Spanish Words of African Origin
Questions This Article Answers
What are some Spanish words of African origin?
Does Spanish have loanwords?
What is the origin of the word banana in Spanish?
Introduction of African Words into Spanish
Many words of African origin used in Spanish entered the language during the colonial period and came from languages spoken by enslaved people brought against their will from Africa to the Americas.
Some words were introduced into Spanish through another language, such as French and Portuguese, which in turn borrowed words from languages of the African continent. For example, the word chimpancé(chimpanzee) was taken from the French chimpanzé, which was adapted from a Bantu language.
Adaptations, Calques, and Loanwords
- A linguistic adaptación(adaptation) is a word or phrase taken from another language but adapted to the target language for phonologic, lexical, or syntactic reasons. For example, breeze is an adaptation of the Spanish word brisa.
Spanish Words of African Origin
The following words are africanismos(words of African origin adapted to Spanish).
Look at the following sentences:
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African Loanwords in Spanish
The following list shows African préstamos lingüísticos(loanwords) used in Spanish. As you can see, they are also used in English.
| Source language | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Kimbundu | candombe | candombe |
| Bantu | cumbia | cumbia |
| Zulu | impala | impala |
| Kimbundu | kizomba | kizomba |
| Swahili | safari | safari |
| Bantu | marimba | marimba |
| Zulu | vuvuzela | vuvuzela |
Let’s see some examples:
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Learn more loanwords and regional varieties of Spanish with these articles:
