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🌏 Region(s): Ryukyu (Kunigami: Sesoko, Okinawa, Iriomote, Yaeyama)

まやー・まやあ【猫】

mayaa

Pronunciation: [majaː]

Definition

Noun

  1. Cat (Felidae); Iriomote cat; Maya cat; wildcat; domestic cat
    1. やままやー【山
      yama mayaa
      "Mountain cat" (esp. Iriomote cat)
    2. ぴんぎーまやー
      pingii mayaa
      "Small cat" (esp. Iriomote cat)
    3. がちまやー
      gachi mayaa
      "a greedy person" (lit. "greedy cat")
    4. まやーぬどぅくゎたる
      mayaa-nu-du kwataru
      "It was the cat that ate"

Etymology

Attested as early as in the Konkoukenshuu (混効験集, 1711), "Words of the Royal Palace", under the spelling まや maya (p. 11). Cognate to Amami まや maya and まやー mayaa; Miyako まよ mayo and まゆ mayu; Yaeyama まゆ mayu; and Yonaguni まーゆ maayu "cat". Possibly of onomatopoeic origin. Cf. みゃーみゃー myaamyaa or みゃうみゃう myaumyau "meow"; via Chinese 【貓・猫】 "cat" (cf. Cantonese maau1, mao1 and mao2; Mandarin māo; Min Nan niau; Siyan Hakka meu5; Hailu Hakka ngiau5; Vietnamese miêu, mèo; Korean myo; Japanese on-reading myou and byou).

Notes

Variants:

まゆー mayuu "cat" (uncommon; considered refined language)
まーゆー maayuu or まーうー maauu "cat; kitty" (considered baby talk)

意味:ねこ【猫】、イリオモテヤマネコ【西表山猫】

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