Similarity and Variation in Plant Names in Five Tupi-Guarani Languages (Eastern Amazonia)

Abstract

This paper examines similarity and variation in plant words in five Tupi-Guarani languages of eastern Amazonia. These languages are Araweté, Asurini, Ka'apor, Tembé, and Wayāpi. The paper attempts to explain why words denoting certain plants are nearly the same in most of these languages whereas words for other plants are highly variable from one language to another. A total of 625 plant names from these languages were elicited for 167 botanical species, divided among non-domesticates, semi-domesticates, and domesticates. Plant names are of two basic types, metaphorical/descriptive and literal. The results show clearly that (1) the more intensively managed plants have higher rates of similarity in their names from one language to another; (2) a nomenclatural system appears to intervene between degree of plant management and similarity of names--the types of names which the nomenclatural system assigns to domesticates strongly tend to be literal, the types assigned to semi-domesticates show an increasing proportion of metaphorical terms, and the majority of those assigned to non-domesticates are metaphorical; (3) the literal pIant terms strongly lend to be much more similar from language to language than are metaphorical terms, regardless of degree of domestication of the referents; and (4) the ratio of literal to metaphorical plant words, combining names from all plant management types, is not significantly different between the five languages. It is suggested that cultural factors of plant management and the plant naming system combine with the linguistic properties of names and diachronic linguistic processses to produce similarity and variation in plant vocabulary.