-gûasu

• -ûasu
• -usu (with paroxitones)

Inherited from Proto-Tupi-Guarani *-wat͡ʃu, from Proto-Tupian *-at͡ʃu.

Cognate with Mbyá Guaraní guaxu and Guaraní guasu.

• IPA^(key): [ɡʷaˈsu]
• Rhymes: -u
• Hyphenation: -gûa‧su

-gûasu

1. forms the augmentative of nouns

   ‎paranã (“sea”) + ‎-gûasu → ‎paranãgûasu (“ocean”, literally “big sea”)

   • 1555, Joseph of Anchieta, chapter V, in Arte de grammatica da lingoa mais vſada na coſta do Braſil (overall work in Portuguese), Coimbra: Antonio de Mariz, published 1595, page 13:

     […] pirâgoaçû […]

     [ […] piragûasu […] ]

     Big fish.

   • 1618, Antônio de Araújo, “Do que paſsou deſpois, &c.” (chapter XI), in Cateciſmo na Lingoa Braſilica [Catechism in the Brazilian Language], Livro Terceiro do Cathecismo, e summa da Doctrina Christam [… ] (overall work in Old Tupi, Portuguese, and Latin), Lisbon: Pedro Crasbeeck, page 64v:

     Oçoquendab aêcaramemoã itá / goaçupepè.

     [Osokendab a'e karamemûã itagûasu pupé.]

     They sealed that tomb with a big stone.

2. much; many
   • 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 142, lines 698–702; republished as Maria de Lourdes de Paula Martins, compiler, Poesias, São Paulo, 1956, page 718:

     Ycaõygoaçu pipo / xeramũya jaguaruna? / eneĩ taçobeipo, / eri, auyete paco / ayeguac uinhemouna

     [I kaûĩgûasupipó / xe ramũîa Îagûaruna? / Ene'ĩ! T'asabeypó! / Erĩ! Aûîeté pakó, / aîegûak ûinhemoúna...]

     By the way, does my grandpa Jaguaruna have much cauim? Come on! I'm gonna get drunk! Wait! Actually, I must adorn myself with black paint...

3. very; a lot
   • 1622, anonymous author, Vocabulario na lingoa Braſilica, volume 2 (overall work in Old Tupi and Portuguese), Piratininga, page 108; republished as Carlos Drummond, editor, Vocabulário na Língua Brasílica, 2nd edition, São Paulo: USP, 1953:

     Xequerambuguaçû

     [Xe kerambugûasu]

     I snore a lot.

• -ûasu/-gûasu was the form used after a word ending in a stressed vowel; otherwise it would be -usu.

• Nheengatu: -wasú
• → Portuguese: -açu, -guaçu

• Eduardo de Almeida Navarro (1998) Método Moderno de Tupi Antigo: a língua do Brasil dos primeiros séculos [Modern method of Old Tupi: the language of Brazil's early centuries]‎^[1] (in Portuguese), 3 edition, São Paulo: Global Editora, published 2005, →ISBN, pages 125–126, 382–383
• Eduardo de Almeida Navarro (2013) “-ûasu”, 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, pages 492–493