Reconstruction:Old Tupi/gûaîay

This Old Tupi entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Old Tupi

Alternative forms

*ûaîay

Etymology

Cognate with Guajajára wazay.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [wa.jaˈɨ], [wa.ʒaˈɨ]
Rhymes: -ɨ
Hyphenation: gûa‧îa‧y

Noun

*gûaîay (possessable)

feather adornments, headdresses, feathered ornaments worn on the head

Reconstruction notes

The fact that *gûaîay is recorded in a transitive verb justifies its classification as a possessable noun, as it presupposes constructions like *abá gûaîay aîmoîar (abá aîgûaîaymoîar). The anthroponym recorded by Claude d'Abbeville, although it seems to contain *ûaîay (Ouäyäeu) – especially given the author's translation, "plumache plumé" – likely has a second element that is difficult to interpret.

Derived terms

References

anonymous author (1622) “Empenar a cabeça enfeitando”, in Vocabulario na lingoa Braſilica (overall work in Portuguese), Piratininga; republished as Carlos Drummond, editor, Vocabulário na Língua Brasílica, 2nd edition, volume 1, São Paulo: USP, 1953, page 112: “Aigoaiaigmojar [Aîgûaîaymoîar]”
Claude d'Abbeville (1614) chapter LVIII, in Hiſtoire de la Miſsion des Peres Capucins en L’Iſle de Maragnan et terres circonuoiſines [History of the Mission of the Capuchin Fathers in the Island of Maranhão and surrounding lands] (overall work in French), Paris: Imprimerie de François Huby, page 364: “Ouäyäeuro”