wasaí

Nheengatu

Alternative forms

• wasái
• asaí (archaic)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Tupi-Guarani *wat͡saʔi

Araweté axa'ɨbor.?

Proto-Tupi-Guarani *wat͡saʔi

Guajajára waxa'ibor.?

Proto-Tupi-Guarani *wat͡saʔi

Urubú-Kaapor wasaibor.?

Nheengatu wasaí

First attested in 1853, of uncertain origin. Possibly a borrowing from either Araweté axa'ɨ, Guajajára waxa'i or Urubú-Kaapor wasai, all of them from Proto-Tupi-Guarani *wat͡saʔi. The expected forms *ûasa'i or *asa'i are not attested in Old Tupi, despite many authors claiming this etymology.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wa.saˈi/, (Rio Negro) [wa.saˈʔi]
• Rhymes: -i
• Hyphenation: wa‧sa‧í

Noun

wasaí (plural wasaí-itá)

1. acai (any palm tree of the genus Euterpe)

   Synonyms: wasaí-iwa, yusara

2. acai berry
3. acai juice

   Synonym: wasaí yukisé

Derived terms

• wasaí yukisé
• wasaí-iwa
• wasaí-kaapura
• wasaí-kaatingapura
• wasaí-maniiwa
• wasaí-rawa
• wasaí-suikiri
• wasaí-tapurú
• wasaí-tinga
• wasaí-ukapura

 

Descendants

• → Brazilian Portuguese: açaí
  • → English: acai, açai, açaí, ⇒ acai berry
  • → French: açaï
  • → Galician: azaí
  • → German: Acai, Açaí, Açai, ⇒ Açaíbeere, Açaí-Beere, Acai-Beere, Acaibeere
  • → Hunsrik: Assaih, ⇒ Assaihpallem
  • → Japanese: アサイー (asaī)
  • → Russian: аса́и (asái)
  • → Spanish: asaí, azaí

References

• Marcel Twardowsky Avila (2021) “wasaí”, in Proposta de dicionário nheengatu-português [Nheengatu–Portuguese dictionary proposal] (in Portuguese), São Paulo: USP, →DOI, page 816