yöngö
Hopi
Etymology
From Proto-Uto-Aztecan *yuŋa (“cactus fruit”),[1] with the regular Proto-Uto-Aztecan vowel assimilation *u-a > *o-a, followed by the Hopi shift *o > ö.[2]
The semantic shift from ‘cactus fruit’ to the plant itself appears to be unique to Hopi; other cognates retain reference to the fruit.
Cognates include Ute yuʼávimpï, yuʼá-vi (“opuntia”), Huichol yɨna (“cactus fruit”) and O'odham juñ (“dried saguaro fruit”).
Noun
yöngö
- prickly pear, specifically plains pricklypear (Opuntia polyacantha)
- Synonym: yöngötski
- (originally) fruit of this cactus
- (generally, by extension) any type of cactus
Usage notes
This term specifically especially refers to prickly pear cacti that grow in the Hopi region, i.e. the plains pricklypear (Opuntia polyacantha).
Related terms
- naavu (“nopal (cultivated Mexican-style prickly pear)”)
References
- ^ Stubbs, Brian D. (2020) [2011], “354. *yuŋa 'cactus fruit’”, in Uto-Aztecan: A comparative vocabulary[1], revised online edition, Flower Mound, Texas: Shumway Family History Services, page 104
- ^ Stubbs, Brian D. (2020) [2011], “2.15.3.1 The Partial Anticipatory Assimilation *u-a > o-a”, in Uto-Aztecan: A comparative vocabulary[2], revised online edition, Flower Mound, Texas: Shumway Family History Services, page 37
- Hopi Dictionary Project, The (1998), Hopi Dictionary: Hopìikwa Lavàytutuveni: A Hopi Dictionary of the Third Mesa Dialect with an English-Hopi Finder List and a Sketch of Hopi Grammar, Tucson: The University of Arizona Press, page 788