marakaîá

Old Tupi

FWOTD – 9 February 2015

Alternative forms

Historical spellings 
d'Abbeville (1614) margaia
VLB (1622) maracaya
Marcgrave (1648) maracaia

Etymology

    Inherited from Proto-Tupi-Guarani *marakaja. Cognate with Guaraní mbarakaja.

    Pronunciation

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

    Noun

    marakaîá (unpossessable)

    1. Small spotted cat of the genus Leopardus.[1] Further details are uncertain. Possibilities include:
      Synonym: marakaîaeté
      • [1587, Gabriel Soares de Sousa, chapter XCVIII, in Notícia do Brasil (in Portuguese), Salvador; republished as Francisco Adolpho de Varnhagen, editor, Tratado descriptivo do Brazil em 1587, 2nd edition, Rio de Janeiro: João Ignancio da Silva, 1879, page 227:
        Maracajás são uns gatos bravos tamanhos como cabritos de seis mezes; são muito gordos, e na feição pontualmente como os outros gatos, mas pintados de amarello e preto em raias, cousa muito formosa; e são felpudos, mas tem o cabo muito macio, e as unhas grandes e muito agudas; parem muitos filhos, e mantem-se das aves que tomam pelas arvores, por onde andam como bogios. Os que se tomam pequenos fazem-se em casa muito domesticos, mas não lhe escapa gallinha nem papagaio, que não matem.
        (please add an English translation of this quotation)]
      • [1614, Claude d'Abbeville, 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] (in French), Paris: Imprimerie de François Huby, page 251v:
        Il y a d'autres animaux qui ſont eſpeces de Chats ſauuages que les Indiens appellent Margaia qui ont pareillement la peau fort belle eſtant tauelez de toutes parts.
        (please add an English translation of this quotation)]
      • [1648, Georg Marcgrave, Willem Piso, Historia Naturalis Brasiliae [Brazilian Natural History], Rerum Naturalium Historiae, book VI, chapter IX (in Latin), Amsterdam: Elzevir, page 233:
        Maragvao ſive Maracaia Braſilienſibus, eſt felis ſilveſtris, cujus hîc multi reperiuntur, & variorum colorum […]
        (please add an English translation of this quotation)]
      1. margay (Leopardus wiedii)
      2. ocelot (Leopardus pardalis)
        Synonyms: marakaîagûasu, *îagûatyryka
      3. oncilla (Leopardus tigrinus)
    2. (Late Tupi) domestic cat (Felis catus)[1]
      Synonyms: marakaîamimbaba, bixana
    3. (now historical) Maracajá, an indigenous people enemy to the Tupinambá[2]

    Usage notes

    • 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

    felidsedit

    Derived terms

    Descendants

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

    References

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 anonymous author (1622) “Gato [Cat]”, 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]”
    2. ^ Hans Staden (1557) chapter XXVIII, in Warhaftige Hiſtoria [True History], volume 1 (overall work in German), Marburg: Andreas Kolbe, unnumbered page: “Markayas [Marakaîá]”

    Further reading

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