Toto

Munja'kin

Etymology

From Proto-Munja'kin *toto.

Source

A name coined by L. Frank Baum in the book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Source Spelling

Toto

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈtoto/

Noun

toto (non-mutated form, mutated form doto)

1. dog

Creation and Usage Notes

In Emerald City, Dorothy winds up with a dog; she doesn't actually have a dog beforehand. Consequently, the dog has no name. In the script, the Munja'kin refer to the dog as "Toto" because their word for "dog" actually is toto. I thought that was kind of clever. The fact that it was a reduplication (plus the one other extant word, simoa) inspired me to make Munja'kin Kamakawi 2, in effect. (Oh, I guess Munja'kin was also present as a word. Was less thrilled about that, but I made it work.) -David J. Peterson 16:09, 12 January 2020 (PST)