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From: markrose@spss.com (Mark Rosenfelder)
Subject: Re: Borrowed Words
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References: <3mj41n$r7u@news.primenet.com> <3mrf0n$hok@news.primenet.com> <ludemannD75vKG.A07@netcom.com> <3mst7j$hll@news4.primenet.com>
Date: Wed, 19 Apr 1995 19:53:56 GMT
Lines: 13

In article <3mst7j$hll@news4.primenet.com>,
James P Mork <jpmork@primenet.com> wrote:
>By the way:  my dictionary says "potato" itself is a variant of a Haitian 
>word "batata".  So, I wonder if the Incan word just disappeared or is the 
>word for potato in some other language.  

The Quechua word for potato is _papa_, which has been borrowed by 
Latin American Spanish as well.  

(Quechua is the language of the Incas-- or at least that's what outsiders
call it; native speakers call it _Runasimi_, 'mouth of the people'.
It is the most widely spoken native American language, with about 7 million
speakers, mostly in Peru.)
