What's In a Name?
Are
guinea pigs from New Guinea? Do they belong to the pig family? Well, the answer to both questions is NO. Guinea pigs neither originate from New Guinea, nor are they close relatives of the domesticated pig. So, if that's the case, then wWhy then are guinea pigs called guinea pigs?There are a number of theories that try to address the question of the unusual name.
Let's first address the question of why a guinea pig is called guinea.
There are several theories as to why the guinea pig is called guinea. Some suggest that guinea pigs are called guinea pigs because they arrived in Europe from Guinea, which led people to believe that New Guinea was their original home.
Not so, holds another opinion, which posits that the origin of the word guinea is not New Guinea but actually Guinea, located in South America. Of course, if this is correct, it is not clear if the misspelling was a mistake or willfully chosen. Another possibility states that guinea pigs are called guinea pigs because they cost a guinea when they were first sold in the United Kingdom. Unfortunately, the guinea was not a legal means of tender in the United Kingdom when Guinea pigs were first introduced. The guinea was introduced more than a century after the first mention of a guinea pig by the Swiss Naturalist Kongrad Gesner in 1554.
There are just as many theories regarding the pig in guinea pig than for the origin of guinea in guinea pigs. They might be called pigs because of a sound they make that resembles a pig's snort. Could it be that they are named pig because a guinea pig somewhat resembles a little pig? Or maybe because they eat like a pig. Whatever the reason, the English language is not the only one that refers to "pigginess". Scientists refer to guinea pigs as cavia porcellus; and porcellus is Latin for little pig. In the German language, guinea pigs are called Meerschweinchen (which is translated as little sea pigs). The origin of the name in German is probably because guinea pigs were treasured as an easily available and transportable source of fresh meat for sailing ships traveling long distances in the new world. Guinea pigs have a long history of serving as provisions. The Inkas treasured guinea pigs as a food source, and they also used them as sacrificial offerings to their gods. The Russian and Polish names for guinea pigs are similar to the German one, morskaya svinka and winka morska respectively; while the Dutch call them guinees biggetje (Guinean piglet). In the Scandinavian countries of Norway, Sweden and Denmark they are called marsvin, which combines the Latin word for ocean "mare" with svin, meaning pig.
Offering another geographical variation, the French call them cochon d'Inde, or Indian pig. Similarly, in Greece, they are referred to as indika xoiridia (Small Indian Pigs), and in Portuguese, the term is porquinho da india, meaning little pig of the Indies. Covering both geographical areas of reputed origin, the Italians refer to guinea pigs as either porcellino d'India, the little Indian pig, or cavia Peruviana, the Peruvian cavy. The odd culture out is Spain, as the common Spanish word for guinea pigs is conejillo de Indias, or the Indian bunny rabbit.
Clearly, no general agreement on the geographical origin of guinea pigs is reflected in their names, while the perception of "pigginess", albeit ranging far and wide, is not universal to all languages and cultures.
No matter their name, though, at the end of the day the Guinea Pig will always be a cute, furry friend.
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What's In a Name?
