*ŋ-(w)aːy

This root is well-attested in TB, occurring in the NE Indian Areal Group, Lolo-Burmese, Jingpho, Karenic, and Baic. There is an excellent Chinese comparandum, 愛 ‘love’ [GSR 508a]. STC (pp. 150, 192) compares Proto-Karen *ʔai to the Chinese word, but does not cite any other TB forms. In Matisoff 1985a (GSTC) #126, I reconstructed PTB *ŋ-(w)ay, on the basis of forms from Jingpho, Tiddim, Lushai (Mizo), and Tangkhul. Another set of forms, reconstructed separately in STC #315 as *ŋoy, with the gloss GENTLE / QUIET / MODERATE, I believe to be allofamically related to the present etymon (see GSTC #92).

There is a look-alike in Proto-Tai: *ŋaayᴮ² ‘easy’ (HCT:204) > Siamese ŋâay.

愛 OC *ʔəd, GSR #508a ‘love’; Li 1971: *·ədh; Baxter 1992 #337: *ʔɨts; Mand. ài.

The Chinese form most closely resembles the Karen form ʔai. Because we expect OC *ʔ- to correspond to PTB *Ø- and OC *ŋ- to correspond to PTB *ŋ-, the Chinese form must be assumed to relate to a PTB allofam lacking initial *ŋ-.

Baxter reconstructs *ʔɨts, but a reconstruction of *ʔɨjs is also possible, as rhyming evidence does not definitvely indicate the presence of a stop coda.

The correspondence between TB final *-ay and OC final *-əd (Li), *-ɨj (Baxter) is attested, for example in the word for ‘tail’, TB *r-may; 尾 OC *mjədx (Li); *mjɨjʔ (Baxter); Mand. wěi. Elsewhere in this volume, #519 PTB *s-tay NAVEL / ABDOMEN / CENTER / SELF offers additional support for this correspondence.
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