Pequeño diccionario etimológico de voces guatemaltecas, by Jorge Luis Arriola, (original edition 1941; reedited edition, 1950, reprint edition consulted, 1954).

Laura Martin, Ph.D.
Last revised May 2006

I. Background and author

Historian, diplomat, editor, university professor, translator, ambassador – Jorge Luis Arriola Ligorría was one of the great men of Guatemalan politics and letters. He was a significant participant in the Revolution of 1944 and served as Minister of Education, and in other capacities, in the Arévalo and Arbenz governments. For many years he headed the important institution of the Seminario de Integración Social. He was a prolific writer and researcher, producing and contributing to works that provided foundations for Guatemalan anthropology and linguistics. A complete biographical essay appears at http://www.bibliojuridica.com/libros/2/740/12.pdf , (last access May 2006).

One of these works is his Pequeño diccionario etimológico de voces guatemaltecas , ordenadas etimológicamente, published in 1941, the same year as the first volume of the Sandoval dictionary. Critically acclaimed and quickly out of print, it was later re-edited as the Pequeño diccionario etimológico de voces guatemaltecas by the Ministerio de Educación Pública as Volume 50 in its Biblioteca de Cultura Popular series. This second edition is subtitled “Enriquecida con numerosas geonímias.” It is now also very hard to find. The second edition of the dictionary was reprinted in 1954.

II. Introductory material

A Nota Liminar provides a minimal introduction to the work. It speaks of the importance of etymologies as a resource for knowledge about the genealogy, variety, and life of communities. He mentions the large number of Nahuatl words in Guatemalan Spanish. He cites work by Antonio Pe ñ afiel about Mayan-derived toponyms, on which he relies heavily.

Arriola also mentions that this volume is merely the first in a planned series of works on etymologies for words borrowed from the K'iche', Kaqchikel, Tz'utujil, and other Mayan languages. Apparently these other volumes never appeared. It may be possible that his notes for such volumes still exist in some archive, a challenge to serious students of indigenous loans in Central American Spanish.

On page 7, Arriola lists a handful of abbreviations, including those for his other sources. These include Batres Jáuregui; [Manuel] García Elgueta, a 19th century Guatemalan and proto-anthropologist who conducted serious studies of K'iche'; [Francisco Antonio de] Fuentes y Guzmán (1643-1700), whose 1695 Recordación florida is a great history of Colonial Guatemala; [ Charles Etienne] Brasseur de Bourbourg (1814-1874), the discoverer of the Diego de Landa manuscript so valuable to epigraphers, and translator of the 1861 French version of the manuscript Popol Vuh ; and [Fray Francisco] Ximénez (1666-1729), whose several important works on Mayan languages and customs include the original Spanish translation of the Popol Vuh. Arriola was an erudite man, who had at his disposal the most crucial resources of the time for his lexicographic work.

III . Dictionary

The alphabetic listing begins at page 6 and the last entry is on page 199. Entries are in bold caps with definitions or commentaries indented beneath. Its poor-quality paper now yellowed and brittle, the small-format work is fragile. Some entries run to several pages, since Arriola cites extensive extracts from his acknowledged sources as well as many others who only appear by surname within the entries.

The listing emphasizes toponyms, as indicated by the changes in title over the several editions. In general, the etymologies provided are largely labeled “maya,” with little differentiation among the languages. Unfortunately, the etymologies to which Arriola has dedicated so much study are sometimes of dubious reliability. He cites guanaco , for example, as the nickname given by Guatemalans to Salvadorans, Nicaraguans, and Hondurans. Today, it is largely restricted to Salvadorans. Arriola, citing another scholar, attributes the word to K'iche' based on words for “this one” and “near.” Guanaco is, of course, of Quechua origin.

Arriola often acknowledges a wide range of scholarly opinions about various etymologies and includes the contrasting details. For instance in the case of Itza(j), the Maya group in the Petén, he offers two possibilities. First, he cites Médiz Bolio for an etymology from what he terms the Mayan words for ‘dew' ( itz ) and ‘water' ( há or já ). Then he offers the Teoberto Maler analysis based on the Nahuatl itzlli ‘maguey spine' or ‘small obsidian knife.' (According to Itzaj linguist Charles A. Hofling, t he most common accepted etymology today is ‘water witch' from itz , 'sorcerer', and ja' , 'water'. Hofling states that the Itzajes themselves don't know an etymology for certain, but think the name may be related to itz , 'resin' or 'sap' [personal communication, May 2006].) Sometimes Arriola's contrasting hypotheses are quite extensive. For example, he offers 14 different possibilities for the word Guatemala itself.

Typical entries in the Arriola dictionary look like these (NB: Becerra is one of the otherwise unidentified sources Arriola cites for some definitions):

Cenku, Cenkú, maya.

Lo digo yo dios.

Tacaná, Tacaná

Volcán situado entre Guatemala y México; el límite internacional pasa sobre su vértice. Etim., Takak-ná, guarida o casa del fuego. Del mam ta, adentro, kak, fuego, y najbil, casa. (Becerra)

Arriola's collection of place names includes many small hamlets and caceríos , making the list of some historical as well as lexicographic interest, even though not all the locations are identified precisely. In many cases the etymology seems likely to be correct, but the precise language of origin is not clear. A new survey of Arriola's inventory and consolidation of what is known about the etymologies of Guatemalan toponyms is clearly overdue.