Reconstruction:Proto-Sino-Tibetan/s-twak
Appearance
Proto-Sino-Tibetan
[edit]Etymology
[edit]- Proto-Sino-Tibetan: *s-twak (STEDT)
This root is well-attested in Lolo-Burmese and other branches of the family however in some languages it has been specialized to refer to animal births. The -t final is particular to Chinese, but this could well be a secondary development from an original velar after a front vowel. This term may have been conflated with a descendant from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m-(t/d)u (“nephew; descendant”) – whence the Burmese တူ (tu, “nephew”) – a sense no longer productive but was mentioned in the glossary book Erya, c. 2nd century BCE.
Noun
[edit]*s-twak