ACD - Austronesian Comparative Dictionary Online

*Cumay Formosan black bear

PAN Cumay Formosan black bear ⇫ ¶

Form.
Kavalan	mRa-tumay	to transform into a bear
	tumay	the Formosan bear
Saisiyat	somay	the Formosan black bear
Seediq	sumay	the Formosan black bear
Thao	cumay	the Formosan black bear: Selenarctos thibetanus formosanus (Swinhoe)
Bunun	tumaz	the Formosan black bear
Kanakanabu	cumái	the Formosan black bear
Saaroa	cumiʔi	the Formosan black bear
Tsou	cmoi	the Formosan black bear
Amis	tomay	the Formosan black bear; be fierce, violent
Siraya	tumey	the Formosan black bear
Puyuma	Tumay	the Formosan black bear
Paiwan	tsumay	the Formosan black bear
Proto-Rukai	comay	the Formosan black bear
Favorlang/Babuza	choma	the Formosan black bear

Reconstructions

PAN

Cumay

Formosan black bear

Note

Also Seediq kumay ‘the Formosan black bear’. This word is almost universal among the Formosan languages, being absent only from Atayal (ŋarux), Pazeh (taŋadex) and Taokas (gussin, ŋalo). There can be little doubt that *Cumay was found in PAn, but it was lost when Austronesian speakers moved into the Philippines, which has no bears. Centuries later on reaching Borneo they encountered the Malayan sun bear (Ursus malayanus) and innovated a new term, *baRuaŋ/biRuaŋ for this closely related but distinct animal. The history of Atayal ŋarux, Taokas ŋalo, which appear to be related, is unclear.