The meaning of "Tapiranga" in (various Foreign) Common Names of Ramphocelus sp. … (1 Viewer)

Björn Bergenholtz · Nov 7, 2013

The meaning of "Tapiranga" in (various Foreign) Common Names of Ramphocelus sp. …

As I understand it the different species of "tapirangas" (a name not used in English, I think) are all following the tupi name tapi'rãga, meaning "red one" or something like "red-feathered-one" – a name formed by piranga (pi'rãga) meaning red, used by the Amazonian Indians on the bright red specie Brazilian Tanager Ramphocelus bresilus LINNAEUS 1758, in Portuguese Tié-sangue a k a (earlier, among many other names) "tapiranga".

The same tapiranga has also (at least in Swedish and Polish ornithology) been used on the following (more or less red) birds in Ramphocelus :

Silver-beaked Tanager R. carbo PALLAS 1764 a k a silvernäbbad tapiranga (in Swedish) and tapiranga ciemna (in Polish)
Passerini's Tanager R. passerinii BONAPARTE 1831 a k a (earlier, before the split) "Scarlet-rumped Tanager" or rödgumpad tapiranga (in Swedish) and tapiranga szkarlatno-czarna (in Polish)
Flame-rumped Tanager R. flammigerus JARDINE & SELBY 1833 a k a eldgumpstapiranga (in Swedish) and tapiranga ognista (in Polish)
Crimson-backed Tanager R. dimidiatus LAFRESNAYE 1837 a k a rödryggad tapiranga (in Swedish) and tapiranga szkarlatna (in Polish)
Huallaga Tanager R. melanogaster SWAINSON 1838 a k a huallagatapiranga (in Swedish) and tapiranga kreskowana (in Polish)
Cherrie's Tanager R. costaricensis CHERRIE 1891 (earlier included in " Scarlet-rumped Tanager") a k a costaricatapiranga (in Swedish) and tapiranga kostarykanska (in Polish)

Regardless of those six being red or not I think they all were called so only because they happened to belong to the same Genus as the firstly described, the original, "red one".

So far, so good … but I´ve been trying to figure out the different parts of that name … I got the meaning of piranga, but what does the ta- comes from?

There is a short Etymological section on the Portuguese version of Wikipedia http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ti%C3%AA-sangue that looks reliable (at least it has a source!), for "Tiê-sangue", that might give a clue or at least some help, but what it says … I do not know. I don´t understand a word of Portuguese!

Etimologia: "Tiê" e "tié" se originaram do tupi ti'ê. "Baeta" é um tecido felpudo de lã . "Tapiranga" veio do tupi tapi'rãga, "plumagem vermelha" . "Tié-piranga" veio do termo tupi para "tié vermelho"

All explanations in references to: FERREIRA, A. B. H. 1986. Novo Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa. Segunda edição. Rio de Janeiro: Nova Fronteira.

Anyone of Bird Forum's Portuguese readers, please, feel to explain?

RafaelMatias · Nov 7, 2013

Calalp said:
[/I]http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ti%C3%AA-sangue that looks reliable (at least it has a source!), for "Tiê-sangue", that might give a clue or at least some help, but what it says … I do not know. I don´t understand a word of Portuguese!
Anyone of Bird Forum's Portuguese readers, please, feel to explain?

Etimologia: "Tiê" e "tié" se originaram do tupi ti'ê. "Baeta" é um tecido felpudo de lã . "Tapiranga" veio do tupi tapi'rãga, "plumagem vermelha" . "Tié-piranga" veio do termo tupi para "tié vermelho"

Hi again Bjorn,
the Portuguese quoted text reads as follows:
"Tiê" and "tié" originate from tupi "ti'ê".
"Baeta" is a fluffy fabric made of wool. (

)
"Tapiranga" cames from tupi "tapi'rãga", "red plumaged" . "Tié-piranga" cames from the tupi word for "tié vermelho" (-or red tié-)"

Is this helpful? Perhaps someone from Brazil can give you an extra hand with this?
Cheers

Björn Bergenholtz · Nov 7, 2013

Thanks Rafael,

Of course it helps, I´m "blind as a bat" in Portuguese!

But, do you know the exakt meaning of that little "ta-", if it´s linked to or a form of that mysterious ti'ê (which means?) ... how should I explain it?

Is "red one" a correct interpretation of "tapiranga" ... or does that little short "ta-" unquestionable aims at and/or includes the feathers/plumage (or is that, in its turn, just a natural interpretation being made by ornithologist who knew what the bird looked like)?

James Jobling · Nov 7, 2013

According to Garcia (1929), Nomes de Aves em lingua Tupi, p. 48, Tié is a generic Tupí name for a finch ("N. generico do canario na lingua Tupí").

RafaelMatias · Nov 7, 2013

Unfortunately I don't have an answer to your question, as I have the feeling the word has more to do with Tupi than with Portuguese. All I can say is that your interpretation makes sense to me, but can't go further from that. It seems Tapiranga is a synonym of Tapitanga, Pitanga being a small red fleshy tropical fruit (Eugenia uniflora) well known in Brazil. I guess you really need someone from Brazil on this one...

RafaelMatias · Nov 7, 2013

James Jobling said:
According to Garcia (1929), Nomes de Aves em lingua Tupi, p. 48, Tié is a generic Tupí name for a finch ("N. generico do canario na lingua Tupí").

I replied before seeing this post. So it makes sense.

Björn Bergenholtz · Nov 7, 2013

James and Rafael,

Both quick as ever!

This indicates that "tapiranga" does mean: "red one", "red small bird", or just the "the red", as most true "finches" Fringillidae belong in the Northern Hemisphere.

And that "Tiê-sangue" should mean something like "blood-finch" alt. "blood-(small-)bird", as in the meaning "small blood-coloured bird" from the Latin word sanguis (blood).

At least that is what I think, so far, until someone clearly solves the prefix "ta-" in tapiranga.

James Jobling · Nov 7, 2013

Obviously the Tupí didn't distinguish between finches, tanagers, and sparrows, so in this instance Tié-piranga means "red tanager." The Brazilian Portuguese equivalent Tié-sangue means "blood tanager."

RafaelMatias · Nov 7, 2013

Another name for Tapiranga is "Sangue-de-boi", which means Blood of ox, or Ox's Blood, according to an online dictionary:
"Ave brasileira, também conhecida por sangue-de-boi." (Brasilian bird, also known as "sangue-de-boi").

RafaelMatias · Nov 7, 2013

Some additional info. Tiê (Ti'ê) seems to be the general Tupí word for bird (not only conical billed passerines it seems). However "Ta" seems to mean armour, or shell (as in Tatu, "armour": ta +"thick", "dense" or "heavy": tu/too). And so it makes sense that Ta in Tapiranga is in fact a more recent contraction of Ti'ê into a new word, which is no longer Tupí (as you suggested).

On another theme, but might be also useful/interesting, I just found the etymology for Tanager explained: the Portuguese/Brasilian name for tanager is Tangará, which derives from the Tupí (most correctly called "Tupí-guarani") "atá - cará" (meaning: hopping, the one that hops, the hopper, referring possibly to the display of the genus Pipra (which is not currently classified as a tanager!, but a manakin/Pipridae)). The original source for all of this came from Chiaradia, C. 2008. Dicionário de palavras brasileiras de origem indígena. Limiar, 744pp., of which I had access only to minor parts. This reference might be useful for the future...

Björn Bergenholtz · Nov 11, 2013

Possible closing in on tapiranga and tangara ...

Rafael,
Your last reply, as well as your earlier, was surely of great help on these birds!

If I have understood it right this will end up in something like this (in brief) … I hope you all understand my drift or what I´m trying to explain, this is hard to draw up in English (which is a "Foreign" language to me … it sure is much easier in Swedish!):

tapiranga, (Phonetic spelling of brazilian Portuguese) tapi'rãga meaning "(small) red bird" – the first ta- is a contraction of (tupi-guarani) "tijé" (also as Tiê or Ti'ê) meaning bird (principally used on smaller species) + (also tupi-guarani) piranga (also pi'rãga or pirang) meaning red.

Fist mentioned in Ornithology: as "Tijepiranga" by Georg Markgraf (George Marcgrave) 1648 (p.192, attached, in hand-coloured edition), and later as: ”tijé” or ”tapiranga” by both Vieillot and Lesson in the 1800's …

tangara, meaning "the one (alt. bird) that hops", or "-jump", " alt. "hopper" … or in a more free interpretation; "the one (bird) that skips/struts/jerks/twitches/dances around" – transformation of the (tupi guarani) "atá - cará" (or ataka’ra) meaning "the one that hops" alt. "hopper". Earlier also translated to "dancer", "the one that dances".

Initial ta- possible amendment in line with the above mentioned "tijé" (bird).

Fist mentioned in Ornithology as: "TANGARA Brasiliensibus” by the same Georg Markgraf (George Marcgrave) 1648 (p.214-215, attached , in hand-coloured edition) that included 2 species (mening "the hoppers/jumpers/dancers of Brazil"), and later as "Le genre du Tangara " Generic name Tangara Brisson 1760: "TANGARA, nom qu’on donne au Brésil à quelques especes de ce genre."

Feel free to re-write it!

Links to full volumes of Historia naturalis Brasiliae … by Markgraf (Marcgrave) 1648:
As original (black and white): As original (black and white): https://archive.org/stream/historianaturali12piso#page/190/mode/2up
+ Hand coloured issue: http://www.s4ulanguages.com/marcgrave-montanus.html

The both above mentioned initial ta-, not to be confused with the tupi-guarini word ta (thick).

Or? ... have I stubbornly gone totally astray?

Anyone of a different view?

James Jobling · Nov 11, 2013

I think Marcgrave erroneously gave the name tangara to the birds we presently know as tanagers, because the original tangaras were manakins Pipridae, the term being especially applied to the Blue Manakin Chiroxiphia caudata (see Goeldi, 1894-1900, As Aves do Brasil). Another Brazilian Portuguese name for them was Dançador (cf. genus Saltator).
My MS currently reads,
TANGARA ...Tupí name Tangara dancer, one who turns and skips, for the manakins, but subsequently (Marcgrave 1648) transferred to other bright finch-like birds (cf. Wayāpi name Tängala).

Note that Tupí and Guaraní are two separate languages, and individual members of the Tupían language family.

RafaelMatias · Nov 11, 2013

Calalp said:
Rafael,
Your last reply, as well as your earlier, was surely of great help on these birds!

If I have understood it right this will end up in something like this (in brief) … I hope you all understand my drift or what I´m trying to explain, this is hard to draw up in English (which is a "Foreign" language to me … it sure is much easier in Swedish!):

Feel free to re-write it!

Links to full volumes of Historia naturalis Brasiliae … by Markgraf (Marcgrave) 1648:
As original (black and white): As original (black and white): https://archive.org/stream/historianaturali12piso#page/190/mode/2up
+ Hand coloured issue: http://www.s4ulanguages.com/marcgrave-montanus.html

The both above mentioned initial ta-, not to be confused with the tupi-guarini word ta (thick).

Or? ... have I stubbornly gone totally astray?

Anyone of a different view?

It all looks very good.

However, I think I have induced you in error, regarding the word "ta", because I wasn't exactly clear

However "Ta" seems to mean armour, or shell (as in Tatu, "armour": ta +"thick", "dense" or "heavy": tu/too). And so it makes sense that Ta in Tapiranga is in fact a more recent contraction of Ti'ê into a new word, which is no longer Tupí (as you suggested).

Tatu is the Brazilian/Portuguese word for Armadillo (all species, with different suffixes for each one); "ta" is actually "armour", not "thick" ("thick" being the meaning of "tu"). So Tatu (Armadillo) is "armour-thick" ("thick armour").

Great links, many thanks for those!

Cheers

l_raty · Nov 12, 2013

Fist mentioned in Ornithology as: "TANGARA Brasiliensibus” by the same Georg Markgraf (George Marcgrave) 1648 (p.214-215, attached , in hand-coloured edition) that included 2 species (mening "the hoppers/jumpers/dancers of Brazil"), and later as "Le genre du Tangara " Generic name Tangara Brisson 1760: "TANGARA, nom qu’on donne au Brésil à quelques especes de ce genre."

The name is first mentioned by Marcgrave in the section header, p.213, in the phrase "Tangara utraque", meaning more or less "Tangara the one and the other", or "Tangara both of them". Also "TANGARA Brasiliensibus" in the text is a phrase rather than a name, "Brasiliensibus" being an ablative plural meaning about "according to the Brazilians": Marcgrave is reporting about the birds that Brazilians call "Tangara". He then adds "reperiuntur ejus aliquot species colore variantes" = several kinds of it are found, that vary in colour. However, the two descriptions that follow vary much more than just "in colour". The first species to me sounds mostly like an Opal-rumped Tanager; the second is clearly not a tanager, and seems a quite good fit for Red-headed Manakin.

It's probably difficult to know whether Marcgrave actually made a mistake about what the Brazilians called tangara; it may also be that the meaning had already shifted to include tanagers when he visited Brazil.

Björn Bergenholtz · Nov 15, 2013

Tanagra from 1764 or 1766 ...

A little sidetrack, but still on the subject of our dear Tangaras ...

There seem to be some confusion, in various sources, regarding when Linnaeus (von Linné) coined the generic name Tanagra ...

Here´s the, from what I´ve found, first publication of that name, from 1764: on pp. 30-31, in the second part of Museum S:æ R:æ T:tis Adolphi Friderici Regis Svecorum, Gothorum, Vandalorumque &c. &c. &c. In quo Animalia Rariora Imprimis & Exotica: Aves, Amphibia, Pisces Describentur. Tomi Secundi Prodromus included in: Museum S:æ R:æ T:tis Ludovicæ Ulricæ Reginæ Svecorum, Gothorum, Vandalorumque ... Holmiæ (Stockholm). (see attached files)

Link to full volume: http://books.google.se/books?id=kccxOB5D4CIC&printsec=frontcover&hl=sv&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

James Jobling · Nov 15, 2013

. “What is to become of the generic name Tanagra and family name Tanagridae? The genus was established by Linnaeus in 1764, and at that date contained three species. The first of these is a Leistes, the second a Cassicus, and the third a Euphonia. The last named is therefore the sole original tanager in the genus. By taking the first species as type (probably also the type by elimination), Tanagra would become a member of the Icteridae, equivalent to Leistes VIGORS. So far as I know the type of Tanagra at 1764 is yet to be fixed, and as “first reviser,” under the rules of the new International Code, I will select Fringilla violacea LINNAEUS, 1758, as the type. This course will produce as little confusion as any other method, and will permit us to use Tangaridae for the family, Tangara BRISSON, for the Callistes, Euphonia DESMAREST (Tanagra LINNAEUS, 1764, preoccupied by Tangara BRISSON) for the Euphonias, and Thraupis BOIE, for the “true” tanagers. Those who reject Brisson’s names may use Tanagridae, Calospiza, Tanagra, and Thraupis for the same groups ” (Richmond 1908).

Björn Bergenholtz · Nov 15, 2013

Thanks James,
I read that text just the other day in your book. It was one of the reasons why I kept on looking.

And ... even if I don´t think this will add much ... but it might … or at least, just fun to look at!?

The now Extinct New Zeeland specie North Island Piopio Turnagra tanagra SCHLEGEL 1866 (as "Otagon tanagra", attached) refers to Bonaparte (Conspectus generum avium 1850, vol. 1, p.374 attached) where both Turnagra as well as "Tanagra capensis" by Sparrman is mentioned (the latter from Museum Carlsonianum, vol II, 1887 Plate 45 + text, as attached).

That bird is sure far, far away, both in appearance and geographicaly from the Tupi Birds!

Cheers!

James Jobling · Nov 15, 2013

“Les kokos (turnagra N.) tiennent des grands tangaras, des durs-becs et des grives, qu’ils représentent à la Nouvelle-Zélande” (Lesson 1837); “C’est des tangaras que nous rapprochons cet oiseau nouveau, bien qu’il ait des caractères qui l’en éloignent, comme par exemple d’avoir une dentelure bien plus prononcée à la mandibule supérieure. Il est de la grosseur des grives” (Quoy & Gaimard 1837).

Björn Bergenholtz · Nov 16, 2013

Thanks a lot James, Laurent and Rafael,

You´ve all been of great help!

I don´t think we can squezze much more out of this subject.

Anyway; I´m quite pleased with what we´ve come up with this far, and will now close my entry on these words/names.

Tapiranga ... and Tangara (Tanager)... over and out!

dacol · Nov 16, 2013

Interesting discussion. I think it is worthwhile to point out that the Tupi had a more refined taxonomy of tanagers, thus:
Tié: Ramphocelus, Tachyphonus, Cissopis (C. leverianus still called Tietinga - white tanager)
Sanhaço [or Sanhaçu (Saíra-açu ?)]: Thraupis
Saíra: tanagers currently in the genus Tangara
Saí: Dacnis, Chlorophanes, Cyanerpes

Interesting also to notice that birds in genus Ramphocelus and some Tachyphonus outside the core area of the Tupi (SE Brazil) are called Pipira. Thus Silver-beaked Tanager is called Pipira-vermelha and White-lined Tanager is called Pipira-preta, all of these very old Brazilian names for these common birds. While Pipira is almost certainly a native american word I do not know whether it is Tupi or some other language.

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