Yam (vegetable) Yam (vegetable) Yam is the common name for some plant species in the genus "Dioscorea" (family Dioscoreaceae) that form edible tubers. Yams are perennial herbaceous vines cultivated for the consumption of their starchy tubers in many temperate and tropical world regions. The tubers themselves are also called "yams", having numerous cultivars and related species. In parts of the United States and Canada, "yam" is sometimes used to refer to varieties of the unrelated sweet potato ("Ipomoea batatas"). The name, yam, appears to derive from Portuguese "inhame" or Canarian (Spain) "ñame", which derived from West African languages during trade. The main
Varieties of Chinese dialect of northern Fujian is a minimal example. With the exception of , which is often merged with the zero initial, the initials of this dialect are present in all Chinese varieties, although several varieties do not distinguish from . However, most varieties have additional initials, due to a combination of innovations and retention of distinctions from Middle Chinese: Chinese finals may be analysed as an optional medial glide, a main vowel and an optional coda. Conservative vowel systems, such as those of Gan dialects, have high vowels , and , which also function as medials, mid vowels and ,