hyaw
| Pronunciation | [hʲaw] |
| Variants | hyuw1 |
| Definition | ‘sound of a pit viper trying to deceive a rodent’ |
| Sensory Modality | Cognition SOUND |
| Paralinguistic Description | Uttered with a high-pitched, plaintive pronunciation |
| Transcription | ɲa hʲaw hʲaw hʲaw hʲaw niɾa punʥana ɕina |
| Translation | ‘Then it (a snake) said hjaw hjaw hjaw hjaw (sounding)like an agouti’ |
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| Transcription | kasna ʎukɕitɕiɕaga hʲaw hʲaw hʲaw hʲaw |
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| Transcription | ɲukanchi kaj sachaj sacha purisha, sikugunara na kallari rukuguna ushanushka pajguna sikuraa kayachinga hʲaw hʲaw hʲaw hʲaw nishka siku chibi mas shu sikugunas paywapura manchi nisha shamunushka mas ishki o kinsa, karanpuramanda shamunushka. Kasnami nishka silbanga rawni (whistles) |
| Translation | So when we are walking in the forest, well the oldtimers, being able, they would attract agoutis by calling (how they sound) going hyaw hyaw hyaw hyaw; and the agoutis thinking 'that's one of us' would come. So like that (the way they called them), I'm going to whistle' |
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Commentary
Anecdotal reports of boas ‘crying’ exist. See report by an American attorney living in Amazonian Peru near Iquitos, about an experience of hearing a boa constrictor which he had purchased to rid his farm of rats, making “a high-pitched whine”, which he also described as “plaintive, longing, verging on panic, or seeking help”. (See “The Snake That Cried”, a post by David Peterson.)
Nuckolls, Janis; Tod Swanson; Alexander Rice. 2024. hyaw. The Quechua Ideophonic Dictionary. Online: https://quechuarealwords.byu.edu/?ideophone=hyaw.
