Reconstruction:Proto-Uto-Aztecan/aya

This Proto-Uto-Aztecan entry contains reconstructed words and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Uto-Aztecan

Noun

*aya

tortoise, turtle
rattle (instrument)

Descendants

*aya (unmarked)

Hopi: aaya (“gourd rattle”)
⇒ Classical Nahuatl: āyacachtli (“rattle”)
⇒ Mayo: áyacame (“rattlesnake”)

*aya-ta (absolutive)

Cahuilla: 'ayill (“tortoise”)
Cupeño: ayily (“tortoise; tortoiseshell rattle (when possessed)”)

*aya-wït (augmentative)

Huichol: ꞌayé (“tortoise”)

*aya-wït-ta (augmentative and absolutive)

Nahuan: *aayootl (“tortoise”)
- Classical Nahuatl: āyōtl
- Tetelcingo Nahuatl: öyutl
- ⇒ Mecayapan Nahuatl: a̱yo̱tzi̱n
- ⇒ Pipil: āyūtzin

References

Miller, Wick R. (1967) Uto-Aztecan Cognate Sets (University of California Publications in Linguistics; 48), Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, page 51: “341 rattle *ʔay.”