quagga

The word 'quagga' entered English in the late 18th century, borrowed directly from Afrikaans, which itself adopted it from the Khoikhoi language of southwestern Africa. The Khoikhoi term, likely imitative of the animal's distinctive barking call, reflects a common pattern of naming animals by their sound. This linguistic journey—from an onomatopoeic indigenous name to a scientific term in European zoology—parallels the animal's own history, transforming from a local species to a globally recognized symbol of extinction. The word's spelling and pronunciation were standardized by English naturalists, preserving its unique phonetic character as a label for a uniquely patterned equine.

This word is a simplex, a direct borrowing from an indigenous Southern African language (likely Khoikhoi). It does not contain separable morphemes within the English spelling system.