[Lexicog] bat

[David Tuggy]

In Nahuatl the name is tzohnaka or tzinaka. Many speakers correlate the 
final naka with naka(tl) 'flesh, meat' (which may be etymologically 
wrong), but do not know what tzoh or tzi is. tzoh may be cognate with 
some stems meaning "rotten, disgusting": (e.g. tzoh-yo-k 
disgusting-vblzr-adj 'stinky, rotten smelling', tzoh-pil-o-tl 
(disgusting?-hang?-pass-abs) is 'zopilote, vulture').

--David Tuggy

Fritz Goerling wrote:

> How this differs from the positive connotations of "bat" in Chinese:
>  
> The Chinese have conferred a number of laudatory
>
>  names on this mouse-like mammal, such as 'embracing wings, heavenly
>
>  rat, fairy rat, night swallow,' and use it as a symbol of happiness
>
>  and long life because its name 'fu' in Chinese happens to be a
>
>  homonym which means both 'bat' and 'prosperity.' (see the original
>
> quote from Noah Jacobs' book)
>
>  
>
> Fritz Goerling
>
>  
>
>     In most dialects of Carrier "bat" is -t'az (variously with or
>     without the prefix 'u), but in the Lheidli dialect, spoken
>     around Prince George, this has been replaced by the
>     innovation liyab dut'ai "devil bird", where dut'ai is
>     "bird" (etymologically, "winged one") and liyab is
>     from French "le diable".
>
>     --
>     Bill Poser, Linguistics, University of Pennsylvania
>     http://www.ling.upenn.edu/~wjposer/
>     <http://www.ling.upenn.edu/%7Ewjposer/> billposer at alum.mit.edu
>
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