OUTOFPAPUA database: Lexicons of the West Papuan language area

Entry record from Schapper (2020): Wersing Peitoko

pter[pˈtɛr]

•  n. maize; corn(eng).jagung(ind).

Naida pter mada.I'm cooking maize.(eng), Saya masak jagung.(ind)

Scientific name: Zea mays

Origin: Likely ultimately from Malay |fn{batari} ‘sorghum’, but the relevant intermediates are not known, likely languages to the West. Vowels suggest this was a distinct borrowing event to that of ptori.

See also: ptori