Vendrá el Coco y Te Comerá

Abstract

La raíz de coco —el célebre personaje asustaniños del folclore peninsular— podría relacionarse con la raíz céltica *kokk– ‘rojo’. Tal significado explicaríase por metonímica asociación —vía el color de la sangre y por razones tabuísticas o culturales— con el dios de la guerra Marte o su correspondiente variante céltica.

The name of coco —a kind of ghost or monster which, according to Spanish folklore, is supposed to eat the children who do not want to sleep— could be related to the old Celtic root *kokk– meaning ‘red’. This meaning was applied in ancient times to the god of war Mars or to his Celtic counterpart[s]. Of course, the colour of blood was probably the main reason for this metonymic association.