Meaning
A freshwater turtle — the slider or 'cooter' turtle found in Jamaica's rivers and ponds. A familiar creature of the country river, the coota basks on the rocks and slips into the water at a footstep, and it is sometimes caught and eaten or kept by children at play in the river. It figures in folk sayings and river-play, and the word, from an African source by way of the American 'cooter', names the shy, hard-shelled turtle of the island's fresh water.
Examples
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A coota sun itself pon di rockstone inna di river.
A turtle sunned itself on the rock in the river.
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Di pickney dem catch a coota inna di pond.
The children caught a turtle in the pond.
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Coota slow pon land but quick inna water.
The turtle is slow on land but quick in water.
Origin
From 'cooter' (a North American/Caribbean name for freshwater slider turtles, of African-language origin); the Jamaican river turtle.
How it’s used
A freshwater/river turtle. Compare 'janga' (crayfish), 'coota' being the turtle.