Ye'kwana

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Variant orthographies
ALIV öökatonka
Brazilian standard ääkatonka
New Tribes ääcatonca

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From öt- (intransitivizer) +‎ ökatomjö (ghost, ex-spirit) +‎ -ka (privative verbalizer), thus literally ‘to have one’s ghost taken away’. Compare Kari'na otàkaryka (to suffer, be tortured, get scared), with a similar but slightly different construction.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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öökatonka (intransitive, agentive)

  1. to get scared
  2. to hurry up and do something, to make haste

References

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  • Costa, Isabella Coutinho, Silva, Marcelo Costa da, Rodrigues, Edmilson Magalhães (2021) “ääkatonkwakä”, in Portal Japiim: Dicionário Ye'kwana[1], Museu do Índio/FUNAI