Language of the Voiceless: Traces of Taino Language, Food, and Culture in the Americas From 1492 to the Present

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Nahuatl ending ctle as guacal (Honduras)). The güiro (a) was also used for water
jugs called calabazas or jícaras and in the manufacturing of neckless, earrings, etc.
Furthermore, in some Spanish speaking countries the term jícaro has also become an
adjective (and in some cases) a substantive to refer to hollow things e.g. coco jícaro or
dried-out coconut.
Nevertheless, when the güiro was dried out, hollowed and grooved the Taino
produced two different musical instruments used in their areito and cohoba music
and ceremonial dances: the maracas and the güira. These two musical instruments
were later adopted by the African slaves of the Americas and to this day are the main
elements of many Caribbean rhythms such as merengue, cumbia, son, salsa, guaracha
and cha-cha-cha. However, despite their adoption by the Afro-Americans, these
instruments didn’t seem to lose their Taino names, purpose and essence 25 .
However, one important thing to observe regarding the etymology of the word
maraca and the homolog colloquial use of the Spanish word morro > ‘plates’ is the
possible lexicalization, confusion and interpellation of both terms given their phonetic
similarities and their morphemic semantics. Even though the word morro existed in
Spanish prior to the Americas to refer to a mountain or a prolonged protuberance 26 , it
should not be confused with the word maraca which also existed prior to the conquest
to describe a musical instrument used by the Taino behike 27 > ‘shaman’ during the
cohoba ritual. As matter of fact, maraca comes from the Guaraní mbaracá 28 which
25
(Guitar, 2006-2007)
26
(Anónimo, 1492-1493, p. 187)
27
(Colón, 1571)
28
(Española, 2019)