Huraca’n / Hurricane

Hayley MinnerFebruary 5, 2005

Principles of LinguisticsDr. Pandey

Huraca’n HurricaneTaino

From the Taino Indians who lived

in what is now Haiti, the Dominican

Republic, Cuba, and Puerto Rico

Word History• Huraca’n: where hura means “wind”

and ca’n means “center”• Huraca’n probably came to Taino

from the Maya word Huraken, who was the God of Storms

• When Columbus encountered the Taino Indians, the word became a Spanish word

• One of the first human records of hurricanes appears in Mayan hieroglyphics

Word Evolution

Huraken Huraca’n

Maya Taino

Huracán Hurricane Spanish word English

Other Possible Derivatives

Aracan, Hurranvucan, Urican and Furacan.

The Spanish letter F in Aragon, Spain was gradually being

replaced by letter H of Castile in the late 1400s.

Manner of Articulation

Word: HurricaneIPA: [ hŗəkejn ] or [ hŗIkejn ]Place of Articulation: [ h ]

Glottal – sound produced using the vocal folds as primary articulators

Voiceless – when the vocal folds are pulled apart as air passes directly through the glottis

Fricative – produced with a continuous airflow through the mouth

TainoAlthough the Taino language and people are

now extinct, they left “us” via Spanish, many

words which are still used today:

potato barbecue

tobacco hammock

guava mangrove

key (island)

Hurricane Facts• How did naming hurricanes begin?

Over 50 years ago, George Stewart wrote a novel, Storm, in which a California weatherman called a storm Maria.

• When is hurricane season?Hurricane season in the Atlantic falls between June 1 and November 30.

• What is the average life span of a hurricane?The average hurricane lasts 9 days and is the most destructive during its first 12 hours on shore. A typical eye measures 20 miles across.

Hurricane Facts Continued

• What was the deadliest hurricane?The deadliest hurricane in the United States struck Galveston, Texas in 1900. It was a category 4 hurricane and caused the 8000 deaths.

• What was the costliest hurricane?Hurricane Andrew was the costliest hurricane in 1992. Damages totaled more than $25 billion in parts of Florida, Louisiana, and Georgia.

Word Building ActivityConstruct words

from directions using the letters:

HURRICANE

How Many Words Can You Form?

Hurricane Activity• Students will investigate how wind effects the

height of ocean waves depending on the shallowness of the water.

* Using a baking dish with water and a straw, students will create “wind” over the water in the dish. The waves’ height will be measured and the activity will be repeated with less water, representing shallow water, and with more force, representing wind speed.

ReferencesHurricane Lesson Plan. Retrieved 1-31 at

www.discoveryschool.com.NOAA/AOML Hurricane Research Division.

The Deadliest, Costliest, and Most Intense United States Hurricanes from 1900-2000. 1996-2005. www.aoml.noaa.gov.

Potter. Amazing Pictures As Seen From Outer Space. http://hprcc.unl.edu.

Wilkinson, J. History of Hurricanes. Retrieved 1/26/05 at http://www.keyshistory.org/

hurricanes.html.