tuhu (Coastal Kadazan)
Where does "tuhu" come from?
The Coastal Kadazan word 'tuhu', meaning 'head', traces its origins back to the ancient Proto-Austronesian term *quluh. Through the process of linguistic evolution, it descended into Proto-Malayo-Polynesian as *qulu before eventually shaping the modern Kadazan form. This long trajectory reflects the deep roots of the word within the Austronesian language family.
Full etymology tree
- tuhu (Coastal Kadazan), 'head'
- inherited *qulu (Proto-Malayo-Polynesian), 'head (part of the body)'
- inherited *quluh (Proto-Austronesian), 'head (part of the body)'
- inherited *qulu (Proto-Malayo-Polynesian), 'head (part of the body)'
Ancestors
- *qulu (Proto-Malayo-Polynesian)
- *quluh (Proto-Austronesian)
Updated June 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris