Reconstruction:Proto-Sino-Tibetan/naq
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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
[edit]Etymology
[edit]- Proto-Sino-Tibetan: *nryak (Coblin, 1986); *n(r)aq? (Hill, 2019)
- Proto-Tibeto-Burman: *nya-ŋ/k (Matisoff, STEDT); *nya (Matisoff, 2003)
This root is reconstructed mainly on the basis of Tibetan and Chinese. Being a basic word, it is unusually isolated. Lai ŋaaknuu (“maiden”) may also belong to this root.
Matisoff (2003: 173-174) reconstructs *nya and identifies a form with a *-k suffix, which has both ཉ་མ (nya ma, “housewife”) and ཉག་མོ (nyag mo, “woman”). In the STEDT, Chinese 娘 (MC nrjang, “woman”) is listed under this root, pointing to an allofamic variant with a *-ŋ, but according to Coblin (1994) this is a later word, unattested before the Tang dynasty [618 - 907 AD], and is better regarded as a graphical fusion of 女 (MC nrjoX) and 良 (MC ljang). Some authors think that 娘 (MC nrjang) is related to Proto-Turkic *ana ~ *eńe (“mother”) and, thus, should not be considered a genuine descendant of this root (Vovin and McCraw, 2011).
The main Old Chinese comparandum is 女 (OC *naʔ, “woman”), with a final glottal stop. This word, may belong either to this root or to what STEDT reconstructs as "Proto-Tibeto-Burman" *k/m-na (“mother, female”) (Schuessler, 2007). The origin of the -r- in the Chinese word is unknown (it may have been a pre-initial that metathesized into the onset).
The source of the Tibetan palatalization is not specified in the literature. It may be of honorific nature (see also ལྕམ (lcam), of a similar semantic field).
Noun
[edit]*naq
Descendants
[edit]- Chinese: 女 (OC /*nraʔ/ (B-S), /*naʔ/ (ZS)) (see there for further descendants)
- Himalayish