Aye-aye: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

Tag: Reverted

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== Etymology ==

Thethey genus ''Daubentonia'' was named after the French naturalist [[Louis-Jean-Marie Daubenton]] by his student, [[Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire]], in 1795. Initially, Geoffroy considered using the Greek name ''Scolecophagus'' ("worm-eater") in reference to its eating habits, but he decided against it because he was uncertain about the aye-aye's habits and whether other related species might eventually be discovered.{{R|2012Dunkel_et_al}} In 1863, British zoologist [[John Edward Gray]] coined the family name Daubentoniidae.{{Sfn|Groves|2005}}

The French naturalist [[Pierre Sonnerat]] was the first to use the vernacular name "'''aye-aye'''" in 1782 when he described and illustrated the lemur, though it was also called the "'''long-fingered lemur'''" by English zoologist [[George Shaw (biologist)|George Shaw]] in 1800—a name that did not stick. According to Sonnerat, the name "aye-aye" was a "{{Lang|fr|cri d'exclamation & d'étonnement}}" (cry of exclamation and astonishment). However, American paleoanthropologist [[Ian Tattersall]] noted in 1982 that the name resembles the [[Malagasy language|Malagasy]] name "hai hai" or "hay hay", (also ''ahay'', {{wikt-lang|mg|aiay}}, ''haihay''<ref name="2009Blench_etal">{{cite conference |url=https://www.rogerblench.info/Language/Austronesian/Malagasy/Malagasy%20wild%20animal%20names.pdf |title=Faunal names in Malagasy: their etymologies and implications for the prehistory of the East African coast |last1=Blench |first1=Roger M. |last2=Walsh |first2=Martin |year=2009 |conference=Eleventh International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics (11 ICAL) |pages=1–31 |location=Aussois, France}}</ref>) which refers to the animal and is used around the island. According to Dunkel ''et al.'' (2012), the widespread use of the Malagasy name indicates that the name could not have come from Sonnerat. Another hypothesis proposed by Simons and Meyers (2001) is that it derives from "''heh heh''", which is Malagasy for "I don't know". If correct, then the name might have originated from Malagasy people saying "''heh heh''" to [[avoidance speech|avoid saying the name]] of a feared, magical animal.{{R|2012Dunkel_et_al}}