Appendix:Proto-Japanese Swadesh list
The following 100-item Swadesh list of Proto-Japanese is from Vovin (1994: 109–111).
The Yale Romanization is used.
List
[edit]| No. | English gloss | Proto-Japanese | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | I | *bàn[u] | Problematic initial consonant, which should be *w. The *bà initial portion appears to be the same as standlone term 我 (wa, “I; we”). Meanwhile, the -n[u] ending also appears in Old Japanese term unu ("you", pejorative). |
| 2 | you (sg.) | *si/*so̱-; *na | Reconstruction of *si/*so̱- appears to have been a desire to link it to the other "Altaic" forms, but the attestations do not point to a pronominal meaning. Proto-Ryukyuan has *u, *o, or even *e, and *na appears to be a loan from Old Korean. |
| 3 | we | *bàn[u] | Problematic initial consonant, which should be *w. The *bà initial portion appears to be the same as standlone term 我 (wa, “I; we”). Meanwhile, the -n[u] ending also appears in Old Japanese term unu ("you", pejorative). |
| 4 | this | *kó̱- | |
| 5 | that | *ká- | |
| 6 | who | *tá- | |
| 7 | what | *nà[-]ní | Reconstruction of *[-]ní is based solely on Japanese evidence. Proto-Ryukyuan has *nau, sharing the same initial syllable. |
| 8 | not | *-an[a]- | The initial vowel may have been caused by a desire to link it with the Korean form, given that the root itself is attested in Old Japanese as n-. |
| 9 | all | *múCí-nà | Based primarily on Japanese evidence; the distribution of mina in Ryukyuan is limited. *mərə can also be reconstructed. |
| 10 | many | *mana-Ci | Based purely on Old Japanese evidence. The connection of the Old Japanese word to Proto-Ryukyuan *umage "huge" should be rejected. |
| 11 | one | *pito̱ | |
| 12 | two | *puta | |
| 13 | big | *ò̱pò̱- | |
| 14 | long | *nànkà- | |
| 15 | small | *tìpìsà- | Based purely on Japanese evidence. *koma- can also be reconstructed. |
| 16 | woman | *-mina/*míCá | The medial mi is listed in some sources as cognate with the root me ("female"). |
| 17 | man | *bò | Problematic initial consonant, which should be *w. Based purely on Japanese evidence. |
| 18 | person | *pítò̱ | |
| 19 | fish | *(d)íwó | Problematic initial consonant, which should be *y, and even then it is not reconstructed in this word. |
| 20 | bird | *tó̱rí | |
| 21 | dog | *ìnù | Proto-Ryukyuan *enu implies that the first vowel should be *e, not *ì. |
| 22 | louse | *sìrámí | May be a compound of sira ("white") + mi (possibly "body"?). Not attested before Early Middle Japanese. |
| 23 | tree | *kò̱- < *ko̱no̱r- | The suggested derivation is problematic. Generally reconstructed as *kəy. |
| 24 | seed | *tàná-Ci | |
| 25 | leaf | *pá | |
| 26 | root | *mò̱tò̱ | |
| 27 | bark (n.) | *kàpà | |
| 28 | skin | *kàpá | |
| 29 | meat | *sìsì | Proto-Japonic *muy can also be reconstructed. |
| 30 | blood | *tí | |
| 31 | bone | *pone | |
| 32 | grease | *à(n)pùrá | The nasal doubtlessly existed in Proto-Japonic, hence the later reconstruction *anpura. |
| 33 | egg | *tama(n)ko | Based purely on Japanese evidence. All Ryukyuan terms deriving from tamago are obviously loanwords. Only one form (*kapinko) can be reconstructed based on archaic Japanese and Yonaguni evidence, but it is possible that Yonaguni borrowed this word from Japanese. |
| 34 | horn | *tùnwò | |
| 35 | tail | *bò̱ | Problematic initial consonant, which should be *w. |
| 36 | feather | *рánÉ | Capital *É is reconstructed because of the lack of attested Old Japanese evidence that indicates the contrast. |
| 37 | hair | *ká-Ci | It is unclear whether |
| 38 | head | *tumu-; *kàsìrà | The *tumu root is sometimes described in other sources as an alternation of *tubu, itself a generic root form denoting something round. See 頭 for further details. |
| 39 | ear | *mìmì | The first vowel could be *e based on Southern Ryukyuan evidence. |
| 40 | eye | *mà-i | |
| 41 | nose | *páná | |
| 42 | mouth | *kútú-Ci | |
| 43 | tooth | *pà | |
| 44 | tongue | *sìtà | |
| 45 | nail | *túmá-Ci | |
| 46 | foot | *pànkì | |
| 47 | knee | *pínsá; Proto-Ryukyuan *tubusin | Reconstruction of a final nasal is based solely on Hateruma sï̥pusïŋ, otherwise reconstructed as *tubusi. |
| 48 | hand | *tà-Ci | |
| 49 | belly | *pàrà | Proto-Ryukyuan has *wata, with an innovative semantic shift "intestines" > "belly". |
| 50 | neck | *nòmitó | |
| 51 | breast | *ti/*titi | |
| 52 | heart | *kòkòró | |
| 53 | liver | *kímwò | |
| 54 | drink | *nò̱m- | |
| 55 | eat | *kup- | |
| 56 | bite | *kàm- | |
| 57 | see | *mì- | |
| 58 | hear | *kí[-]k- | Generally reconstructed as *kik- without the separator. |
| 59 | know | *sír- | |
| 60 | sleep | *ui- | Problematic. The reconstruction is based purely on Old Japanese i. *nainpuru can also be reconstructed. |
| 61 | die | *sín- | |
| 62 | kill | *kó̱ró̱s- | |
| 63 | swim | *ò̱yò̱- | Generally reconstructed as *əyənk-. |
| 64 | fly (v.) | *tó̱np- | |
| 65 | go | *káywóp-; *dik- | Problematic initial consonant, which should be *y, in the second reconstruction, and even then it is not reconstructed in this word. Also seen in Old Japanese as 行く (yuk-). The first reconstruction is based purely on Old Japanese evidence. |
| 66 | come | *kò̱- | |
| 67 | lie | *ná- | |
| 68 | sit | *bí- | Problematic initial consonant, which should be *w. |
| 69 | stand | *tàt- | |
| 70 | give | *ata[-]pa-Ci | The reconstruction is based purely on Japanese 与える (ataeru), regarded by other sources as deriving from the root *at- with a sense of "to contact, to come into contact; to fit; to be fitting, to be appropriate". Proto-Japonic *kuray can also be reconstructed. |
| 71 | say | *(d)i[-]p- | Problematic initial consonant, which should be *y, and even then it is not reconstructed in this word. There is no evidence to segment into i-p-. |
| 72 | sun | *pí | *pu can also be reconstructed as the second part of the word meaning "today" and "yesterday". |
| 73 | moon | *tùkú- | Generally reconstructed as *tukuy or even *tukoy, with the latter based on Ryukyuan evidence. |
| 74 | star | *pósí | It is not clear whether the first vowel is type A or type B. |
| 75 | water | *mí | Generally reconstructed as *mentu. It is possible that the two are related. Some linguists also connect it to Korean. |
| 76 | rain/sky | *àmâ-Ci | |
| 77 | stone | *(d)ísò | Problematic initial consonant, which should be *y, and even then it is not reconstructed in this word. In modern linguistics, it is generally reconstructed as *esoi. |
| 78 | sand | *súná | *su can also be reconstructed based on Japanese evidence. It is possible that the two are related. |
| 79 | land | *tùtì | Problematic. The reconstruction is based purely on Old Japanese evidence, with a single cognate in Ishigaki pointing likely to a borrowing from Japanese, which in turn borrowed it from Old Korean. Proto-Japonic *mita can be reconstructed based on Old Japanese (with irregular n), Hachijō, and Ryukyuan evidence. |
| 80 | cloud | *kùmù[C]à | Generally reconstructed as *kumo, also supported by Eastern Old Japanese evidence. |
| 81 | smoke | *kái[-]npúrí | Proto-Ryukyuan *kebusi. |
| 82 | fire | *pò-Ci | It is clear by Proto-Ryukyuan *pi that the word can be reconstructed as Proto-Japonic *poi. |
| 83 | ashes | *pápÍ | |
| 84 | burn | *dák- | Problematic initial consonant, which should be *y. Proto-Japonic *tak- 'to light a fire' can also be reconstructed. |
| 85 | path | *mítí | Listed in Japanese dictionaries as deriving from a compound of honorific prefix mi- + noun ti "road, path, way". See 道 (michi) for further details. It may also be worth noting that the term also exists in "Peninsular Japonic" toponyms. |
| 86 | mountain | *dàmà | Problematic initial consonant, which should be *y. |
| 87 | red | *áká- | |
| 88 | green | *àwò; *míntórì | The latter reconstruction is based purely on Japanese evidence, originally referring specifically to the color of new sprouts. The *mín- portion probably also appears in *míntu ("fresh, young, vibrant"). |
| 89 | yellow | *kú-Ci | Generally reconstructed as *koy. Compare Early Middle Japanese 黄金 (kogane) and *kogane 'gold'. |
| 90 | white | *sírà-Cu | The reconstruction of *-Cu is based on the -a/-o alternation in Japanese. |
| 91 | black | *kùrwò | |
| 92 | night | *dùCà | Problematic initial consonant, which should be *y. Generally reconstructed as *yo, also supported by Eastern Old Japanese evidence. |
| 93 | warm | *àta-taka- | The reconstruction appears to be based on Japanese 暖か (atataka), itself listed in Japanese dictionaries as root atata- + adjective-forming suffix -ka. The root atata- also appears in the verbs atatamaru ("to warm up", intransitive) and atatameru ("to warm up", transitive). *nuku can also be reconstructed. |
| 94 | cold | *sàmù- | The root, exclusive to Japanese, is likely *sàm-, with the -ù- portion likely an inflectionary ending. See also modern verb 覚める (sameru), from earlier samu, where the final -u is an inflectionary ending. Ryukyuan also innovated by using *peyesi, cognate to 冷える (hieru), to freeze. |
| 95 | full | *mìt- | |
| 96 | new | *àrà-ta- | Problematic. Listed in Japanese sources as deriving from a compound of ara- ("newly appearing", from 生る (aru, “to come into being”)) + adjective-forming suffix -ta. Proto-Japonic *nipi can be reconstructed, though Proto-Ryukyuan *miwi shows an irregular *m, perhaps due to the influence of the second consonant. |
| 97 | good | *dò̱- | Problematic initial consonant, which should be *y. Proto-Ryukyuan also has *ye, indicating a possible reconstruction of *yəy. |
| 98 | round | *márú/*máró̱ | It is not clear what the true reconstruction is, as EOJ and MdJ has maru-. |
| 99 | dry | *káw(V)rá-k- | This reconstruction is based on the alternating stems *karak- and *kawak-. |
| 100 | name | *ná |
See also
[edit]- Appendix:Japanese Swadesh list
- Wiktionary:Japanese Swadesh list
- Appendix:1000 Japanese basic words
- Appendix:Proto-Ainu reconstructions
- Appendix:Proto-Altaic reconstructions
References
[edit]- Vovin, Alexander. 1994. "Long-distance Relationships, Reconstruction Methodology, and the Origins of Japanese". Diachronica 11(1): 95–114.
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