Blog Archive
The Philippines and the Spanish language
Linguogeographic notes In 1542, two islands of the archipelago, which would receive the name of the Philippines later,—Leyte and Samar—were named Felipinas after Philip (Felipe) II, the king of Spain at that time. After that, the name of “the Philippines” (Las Islas Filipinas) was extended to the whole archipelago. Up to 1989, for almost 400 years, the Philippines have […]
Haiti not Tahiti, Dominicana not Dominica
Linguogeographic notes The country of Haiti occupies a third of the island of Hispaniola, once called Hayti and still called so in many languages, other than Romano-Germanic, due to the confusion of their speakers. The remaining two-thirds is occupied by the Dominican Republic, sometimes also called Dominicana. A highly puzzling region. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and the only […]