf corwcira.Los I ros'MamuralT.E.Maqueripe"Matura"Maturita'Mayaro*Mayo, name of a plant, Brow»?//!»/>/»£«/».Morichal, #zorcc^f T.E. 'moriche palm',MorugaMucurapo, formerly Cumucurapo.Naparima, formerly Anna Parima, 'one hill'.Nariva (River), given as Narigua in a seventeenth century document.Ortoire, formerly Guataro.^lPiarco*Poole (River), formerly Pure .Pouisal, poui,Quinam'Savana Grande (Ward)Salibea.cf. p. 128.Salybia.cf. p. 128.Savonetta T.E. 'savonette'Siparia*Tabaquite, an unidentified plant.Tacarib"Tacarigua T.E. 'boisflot', Oc ro»»<» /<»£0/>«.r.Tairico 'rice grackle', / ^ /Talparo, taparo, 'calabash',Tamana.cf. pp. 126 + 127.Timital, //«/'/* T.E. 'timite'Toco, Afomo»/d Jwirncj»»».TumpunaTunapuna, cf. p. 128.Yarra*Vega de Oropuche.


TRINIDADIAN TOPONYMS

SPANISH N A M E S ^

Arena (River + Reserve)AranjuezArrecife (jilso Reefs Point)Balandra 'BalmainBaratariaBarro (River)Blaquizales (Lagoon)Brasso < Sp. £/vzzo (of a river)Brasso PiedraBrasso SecoBrasso VenadoBrazilBuen IntentoBuenos AyresCamburalCangrejalCantaro (pronounced with the stress

on the penultimate syllable, couldthis be Amerindian?).

Carrera (an offshore island)Cascadura (River), cixcarj </«ra, 'a

type of fish', CW/K^Myr Moraca-

CascajalCedrosCocalDiego MartinEl DoradoEl SocorroEl Soldado (a rock in the Serpent's

Mouth)Farallon (a rock off the San Fernando

Coast)Galeota (Point)Galera (Point)GasparilloGran Boca (largest passage of the Dra-

gons Mouths)Huevos (an offshore island)La PastoraLa PuertaLa VeronicaLas CuevasLas LomasLas Tablas

137

Lavapies (also Lavapierre and Wash-foot)

LenguaLimonLos ArmadillosLos BajosLos Gallos (Point)Madamas^Majorca (Island)Manzanilla, 'manchioneel', H»/>/>o-

Marabella < Sp. Marbella.Melajo < T. Sp.

Minorca (Island)Monos (an offshore island)Montscrrat (Ward)Mundo NuevoNaranjoPalo SecoPatos (an offshore island)PenalPiedra BlancaPlatanalPuerto GrandePunta BlancaPunta del MorroPunta TablasQuebrada Grande (River)Rancho QuemadoRio ClaroSan FernandoSanJuanSan RafaelSangre Chiquito (River and village)Sangre Grande (River and town)Santa CruzTcmbladoraTeteronTortugaTrinidadTuero (River)ValenciaValsaynVistabella


138 K. M.LAURENCE

Alcatraz PointBarrancones PointCangrcjos Point and BayCape Casa CruzCape ColaCorral PointDiego IslandDragon's Mouths, Sp. Bocas del Dra-

gon.Entrada PointEsperanza BayPoint FortinPoint LisasPoint Morro

Point PalomaPoint ParasolPoint PlayasPort-of-Spain < Sp. Puerto (de) Es-

pana.Quemada PointReef s PointShark River (Rio Tiburón on Crame's

Map)St. AugustineSt. JosephSerpent's MouthThe Bocas.

Bande de 1'Est < Sp. Banda del Este.Bateau (Point)Blanchisseuse < Sp. Blanquizales.Carenage Sp. Carenero on early

maps.Fronton de SaliveGasparee (Island)Grand RiviereGros Tuero (River)La Brea (pronounced La bre)La LuneLavapierre < Sp. Lavapies.

Laventille < Sp. La VentilleMatelot (Matalote on Crame's and

Churruca's Maps)Morne CabriteMorne DiabloPoint-a-Pierre (Punta de Piedra on

Crame's Map)Petit Tuero (River)Pointe GourdePoint FortinPoint Rouge (Punta Colorada on Cra-

me's Map)

FRENCH NAMES

Bel AirBelle VueBicheBoissiereBonne AventureBourg MulatresseChamps ElyscesChamp FleursChaudière (River)CroiséeD'AbadieEsperanceFillette^Grand AnseGrand Basse

Grand(e) RavineGranvilleLa CarrièreL'Anse MitanLapeyrouseLa FortuneLa RomainLes EffortsLes FreresLopinotMalgre ToutMon ReposMorne BleuPetit BourgPetit 1'Anse

Petit MornePetit TrouPetit RivierePointe a DiablePointe SableSans SouciRousillacSante MadeleineTête-a-boeufTrois RochesTrou BorelliTrou Bouilli-Riz (Point)Trou Tazard



NOTES

1 Despite the view expressed by some authorities that the "Caribs never at anytime, actually inhabited Trinidad", toponymic evidence given below ap-pears to attest the presence of Carib settlement on Tnnidadian soil. Theabove quotation is from J.A. Bullbrook "The Carib-Arawak controversy",M«//7rc>;;dW, March 1957, p. 7.

2 The attractive appellation "Land of the Humming-bird", supposedly atranslation of Iërc (Kaeri) must be justified on ornithological and not lin-guistic grounds. Cf. my article "Notes on Iëre, the Amerindian name forTrinidad", C m f c » Q««r/<?r/>, Vol 73, 1967, pp. 45-51.

3 Hence today the name Galcra is used to designate the north-eastern Point;the former Galera Point is now Galeota Point. This switch must have oc-curred after 1637 and befor 1803 since a document bearing the former dateindicates that Galera was still being used for the south-eastern point, T.H.S.Publications, No. 102. The Council of War to the King, 10 Nov. 1637,Add. Mss. 36324 B.M. But Capt. Columbine's Map (1803) already showsthe names as they are used today. It is to be noted, however, that despite the1637 naming of these points according to their original designations, theconfusion surrounding them began as early as the sixteenth century. Cf.R.W. Thompson, "Pre-British place-names in Trinidad", D* B*V.T/-/WJ-j c ^ G;V/r, Vol. 39, 1959, p. 156.The following are the early maps of Trinidad which were consulted for thisstudy:Cosmé Damian de Churruca, Car/a « ?rrc<» dV /a ƒƒ/<* </e T/ï'n;Vi7</, 1793,con-sulted in the collection of the late Mr. T.C. Cambridge, Port-of-Spain.Capt. Columbine, [Af<»/> o /7>I»K&«/] , 1803, seen in the collection of thelate Mr. T.C. Cambridge.Agustïn Crame, [Afa/> o/TrcWdW], 1777, B.M. Add. Mss. 17645f./Ytf»o </tf JIJ/J Tnw/^/ad', Go^/b 7 n * , ^ Cox/a Otc/</ »/<»/ <&/ i?;o Onnoco,1795-96. B.M. Add. Mss. 17645g.

4 James Millette, T ^ Gi?»ej/J o/77S3-./SiO, (Port-of-Spain, 1970), p. 6. The scant penetration into the is-land by the Spaniards is reflected in the fact that in the early period Spanishtoponyms are confined largely to coastal features e.g. rivers. Cf. FranciscoMorales Padrón,/Iwwjnorf'i? £i/«<//oj/I/w^ncanoj, Vol. i4, 1959, p. 120.

5 J.E. Alexander, 7V»»J/J»/«: .Mtf/c/&w, (London, 1833), Vol. /, p. 224.

6 Cf. Nils Holmer, "Indian place-names in South America and the Antilles"I, M»««, Vol. S, 1960, p. 138.

7 C. de Goeje, £/«</«/i*j«u/if«M w n i « , Vol. II (Amsterdam, 1946), p. 56.

8 Cf. Note 13 below.

9 Jesse Noel, TW»/<*W, Prowwcw <fc ^»*z«e/<», (Caracas, 1972), p. 93 and p.94.


140 K- M. LAURENCE

10 From 1810 onwards Venezuelan immigrants began to enter the island. Inthe early years they were largely political refugees, though later on they cameto the island as/>«<5» labour.

11 T.E. here and elsewhere stands for Trinidadian English, and T. Sp. for Tri-nidadian Spanish. Although the official language of the country has beenEnglish for over a century and a half, the Spanish language is still spoken bya few people in the remoter rural areas.

12 Among them Sir Walter Raleigh, T#<r Dwcov^fj* o//A<? L»rg<?£w/nre o/G»w»«, ed. V.T. Harlow, (London, 1928), p. 12 and p. 30; cf.also Sven Loven, 0/Ï^MM O//J&* TJ/JW» CV/Vare, (Göteborg, 1935), p. 41.

13 For the Cariban affiliation of these two tribes cf. Daniel G. Brinton, L» /azaj , trans. A.G. Perry, (Buenos Aires, 1946), p. 237.

14 Reference is made to the Cerro de Tamanaco in a document of 1699,ƒ»</;<», Audiencia de Santo Domingo, 4 « / O J .rtf£«/</o.r *» /<*o/ conto? /OJ /W/OJ <& /a m/no* </« Sa» Frawciiro </f /a /4re-

»j , Legajo 582.A Mission was established at Cumana in the eighteenth century. L.A.A. DeVerteuil, 7n»<<&</, ///G^o^ra/»^, Na/«ra/i?^/o«rc^, j4dW»M//»/«'o», fre-j^w/ Co»i////o» j»</Proj/>tfc/j, 2nd. ed. (London, Paris, New York, 1884), p.443.

15 A. von Humboldt,o/^wfn'<:ad'«nn^ Z^^^ arx /799-^S04 to/'M^. </? Bo»/'/a»d', trans. Thoma-sina Ross, (London, 1852), Vol. II, p. 182.

16 For the Carib origin of CKOTJCJ, cf. C. Ahlbrinck, £«c^c/o/'i»f(//? </<;r /u/nw-£en, (Amsterdam, 1931), p. 235, and H. de Goeje, o/>. «/ . , Vol. I, p. 575,for the meaning and function of-jöo, •a/'o, sec Ahlbrinck, o/>. «'/. p. 377.

17 Raymond Breton, D/c//'onff<M>« ctfrtf/^f-/h>»fi»x, (Auxerre, 1664), p. 390.

18 De Gocje, o/>. «'/., Vol. II, pp. 64 + 84.

19 A. Ballesterosy Beretta, ed. f/»/orri></« Axn«nc«, (Barcelona, 1961), p. 788.See also, Humboldt, o/>. «/ . , Vol. Ill, p. 78.

20 Brinton, o/>. «'/., p. 236.

21 The following works have been consulted for establishing the Cariban affi-liation of this word and those that follow:Lisandro Alvarado, G/awrro <& eoe<?.r /n</tg««<M, (Caracas, 1953).G. Friederici, /4men'/i<i»/r//rcj6» U^ö/-ter£«/<:£, (Hamburg, 1947).C.H. de Goeje, £/«<IVJ//»^«/j/;^«txcarr^j, Vols. I & II, (Amsterdam, 1909& 1946).C. Ahlbrinck, £»cj'<:/o/)<;ffl'/> </frATjrj/^n, (Amsterdam, 1931).Attempts are made, where possible and appropriate, to give the scientificnames of trees, plants etc., along with their English or vernacular equiva-lents.



22 A fuller list of Amerindian place-names appears in the Appendix.

23 These figures are taken from a letter from Governor Falquez./ / W, Audiencia de Caracas, Corr£j/>o»<fc»«j co» /

/, Legajo 150.

24 P.G.L. Borde, £wo/, (Paris, 1876), Vol. II, p. 263.

25 e.g. T.E. ja/>a/<Sp. z<»/><*/<*, T.E. J4»coft6« (pronounced with a mute final-« < Sp. ,ra»<w/W.

26 Thompson (ar/. «V. p. 157) maintains that this is not necessarily a French orSpanish name. But this coastal hamlet may well be named after the /««^ ordory, T. Sp. / « * J , of the fish family 5co«»^n</i»«. See De Vertcuil, o/>. «/.,p. 389-

27 This latter form appears in the South, although a village in the Northernhills which has remained Spanish-speaking until the present time retains theoriginal form, Caura.

28 Thompson, ar/. c»V., p. 163.

29 This toponym is generally written La Ventilla in Spanish documents. It isthus given in Josefina Perez Aparicio, P<?r<jWa <& /a /'.r/a </? 7n«/dW, (Sevil-la, 1966), p. 126, and Noel, o/>. c/>., p. 98.

30 Charles Kingsley, A / / J J / , (London + New York, 1872), p. 263. Sec alsoThompson, </r/. «'/., p. 163.

31 e.g. Courbaril, the name of a tree > T.E. coar^ary, HyOTtna^a a>Kr£drc/.

32 Andrew Carr, "Pierrot Grenade", G>n££««>i j2«OT/«//y, Vol. 4, 1956, p.284, note 3.

33 Thompson (ar/. «V., p. 161) considers that in this place-name, if J W ^ «means 'blood', C /i?«/Vo (mas.) is unusual. The explanation lies in the factthat we are dealing here with an original hydronym. The gender of these ismasculine in Spanish.

34 This name appears in the Spanish form £/ C»/? in De Verteuil, o/>. «>., p.306.

35 De Verteuil (o/>. «'/. p. 277) gives this name in its Spanish form, ia &'//«.

36 Given as Grandeville in De Vertcuil, o/>. «'/., p. 41.

37 Mitan, French Creole for 'middle', Thompson, ar/. «/., p. 165. Theagglutination of the definite article is frequent in French Creole. Cf. J J .Thomas, T^f T/f>fory a»</Prac//ce o/ Creo/f Grawwar, (London + Port-ot-Spain 1969), p. 18.


142 K.M.LAURENCE

38 No attempt is made here to distinguish Arawakan from Cariban toponyms.These Amerindian names include those which have incorporated a Spanishmorphological or syntactic element. Where it is possible to isolate the Spa-nish element this is done by means of brackets. With the exception of thosemarked' whose origin is suspected to be Amerindian but for which no docu-mentation has been found, and those which are otherwise explained, thenames listed appear as Amerindianisms in one or more of the followingworks:C. Ahlbrinck, Ewc^c/o/x/f^/V <&r/f«n»£«», (Amsterdam, 1931).L. Alvarado, G/oxano </« focffj/W/g««ar dV f«»«z«f/tf, (Caracas, 1953).R. Breton, Dic/;bn»d/Vv ctfft»£«-^a»f0<.r, (Auxerre, 1664).C. de Goeje, £/«*/« //»^»;'j/;^«ej can'^j, 2 Vols., (Amsterdam, 1909 +1946).C. de Goeje, 7"/&<r Araa'aié L»»£K<»£<? O / G « W » J , (Amsterdam, 1928).C. de Goeje, iVotfiW<?xtf»z£w </£*/</»£««</£*/I»////W, (Paris, 1939).G. Friederici, y4»7^n/éj»«/;icA^j Iför/er^ac^, (Hamburg, 1947).A. Malaret, Koc<»£«/<mo </(? Paer/o i?;co, (New York, 1955).A. Malaret, L«xrc<5» <&ƒ/«»;/ji/7or», (Madrid, 1970).A. Rosenblat, B»£»<« j> OTJ/<JJ />a/a^rjj ^» ^/ cai/tf//a»o <& K^n z«tf/<», 2Vols., (Caracas-Madrid, 1956).FJ. Santamaria, D/'c/ibiiOTb g*»*rtf/ </i? jOT^ntj»;xwjoj, 3 Vols., (México,1942).

39 Claud Hollis, /i Bn>/HH/or)' o/T/H»iV/«</»iw/fr//6e J'/>a»;!f Crot^n, (Trini-dad + Tobago, 1941), p. 49.

40 Hollis, o/>. f//., p. 6.

41 idrnfr/yo G#»«W</f ƒ»<//<**, Audiencia de Santo Domingo, Legajo 582.

42 Cf. De Vcrteuil, o/>. «/ . , p. 326.

43 Because the Spanish and French names are more easily understood, only theless obvious ones are explained in terms of their meaning.

44 This could be a corrupted Amerindian form since <in«d means 'clay' in theCarib languages. Dc Goeje, £/«</«;/i0gjm/f'i#f.r, Vol. II, p. 64.

45 This could also be Amerindian; ^<?/<»»»J 'la mer' according to Breton, D/c-H» C<MV»i£«-F7!»»f<M.f, Vol. I, p. 67.

46 Thompson (ar/. «'/. p. 157) doubts the Spanish origin of this name and sug-gests that it might be a corrupted form of an Amerindian name. This isquite possible.

47 Despite its French appearance I suspect, like Thompson, «r/. «'/., p. 164,that this name has probably been influenced by folk etymology. It is prob-ably not French in origin at all.

Mrs. K.M. £<7ttre»r£Lecturer in SpanishUniversity of the West IndiesSt. Augustine, Trinidad, W.I.


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