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 sots "bat", however in Téenek this word is <thut'> θu:t, 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).

Huasteca Nahuan: tsotso

Proto-Nahuatl *tsotso

Pre-Nahuan *tsoi

Pre-Corachol-Nahua *tsohi

PSUA *sopi