The name of the most popular rhythm of the Río de la Plata, we refer to tango, is recorded in our language since 1837, coined by the Cuban etymologist Esteban Prichardo, and everything indicates that its origin is African, originating from one of the languages brought to America by slaves. However, we must bear in mind that this original tango has little to do with this typical music of the Río de la Plata, immortalized by Carlos Gardel.
Towards the first half of the 19th century, tango referred to gatherings of blacks who danced to the sound of their drums. The word originates in the first person singular of the present indicative of the Portuguese verb “tanger,” which means ‘to play a musical instrument’.
However, others believe that the name of this rhythm comes rather from “tangu,” which in the African Kikongo language designates a leg movement in some types of dance, while other authors point to the Sudanese Ibibio language, in which “tamgu” refers to a dance with drums.
Others adhere to the hypothesis of African origin, but point out ‘a certain dance called “tangue” that appears in the 16th century in Normandy’, although he himself admits that it is a word of independent formation.
As happened with other words of African origin, it is possible that “tango” entered Cuba and South America separately, although with the same origin. The “tanguillo,” which was all the rage in Andalusia towards the second half of the 19th century, seems to have come from Cuba, a country with which this region of Spain always maintained intense cultural exchange.
It was only in the late 19th century that the sensual rhythm of the tango began to be heard in the outskirts of Buenos Aires in Argentina and Montevideo in Uruguay.
