Customer Reviews

Spanish Word Histories and Mysteries: English Words That Come From Spanish

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I could not disagree more with the reviewer who states that this "book is too basic for bilingual Spanish-English speakers. . . overall fluent Spanish speakers will find little of interest. Instead, it's a very good book for beginner Spanish speakers who want to know more about the language." I have been a professor of Spanish and Latin American Literature for over ten years and am perfectly bilingual and find this book to be very interesting and entertaining. There are many words here whose origins I did not previously know. Indeed, how many native Spanish speakers realize that barracuda most likely comes from barracó -- a word from the dialect of Catalan spoken in the region of Valencia that essentially means "snaggletooth". Even the American Heritage Dictionary states that barracuda is of unknown origin. This is great reading that will please anyone interested in etymology.

I originally bought this book to give to a bilingual friend who is interested in language and word origins. The book is well written, informative and entertaining. However, when I started going through it, I realized that the book is too basic for bilingual Spanish-English speakers. There are a few surprises (barrio has an Arabic origin!) but overall fluent Spanish speakers will find little of interest. Instead, it's a very good book for beginner Spanish speakers who want to know more about the language, or for anybody interested in the history of words used everyday in the US.

I love this little book! It meticulously interweaves history, culture, and language into an appealing collection of research and hypotheses. A gold mine to anyone who loves linguistics, etymology, and philology while at the same time accessible to someone who loves languages (Spanish in particular) but does not necessarily know about the above disciplines.

A very good book for beginning Espanol students, and for those who simply enjoy language, and want to knoow how we came to form our modern day Ingles. Words we use everyday like chocolate, alligator, barbeque, lariat, hammock, embargo, etc. can all be traced back to the Spanish and in many cases, to the occupying Muslim forces in Spain. I have found over three hundred words in the Filipino Talalog language that can be traced back to the colonial Spanish days. The Spanish not only contributed music and dancing, food and customs, plants and gardening, names and religion, but also many words into the world of languages. A nice, valuable piece of work by American Heritage - easy reading. I liked it and so did my 16-yoa daughter who enjoys anything Spanish.