marakaîá

Old Tupi

marakaîá (Leopardus tigrinus)

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. any small spotted cat in the genus Leopardus

   Synonym: marakaîaeté

2. (Late Tupi) domestic cat (Felis catus)

   Synonym: marakaîamimbaba

3. Maracajá, indigenous people

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 eîmbaba／mimbaba (“domestic animal”) as a form to differentiate the old and new species, respectively.

Derived terms

• marakaîaeté
• Marakaîagûasu
• marakaîamimbaba
• marakaîamirĩ

 

Descendants

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

Further reading

• Eduardo de Almeida Navarro (2013) “marakaîá”, in Dicionário de tupi antigo: a língua indígena clássica do Brasil (in Portuguese), 1 edition, São Paulo: Global, →ISBN, page 261, column 2