pirãîagûara

Old Tupi

Etymology

According to Navarro, from pirãîa (“piranha”) +‎ gûara (“eater”),^[1] although the presence of the medial ⟨a⟩ in the final compound is highly irregular: a proper formation would be *pirãîgûara. One contemporary source actually interprets it as pirá (“fish”) +‎ îagûara (“jaguar”),^[2] which could be proven right by Nheengatu having pirayawara, and not *piranhawara.

Noun

pirãîagûara (unpossessable) (North Tupi)

a freshwater dolphin. Further details are uncertain. Possibilities include:
Coordinate terms: aîká, pukusĩ
1. Amazon river dolphin (Inia geoffrensis)
2. tucuxi (Sotalia fluviatilis)

Descendants

Nheengatu: pirayawara
- → Brazilian Portuguese: pirajaguara
- → Tucano: piraiauára

References

^ Eduardo de Almeida Navarro (2013) “pirãîagûara”, 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 385, column 1
^ João de Arronches (1739) “BÔTO, peixe”, in Caderno da Lingua (overall work in Portuguese); republished as “O caderno da lingua ou Vocabulario Portuguez-Tupi”, in Plínio Ayrosa, editor, Revista do Museu Paulista, volume XXI, São Paulo: Imprensa Official do Estado, 1934, page 132: “pirá jaguára”

Christovão de Lisboa (c. 1631) Historia dos animaes e arvores do Maranhão [History of Maranhão's animals and trees]‎^[1] (overall work in Portuguese), Lisbon, page 175: “Pyraiaguara”

[1] Eduardo de Almeida Navarro (2013) “pirãîagûara”, 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 385, column 1

[2] João de Arronches (1739) “BÔTO, peixe”, in Caderno da Lingua (overall work in Portuguese); republished as “O caderno da lingua ou Vocabulario Portuguez-Tupi”, in Plínio Ayrosa, editor, Revista do Museu Paulista, volume XXI, São Paulo: Imprensa Official do Estado, 1934, page 132: “pirá jaguára”

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