STEDT
STEDT #1110

*ka

BALL / EGG / TESTICLE / EYEBALL
Proto-Tibeto-Burman · exemplary

Reconstruction analysis

handlekainitialkrhymeacoverK · V

Notes

This root seems basically to have meant ‘ball’, with natural extensions to EGG / TESTICLE and EYEBALL. A number of Himalayish compounds meaning PENIS have similar-looking morphemes (e.g. Baima khɑ¹³ ndʐɿ⁵³, Bunan/Manchati kha-ṭa, Tamang mlẽ-ka) though the semantic development BALL → TESTICLE → PENIS is improbable, and these syllables must be assumed to reflect a separate etymon.

The Newar form kwaa-si does not belong in this set. According to K. P. Malla, it means literally “hot-fruits” (si < #1019 PTB *sey FRUIT / ROSE / ROUND OBJECT). The true Newar cognate is represented by the second syllable of mi-kha ‘eyeball’, below.

Reflexes & cognates49 reflexes · 15 subgroups

2.2Newar13

3.1Tangut3

In Tangut this morpheme has apparently become a general word for EYE, alongside mej (see #681 PTB *s-myak EYE).

Tangut [Xixia]kạɯ¹ ‘eye’Sofronov 97
Tangut [Xixia]khạ² ‘eye socket’Sofronov 97

6.1.2.2Central Loloish7

6.1.2.4Southeastern Loloish1

Pholanɑ³³morphemesi³³morphemeqɔ⁵⁵ ‘eyeball’Pelkey 11 Phula: 256

7Karenic8

Bwe-morpheme- tə́wɪ̀morpheme n‘pupil of the eye’Henderson 97 Kar

8Bai1

Bai (Jianchuan)ŋuĩ³³#33 PTB *s-myak ⪤ *s-mik ‘EYE’MesorootsPKar *mɛɁᴰ ‘EYE, FACE’Allofams1 #33 PTB *s-myak ⪤ *s-mik ‘EYE’1a #682 PTB *s-mik ‘EYE’1b #681 PTB *s-myak ‘EYE’ kæ⁵⁵ ɕĩ⁵⁵morpheme kʰo³³morpheme ‘eyeball’Zhao 90: 3.4.2

Cite this entry

STEDT etymon #1110, *ka ‘BALL / EGG / TESTICLE / EYEBALL’.
Stable link: https://larc-iu.github.io/stedt/etymon/1110
Data: STEDT v1.0 (2017). Accessed: [date].
BibTeX
@misc{stedt-1110,
  title  = {{*ka 'BALL / EGG / TESTICLE / EYEBALL'}},
  author = {STEDT},
  year   = {2017},
  note   = {Sino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary and Thesaurus (STEDT) v1.0, etymon #1110},
  url    = {https://larc-iu.github.io/stedt/etymon/1110}
}