GO DEEPERproposed borrowingproposed
Mapuche / Mapudungun · Mapuche historical lexicography and modern pontro · garment or blanketpontho / ponchu / pontro
poncho, coarse blanket, or wool blanket
- SOUND
- One analysis derives American Spanish poncho from Mapuche forms such as pontho / ponchu / pontro; competing scholarship argues that the Indigenous forms may instead reflect Spanish.
- MEANING
- A blanket or textile term and the sleeveless garment label are historically associated, but the direction of transfer is unresolved.
- CHRONOLOGY
- Spanish records and Mapuche lexicography overlap too closely for this dossier to declare one direction proven.
- SCHOLAR
- Merriam-Webster · Sánchez Cabezas · RAE · Iwasaki
- CONFIDENCE
- proposed — Merriam-Webster and Sánchez support a Mapuche route; RAE and Iwasaki support or favor a Spanish-internal route.
Poncho — Word HistorysupportsWord History — American Spanish, from Mapuche
Supports the Mapuche route.
ORIGINAL ↗Poncho — Diccionario de la lengua españolachallengesponcho¹ — quizá de po[n]cho “descolorido”
The current RAE entry proposes a Spanish-internal analysis.
ORIGINAL ↗Los mapuchismos en el DRAEsupportsponcho entry — pontro, poncho / ponco and historical forms
Documents Mapuche lexical forms and the proposed mapuchism.
ORIGINAL ↗La universalidad del español: encuentros y contactos lingüísticoschallengesponcho discussion — 1530 record and Spanish-origin argument
OPEN CANONICAL EDGE 360 ↗Presents the historical case against a secure Indigenous derivation.
ORIGINAL ↗