ASB puza

[CRAIG KOPRIS]

Before trying to assign a source language to cat
terms, it might be best to rule out onomatopeia first!
 I've encountered the claim (I don't have the
reference handy anymore) that (domestic) cat terms
around the world are usually based on either:

@ = schwa
$ = esh
T = pharyngealized voiceless alveolar stop

1. the sound a cat makes; e.g., English 'meow',
Chinese 'miao'

2. an intermittent high-frequency sound that attracts
a cat's attention (pspspspsps); e.g. English 'pussy',
Pashto 'p@$ey'

3. another call to get a cat's attention (ktktktk);
e.g. English 'cat', 'kitten', Arabic 'q at Ta'

I wouldn't be surprised if the ancient Egyptians, who
domesticated the cat in the first place, used one of
the onomatopeic "roots".


Craig Kopris

--- Rory M Larson <rlarson at unlnotes.unl.edu> wrote:

> Can we be sure that "puss" is even any more native
> to
> English than it is to the various Indian languages
> that
> evidently borrowed the term?