py'a

Guaraní

Noun

py'a

1. belly, guts
2. stomach or heart, entrails
3. consciousness

Mbyá Guaraní

Noun

py'a

1. stomach, liver
2. heart, especially as a source of emotions
3. entrails

Possessed forms

    Possessed forms of py'a

singular			plural
1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person inclusive	1st person exclusive	2nd person	3rd person
xepy'a	ndepy'a	ipy'a	nhandepy'a	orepy'a	pendepy'a	ipy'a

Old Tupi

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Tupi-Guarani *pyʔa, *mbyʔa (“liver”), from Proto-Tupian *py(-)ʔa, *mby(-)ʔa (“liver”).

Cognate with Guaraní py'a, Sateré-Mawé pyʔa, myʔa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɨˈʔa/
• Rhymes: -a
• Hyphenation: py‧'a

Noun

py'a (absolute my'a) (possessable)

1. liver
2. stomach

   Synonym: ygegûasu

3. (broadly) bowels; entrails (the internal organs)

   Synonyms: nhy'ã, ybỹîa

4. (figuratively) heart (source of one's feelings and emotions)
5. (figuratively) mind; brains (source of one's thoughts and awareness)
6. (figuratively) bowels (deepest or innermost part)

Usage notes

Tupians and other South American indigenous cultures considered the liver to be the center of emotions, much like how European cultures see the heart, which led to various translation errors and misunderstandings that were inherited by Old Tupi descendants. Heart as an organ was called nhy'ã.

Related terms

• py'aká
• py'anhemongetá
• py'arĩ
• py'aûpîara
• xe py'ape
• xe py'ape nhote
• xe py'apekatu

 

Descendants

• Nheengatu: piá

Further reading

• Eduardo de Almeida Navarro (2013) “py'a”, in Dicionário de tupi antigo: a língua indígena clássica do Brasil (in Portuguese), 1 edition, São Paulo: Global, →ISBN, page 414, column 1