'o꞉ṣaḍ

See also: osad

O'odham

Alternative forms

  • ohshad (Saxton)
  • o꞉ṣaḍ (common omission of initial pre-vocalic glottal stop in writing)

Etymology

From Proto-Tepiman, from Proto-Uto-Aztecan *osïLo (“large cat”), with regular sound change of Uto-Aztecan *-L- > Tepiman *-r- > O'odham -ḍ- intervocalically.[1]

However, folk etymology analyses this as 'o꞉ (“back”) +‎ -ṣaḍ (“to rub, to scratch”), literally “to rub the back”,[2] likely due to jaguars’ distinctive spotted pattern appearing as if from scratching and their behaviour of rubbing their backs against trees for scent marking.

Cognate with Classical Nahuatl ōcēlōtl, Pipil uselut and Yaqui óusei.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ʔoːʂaɖ/

Noun

'o꞉ṣaḍ (plural 'o'oṣaḍ, distributive 'ooṣaḍ)

  1. jaguar (Panthera onca)
  2. puma, cougar, mountain lion (Puma concolor)
  3. (by extension) tiger (Panthera tigris)

References

  1. ^ Stubbs, Brian D. (2020) [2011], “1351. *osïLo ‘large cat’”, in Uto-Aztecan: A comparative vocabulary‎[1], revised online edition, Flower Mound, Texas: Shumway Family History Services, page 237
  2. ^ Saxton, Dean; Saxton, Lucille; Enos, Susie (1983), “oh”, in Dictionary: Tohono Oʼodham/Pima to English, English to Tohono Oʼodham/Pima, 2nd edition, Tucson: The University of Arizona Press, published 1998, →ISBN, page 47
  • Mathiot, Madeleine (2013), Tohono 'O'odham–English Dictionary‎[2], volume II, archived from the original on 22 November 2019, page 530
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