Guinea

[Gregory {Greg} Downing]

At 01:38 PM 2/9/2001 -0600, you wrote:
>What does 'Guinea' mean? What is its etymology? Why is it two syllables in
>English, and not three or more?
>

Quickly, from OED2 Guinea:

The geographical name appears first in Pg. as Guiné (hence Sp. Guiné, F.
Guinée); its origin is unknown.

I. 1. a. The European name of a portion of the West Coast of Africa,
extending from Sierra Leone to Benin, used attrib. and Comb. in the
following [see OED2 for the whole listing...]:
(In several instances the name is used loosely for West Africa or for some
far-off or unknown country.)


>Why is there a New Guinea?

Generally, this must be part of that "New X" tendency seen throughout areas
where Europeans colonized from the 1400s through the 1800s. I'm sure there's
a more specific tale hanging thereby. Anyone have time to look it up?


>Are Guyana and French Guiana etymologically
>related?
>

Guyana and Guiana are different spellings of the same name. Whether these
are related to Guinea, someone may wish to look up.



Greg Downing, at greg.downing at nyu.edu or gd2 at nyu.edu