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STEDT #1432

*(b/g)waŋ

DONKEY / ASS / RABBIT
Proto-Tibeto-Burman

Notes

The obvious semantic connection between DONKEY and RABBIT is the length of the ears in both species. Chundra Cathcart points out that the same semantic association exists in Iranian, e.g. Modern Persian xar-goš “hare, rabbit, literally ‘donkey-ears’”. See #5357 IA *kharāyō HARE / RABBIT and #5358 IA *khara-gośa HARE / RABBIT.

For the same DONKEY-RABBIT association, see #5356 PTB *tow-la RABBIT / HARE.

In many languages, the word for ‘rabbit’ is a binome with the first syllable meaning ‘mountain, wild’ < #6076 PTB *ri MOUNTAIN.

In several languages (the Deng group, Cuona, Lhasa Tibetan, and Dulong/Trung), the second syllable of these binomes begins with a velar rather than a labial. It is possible that this points to a *labiovelar onset to this syllable. However, it is at least equally possible that a separate morpheme is involved.

The doublet in Caodeng rGyalrong poŋ-luʔ ‘donkey’ and re-waŋ ‘rabbit’ is some evidence for the medial *-wa- in the reconstruction.

Reflexes & cognates69 reflexes · 10 subgroups

1.1“North Assam”1

Sulung [Puroik]puŋ³³di¹¹morpheme ‘rabbit’Sun H 91 ZMYY: 121.52

2.1.1Western Himalayish2

Kanauribon◦mōmorpheme nf‘ass (animal)’Bailey 11
Kanaurigyāmorpheme◦böṅ n‘ass (male)’Bailey 11

2.1.2.1Tibetan26

Tibetan (Balti)bo:ŋ◦bu·morpheme ‘donkey’Rangan 75: 53
Tibetan (Lhasa)phuŋ¹³ku⁵⁵morpheme n‘donkey’Huang and Dai 92 TBL: 0282.02
Tibetan (Lhasa)phuŋ¹⁵ku¹³morpheme ‘donkey’Sun H 91 ZMYY: 114.2
Tibetan (Sherpa)pung◦āmorpheme n‘donkey’Hale 73 CSD: 03a.045
Tibetan (Written)boŋ bumorpheme ‘donkey’Sun H 91 ZMYY: 114.1
Tibetan (Written)bóŋ-bomorpheme ‘ass’Jäschke 1881
Tibetan (Written)bóŋ-bumorpheme ‘ass’Jäschke 1881
Tibetan (Written)boŋ-pʻrúgmorpheme ‘colt / foal (of an ass)’Jäschke 1881

2.1.4Tamangish7

Tamang (Sahu)'puhng◦kumorpheme n‘donkey’Hale 73 CSD: 03a.045
Tamang (Sahu)'puhŋ◦kumorpheme ‘donkey’Taylor 72 TmVo: 3.45
Thakali'puhm◦pumorpheme n‘donkey’Hale 73 CSD: 03a.045
Thakali (Tukche)'puhm◦pumorpheme ‘donkey’Hari 71a ThVo: 3.A.45

Cite this entry

STEDT etymon #1432, *(b/g)waŋ ‘DONKEY / ASS / RABBIT’.
Stable link: https://larc-iu.github.io/stedt/etymon/1432
Data: STEDT v1.0 (2017). Accessed: [date].
BibTeX
@misc{stedt-1432,
  title  = {{*(b/g)waŋ 'DONKEY / ASS / RABBIT'}},
  author = {STEDT},
  year   = {2017},
  note   = {Sino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary and Thesaurus (STEDT) v1.0, etymon #1432},
  url    = {https://larc-iu.github.io/stedt/etymon/1432}
}