Boss and former coworker got into a very amusing argument over this and it got me curious.

  • bionicjoey@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    Nowadays the Wolof word means yucca, but given that yucca is from the Americas, odds are that it was originally used for any edible root; or potentially another local root.

    That reminds me of how the word “corn” referred to any grain until maize was discovered

    • Lvxferre@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      Yup, it’s the same underlying phenomenon - as maize becomes the prototypical non-wheat cereal grain for plenty speakers, they eventually repurpose the word “corn” to mean exclusively “maize”. (British dialects are the exception that prove the rule, as maize isn’t so prevalent in the islands.)

      This doesn’t happen just with crops, mind you - even animals get this treatment. Guarani “jagua” for example went from “hunting beast, specially jaguar” to “dog”, while Navajo “łį́į́ʼ” went from “pet, livestock, specially dog” to “horse”.