A Southwestern Vocabulary: The Words They Used. By
Cornelius C. Smith, Jr. Glendale: The Arthur H. Clark Company, 1984. Index.
Bibliography. Illustrations. Maps. 168 pages. $19.50.
The author presents a glossary of diverse information on
words whose etymology he has found of interest, as reflecting the influence of
Arabian culture on Spain, and the interchange of speech patterns between the
Spanish, Mexican, Anglo and Indian peoples. His "southwest" is broadened to
include the northern tier of Mexican states. The book's four sections devote 63
pages to Spanish words, 22 to Anglo, 20 to U.S. military, and 14 to Indian. The
approach is chatty and sometimes loosely speculative (as at doughboy, Jackass
Mail, tizón). Smith cites no sources or authorities, and he includes many
words having no evident connection with the Southwest (e.g., algebra,
hurricane, Topic). Thus the work constitutes an entertainment (fair enough), but not a dependable guidebook. It is
illustrated with the author's pen and ink sketches and with maps showing the
routes of explorers, the distribution of Indian tribes in northern Mexico and
the American southwest, and the location of frontier military posts.
