koyaanisqatsi

Hopi

Etymology

From koyaanis- (“corrupted”, bound form) +‎ qatsi (“life”, noun)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /koˈjaːnisˈqat͡si/
• Hyphenation: ko‧yaa‧nis‧qa‧tsi

Noun

koyaanisqatsi

1. corrupted, morally decayed lifestyle (of a community)

Further reading

• A Concise Hopi and English Lexicon (→ISBN, 1985), page 30: "koyaanis- corrupted (re social life of a group); koyaanisqatsi corrupted life (re group)"
• Ekkehart Malotki, Michael Lomatuway'ma, Lorena Lomatuway'ma, Hopi Tales of Destruction (→ISBN, 2002), page 36 (uses this to describe the state of a village where inhabitants became obsessed with games and sex and kwangwa'ewqatsi, "life of pleasure", and neglected their duties; contrast suyanisqatsi, "life of harmony and balance")