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Oh and I also found out that the name of the island does not come from canary birds, but from dogs! When the Romans came here they brought with them some huge dogs (as big as Argentinian dogs) and after they left, some dogs were left behind. Later, when the Spanish came, they found these huge dogs and named the island as Gran Canaria -- the island of big dogs. Gran means big, while can comes from the Latin canis, which means dog (n.b. -- câine, in Romanian). I would have never thought about that...
Oh and I also found out that the name of the island does not come from canary birds, but from dogs! When the Romans came here they brought with them some huge dogs (as big as Argentinian dogs) and after they left, some dogs were left behind. Later, when the Spanish came, they found these huge dogs and named the island as Gran Canaria -- the island of big dogs. Gran means big, while can comes from the Latin canis, which means dog (n.b. -- câine, in Romanian). I would have never thought about that...
Gazeta, as you should already know, we have a slot open for a main Latin translator, you should apply...
So it seems that the islands aren't named Canarias after the birds, but viceversa! I don't think many tourists know this fact, but not many tourists belong to the AoBT and have these philological concerns
As a curiosity, "dogs" are still also called "canes" apart from "perros" in Spanish, although the use of the former is in decline, and often used by poets, intellectuals or simply pedantic people.