Reconstruction:Proto-Sino-Tibetan/d-ŋa

This Proto-Sino-Tibetan entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Sino-Tibetan

Etymology

• Proto-Sino-Tibetan: ?
  • Proto-Tibeto-Burman: *d-ŋa (Matisoff, STEDT)

Other roots for "tooth": *m-dzjwaj, *s-wa ~ p-wa.

Chinese 牙 may alternatively be regarded as a loan from an Austroasiatic language (Norman / Mei, 1976; Norman, 1988). Compare Vietnamese ngà (“ivory”), Mon လ္ၚာပ် ((tə)ŋèp, “back tooth, molar”) and loanword in Proto-Tai *ŋaːᴬ (“tusk, ivory”) (whence Thai งา (ngaa), Lao ງາ (ngā)). Pulleyblank (1983) believes Old Chinese was the donor.

Noun

*d-ŋa

1. tooth

Descendants

• Old Chinese: 牙 /*m-ɢˁ‹r›a/ (Baxter-Sagart), /*ŋraː/ (Zhengzhang Shangfang)
  • Middle Chinese: 牙 /ŋɣa/
    • Mandarin:
      • Beijing: 牙 (yá) /i̯a³⁵/ (“tooth”)
    • Cantonese:
      • Guangzhou-Hong Kong: 牙 (ngaa⁴) /ŋaː²¹/ (“tooth”)
• Kamarupan
  • Kuki-Chin
    • Central Chin: Proto-Central-Chin /*hŋaw/ (“fang, canine tooth”)