ʻuhila

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Tongan

[edit]

Etymology

[edit]

From Proto-Polynesian *quhila (compare with Hawaiian uila, Maori uira, Tahitian uira and Samoan uila), from Proto-Oceanic *qusila (compare with Fijian cila (“to shine”)), from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *silaq (“outpouring or beam of light”)[1] related to Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qusilak (“lightning”).[2] Compare with Maori uira and hiko, Hawaiian uila plus Tahitian uira for semantic extension into "electricity".

Noun

[edit]

ʻuhila

  1. lightning
  2. electricity

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Ross Clark and Simon J. Greenhill, editors (2011), “quhila”, in POLLEX-Online: The Polynesian Lexicon Project Online
  2. ^ Ross, Malcolm D., Pawley, Andrew, Osmond, Meredith (2008) The lexicon of Proto-Oceanic, volume 3: The Physical Environment, Canberra: Australian National University, →ISBN, page 149
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=ʻuhila&oldid=78699508"