muruanha

Old Tupi

Etymology

Navarro derives it from meru (“fly”) +‎ ãî (“toothed”) +‎ -a,^[1] but the E>U change is unexplained. Possibly an alternative form *mberuanha existed, as seen in the Portuguese borrowing beruanha, but wasn't recorded.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [mu.ɾuˈã.ɲa]
Rhymes: -ãɲa
Hyphenation: mu‧ru‧a‧nha

Noun

muruanha (?)

(hapax, Late Tupi) stable fly (Stomoxys calcitrans)

Descendants

→ Brazilian Portuguese: beruanha, meruanha, muruanha

References

^ Eduardo de Almeida Navarro (2013) “muruanha”, in Dicionário de tupi antigo: a língua indígena clássica do Brasil [Dictionary of Old Tupi: The Classical Indigenous Language of Brazil] (overall work in Portuguese), São Paulo: Global, →ISBN, page 319, column 2

Gabriel Soares de Sousa (1587) chapter XCCI, 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 241: “muruanja [muruanha]”
Nelson Papavero, Dante Martins Teixeira (2014) Zoonímia tupi nos escritos quinhentistas europeus [Tupian zoonymy in 16th century European writings] (Arquivos NEHiLP; 3) (in Portuguese), São Paulo: FFLCH-USP, →DOI, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 293

[1] Eduardo de Almeida Navarro (2013) “muruanha”, in Dicionário de tupi antigo: a língua indígena clássica do Brasil [Dictionary of Old Tupi: The Classical Indigenous Language of Brazil] (overall work in Portuguese), São Paulo: Global, →ISBN, page 319, column 2

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