Names, semantics, and cognition in native varieties of the potato tubercle in the peasant community of Pampacorral (Lares, Cuzco): Towards a cognitive approach to the naming process

Abstract This study examines the naming of the diverse native potato species in the peasant community of Pampacorral, proposing an analytical approach grounded in the theoretical framework of Cognitive Linguistics. From this perspective, processes such as perception, conceptualisation, and symbolisation converge, each encompassing various cognitive mechanisms, including perspective, profiling, encyclopaedic knowledge, metaphor, metonymy, and codification. The names of the native potato species in Pampacorral are thus understood as the outcome of a complex yet realistic process involving multiple phases, processes, and mechanisms, with the nomenclature of varietal diversity serving to validate this novel approach. Thus, the names of potatoes reveal a set of metaphorical and metonymic patterns.