4145  The origins ot the word tango

Date: Sat, 15 Apr 2006 02:22:54 +0200
From: gaby luna <gala37ar@YAHOO.ES>
Subject: The origins ot the word tango

Dear members:

I Include here part I of the explanation of the word Tango.

It is included as a treat in the Spanish Courses of Latitudes in BA. Thus It is not in English.

SOBRE ALGUNOS TIRMINOS TANGUEROS

Por Eduardo Rubin Bernal
Acadimico Titular

Hoy: Tango.

El tirmino "tango", con el que se denomina a la especie musical nativa del Rmo de la Plata, es un vocablo del cual se han imaginado los ormgenes mas dispares.
La mayorma de los investigadores sostienen que es voz de origen africano. Ricardo Rodrmguez Molas determins, luego de rastrear en los dialectos de las tribus que habitaban las regiones de las que provenma la gran mayorma de los negros esclavos llegados a Amirica, el territorio del antiguo Congo, dividido hoy en las actuales Repzblica del Congo (vieja colonia francesa) y Zaire (el remoto y conocido Congo Belga), la zona sur del Sudan y los pamses lindante con el golfo de Guinea, que en varios de ellos "tango" significaba: "lugar cerrado", "circulo", "coto" y por connotaciones, todo espacio vedado al cual se accede sorteando ciertas condiciones previas de admisisn. De este modo, el traficante de negros llams "tango" al lugar de reclusisn de los esclavos antes del embarque y, posteriormente, tambiin llams "tango", al lugar en que se realizaba la venta de los negros ya en tierras americanas.
Josi Gobello por su parte dice que "tango" es voz que circuls en todos los pamses esclavistas, y recuerda que Esteban Pichardo definis en Cuba para 1836 que: "tango" era toda reunisn de negros Bozales para bailar al son de sus tambores y atabales.
El tirmino "bozal" se aplicaba al negro reciin llegado y por extensisn a la jerga que resultaba de su manera deficiente de hablar el castellano.
La reunisn de negros a que alude Pichardo era, entonces, el "tango, es decir, desde principio del siglo XIX, los "tangos" eran en Buenos Aires, como en otros mercados esclavistas, instituciones donde los negros se reunman para practicar sus bailes y, ademas, desempeqar actividades de asistencia mutua, como reunir dinero para redimir negros esclavos y bregar por mantener sus identidades tribales.
Josi Gobello profundiza el estudio tratando de dilucidar como llega hasta los dialectos negros el tirmino "tango". Lo seguiremos a il.
Al respecto cita el libro que en 1627 el jesuita Alonso de Sandoval publics en Sevilla, su ciudad natal, titulado "Naturaleza, policma sagrada i profana, costumbres i ritos, disciplina y catechismo evangilico de todos etmopes".
El Padre Sandoval que habma trabajado casi toda su vida (desde 1605 hasta 1652) en el Colegio de Cartagena de Indias, entregado a lo que el llams "el ministerio de morenos", conocma muy bien, al escribir el libro, el habla de los negros y lo que era mas importante tambiin el de los negreros. En ese trabajo aparece el tirmino "tangomao". Con ese vocablo se identificaba a individuos portugueses por nacionalidad y cristianos por bautismo, que hacman vida salvaje entre los salvajes, desnudos y tatuados como estos, y que se dedicaban a tratar y comprar esclavos en Guinea.
Del analisis de esta obra, y segzn cita Gobello, de los trabajos de German de Granda publicado como "Un testimonio sobre las hablas 'criollas' en Africa y Amirica", se comprueba documentalmente la existencia de un habla "criolla", entendiindose por criolla, a toda lengua derivada de idiomas europeos pero formadas fuera de Europa, de base portuguesa, en las islas de Sbo Tomi, ubicadas en el Ociano Atlantico al oeste del continente africano frente al actual estado de Gabsn. A esta lengua se la conocis como lengua de Sbo Tome.
Chau, hasta la prsxima nota.
Check Latitudes
www.latitudesweb.com.ar
or write to me at gabiluna@fibertel.com.ar

Gabriela Luna



LLama Gratis a cualquier PC del Mundo.
Llamadas a fijos y msviles desde 1 cintimo por minuto.

Date: Sat, 15 Apr 2006 02:25:12 -0600
From: Bruno Romero <romerob@TELUSPLANET.NET>
Subject: Re: The origins ot the word tango

Hi Gaby, I could not pass the opportunity of translating your message.

Cheers, Bruno
Dear members:

I Include here part I of the explanation of the word Tango.
It is included as a treat in the Spanish Courses of Latitudes in BA. Thus,
it is not in English.

On tanguero terms

By Eduardo Rubin Bernal

Academico Titular

Today: Tango

The term "tango", as used in calling the native musical specie from Rio de
la Plata, is the speech form said to have many disparate origins.

The majority of researchers agree it is a word of African origin. Ricardo
Rodriguez Molas tracks the tribal dialects of the majority of blacks who
arrived in America. That is from the old Congo territory divided nowadays in
the present Republic of Congo (old French Colony), and Zaire (the remote and
known Belgian Congo), the south region of Sudan, and the bordering countries
with the Gulf of Guinea. In these places, "tango" meant "closed quarter",
"circle", "nook", and by extension any off-limits place, where one has to go
through diverse formalities or obstacles to gain admission. In the same
vein, the dealer of slaves calls "tango" the place where slaves are held
before being shipped away, and subsequently to the place where the sale of
blacks took place in American land.

Jose Gobello says that "tango" is the word that circulates in all countries
in the slavery trade. Jose notes that Esteban Pichardo defines in Cuba in
1836 that "tango" was any meeting where newly arrived blacks (Bozales)
gather to dance to the rhythm (son) of their drums and kettledrums.

The term "Bozal" is applied to the newly arrived blacks and therefore by
definition to the blacks who had problems in speaking well the Spanish
language.

In this sense, the meeting of blacks alluded by Pichardo is called "tango",
and from the beginnings of the 19th century it referred to the "tangos" in
Buenos Aires, as well as in other places where the slavery trade was
practiced. These places became institutions where blacks gathered to dance,
and to carry out events of mutual social assistance such as raising money to
pay for the freedom of the slaved blacks, and for maintaining their cultural
identities.

Jose Gobello deepens in the study of how the word "tango" is appropriated by
the blacks. We follow him. Jose mentions that in 1627 the Jesuit Alonso de
Sandoval publishes in his place of birth the book "Nature, sacred and
profane policies, customs and rites, discipline and evangelical catechism of
all Ethiopians".

The father Sandoval, who had worked all his life from 1605 to 1652 in the
Cartagena of Indias School, dedicated to the ministry of blacks, was well
versed in the language of blacks and most importantly the language of black
traders. In his book appears the term "tangomao". This term referred to the
christened Portuguese who lived among the wild, naked, and tattooed blacks
for the sake of slave trading in Guinea.

From the analysis of the Jesuit's book, as well as, according to Gobello,
from the works of German de Granda in "Testimony of Criollo Forms of Speech
in Africa and America", all of these serve to document the existence of
Criollo Speech forms. The meaning of Criollo is understood to be any
language derived from European idioms, but formed outside Europe and from
Portuguese origin in the islands of Saint Tome. The islands are located in
the Atlantic Ocean and west of the African continent facing the state of
Gabon. The language there spoken was known as language of Saint Tome.

Chau, until next time
Check Latitudes
www.latitudesweb.com.ar
or write to me at gabiluna@fibertel.com.ar

Gabriela Luna