STEDT
Grammatical Words  ›  ?  ›  WH words
STEDT #167

*(b/m)a-y

WHAT

Notes

This high-frequency morpheme shows alternation between labial stop and labial nasal. Several languages having reflexes with front vowels evidently reflect the palatal suffix. See JAM (1995) “Sino-Tibetan palatal suffixes revisited”.

Reflexes & cognates63 reflexes · 13 subgroups

0.1Tibeto-Burman (previously published reconstructions)2

1.3.2Angami-Pochuri Group2

Ntenyimowamorpheme ‘what?’Marrison 67 Naga

1.7.1.1Bodo4

Bodo ‘what’Bhat 68 Boro
Dimasabaramorpheme ‘where?’Marrison 67 Naga
Kokboroktamorpheme-ma ‘what’Tripuri 88
Kokborokmorpheme-ma ‘what’Tripuri 88

1.7.3.1Jingpho5

Jingphopha³³~n̩³³morphemepha³³ ‘what’Liu 84

2.3.3Central Kiranti1

Dumimwoː ‘what, any’Driem 93 Dumi

4Nungic1

Rawangphɑ³¹ ‘what’LaPolla 03: 975

6.1.1Burmish21

Achang (Longchuan)pi³¹ si⁵⁵morpheme intg‘what’Huang and Dai 92 TBL: 0954.28
Achang (Longchuan)pi³¹si⁵⁵morpheme ‘what’Sun H 91 ZMYY: 986.41
Bola (Luxi)pɛ̱⁵⁵ tʃuŋ³¹morpheme intg‘what’Huang and Dai 92 TBL: 0954.32
Burmese (Rangoon)ɑ⁵³prefix bɛ²²m̥ɑ²²morpheme intg‘where’Huang and Dai 92 TBL: 0955.27
Burmese (Rangoon)ɑ⁵³prefixbɛ²² intg‘what’Huang and Dai 92 TBL: 0954.27
Burmese (Spoken Rangoon)ɑprefix bɛ²²ne²²morphemejɑ²²morpheme ‘where’Sun H 91 ZMYY: 988.40
Burmese (Written)bhaymorpheme ‘what?’Marrison 67 Naga
Burmese (Written)bhayhmāmorpheme ‘where?’Marrison 67 Naga
Burmese (Written)ɑ¹prefix bhɑj² hmɑɑ²morpheme intg‘where’Huang and Dai 92 TBL: 0955.26
Burmese (Written)ɑ¹prefixbhɑj² intg‘what’Huang and Dai 92 TBL: 0954.26
Burmese (Written)ɑ¹prefixbhɑj² ‘what’Sun H 91 ZMYY: 986.39
Burmese (Written)ɑ¹prefixbhɑj²ne²morphemerɑ²morpheme ‘where’Sun H 91 ZMYY: 988.39
Burmese (Written)əprefix-bhai ‘what’Benedict 76 WBur

6.1.2.1Northern Loloish7

Gazhuoxa³³morphemema³³ta⁵⁵morpheme intg‘what’Huang and Dai 92 TBL: 0954.47
Nusu (Bijiang)tɕho⁵⁵morphememɑ⁵⁵ ‘what’Sun H 91 ZMYY: 986.45
Nusu (Central)tʂhu³¹morphemema⁵⁵ intg‘what’Huang and Dai 92 TBL: 0954.34
Yi (Dafang)mɯ³³lɯ³³morpheme ‘what’Sun H 91 ZMYY: 986.22
Yi (Mile)ᴀ²¹prefixmi⁵⁵ ‘what’Sun H 91 ZMYY: 986.25
Yi (Nanhua)ɑ³³prefix tso³³morphememo³³ intg‘what’Huang and Dai 92 TBL: 0954.37
Yi (Nanhua)ᴀ³³prefixtsᴀ³³morphememo³³ ‘what’Sun H 91 ZMYY: 986.24

6.1.2.2Central Loloish7

Kuconga33prefix mʌ33 ‘what’Dai 09 Kucong
Lahu (Lancang)ɑ³¹morphemetho²¹morphememɑ³³ intg‘what’Huang and Dai 92 TBL: 0954.43
Lahu (Black)morpheme-ma ‘what’Matisoff 88 DL: 97
Lahu (Black)morpheme-thòʔmorpheme=ma ‘what’Matisoff 88 DL: 97
Lahu (Black)ᴀ³¹morphemetho²¹morphememᴀ³³ ‘what’Sun H 91 ZMYY: 986.33
Lahu (Yellow)morphemetho²morphemepha³le¹morpheme ‘what’Chang 86
Yi (Sani)ɒ⁴⁴prefix mɪ⁴⁴ intg‘what’Huang and Dai 92 TBL: 0954.39

6.1.2.4Southeastern Loloish3

Azhaa³³prefixmu³³ ‘what?’Pelkey 11 Phula: 1121
Southern Mujia³³prefixmi²¹(-ti²¹morpheme) ‘what?’Pelkey 11 Phula: 1121
Hlepho Phowaa³³prefixmɛ⁵⁵ ‘what?’Pelkey 11 Phula: 1121

7Karenic1

Pa-Othəmorphememāi, morphememāi ‘what’Solnit 89 PaO

Cite this entry

STEDT etymon #167, *(b/m)a-y ‘WHAT’.
Stable link: https://larc-iu.github.io/stedt/etymon/167
Data: STEDT v1.0 (2017). Accessed: [date].
References: cf. HPTB p. 488
BibTeX
@misc{stedt-167,
  title  = {{*(b/m)a-y 'WHAT'}},
  author = {STEDT},
  year   = {2017},
  note   = {Sino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary and Thesaurus (STEDT) v1.0, etymon #167},
  url    = {https://larc-iu.github.io/stedt/etymon/167}
}