Actually, the oca was originally oka, The c replaced the k when the term was translated into Italian, since there is no k in the Italian alphabet. The oka, of course, is a shortened form of the word hokey, the h dropped in London in the 13th century, and the schwa (upside down e, pronounced uh) pronunciation (and, of course, the a spelling)of the ey evolved when the rina was added. Rina is, of course, the Angle word for the giant marsupials which once abounded in the forests of North Cumbria. The instrument was developed when the dance crossed the Irish Sea to Britain (to be specific, to Liverpool), where certain Liverpudlian dancers felt a bit of melody was needed to mitigate the tedium of endless hours of bodhran pounding. --seed