kapi'iûara

Old Tupi

Alternative forms

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Tupi-Guarani *kapiʔiβar. By surface analysis, kapi'i (grass) +‎ gûara (eater).[1]

Cognate with Mbyá Guaraní kapi'yva.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ka.pi.ʔiˈwa.ɾa]
  • Rhymes: -aɾa
  • Hyphenation: ka‧pi‧'i‧ûa‧ra

Noun

kapi'iûara (unpossessable)

  1. capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris)
    • [1587, Gabriel Soares de Sousa, chapter CI, 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 230:
      Nos rios de agua doce e nas lagôas tambem se criam muitos porcos, a que os indios chamam capibaras, que não são tamanhos como os porcos do mato [] não tem na boca mais que dous dentes grandes [] comem herva ao longo da agua, donde sahem em terra []
      In the freshwater rivers and lagoons live many pigs, that the Indians call “kapibara”, which aren't as big as the wild pigs [] they have no more than two big teeth in their mouth [] they eat weed along the water, where they go on land [] ]
    • [1648, Georg Marcgrave, Willem Piso, Historia Naturalis Brasiliae [Brazilian Natural History], Rerum Naturalium Historiae, book VI, chapter VII (in Latin), Amsterdam: Elzevir, page 230:
      Capybara Braſilienſibus, Porcus eſt fluviatilis []
      Kapibara” from Brazil, river-pig.]

Descendants

  • Nheengatu: kapiwara
  • Portuguese: capivara
  • Spanish: capibara

References

  1. ^ Eduardo de Almeida Navarro (2013) “kapibara”, 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 217, column 2
  • Joseph of Anchieta (1560) [Ao Padre Geral, de São Vicente] (overall work in Portuguese); republished as chapter X, in Júlio Afrânio Peixoto, compiler, Cartas, informações, fragmentos historicos e sermões [Letters, information, historical fragments and sermons] (Cartas jesuiticas; 3), Rio de Janeiro: Civilização Brasileira, 1933, page 122:capiyûára [kapi'iûara]

Further reading

  • Nelson Papavero, Dante Martins Teixeira (2014) Zoonímia tupi nos escritos quinhentistas europeus [Tupi zoonymy in the 16th-century European writings] (Arquivos NEHiLP; 3) (in Portuguese), São Paulo: FFLCH-USP, →DOI, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 254