Osha Root Pronunciation (and Where the Name Comes From)

Most people first hear the word out loud, from an herbalist at a market stall or a friend back from a hiking trip in the Southwest, and then go to type it and stall. The short answer to osha root pronunciation is OH-shuh, two syllables, with the weight on the first. If you have ever said the name of the US workplace safety agency, you already know the sound, because the letters are the same.

The longer answer has an accent mark in it, and a name nobody has fully traced.

Osha root pronunciation, sound by sound

Here is how to pronounce osha. Say "oh" as in "oh no", then a soft "shuh". Merriam-Webster lists the agency acronym OSHA as ˈō-shə, and that is the same sound most English-speaking herbalists, shop owners and growers use for the plant.

You will also see the word written oshá, with an accent on the last letter. The American Herbal Pharmacopoeia used that spelling for its 2018 monograph on Ligusticum porteri, and it is the older New Mexico Spanish form. In Spanish, an accent mark tells you where the stress goes, so oshá is said oh-SHAH, with the second syllable louder and a fuller "ah" at the end.

Both are in use today. In practice:

• OH-shuh is what you will hear in most English conversations and herb shops.
• oh-SHAH is what you will hear from Spanish speakers in New Mexico, and from herbalists who follow the accented spelling.

Nobody at a farmers market will correct either one. If you want to match the person who told you about it, copy how they said it.

Osha root meaning, and where the word comes from

This is where the sources disagree, so here is what each one says.

Wiktionary gives the origin as "unknown; presumably from a Native American language." Wikipedia's entry on Ligusticum porteri says early sources reported the name came from a First Nations language, but that no earlier form of the word has been identified.

Native Languages of the Americas, a site that documents Indigenous languages, calls the origin of "osha" obscure. It says oshá is the New Mexico Spanish term and suggests it may have been worn down from a Pueblo word, possibly the Zuni word anshe, which means "bear." When the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia released its monograph in 2018, coverage of it repeated the same idea: oshá is said to mean "bear" in a Native American language, and tribes of the Southwest called the root "bear medicine" and "gift of the bear."

One more clue comes from maps. The University of Kansas native plants project notes that every place name containing "Oshá" is in New Mexico, close to Hispanic communities. That fits a word that passed from a Native language into local Spanish and then into English, which is the path most of these sources sketch.

So the honest answer to "what does osha mean" is that the most repeated reading is "bear," it most likely came into English through New Mexico Spanish, and no dictionary has pinned down the exact source word.

Bear root, chuchupate and other names people use

The bear runs through almost every name for this plant. The story told across the Southwest and Northern Mexico is that bears dig up the root when they wake from hibernation, chew it and rub it into their fur. Observer Shawn Sigstedt watched Kodiak bears do this, and people took the name from the animal.

• Bear root is the plain English name, and the one Mara uses for its tincture.
• Mato tapejuta is the Lakota name, recorded by the US National Library of Medicine's Native Voices exhibition. It translates as "bear medicine."
• Kwiyag'atu tukapi is a Ute name meaning "bear root."
• Chuchupate is the name Hispanic ranchers in New Mexico use, with spellings like chupate and chuchupaste across Mexico.
• Wasía is the Rarámuri name in the mountains of Northern Mexico, where families brewed the root as a tea.

You may also see Porter's lovage and mountain lovage on older labels. Those come from botanists and early traders. The plant is a member of the carrot and parsley family, a relative of lovage, and grows at 1,500 to 3,500 meters, from the high mountains further north down into Sonora and Chihuahua. If you want the full story on the name overlap, we wrote a separate post on whether bear root and osha root are the same plant.

What osha tastes like once you can say it

Mara's Bear Root is an osha root tincture made from Ligusticum porteri, a mountain plant of Northern Mexico. Open the dark Miron glass bottle and the first thing you notice is the smell, earthy and a little like celery seed. On the tongue it is earthy and warming, with a sharp, celery-like bite from the root that sits at the back of the mouth for a moment and then fades.

How people take Bear Root

Most people take 1 to 2 droppers a day, any time of year. Some hold it under the tongue for 20 to 30 seconds and then swallow, which gives you the full taste of the root. Others stir it into water, tea, juice or a smoothie. A dropper in a water bottle after a hike or a long run works, and so does a dropper in a mug of morning or evening tea.

A 50 ml bottle lasts 30 to 50 days at that amount. The ingredients are short: premium quality extract. The dark Miron glass keeps light off the extract, whether the bottle lives on your desk or in your pack. For more on the plant itself, where it grows and how it has been used, start with our complete guide to osha root.

Bear Root considerations

Contains alcohol. Not recommended during pregnancy. If you're nursing or taking medication, ask your doctor before using it.

Questions people ask

Is it OH-shuh or oh-SHAH?

Both are used. OH-shuh is the common English pronunciation, and oh-SHAH follows the accented Spanish spelling oshá used in New Mexico.

What does osha mean?

The most repeated reading is "bear," from a Native American word that came into English through New Mexico Spanish. Wiktionary lists the exact origin as unknown, and one source points to the Zuni word anshe, meaning bear.

Why is osha called bear root?

The story goes that bears dig up the root when they wake from hibernation, chew it and rub it into their fur. Several peoples named the plant after this, including the Lakota, whose name mato tapejuta means bear medicine.

What is osha called in Mexico?

In New Mexico and Mexico it is often called chuchupate. The Rarámuri of Northern Mexico call it wasía.