Origin of the name California
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2008-06-30T17:59:48Z
Owlmonkey
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[[WP:UNDO|Undid]] revision 220795054 by [[Special:Contributions/24.82.178.60|24.82.178.60]] ([[User talk:24.82.178.60|talk]]) dubious. provide a citation to back that up.
[[Image:Gutierrez Americas-California.jpg|thumb|300px|This 1562 map by [[Diego Gutiérrez (cartographer)|Diego Gutiérrez]] was the first map to print the [[toponym]] ''California''.]]
The [[toponym]] '''''California''''' is currently used by three [[North America]]n entities — in the [[United States]], by the [[U.S. state|state]] of [[California]]; and in [[Mexico]], by the [[States of Mexico|states]] of [[Baja California]] ("Lower California") and [[Baja California Sur]] ("South Lower California") (collectively, these three areas constitute [[Las Californias]]) — and shared by [[California (disambiguation)|many other places]] in other parts of the world whose names derive from these.
[[Alta California]] ("Upper California") was the name of the State of California when it was still part of Mexico, and the [[Sea of Cortés]] is also known as the [[Gulf of California]].
Several origins have been suggested for the word "California," including [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[Latin]], [[South Asia]]n and [[Native American languages|Aboriginal American]] origins. All of these are disputed.<ref>See, for example, the several theories cited at [http://etimologias.dechile.net/?California Etimología de California] on etimologias.dechile.net. Accessed 1 April 2006.</ref> The following paragraphs illustrate some of the extant claims.
''California'' originally referred to the entire region composed of the Mexican peninsula now known as [[Baja California (peninsula)|Baja California]] and land in the current U.S. states of California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and Wyoming, which was eventually distinguished as [[Alta California]]. In even earlier times, the boundaries of the Sea of Cortés and the [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]] coast were only partially explored and California was shown on early maps as an island.
==Las Sergas de Esplandián==
In the minds of [[Europe]]an explorers, an island populated by Amazons off the coast of the Indies was a long-established expectation. The earliest known application of the name "California" to this island of the Amazons was in the [[1510]] romance novel ''[[Las sergas de Esplandián|Las Sergas de Esplandián]]'' (The Adventures of Esplandián) by Spanish author [[Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo]]. The book described the [[Island of California]] as being east of the [[Asia]]n mainland, "very close to the side of the Terrestrial Paradise; and it is peopled by [[Black people|black]] women, without any man among them, for they live in the manner of [[Amazons]]." The Island was ruled by [[Queen Califia]]. In his work, the author drew on a long-standing European belief in such an island.
<!--Please leave the paragraph of Spanish intact here, quotation might as well remain. -->
<blockquote>''Sabed que a la diestra mano de las Indias existe una isla llamada '''California''' muy cerca de un costado del Paraíso Terrenal; y estaba poblada por mujeres negras, sin que existiera allí un hombre, pues vivían a la manera de las amazonas. Eran de bellos y robustos cuerpos, fogoso valor y gran fuerza. Su isla era la más fuerte de todo el mundo, con sus escarpados farallones y sus pétreas costas. Sus armas eran todas de oro y del mismo metal eran los arneses de las bestias salvajes que ellas acostumbraban domar para montarlas, porque en toda la isla no había otro metal que el oro.''</blockquote>
<blockquote>Know that on the right hand from the Indies exists an island called '''California''' very close to Earthly Paradise; and it was populated by black women, without any man existing there, because they lived in the way of the Amazons. They had beautiful and robust bodies, and were brave and very strong. Their island was the strongest of the World, with its cliffs and rocky shores. Their weapons were golden and so were the harnesses of the wild beasts that they were accustomed to domesticate and ride, because there was no other metal in the island than gold.''</blockquote>
: – ''Las Sergas de Esplandián, (novela de caballería)''
::by García Ordóñez de Montalvo.
::Published in [[Seville]] in 1510.
Since then, that unknown ''Amazon's Island'' came to be known as ''California''.
Some scholars speculate the [[Song of Roland]], an 11th century [[Old French]] epic poem, may have served as the inspiration for the name ''California''. It refers to the defeat suffered [[August 15]], [[778]], in the retreat of [[Charlemagne]]'s army at the hands of the Muslim army in [[Battle of Roncevaux Pass]] in the [[Pyrenees]]. On line 2924 of the poem, which is in verse number CCIX (209), the word ''Califerne'' is one of the lands mentioned, with no indication of its geographic location. It is, however, named after a reference to ''Affrike'', or [[Africa]].
:''Morz est mis nies, ki tant me fist cunquere''
:''Encuntre mei revelerunt li Seisne,''
:''E Hungre e Bugre e tante gent averse,''
:''Romain, Puillain et tuit icil de Palerne''
:''E cil d'Affrike e cil de Califerne''.
:My nephew's dead, who won for me such realms!
:Against me then the Saxon will rebel,
:Hungar, Bulgar, and many hostile men,
:Romain, Puillain, all those are in Palerne,
:And in Affrike, and those in Califerne;
: – ''Song of Roland'', Verse CCIX (i.e. 209; lines 2920–2924), 11th c.</i>
"Since the Roland poem concerns the 'evil' [[Saracen]]s, it's possible that the poet derived 'Califerne' from '[[caliph]]'. Montalvo might also have been influenced by such similar names as ''[[Californo]]'' and ''[[Calafornina]]'' in [[Sicily]] or ''[[Calahorra]]'' in Spain."<ref>Words@Random."[http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=20000426 The Maven's Word of the Day, California]." April 26, 2000. Retrieved [[2006-09-19]].</ref>
This notion of a place of women without men echoes a passage from the diary of Christopher Columbus's first voyage:
<!--Please leave the paragraph of Spanish intact here, quotation might as well remain. -->
<blockquote>''Dixéronle los indios que por aquella vía hallaría la isla de Matinino, que diz que era poblada de mugeres sin hombres, lo cual el almirante mucho quisiera por llevar diz que a los Reyes cinco o seis d'ellas... mas diz que era cierto que las avía y que cierto tiempo del año venían los hombres an ellas de la dicha isla de Carib, que diz que qu'estava d'ellas diez o doze leguas, y si parían niño enbiábanlo a la isla de los hombres, y si niña, dexávanla consigo.''</blockquote>
<blockquote>The Indians said that along that route one would find the island of [[Matinino]], which they said was populated by women without men, of whom the admiral wanted very much to bring five or six to speak to the king and queen… but they said that it was certain that they (the women) had them (men) and that at a certain time of the year men came to [the women] of this island called Carib, which they said was ten or twelve leagues away, and if they gave birth to a son they sent it to the island of the men, and if a girl, they kept her with them.</blockquote>
The lure of an earthly paradise, as well as the search for the fabled [[Strait of Anián]], helped motivate [[Hernán Cortés]],{{Fact|date=February 2007}} following his conquest of Mexico, to send several expeditions in the late [[1530s]] and early [[1540s]] to the west coast of [[New Spain]]. The first expedition reached the Gulf of California and Baja California, and proved that California was in fact a peninsula. Nevertheless, the idea that California was an island persisted for well over a century and was included on many maps. The Spanish gave the name "California" to the peninsula and to the lands north, including both Baja California and [[Alta California]], the region that became the present-day U.S. state.
==Fourth ''carta de relación'' of Hernán Cortés==
In his fourth ''carta de relación'' (a letter to Spain narrating events of the conquest), datelined Mexico (meaning what is now [[Mexico City]]) [[15 October]], [[1524]], Hernán Cortés wrote to the king of Spain about certain information about a legendary island, information that had been brought to him by the captain who had achieved the conquest of [[Colima]].
<!--Leave Spanish intact here, followed by translation-->
:''Y así mismo me trajo relación de los señores de la provincia de Cihuatlán, que se afirman mucho de haber toda una isla poblada de mujeres, sin varón ninguno, y que en ciertos tiempos van de la tierra firme hombres que con ellas han acceso… y si paren mujeres, las guardan; y si hombres, los echan de su compañia; y que esta isla está a diez jornadas de esta provincia; y que muchos dellos han ido allá y la han visto. Dícenme asimismo que es muy rica en perlas y oro; yo trabajaré en teniendo aparejo de saber la verdad y hacer de ello larga relación a vuestra majestad.''
<!--translation of preceding paragraph-->
:And in the same manner I was brought a story from the men of the province of Cihuatlán, which reinforced completely that there is an island populated by women, without a single male, and at certain times men come from the mainland, who are granted access by the women… and if they give birth to women ''[sic]'', they keep them; and if men, they throw them out of their company; and that this island is ten days journey from this province; and that many of them have gone there and have seen it. They tell me also that it is very rich in pearls and gold; I will prepare myself to know the truth and tell it at length to your majesty.
: – Hernán Cortés. Fourth ''carta de relación''.
==The name of California is applied==
Cortés failed in his third journey of exploration (1535-36), when he tried unsuccessfully to establish a colony in [[La Paz (Baja California Sur)|La Paz]] under a royal charter granting him land on the recently discovered [[Baja California Peninsula]].
[[Hernando de Alarcón]], sent by the viceroy Mendoza — an enemy of Cortés — on a 1540 expedition to verify Cortés's discoveries, referred to the inhospitable lands as ''California'', after the imaginary island in ''Las Sergas'', discussed above. There is no question about Hernando de Alarcón's use of the term, nor about his allusion to ''Las Sergas'', but there is question as to whether this is the first use of the name to refer to those lands and whether he intended the name as mockery. Alarcón provides a clear link from the literary, imaginary California to the real place, but his usage cannot be proven to be the actual origin, in that the name might predate him.<ref>''Descubrimientos y Exploraciones en las Costas de California 1532-1650'' ("Discoveries and Explorations on the Coasts of California 1532–1650", Madrid, 1947; 2ª edición 1982, pp. 113-141): relevant passage quoted and cited at [http://etimologias.dechile.net/?California Etimología de California] on etimologias.dechile.net. Accessed 1 April 2006.</ref><ref>[http://www.bajacalifornia.gob.mx/portal/nuestro_estado/historia/primeras_exploraciones.jsp Primeras Exploraciones] ("First explorations") on Portal Ciudadano de Baja California, on the official site of the [[Baja California]] state government. Accessed 1 April 2006.</ref>
Today the name ''California'' is applied to the Baja California Peninsula, the [[Gulf of California]] (also known as the [[Sea of Cortés]]), the U.S. State of [[California]], and the Mexican states of [[Baja California]] and [[Baja California Sur]].
==Other origin theories==
Some suggest that the word California may signify that a place is "hot as an oven" (cali > hot, fornia > oven). It may be derived from ''caliente fornalia'', [[Spanish language|Spanish]] for ''hot furnace'', or it may come from ''calida fornax'', [[Latin]] for ''hot furnace''.<ref>These possibilities are mentioned in [http://etimologias.dechile.net/?California Etimología de California] on etimologias.dechile.net; however, they are cited only as ''"Gracias: Maximiliano Mena Perez"''. Accessed [[1 April]] [[2006]]. They are also alluded to on the site of Centro de Investigación Científica y
Educación Superior de Ensenada:[http://geologia.cicese.mx/sist_inf_geo/paseo/Baja.htm Baja California], accessed 1 April 2006. The site of the [[New Mexico State University]], on its page on [http://biology-web.nmsu.edu/nish/biology550/index.html Field Ecology of Baja], states this etymology as fact, and cites it to "Zwinger, 1961", presumably A. Zwinger, ''A Desert Country Near the Sea: A Natural History of the Cape Region of Baja California'' New York: Harper and Row (1961).</ref>
Another possible source may be ''kali forno'', an [[Native American languages|indigenous]] phrase meaning "high mountains".<ref>According to the [http://www.srcalifornia.com/cal-chron.htm Chronology of California History] (accessed 1 April 2006) on the site of [[Sons of the Revolution|Sons of the Revolution in California]], Mexican priest Miguél Venegas put forth this theory in 1757.</ref> There is no agreement among scholars.
A theory that directly links the name California to a Vedic myth has also been suggested. In Hindu mythology, the sage [[Kapila]] is said to have burnt [[Kapila#Birth of the Ganges|King Sagar]]'s 60,000 sons to the ground on being accused of abducting their horse. This incident is said to have taken place at "Kapilaaranya" - derived from Kapila Aranya or Kapila's Forest. The link between the Paatala-loka (literally underworld) which is where the horse allegedly ran off to and the situation of America on the earth directly opposite to India, or in other words "beneath" it, has been noted by proponents of this derivation of "California". The existence of an Ash Mountain Park in California and a Horse Island in Alaska seem to consolidate this possibility, although few authorities have voiced any opinions regarding the Kapilaaranya/California mystery.
==California moniker==
'''Califas''' is a [[Caló (Chicano)|caló]] word for [[California]]. It is used to designate the State of California in [[Aztlán]]. The word ''califas'' is meant to attract attention to its [[pre-hispanic]] origins.
Some people have tried to associate the word with [[caliph]], an Arabian world view concept that has nothing to do with America other than the historical associations to it via Spanish.
Some consider the term ''califas'' as a militant term; others consider ''califas'' no different than saying the abbreviated ''cali'' in reference to California.{{Fact|date=March 2007}} Califa, in Spanish historical references, refers to a Muslim governor or the Muslim head of state.
==Notes==
{{reflist}}
==References==
{{SPATRAcite|:es:Origen del nombre de California|20 March 2005}}
*The original text and English translation for the song of Roland follows [[Charles Scott Moncrief]] (London, 1919), as reproduced at ''Orbis Latinus''; many variant texts exist.
== See also ==
* [[Califia|Queen Califia]]
* [[Mexican state name etymologies]]
* [[List of U.S. state name etymologies|U.S. state name etymologies]]
*[[History of California]]
*[[History of California to 1899]]
[[Category:Baja California Sur]]
[[Category:History of California]]
[[Category:California culture]]
[[Category:Lists of United States placename etymology|California]]
[[es:Origen del nombre de California]]