STEDT #1349

*si(ŋ/k)

VAGINA

Reconstruction analysis

handletsi-prefixtinitial(t)srhymei-k/ŋcoverTS · VNT

Notes

This etymon is also best attested in Himalayish, with some support from the NE Indian Areal Group, and perhaps from Qiangic.

For the moment it seems best to keep this set of forms distinct from #686 PTB *si(ŋ/k) MOUTH / LIP. In spite of the plausible phonosemantic association between these etyma, the reflexes are different in languages like Garo (Bangladesh), Kokborok, Bahing, Bantawa, and Chepang [qq.v.].

Evidence for a final velar consonant comes from Barish (especially Lalung), Hayu, and Kanauri.

Complicating the picture is the fact that in some languages the putative cognate is an open syllable that occurs as the second element of compounds with #668 PTB *pu VAGINA or #662 PTB *b(y)at VAGINA. In such forms, it is possible that the second syllable may actually represent #1019 PTB *sey FRUIT / ROSE / ROUND OBJECT. (Cf. e.g. Bantawa si ‘bear fruit’, Newar maa-si ‘vagina; breast; milk’, si ‘morpheme in fruit names’, Lahu cha-šī ‘vagina’.)

Reflexes & cognates18 reflexes · 10 subgroups

Tamang (Risiangku)¹pit#662 PTB *b(y)at ‘VAGINA’◦si n‘vagina’Tamang ¹pit is of key importance in establishing the -t final for Himalayish.Mazaudon 91 TamQ: 10.4.1

Tamang (Sahu)¹pi#662 PTB *b(y)at ‘VAGINA’-ci ‘vagina’Matisoff 87 BP

2.2Newar1

Newar (Dolakhali)pi#276 PTB *(p/b)i ‘ROUNDED PART / NIPPLE / FOREHEAD / SHOULDER’◦ci ‘breast, milk; (euph.) vagina’Genetti 90 Dola

2.3.1Eastern Kiranti1

Yakhasiː ‘vagina’Kohn 90: 10.4.1

2.3.2Southern Kiranti3

Bantawaphu#668 PTB *pu ‘VAGINA’◦ci ‘vagina (baby talk)’Rai 85 BnDs

Bantawaphu#668 PTB *pu ‘VAGINA’◦ci ‘vagina / vulva’Rai 84 BnDc: 60

Bantawaphu#668 PTB *pu ‘VAGINA’◦ci dhü#661 PTB *s-tu ‘VAGINA / VULVA’PTani *tɯ ‘VULVA / VAGINA’PKC *tshuu ‘VULVA / VAGINA’PKir *tu ‘VAGINA’ ‘vagina’Rai 84 BnDc: 60

2.3.4Western Kiranti2

Bahingpi#662 PTB *b(y)at ‘VAGINA’-si ‘vagina’Matisoff 87 BP

Hayupu#668 PTB *pu ‘VAGINA’-tsing ‘vagina’Note the variation between final velar nasal and zero-final in the Hayu forms. See also the similar Hayu reflexes of #686 PTB *si(ŋ/k) MOUTH / LIP.Matisoff 87 BP

2.4Kham-Magar-Chepang1

Khamti#1352 PTB *s/m-ti ‘CLITORIS / VAGINA’◦siː ‘clitoris’Watters 89 KhQ

3.2Qiangic1

Qiang (Yadu)pʰo#668 PTB *pu ‘VAGINA’◦ʂ ‘vagina’Qiang ʂ looks like the fused initial consonant of the second syllable of an original compound, descended from #1349 PTB *si(ŋ/k) VAGINA. Fusion of compounds into monosyllables is a striking characteristic of the Qiangic languages (e.g. Benedict 1983, “Qiang monosyllabization: a third phase in the cycle”, LTBA 7.2:113-4).Dai 89 Qian: 146

Cite this entry

STEDT etymon #1349, *si(ŋ/k) ‘VAGINA’.

Stable link: https://larc-iu.github.io/stedt/etymon/1349

Data: STEDT v1.0 (2017). Accessed: [date].

References: cf. 686 MOUTH/LIP

BibTeX

@misc{stedt-1349,
  title  = {{*si(ŋ/k) 'VAGINA'}},
  author = {STEDT},
  year   = {2017},
  note   = {Sino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary and Thesaurus (STEDT) v1.0, etymon #1349},
  url    = {https://larc-iu.github.io/stedt/etymon/1349}
}