Brazilian National Identity and the Notion of Brazil

Abstract

The Portuguese word "Brazil" is a complex notion for bearers of Brazilian language identity. Not only does it include the name of the country but also a number of generic notions, one of which is primary with respect to the geographical name and others are secondary. The name of the country goes back to the word-combination pau brasil (mahogany). This secular name co-occurred with a sacral one, i.e. Terra de Santa Cruz. The secular variant survived in spite of the negative attitude it evoked in the first decades of its existence. Its further reassessment led to the formation of other notions that form the core of the semantic field "Brazil". The peculiar feature of this field is its early formation (mid XVII century) and early elaboration of various meanings that the word "Brazil" has retained up to now. The complex notion "Brazil", which includes such meanings as "mahogany", "country", "indigenous population", "territories", and "language", is so multifold due to its secular nature: the sacral name of Santa Cruz (Holy Cross) could not have been used in such a way.

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