#pãm

[mlwotd]

#053 pãm

pãm /pãm/

[noun] bread

Maxakalí-English Dictionary

Once again, today we turn to Maxakalí. Why? Because, skimming through the dictionary again, I found another word I recognised. This time I am sure that it is of Portuguese origin. The word is pãm, which means “bread”; the Portuguese for “bread” is pão and it isn’t hard to see the link. What’s more, I don’t think that the Maxakalí would have had bread before the arrival of the Portuguese and so it only makes sense to borrow the nice short word for this exciting new foodstuff.

Here’s another example sentence taken from the dictionary again:

Yeyox te pãm koxip, tu’ yãy tik xop pu’ popmãhã.

Jesus broke the bread and gave (the pieces) to his men.

How kind of Yeyox.