dragonfly

[Jonathan Amith]

In Ameyaltepec, Guerrero, it is a:yoyontsi:n.  This is derived from the
root a:, water, and the verb yoma, which is the motion made by a woman as
she is grinding nixtamal on a metate, sort of a concave swooping motion.
The same motion is used to describe that of a man engaging in missionary
position sex and is used in a riddle of doble sentido.

In Oapan the term aabio:ntsi:n is used (lit. 'little toy airplane').
Although this is descriptive it might come from a folk interpretation of
a:yoyontsi:n as the words sound similar.

I have also heard the two terms used to refer to Megaloptera adults.

These might well be local terms. The term meaning "water copulator" (cf.
a:yoyontsi:n) is found in Nuaulu (Roy Ellen, Nuaulu Ethnozoology:
A Systematic Inventory, p. 146-7). In Navajo it is a term meaning "which is
spread out on water" o "which projects over the water". (L. Wyman and F.
Bailey, Navajo Indian Ethnoentomology, pp. 52-53. Here the term also
includes ant-lions (i.e., adults).


On Mon, Jun 2, 2014 at 7:51 AM, Michael McCafferty <mmccaffe at indiana.edu>
wrote:

> Can someone send me the term(s) for 'dragonfly'?
>
> tlaxtlahui
>
> Michael
>
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