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marakaîá

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Old Tupi

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marakaîá (Leopardus tigrinus)

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Inherited from Proto-Tupi-Guarani *marakaja.

Cognate with Guaraní mbarakaja.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): [ma.ɾa.kaˈja]
  • Rhymes: -a
  • Hyphenation: ma‧ra‧ka‧îá

Noun

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marakaîá (unpossessable)

  1. small spotted cat of the genus Leopardus.[1][2][3][4] Further details are uncertain. Possibilities include:
    Synonym: marakaîaeté
    1. margay (Leopardus wiedii)
    2. ocelot (Leopardus pardalis)
      Synonyms: marakaîagûasu, *îagûatyryka
    3. oncilla (Leopardus tigrinus)
  2. (Late Tupi) domestic cat (Felis catus)[3]
    Synonyms: marakaîamimbaba, bixana
  3. (now historical) Maracajá, an indigenous people enemy to the Tupinambá[5]

Usage notes

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  • With the advent of colonization, Tupians used the names of similar native animals to call the unknown species brought by the Europeans. Neologisms were then created by using eté (true) and eŷmbaba / mimbaba (domestic animal) as a form to differentiate the old and new species, respectively.

Coordinate terms

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Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • Nheengatu: marakayá
  • Portuguese: maracajá, gato-maracajá

References

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  1. ^ Gabriel Soares de Sousa (1587) chapter XCVIII, in Noticia do Brasil (overall work in Portuguese), Salvador; republished as Francisco Adolpho de Varnhagen, editor, Tratado descriptivo do Brazil em 1587, Rio de Janeiro: Laemmert, 1851, page 247:Maracajás [Marakaîá]
  2. ^ Claude d'Abbeville (1614) chapter XLI, 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 251v:Margaia [Mar[a]kaîá]
  3. 3.0 3.1 anonymous author (1622) “Gato”, 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 147:Maracaya [Marakaîá]
  4. ^ Georg Marcgrave, Willem Piso (1648) Historia Naturalis Brasiliae [Brazilian Natural History], Rerum Naturalium Historiae, book VI, chapter IX (overall work in Latin), Amsterdam: Elzevir, page 233:Maracaia
  5. ^ Hans Staden (1557) chapter XXVIII, in Warhaftige [Hiſtoria und] beſchꝛeibung eyner Landtſchafft der wilden nacketen/grimmigen menſchfreſſer leuthen/in der newenwelt America gelegen [True history and description of a land of wild, naked, fierce man-eating people located in the New World of America], volume 1 (overall work in German), Marburg: Andreas Kolbe, unnumbered page:Markayas [Marakaîá]