# All Slavic languages: potatoes



## slavian1

Hi everybody!
I've just reteruned home from my vacation in the southern part of Poland - a mountainous region of my country - where the Goralian dialect is widely spoken. I have learnend a new word used in this area for potatoes - which is "grule".
In Polish there are two official names for potatoes: "ziemniaki" and "kartofle". In the western parts of Poland - next to Poznań - "pyry" are also used. 
How many term are used for potatoes in your counries? Are there any regional terms used for this plain vegetable?


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## Jana337

I know these:
brambory - official
zemáky/zemňáky - the south of Moravia and maybe also elsewhere
erteple (from Erdäpfel, earth apple), zemská jablka (literal translation of the previous one) - around Olomouc
krumple (from Grundbirne, ground pear) - don't know where
kartofle - don't know where
kobzole (origin unknown, to me at least) - the north of Moravia, Silesia


> In western parts of Poland - next to Poznań - "pyry" are also used.


Do you know its origin?


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## BezierCurve

> erteple (from Erdäpfel, earth apple), zemská jablka (literal translation of the previous one) - around Olomouc




This is a bit off-topic, but it's amazing how popular this expression is

:Hebrew

תַּפּוּחַ אֲדָמָה - "earth apple"

I wonder, if it came from German too


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## slavian1

As for the pyry, the term is probaly derivated from the name of the country Peru, where the potatoes came from to Europe.


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## Kolan

Russian: *картофель*, spoken *картошка *(nationwide from Koenigsberg to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatski)
 Belorussian: *бульба*, maybe something else. (to be confirmed). Since potatoes overwhelmingly dominate in the Belorussian agriculture, the entire nation used to be also known among some of its neighbors as _*бульбаши* _(which is disrespectful, not appropriate, and, I believe, politically incorrect).


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## skye

Slovenian: krompir

In some areas (very limited though) they also say čompe. I find this word very funny.


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## Maroseika

BezierCurve said:


> This is a bit off-topic, but it's amazing how popular this expression is
> 
> :Hebrew
> 
> תַּפּוּחַ אֲדָמָה - "earth apple"
> 
> I wonder, if it came from German too


According to my sources German Kartoffel has nothing to do with the earth apples, derivating from Tartuffel < Italian tartufolo, tartufo - truffle (mushroom), due to superficial resemblance.
However we cannot exclude German popular etymology explaining this foreign word as "Erdapfel". In this case both Hebrew and Polish words quite possibly might prove to be the local calques of the German term.


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## natasha2000

In Serbian, as far as I know, there is only one word -- krompir.


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## CrazyArcher

Maroseika said:


> According to my sources German Kartoffel has nothing to do with the earth apples, derivating from Tartuffel < Italian tartufolo, tartufo - truffle (mushroom), due to superficial resemblance.
> However we cannot exclude German popular etymology explaining this foreign word as "Erdapfel". In this case both Hebrew and Polish words quite possibly might prove to be the local calques of the German term.


I'm sure that Hebrew word was a calque from German or Polish, since many words in modern Hebrew were created around 1890s by Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, who was born in Lituania.


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## kusurija

Jana337 wrote:


> brambory - official


brambory came from Czech name of [German] Brandenburg [county] - Branibory.

Kolan wrote:


> Belorussian: *бульба*,


 
IMHO бульба came from Lithuanian bulvė (maybe I'm not right in ethiology) - potato. 
Bulvė may have something common with _bulva_ [in Czech] - bulb[ball][in English]


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## Mac_Linguist1

*Компир* is the standard word for potato.

Some dialects have their own words: *кромпир* in Veles, *патат* in Kumanovo and I believe there are a few others I can't remember at the moment.


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## sokol

Maroseika said:


> According to my sources German Kartoffel has nothing to do with the earth apples, derivating from Tartuffel < Italian tartufolo, tartufo - truffle (mushroom), due to superficial resemblance.



Well yes, but in German there are a great many words for potatoes (I only mention standardised versions and in one case the dialect form to show the similarity to the Slavic form; some exist in vastly different versions, according to dialect):
- *Kartoffel *as already mentioned, with the same Italian root as Czech _kartofle _and all the others mentioned
- *Erdapfel, Erdäpfel* in Austria, Switzerland, Southern Germany, Rhineland, Saxony, and formerly in Silesia: Czech _erteple _is derived from the German word; and it is perfectly possible that the Hebrew name for potatoes is a loan translation from German (as many Jews who emigrated to Israel were speakers of Jiddish)
*- Grundbirne(n) (Grumpan)* or *Erdbirne *in Austria (especially in the south-east) and also parts of Southern Germany: Slovenian _krompir _(and other South Slavic ones) derive from that one
(and some others)


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## Thomas1

sokol said:


> Well yes, but in German there are a great many words for potatoes (I only mention standardised versions and in one case the dialect form to show the similarity to the Slavic form; some exist in vastly different versions, according to dialect):[...]


I wonder whether such copiousness of names for a potato mirrors its popularity and/or consumption in German-speaking countries, is it a staple in your neck of the woods?

I have just found out that in Silesia they call a potato that is to be planted _sadzok_.Some part of the Wikipedia article on potato.
Slovenian Krompir, Bulgarian _картоф_ (kartof), as well as Russian _картофель_ (kartofel) and German _Kartoffel_, derive from the Italian word _tartufoli_, which was given to potato because of its similarity to truffles (Italian: _tartufo_).
 Another common name is "ground apple": _pomme de terre_ in French, _aardappel_ in Dutch, _תפוח אדמה_ in Hebrew_פוד_), and _Erdapfel_ in Austrian German. An analogous name is Finnish as _peruna_, which comes from the old Swedish term _jordpäron_ "earth pear". In 16th century French, _pomme_ meant "fruit", thus _pomme de terre_ meant "ground fruit" and was probably literally loan translated to other languages when potatoes were introduced. In Polish potato is called just _ziemniaki_, and in Slovak _zemiak_, from the word for "ground". ​Tom


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## slavian1

kusurija said:


> IMHO бульба came from Lithuanian bulvė (maybe I'm not right in ethiology) - potato.
> Bulvė may have something common with _bulva_ [in Czech] - bulb[ball][in English]


 
In Polish language also exists the word bulwa but it has a slightly different meaning. "Bulwa" is used to describe a very thick, bulb-like root of a plant (in Wikipedia translated into 'tuber') which fits perfectly to the shape of the potato (any many other plants).

On the other hand I have discoverd that in Kashubian "ziemniak" is translated into "bùlwa".


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## tram-pam-pam

kusurija said:


> IMHO бульба came from Lithuanian bulvė (maybe I'm not right in ethiology)





slavian1 said:


> In Polish language also exists the word bulwa but it has a slightly different meaning.


Interesting.
Фасмер (‘Etymological Dictionary of Russian’ by Fasmer) gives: 

 "буньба "картофель", псковск., смол., южн., также _гулба_ -- то же, диал., укр. _бульба_. *Заимств. через польск. **bulba, bulwa* (Маевский, PF 4, 646), чеш. bulva из нем. Bolle "клубень, луковица"; …"


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## Maroseika

sokol said:


> *Erdapfel, Erdäpfel* in Austria, Switzerland, Southern Germany, Rhineland, Saxony, and formerly in Silesia


The question then is whether *Erdapfel* is a popular etymology derivative of *Kartoffel* or independent metaphorical creature of the German people.


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## lavverats

In standard Bulgarian: картоф [kartof].
In some dialects:
компир [kompir] - Western Bg;
патат [patat] - some parts of the Rhodope Mountains.

Pozdrav!


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## sokol

Thomas1 said:


> I wonder whether such copiousness of names for a potato mirrors its popularity and/or consumption in German-speaking countries, is it a staple in your neck of the woods?



Well yes, of course, it is (or rather, was - as nowadays we live here in rich Europe) the *"bread of the poor" *(this by the way was the same in Ireland too, and probably in many Slavic speaking countries, would be my guess, or at least in our neighbouring countries).

As for the etymology of the *Erdapfel *this clearly seems to be no popular etymology of _Kartoffel _(I couldn't imagine any such relation) but is just a reference to a 'fruit*) growing in earth' = 'Erd-' or 'Grund-'* (Grundbirne, krompir), *specifically compared with a certain fruit: '-apfel' & '-birne'.
So this is no loan translation but rather a classification of the new 'fruit' into 'popular natural science' (if such a thing exists at all ), if you like. (Same might have happened in other languages too, for all I know, though in Italian the concept is a different one, as already mentioned above.)
(*)And please don't tell me that potatoes aren't a fruit proper - I know that much. )

Also in historical times other 'fruit of the earth' were called 'Erdapfel', according to Kluge, Etymologisches Wörterbuch: cucumber, melon, pumpkins. (None of them are now called like that any more, 'Erdapfel' is exclusively reserved for potatoes now.)


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## slavic_one

In Croatian as far as I know it's only 'krumpir' and in some dialects 'krompir'!


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## JakubikF

slavian1 said:


> In Polish language also exists the word bulwa but it has a slightly different meaning. &quot;Bulwa&quot; is used to describe a very thick, bulb-like root of a plant (in Wikipedia translated into 'tuber') which fits perfectly to the shape of the potato (any many other plants).
> 
> On the other hand I have discoverd that in Kashubian &quot;ziemniak&quot; is translated into &quot;bùlwa&quot;.



 A tuber (especially in potatoes) is not a kind of root(!). It is an underground shoot, in fact, a stem. It cannot be called a root, the anatomy and morphology of this organ do not support such nomenclature.


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## slavian1

JakubikF said:


> A tuber (especially in potatoes) is not a kind of root(!). It is an underground shoot, in fact, a stem. It cannot be called a root, the anatomy and morphology of this organ do not support such nomenclature.


 
Well, I am not a specialist of plants' morphology, but according to the Wikipedia *bulwa *ia a part of a root or a shoot. So probably there is misleading information in Wikipedia. 

http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulwa_%28botanika%29

In English version a root tuber and stem tuber are also mentioned. 
What is the truth?


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## yamaneko

In the Cashubian language (Northern Poland) the standard name for potatoe is "bulwa"


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## JakubikF

slavian1 said:


> Well, I am not a specialist of plants' morphology, but according to the Wikipedia *bulwa *ia a part of a root or a shoot. So probably there is misleading information in Wikipedia.
> 
> http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulwa_(botanika)
> 
> In English version a root tuber and stem tuber are also mentioned.
> What is the truth?



 Considering potato it is an underground shoot. Tubers grow on stolons which are kind of rhizomes (a kind of underground stem).


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## slavian1

JakubikF said:


> Considering potato it is an underground shoot. Tubers grow on stolons which are kind of rhizomes (a kind of underground stem).


 
In case of the ordinary potato - your're probably right. What about the sweet potato? In the Wikipedia it is classified as an example of root tuber.

From Wikipedia: "Examples of plants with notable root tubers include the sweet potato, cassava and Dahlia."

According to your previous post, there is no such thing like root tuber (or I misunderstood your statement?). So, eventually, does such term exist or not? 

By the way, are you a biologist or a botanist?


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## Kolan

slavian1 said:


> From Wikipedia: "Examples of plants with notable root tubers include the sweet potato,


The *sweet potato* is *батат* in Russian (although it is not cultivated in Russia.)


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## JakubikF

Sweet potato belongs to another family Convolvulaceae while “traditional” potato to Solanaceae. These are two another groups of plants no matter how people call it (potato, sweet potato etc.) Even if the names are similar it does not say that they are directly related. In Polish sweet potato is also called “banat” or “wilec ziemniaczany” what refers to the family Convolvulaceae (Polish: powojowate[->powój->wilec]). Indeed, such organ like root tuber does exist but according to the discussion tubers of traditional potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) derive from stems (in fact it IS a stem but underground one, as I said) I study biotechnology and I am interested in biology of plants too. P.S. Moderator will kill us for that discussion. However I hope he or she will be big-hearted for a person (me) who is interested in both languages and biology  (in fact , I've started this discussion.


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## Oletta

In some varieties of Silesian dialect people tend to say *zimioki. *


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## Colei che...

Jana337 said:


> zemáky/zemňáky - the south of Moravia and maybe also elsewhere


The word " zemáky" is also used in the north of Moravia (Ostravsko).


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## Bruno 1234

Maybe it has nothing to do with this thread, but in Spanish sometimes you can here "kartófens" when (unpolitely or jokingly) people speak about Germans. Probably the expression cames from our immigants in Germany during the 70s  probably because this word (along with "kapút" that in Spain stands for "broken, rotten, in bankrupcy") are the only words our fellows learned there!

Is this "Kartoffel" used too in any Slavic country instead of "German"?

Thanks a lot.


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## Bruno 1234

Oh, sorry: what you do in Spain is "to hear", here or there.


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## LilianaB

It is bulve, bulves for potatoes in Lithuanian. It is similar in Belarusian, I think. In Polish it is ziemniaki, in Silesian, another Slavic dialect, it is kartofle. Some people in Silesia may say ziymnioki, not zimioki, but I think they would mostly say kartofle, especially in Upper Silesia. Kartofel pulver is potato flour, or starch.


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## Oletta

LilianaB said:


> In Polish it is ziemniaki, in Silesian, another Slavic dialect, it is kartofle. Some people in Silesia may say ziymnioki, not zimioki, but I think they would mostly say kartofle, especially in Upper Silesia. Kartofel pulver is potato flour, or starch.


 Yes, in the Upper Silesia we use both words for a patato, either '*ziemiok*', '*zimiok*', '*ziymniok*' - the pronunciation varies - (which means a plant that comes from the word soil '*ziemia',* in colloqual language 'ziemia' means 'gleba', = soil) or '*kartofel*' (German influence). It depends on the family or town/village traditions, there are regions in the Upper Silesia where people use more often 'zimioki' than 'kartofle' meaning 'potatoes'. The roots are historic. I haven't heard anyone saying 'kartofel pulwer', though. It's rather *můnka: zimioczano, zimioczanno *or *kartoflano*, *kartoflanno*.



slavian1 said:


> Hi everybody!
> I have learnend a new word used in this area for potatoes - which is "grule".
> In Polish there are two official names for potatoes: "ziemniaki" and "kartofle". In the western parts of Poland - next to Poznań - "pyry" are also used.



According to the Wikipedia resources in Poland there are more words for 'potatoes': 

barabola – dialekt południowokresowy (Lwów),
bulba – dialekt południowokresowy (Lwów),
kompera – język łemkowski,
kartofel (z niem. _Kartoffel_) – zwłaszcza etnolekt śląski, ale także w całym kraju,
pyra – gwara poznańska,
grula – gwara góralska (wschodnie Podhale),
bulwa – język kaszubski,
perka (dawniej) od Peru,
rzepa – Orawa, zachodnie Podhale,
swapka – Orawa.
I am curious if there are people here who have heard anyone sayng 'barabola', 'bulba', 'kompera', 'perka', 'rzepa' or 'swapka'.


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## LilianaB

Thank you Oletta. This has been very interesting.


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## marco_2

Oletta said:


> According to the Wikipedia resources in Poland there are more words for 'potatoes':
> 
> barabola – dialekt południowokresowy (Lwów),
> bulba – dialekt południowokresowy (Lwów),
> kompera – język łemkowski,
> kartofel (z niem. _Kartoffel_) – zwłaszcza etnolekt śląski, ale także w całym kraju,
> pyra – gwara poznańska,
> grula – gwara góralska (wschodnie Podhale),
> bulwa – język kaszubski,
> perka (dawniej) od Peru,
> rzepa – Orawa, zachodnie Podhale,
> swapka – Orawa.
> I am curious if there are people here who have heard anyone sayng 'barabola', 'bulba', 'kompera', 'perka', 'rzepa' or 'swapka'.



My paternal grandparents, who came from the Lvov region, used to say *kartofle *or, more seldom, *bulwy *(they used the word *bulwinie *for potatoes' leaves). *Barabolia *or *kartoplia *were used by the Ukrainians. In Ruthenian dialects the word *bandury / bandurky *was also used.
P.S. In "Zarys dialektologii polskiej" by Stanisław Urbańczyk I also found other words for "potatoes": _rzepa _(Podhale), _pantówki _(Krajna, Kujawy), _knule, kobzole, jabłka _(various regions of Silesia).


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## Dunav

> P.S. In "Zarys dialektologii polskiej" by Stanisław Urbańczyk I also found other words for "potatoes": _rzepa _(Podhale), _pantówki _(Krajna, Kujawy), _knule, kobzole, jabłka _(various regions of Silesia).



Doesn't "_rzepa_" come from *rjepa and thus from *rѣpa ? In Bulgaria, ряпа (rjapa - our reflex of *rѣpa) refers to this food plant: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raphanus

_"jabłka" _sounds like it comes from *jabъlka, which means 'apple' in the South slavic languages and probably comes from Proto-Slavic. 

Don't know about the rest.


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## marco_2

Dunav said:


> Doesn't "_rzepa_" come from *rjepa and thus from *rѣpa ? In Bulgaria, ряпа (rjapa - our reflex of *rѣpa) refers to this food plant: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raphanus
> 
> _"jabłka" _sounds like it comes from *jabъlka, which means 'apple' in the South slavic languages and probably comes from Proto-Slavic.
> .



Yes, when potatoes were introduced in Poland, peasants didn't know how to name them, so they used the names of the vegetables or fruit they had already known. In standard Polish _jabłka _are "apples" and _rzepa _means "a turnip".


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## swintok

In Ukrainian the standard word is картопля.  In Western Ukraine you'll also commonly hear бараболя or more rarely бульба.  The word бараболя is also the one most commonly used by Ukrainians in North America, since the language there derives from the Western Ukrainian dialects.

I've also seen the word ріпа as a dialectal form in dictionaries, but have never heard it used.


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## Selyd

In Ukrainian:
Usually -_Карто́пля, Карто́шка, Бу́льба, Барабо'ля
_Less often - _К__арто'фля, Карто́хля
_Local -_Ґру́ля, Земля́нка, Банду́ра, Земня́к, Рі́па, Барбо́ля_


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## Brainiac

Potato (Croatian, Bosnian)
Krumpir, krompir, krtola, kumpir, krumpijer, kalamper, podzemljica.

In Palačka: grumber (Grumbeer), grumbirn (Grumbirne)


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## Oletta

marco_2 said:


> P.S. In "Zarys dialektologii polskiej" by Stanisław Urbańczyk I also found other words for "potatoes": _rzepa _(Podhale), _pantówki _(Krajna, Kujawy), _knule, kobzole, jabłka _(various regions of Silesia).



Thank you marco, I found it interesting what you wrote. Your PS is also valuable. I think I have heard the name 'pantówki' for apples in an old fruit market in Tychy.  


Thank you LilianaB for your nice commentary.


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## A.O.T.

Selyd said:


> Local -_Ґру́ля, Земля́нка, Банду́ра, Земня́к, Рі́па_



А можна дізнатися, де саме ці слова вживаються в Україні? Ніколи ніде не чув, хоч й об'їздив всю Україну та постійно буваю у відрядженнях у різних куточках України. Can you tell me where these "local" words for patatoes are used in Ukraine? Or did you copied this info from a website or a dictionary?


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## francisgranada

Slovak:

 The standard word is *zemiak*.
Regional terms (in plural): bandurky, grule, kompere, krumple, kromple


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## francisgranada

Oletta said:


> I am curious if there are people here who have heard anyone sayng 'barabola', 'bulba', 'kompera', 'perka', 'rzepa' or 'swapka'.



I've heard _kompera _in East Slovakia


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## Oletta

francisgranada said:


> I've heard _kompera _in East Slovakia



Grazie! So it is quite probable to be still used also in the South East of Poland.


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## francisgranada

Oletta said:


> Grazie! So it is quite probable to be still used also in the South East of Poland.


Prego !  _Kompera _may be also related somehow to the Hungarian _krumpli.
_(parlando sulle patate comincio ad avere fame...)


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## TriglavNationalPark

Here is a scholarly article about the various words for "potato" in Slovenian (and neighboring Croatian dialects, but I'll limit myself to Slovenian in this post):

http://bos.zrc-sazu.si/c/Dial/Ponovne_SLA/01_PDF_prispevki/Skofic_2008a.pdf [in Slovenian; PDF format]

In addition to the standard Slovenian *krompir* (which derives from the German "Grundbirne", as we've established), the article also mentions the following terms:

Very early Slovenian words for "potato":

*posemelske jabuka* (a literal traslation of "Erdapfel")

*podsemlize*

Regional variations of *krompir*:

*krumpir 
**
krimpir
**
krampir*

*kompir

konoper

pern

krumpič

krumpiš

krumpel*

*krumpli*

Terms derived from *hruška* (= pear):

*hrušče*

*podzemeljske hruške/hrušče
*
Terms derived from *repa* (= turnip):

*repa*

*repica*

*laška repa*

*koroška repa*

*pemska repa
*
Other regional terms:

*bob* (= fava bean)

*čompe *(now commonly used for a specific potato dish from northwestern Slovenia)

*turka*

*kartufla*

Source: Škofic, Jožica. _Besede za krompir v slovenskih in sosednjih hrvaških narečjih_. http://bos.zrc-sazu.si/c/Dial/Ponovne_SLA/01_PDF_prispevki/Skofic_2008a.pdf


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## A.O.T.

francisgranada said:


> Slovak:.
> Regional terms (in plural): *krumple*, *kromple*



These two terms are also used by the ethnic Hungarians and Ukrainians in a Ukrainian region of Transcarpathia/Zakarpattya.


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## marco_2

A.O.T. said:


> А можна дізнатися, де саме ці слова вживаються в Україні? Ніколи ніде не чув, хоч й об'їздив всю Україну та постійно буваю у відрядженнях у різних куточках України. Can you tell me where these "local" words for patatoes are used in Ukraine? Or did you copied this info from a website or a dictionary?



As for бандуркы, it is used in Ruthenian (Lemko) newspapers in Poland. Слово "бандуркы" вживається в лемківських газетах, отже мабуть вони так кажуть.


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