New Post
Search
Help
ArchivesAmagoia
Does anyone have any idea what Amagoia (or Amagoya) means? It's a feminine name, possibly Basque. It's the name of a character in the book Amaya o los vascos en el siglo VIII (Amaya, or the Basques in the 8th century), written in 1879 by the Spanish Navarrese author Francisco Navarro Villoslada.
I looked it up on the Basque Language Academy's website (http://www.euskaltzaindia.net/index.php), which I'm told is a reliable website for Basque names. All it says is "Personaje de la novela de N. Villoslada Amaya o los vascos en el siglo VIII, madre de Amaia" (Character in the novel by N. Villoslada "Amaya, or the Basques in the 8th century", mother of [the character] Amaia). Unfortunately it doesn't say anything about the etymology. Does anyone know what it could mean, or was it just coined by the author?
I looked it up on the Basque Language Academy's website (http://www.euskaltzaindia.net/index.php), which I'm told is a reliable website for Basque names. All it says is "Personaje de la novela de N. Villoslada Amaya o los vascos en el siglo VIII, madre de Amaia" (Character in the novel by N. Villoslada "Amaya, or the Basques in the 8th century", mother of [the character] Amaia). Unfortunately it doesn't say anything about the etymology. Does anyone know what it could mean, or was it just coined by the author?
1
Replies
Google led me to "Madre del cielo"... which kind of makes sense because "ama" means "mother", and "goia" means "top".
Amagoia is the mother of Amaia in Basque mythology. Amaia in that sense is like the Basque version of Eve (the female counterpart of Aitor, which is the mythological father of the Basques). I'm not sure Amagoia has any more meaning than being the mother of Amaia.
I don't have any legit sources for any of this apart from Euskaltzaindia, the wikipedia entry about the book, basic knowledge of Basque and even more basic familiarity with Basque mythology, so I'm by no means an expert.
Amagoia is the mother of Amaia in Basque mythology. Amaia in that sense is like the Basque version of Eve (the female counterpart of Aitor, which is the mythological father of the Basques). I'm not sure Amagoia has any more meaning than being the mother of Amaia.
I don't have any legit sources for any of this apart from Euskaltzaindia, the wikipedia entry about the book, basic knowledge of Basque and even more basic familiarity with Basque mythology, so I'm by no means an expert.
1
Thank you for your input.
1