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ayakatapai. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
ayakatapai, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
ayakatapai in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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Wauja
Etymology
From yaka, the word for caiman (a relative of the alligator).
Pronunciation
Verb
ayakatapai
- (intransitive) he lies in wait (said of a man who secretly waits for his lover to appear)
Iye ejekujata, ipitsi, ayakatapai umapai. EjekuJAtapai tinejunaun. Ipitsi ja umapai: ayakatawiu.- went to lie in wait, that's what ayakatapai means. He waited and waited for the women . That's what means: he waited .
Usage notes
This refers to the courtship practice, common throughout the Upper Xingu region, whereby a man waits patiently, hidden behind the house of a lover, or along a trail where she is likely to pass. When at last she appears, he beckons her to come to him. Like the caiman, the man waits motionless, avoiding detection, until the woman comes close.
References
- "Iye ejekujata, ipitsi" uttered by Mayanu Waura while discussing Aruta Waura's narration of the story of Yakaijokuma (caiman spirit and the origin of piqui), November 1989. Aruta's narration recorded in BBC film, "The Storyteller."