Tsotso

/tsotso/ "bat" in Nahuan languages of the Huasteca area.

Attestations: Attested by Lastra (1986) in 14 varieties in San Luis Potosí, Hidalgo, Northern Veracruz and Northern Puebla.

Variant forms:

/tsutsu/, /tsoʔtso/ (Lastra 1986)

/tsona:ka/

/tsina:ka/

Etymology: It is derived by reduplication from Pre-Nahua *tsoi, which in turn comes from PSUA *sopi(tsi) "bat" (or "butterfly").

Given that this form is restricted to the Huasteca region, where many loans from Téenek (Huastec Maya) are found, one might suspect influence from Mayan, and the form looks similar to the well-known Mayan root /so:ts'/ "bat", however in Téenek this word is <thut'> /θut'/, as Téenek has lost the sibilant part of both proto-Mayan /s/ and /ts'/. This suggests that Huastec influence on this form is unlikely, or at least it would have had to be prior to the *s > θ change taking place in Huastecan (this change is not found in Chicomuceltec and so must have happened after Téenek split from Chicomuceltec). In any case, it would require Huasteca Nahuan having loaned sots' as tsotso, changing the initial consonant to match the second, and adding a final vowel - neither of which would be expected. Consequently, the explanation of this form being inherited from pre-Nahua *tsoi is much to be preferred.

Huasteca Nahuan: tsotso

Proto-Nahuatl *tso

Pre-Nahuan *tsoi

Pre-Corachol-Nahua *tsohi

PSUA *sopi

How to cite:
Pharao Hansen, Magnus. 2026. Tsotso. In SUALEX: A Southern Uto-Aztecan Etymological Dictionary. https://sualex.cenzontle.org/index.php?title=Tsotso (accessed 20 April 2026).

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