Language of the Voiceless: Traces of Taino Language, Food, and Culture in the Americas From 1492 to the Present

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used to describe the same social rank in those respective empires and cultures, but
overtaken by the Taino term.
Chapter III, page 29
True History of the Conquest of New Spain
y habría desde el pueblo a donde desembarcamos obra de una legua. Y allí junto había
unos pozos y maizales y caserías de cal y canto; llámase este pueblo Potonchán.
The next Taino word in the sequence of BDC’s text is very controversial because it
describes one of the most important crops in human history and the central element in
the diet of most native cultures of our continent: maize > ‘corn’ (Zea mays). Although
its agricultural and genetic origins can be traced as far back as 7000 to 15000 years ago
to a central Mexican grass plant called teosinte 122 , for some very strange reason, the
etymology of the word does not appear related to any synonymic voices of the
continental lands such as the Mayan tz ’ite 123 (phonetically closer to the name of the
original plant), Yucatec ixi’ im, Totonac-Veracruz Cux’I or the Nahuatl elotl. Instead, the
etymology of this term seems closer to the Arawak and many of its South American
language families. As a matter of fact, the prefix of this word can be found hidden within
what Breton defines as the Carib words mái-ma > ‘garden’ and ni-mäi-nalí > ‘my
own garden’ 124 . Moreover, if we analyze the Honduran Garifuna, we come across similar
meanings within the words maina > ‘corn field or milpa’ and mainabu > ‘vegetable
122
(Beadle, 1980)
123
(Vuh, 1947)
124
(Breton, 1665, p. 173)