Q. úpa adj. “dumb [unable to speak]” (Category: Dumb)
A word for “dumb” in notes probably dating to the early 1960s derived from ✶ūopa (PE17/126), a combination ōpa “mouth (as a speaking apparatus)” with the negative prefix ū-, so perhaps originally meaning something like “*without a working mouth”. Note that this word means “dumb” only as in “unable to speak”, not as in “stupid”.
Reference ✧ PE17/126 ✧ ūpa “dumb”
Related
Elements
| ú- | “no, not, un-, in-; hard, difficult, bad, uneasy; hardly, with difficulty, ‘badly’” | |
| ópa | “mouth (opening of which the lips are the edges)” | ✧ PE17/126 (ōpa) |
Element In
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
| ✶ūopa > ūpa | [ūopa] ? [ūpa] | ✧ PE17/126 |