eŷmbaba

Old Tupi

Alternative forms

• eîmbaba

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Tupi-Guarani *eɨmaβ.

Cognate with Mbyá Guaraní ymba.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɛɨ̯ˈᵐba.β̞a]
• Rhymes: -aβa
• Hyphenation: eŷ‧mba‧ba

Noun

eŷmbaba (IIa class pluriform, absolute teŷmbaba, R1 reŷmbaba, R2 seŷmbaba) (possessable)

1. livestock

   Synonym: mimbaba

   • 1622, anonymous author, “Restituir o mesmo q. se tomou in specie tm. como hũa galinha por outra, etc.”, in Vocabulario na lingoa Braſilica, volume 2 (overall work in Old Tupi and Portuguese), Piratininga, page 103; republished as Carlos Drummond, editor, Vocabulário na Língua Brasílica, 2nd edition, São Paulo: USP, 1953:

     Ceigmbaba reco biaramo amo aimeeng yxupe.

     [Seŷmbaba rekobîaramo amõ aîme'eng i xupé.]

     In exchange for their livestock, I gave them another one.

2. pet (animal kept as a companion)

   Synonym: mimbaba

   eŷmbaba îagûara

   dog

   (literally, “pet jaguar”)

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.

Derived terms

• eŷmbab
• eŷmbaba îagûara

 

Descendants

• Nheengatu: imbawa
• → Brazilian Portuguese: xerimbabo

References

• Eduardo de Almeida Navarro (2013) “eŷmbaba”, 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 91, column 1