Language Contact in the Andes and Beyond: Revisiting the Case of ‘Sweet Potato’

Resumo

It has long been proposed that the term for ‘sweet potato’ in Eastern Polynesian languages, kumala, is a loanword from Quechuan kumar ‘sweet potato.’ In this paper, it is hypothesized that a related form also exists in the Tupi-Guarani family of the eastern lowlands of South America: kumana ‘bean.’ In some languages of South America, further examples can be found for the unexpected link between terms for ‘sweet potato’ and ‘bean,’ that is, between terms referring to tuberous and seed-like crops, respectively. These cases suggest that it is justifiable to compare Quechuan kumar ‘sweet potato’ and related forms with Tupi-Guarani kumana ‘bean’ and related forms. In addition, Tupi-Guarani kumana ‘bean,’ or a form derived from it, has been borrowed into many other lowland South American languages. Accordingly, the form %kumar(a) has reflexes in the languages of Polynesia, the Andes, and the South American lowlands, and is one of the most widespread Wanderwörter of the Southern Hemisphere.