Night

The Southern-Uto-Aztecan words for "night" are part of a family of etyma referring to "darkness", "blackness", and "charcoal", most of them based on the Uto-Aztecan roots *tu-, *tuka (Stubbs 2011#240), and *yuppa (Stubbs 2011#241).

Proto-Corachol-Nahuan

For Proto-Corachol-Nahuan we can reconstruct:

• tɨri "charcoal"

Nahuatl: tli:lli "charcoal", tli:ltik "black", tekol/tikol "charcoal" < Pre-Nahua *tɨkwari "charcoal".

Náayeri: tɨ'ɨskwá"brasa, carbón" (McMahon & McMahon 1959) < *tɨɨri-kwa

• tɨka "darkness"

Nahuatl: tikatlan "midnight"

Wixárika: tɨkáari "night"

Náayeri: tɨ́ka'a. 1. En la noche; 2. Obscuridad. (Muñiz 2024:97)

• yɨwɨ/*yɨwa' < PSUA *yuwa "dark, become dark"

Nahuatl: yo:wa-l, yo:wa-k < PCN *yɨwe "black"

Wixárika: yɨwikɨta /yɨwɨ-kɨ-ta/ /dark-instr-loc/ "at night, in the dark"

PSUA *tuka

For proto-Tepiman (Bascom 1965#231) reconstructs *tuʔkaga-i "darkness, night", based on Northern Tepehuán tukagi and Southern Tepehuán tuʔkaaʔ.

For his "Sonoran" group (Lionnet 1985#320) reconstructs *tuku "apagarse" and *tuka "noche, obscuridad"; based on Тepehuán tuká-gai; Ópata tuk-, Еudeve túku-; Yaqui tuká-гiа, Мayo tukáа-ri; Warihío túka-wári, Guarijío tugá-o, Raramuri ruká-wari; Tubar tukú-r, "араgаdо ".

Stubbs (2011) reconstruct: 240a. *tuka / *tuku / *tuki 'fire go out, dark, black, night'; 240c. *tuhu / *tuu (< *tuku); 242. *yu’pa > *yuppa ‘go out (of fire), (get) dark, black’.