Skivee, thanks for that information about the Spanish pronunciation of the word for yam.

I find the wording of Q's statements about the etymology of the word "yam" to be interesting. Q says that "The word origin is unknown, but the supposed African origin may be based on coincidence of words from different languages. It is also possible that the name was carried from SE Asia to west Africa by traders. Comparison has been made with the Fulani word 'to eat' but this seems to be coincidence".

In the case of unknowns, one theory might just as likely be true as another theory. Things "may be" or "seem to be" one way to one person and a different way to another person for reasons known and unknown. Be that as it may or may not be, I prefer to say that the word "yam" is likely to have originally come from the West African words njam, nyami, or djambi, meaning "to eat.

It seems as though Q is likely to say that these words did not originally come from an African source, and that the existence of Africans words that are similar to the word "yam" and that have a similar meaning as "yam", or at least refer to eating is just coincidences.

To each his or her own.

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Just because others may be interested in this somewhat off topic subject, and not as a means of proving or disproving something that probably can't be proven one way or another {the etymology of the word "yam"}, here's some information about the role of yams in West African traditional cultures:

"In addition to being popular foods, cocoyams and yams have always carried social and cultural significance. In Nigeria, the cocoyam festival, Alube, is celebrated annually in May. Yams are intertwined in the social, cultural, and religious life of the farming communities where they are the major crop. In remote areas of West Africa, yams were an important status symbol, conferring prestige on families who consumed large quantities. Many customs dictate that yams should be used to wean babies, and special yam dishes are prepared for birth rituals and the naming ceremony for children. In some societies, yams are also important foods for funerals as ceremonial offerings to the gods and to the spirits of the departed, in others as food during the funeral feasts.

Throughout West Africa, the yam is revered by many traditional societies including the Ibo of eastern and midwestern Nigeria. Although many of their customs have been lost or modified due to European influence, it is believed that the Ibo are more devoted to yam cultivation than any other yam producers. Their religious devotion to the food has prevented its displacement by other crops.

The New Yam Festival is, in many West African regions, the most important celebration of the year. The annual festivals are associated with planting but more particularly with the yam harvest. Some of the groups that celebrate the festival include the Ashanti of Ghana, the Ibo and Yako of eastern Nigeria, the Yoruba of western Nigeria, the peoples of the eastern Ivory Coast, the Ewe of Togo, the people of Benin, the Tiv of the Benue region of northern Nigeria, and the Kalabari of the eastern Niger Delta."

http://www.answers.com/topic/western-africa