Canada, Canadá…or Cá Nada?
As to what concerns Canada in this chapter, it’s not so much about who were the first Europeans to reach their shores after the Vikings – John Cabot in the service of the English, (or should I prefer his original Venetian name, Giovanni Caboto?), (1497), or João Vaz Corte Real (1472, or before), or João Álvares Fagundes (1460-1522, 1520-1), or Gaspar Corte Real (1501), or João Fernandes Lavrador (1453–1501, 1498), or even Diogo de Teive and his pilot Pero Vasques Saavedra (1452). It’s more about the origin of the Name of Canada. This link to Wikipedia leads you to the exploration of the many different hypotheses of explaining the origin of this country’s name.
Please let me summarize these etymological considerations, mainly on the basis of above inserted link:
1 – “While a variety of theories have been postulated for the name of Canada, its origin is now accepted as coming from the Laurentian language word kanata, meaning ‘village’ or ‘settlement’. Related translations include ‘land’ or ‘town’, with subsequent terminologies meaning ‘cluster of dwellings’ or ‘collection of huts’.”
2 – “The most common alternative theory suggested that the name originated when Portuguese or Spanish explorers, having explored the northern part of the continent and unable to find gold and silver, wrote cá nada (‘nothing here’ in Portuguese), acá nada, aqui nada or el cabo de nada (‘Cape Nothing’ in Spanish) on that part of their maps.”
3 – “An alternative explanation favoured by philologist Marshall Elliott linked the name to the Spanish word cañada, meaning ‘glen‘ or ‘valley‘.”
4 – And this brings us to the photos shown below that I had the opportunity to take some years ago on the Azorean island of Santa Maria. The Portuguese word canada has related meanings: caning, or – probably more adequate to our subject – lane, in line with the meaning of the Spanish word, narrow footpath, alley, shortcut, or trail.
