py'a

Guaraní

Noun

py'a

1. belly, guts
2. stomach or heart, entrails
3. consciousness

Mbyá Guaraní

Noun

py'a

1. stomach, liver
2. heart, especially as a source of emotions
3. entrails

Possessed forms

    Possessed forms of py'a

singular			plural
1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person inclusive	1st person exclusive	2nd person	3rd person
xepy'a	ndepy'a	ipy'a	nhandepy'a	orepy'a	pendepy'a	ipy'a

Old Tupi

FWOTD – 28 May 2014, 19 July 2024

Alternative forms

Historical spellings
Anchieta (1555)	pia / pig-a
Léry (1578)	puyac
VLB (1624)	pia

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Tupi-Guarani *pɨʔa (“liver”), from Proto-Tupian *pɨʔa (“liver”).

Cognate with Guaraní py'a.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [pɨˈʔa]
• Rhymes: -a
• Hyphenation: py‧'a

Noun

py'a (possessable, Ib class pluriform, absolute my'a)

1. liver
   • c. 1583, Joseph of Anchieta, “Na feſta de .ſ. L^ço [At the Saint Lawrence Festival]” (chapter XLIV), in [livrinho de variaſ poeziaſ] [Booklet of various poems], Niterói, page 76v, lines 739–743; republished as Maria de Lourdes de Paula Martins, compiler, Poesias, São Paulo, 1956, page 144:

     ſar. […] Yia muru, ipiapuera / xepotabamo toico.
     Aimb. xe cori ipia çoo.
     ſara. tou yande roipiroera / çeçe pabê tiaixoo.

     [Sar[aûaîa]: […] Iîa muru, I py'apûera / xe potabamo t'oîkó.
     Aîmb[iré]: Xe kori i pyîaso'o.
     Sara[ûaîa]: T'o'u îandé roŷpyrûera / sesé pabẽ t'îaîxo'o.]

     Sarauaia: Serves them right! Their severed livers are gonna be my portion.
     Aîmbiré: Today I want their loin.
     Sarauaia: The one's that stayed at our houses shall eat them. We should invite everyone because of them.

2. stomach

   Synonym: ygegûasu

   • 1578, Jean de Léry, chapter XX, in Histoire d'un voyage fait en la terre du Bresil, autrement dite Amerique [History of a voyage to the land of Brazil, also called America] (overall work in Middle French and Old Tupi), La Rochelle: Antoine Chuppin, page 365:

     Ché-puyac.

     [Xe py'a.]

     My stomach.

3. (figuratively) heart (source of one's feelings and emotions)
   • 1622, anonymous author, Vocabulario na lingoa Braſilica, volume 1 (overall work in Old Tupi and Portuguese), Piratininga, page 36; republished as Carlos Drummond, editor, Vocabulário na Língua Brasílica, 2nd edition, São Paulo: USP, 1953:

     Xepiaecotebẽ.

     [Xe py'aekotebẽ.]

     I have an anguished heart.

5. (figuratively) mind; brains (source of one's thoughts and awareness)
6. (figuratively) core; bowels (deepest or innermost part)
   • 16th century, Joseph of Anchieta, chapter L, in [livrinho de variaſ poeziaſ] [Booklet of various poems], page 97, column 2, lines 27–31; republished as Maria de Lourdes de Paula Martins, compiler, Poesias, São Paulo, 1956, page 184:

     Acoeime aicotebẽ / Xerecopochipuruabo / taiticpac coty ypeabo / xenhiãme tereique / Xepig-a moingatuabo.

     [Akûeîme aîkotebẽ / Xe rekopoxy purûabo / t'aîtyk pá koty i pe'abo / xe nhy'ãme t'ereîké / Xe py'a moingatûabo.]

     In the past, I was anguished, commiting wrongdoings. May I throw away all traps, repelling them. May you enter in my heart, protecting my core.

Usage notes

• Tupians and other South American indigenous cultures considered the liver to be the center of emotions, much like how European cultures see the heart, which led to various translation errors and misunderstandings that were inherited by Old Tupi descendants. Heart as an organ was called nhy'ã.

Related terms

• py'aká
• py'anhemongetá
• py'arĩ
• py'aûpîara
• xe py'ape
• xe py'ape nhote
• xe py'apekatu

Descendants

• Nheengatu: piá

References

• Eduardo de Almeida Navarro (2013) “py'a”, 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 414, column 1