7 Indigenous Taino Words You Probably Already Know – Part 6: Manatee

You might have heard of the word, but you might not know what it is. This is one of the lesser known words we adopted from the Taino language and is part 6 of our 8 serie blog. See the previous post about these subjects.

Manatee

Columbus had never seen a manatee before when he arrived in the New World so he did not have a name for it. This is why the Spaniards almost immediately adopted the Taino word for manatee, "manati." This often happens when someone from a different culture encounters something new for the first time. "Manatee" is the anglicized version of "manati."

The manatee must have looked like a strange creature indeed. At first, in fact, Columbus mistook the manatee for a mermaid, half woman and half fish. In fact, in his journals after seeing the manatees he wrote that mermaids weren't as beautiful as they had been made out to be! Manati means "breast" in the Taino language because manatees have mammary glands that resemble those on female humans. The idea that the word manati is a corruption of the Spanish word for hand, "mano," because the manatee's front flippers look like hands has been shown to be false and the similarity is a mere coincidence.

Manatees in Bayahibe.

We occassionaly see Manatees here. They graze the submerged grasses around the Piscina Natiral. Have a look at the video below. Carlos, our Spanish guide swimming with Manatees in front of Dominicus.

 

 

As said we don't see them often, but that makes our Saona Excursion not less interesting. Check this excursion here.