*r/m/d/s-ga
Reconstruction analysis
Intermediate reconstructions
Connections
Notes
This etymon is extremely well attested, occurring in the NE Indian Areal Group, Himalayish, Lolo-Burmese, Nungish, Qiangic, and probably Baic. Its range of meanings extends from WANT/DESIRE to LOVE to COPULATE. This root is notable for the large number of prefixes that it has acquired in various branches of TB: *r- (in Qiangic [rGyalrong, Ergong] and Amdo Tibetan); *N- (in Loloish and perhaps Meluri); *d- (in Written Tibetan), and *s- (in Qiangic [Pumi]).
This etymon has been grammaticalized in Lahu, where it now functions as a desiderative particle, e.g. qay gâ ‘want to go’, dɔ̀ gâ ‘want to drink’, etc. See Matisoff 1988a:399-400.
We have tentatively grouped Loloish forms with initial velar stops with those with initial labial or velar nasals, assuming that the former descend from the unprefixed root while the latter show preemption of the root initial by the nasal prefix.
Reflexes & cognates154 reflexes · 22 subgroups
1.1“North Assam”1
1.1.1.1Western Tani3
1.1.2Deng2
1.3.2Angami-Pochuri Group1
1.3.4Tangkhulic1
1.7.1.1Bodo1
2.1.1Western Himalayish1
2.1.2Bodic3
2.1.2.1Tibetan50
2.1.3Lepcha1
3.2Qiangic26
3.3rGyalrongic3
3.3.1rGyalrong1
4Nungic3
6.1Lolo-Burmese1
6.1.2Loloish2
6.1.2.1Northern Loloish20
6.1.2.2Central Loloish15
6.1.2.3Southern Loloish13
6.1.2.4Southeastern Loloish2
6.2Naxi1
8Bai5
Cite this entry
*r/m/d/s-ga ‘COPULATE / LOVE / WANT’.https://larc-iu.github.io/stedt/etymon/1646BibTeX
@misc{stedt-1646,
title = {{*r/m/d/s-ga 'COPULATE / LOVE / WANT'}},
author = {STEDT},
year = {2017},
note = {Sino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary and Thesaurus (STEDT) v1.0, etymon #1646},
url = {https://larc-iu.github.io/stedt/etymon/1646}
}