Sweaters

[Mike Salovesh]

Grant Barrett wrote:

> Those are sweaters, as others have said.

That's certainly the case in this greybeard's household, generalized
midwestern U.S.  The first alternative that comes to mind is "cableknit"
in reference to the knitting design.  Sweatshirt?  No way!

> In French, I believe, they would be les pullovers, which I was
> told derives from the British English.

I'm grateful to all those who gave women's views of the word "jumper", a
word I recognize but mentally relegate to the sphere of women's clothing
mysteries.  "It's some kind of dress or apron or something, isn't it?"
used to be the limit of my normal usage.

One of my grad students (British, but a longtime resident of South
Africa) changed all that.  He asked what kind of garment I was wearing.
(I don't have a photograph handy to send along, so I'll describe it.
Its shape is that of what we would usually call a "coach's jacket" (or,
perhaps, an athlete's "letter jacket").  It has a zippered front, and
its waist and sleeve ends appear to be knit.  The body is made of
material woven on a backstrap loom in a pattern characteristic of a
specific Indian community in Guatemala.

"It's Guatemalan," I said, "Guatemalans call it a 'chumpa'."

"Oh," he said, "a jumper."

Since I never would have thought of that word in connection with either
a jacket or a sweater, I had to probe for more information.  That was
the first time I heard anyone use "jumper" as an alternative to
"sweater", but that usage made it obvious where my student's attribution
came from.

I had been curious about the word "chumpa" for some time. It sounded
strange in the setting of Guatemalan Spanish. My guess had been that
"chumpa" was a loan from some Guatemalan language of the Mayan family.
That's why I had never thought of asking monolingual Spanish speakers
where the word came from.

On my next trip to Guatemala City, I asked non-Indian Guatemalan friends
for the derivation of "chumpa", and they provided "British 'jumper'"
without prompting from me.  (I still have lingering doubts, since those
who provided that explanation were academicians who read English. Maybe
I'll chase down more information in situ on my next trip.)

> How about that hat! What would we call that? It's not quite a
> sock hat. Knitted cap? Something more specific?

They look like handmade takeoffs on a "watch cap" to me.

-- mike salovesh          <salovesh at niu.edu>                PEACE !!!