re: whats in a name

[Andrew Taylor <>]

Hi Lawrie, from my reading a Jesuit-developed lingua franca based on Tupi
languages saw wide use until suppression  ~1750.  Seems likely Markgraf
heard this spoken around the Dutch colonies.  He travelled on expeditions
along the coast and into the interior mapping parts of NE Brazil for
the first time.  Markgraf surely met people who'd had litle contact
with Europeans and spoke Tupi-group languages in near original form.
I don't understand how you can tell from Markgraf's rendering of words
in Latin what language his informant(s) spoke.

Markgraf may have seen saw earlier Jesuit books on Brazil and these
might mention one or both birds, but I think these would be in Latin
too and in some cases the Jesuits were Spanish-born.

My apologies to those not fascinated by the paths words like jacana and
jabiru take to the English language.

Andrew