'u

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Tupi-Guarani *ʔu (“to eat”), from Proto-Tupian *kʔu (“to speak”).^[1]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʔu/
• Rhymes: -u
• Hyphenation: 'u

Verb

'u (first-person singular active indicative a'u, first-person singular negative active indicative n'a'uî, noun 'u) (transitive, irregular)

1. to ingest (to take a substance into the body)

   Near-synonym: karu (“to eat”, intransitive)

   • c. 1583, Joseph of Anchieta, Auto de São Lourenço [Play of Saint Lawrence], Niterói, page 66; republished in Eduardo de Almeida Navarro, transl., compiled by Maria de Lourdes de Paula Martins, Teatro, 2nd edition, São Paulo: Martins Fontes, 2006, →ISBN:

     (please add the primary text of this quotation)

     [I aputu'uma t'a'u.]

     I shall eat his brains.

References

• Eduardo de Almeida Navarro (2013) “'u”, in Dicionário de tupi antigo: a língua indígena clássica do Brasil [Dictionary of Old Tupi: The Classical Indigenous Language of Brazil] (overall work in Portuguese), São Paulo: Global, →ISBN, page 491, column 1

Article

'u m sg (plural le)

1. the

Etymology

Contraction of eu (“their”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /i̯/
• Homophone: 'i

Determiner

'u

1. their (used after vowels)

   Ymwelon ni â’u hwyres nhw’n yr ysbyty.

   We visited their granddaughter in hospital.

Pronoun

'u

1. them (used after vowels as the direct object of a verbal noun or verb)

   Cyhuddodd fi o’u dwyn ac yna’u gwerthu.

   He/She accused me of stealing them and then selling them.

   Fe’u ceir yma o bryd i'w gilydd.

   They are found (lit. "One finds them") here occasionally.

Further reading

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “'u”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies