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STEDT #2060

*wal

ROUND / CIRCULAR
Proto-Tibeto-Burman

Reconstruction analysis

handlewalinitialwrhymealcoverL · L

Intermediate reconstructions

Central Chin*wal ‘ENCIRCLE’PKC #1145 ("PCC")

Connections

HPTB*wal ‘round / circular / enclosure’pp. 404, 406, 424

Notes

This root is well-established in Tibeto-Burman, and underlies a luxuriant Chinese word family with at least a dozen members.

This root bears a certain resemblance to #5138 PKC *weel CIRCLE / GO (round), but further research is needed to establish this relationship.

Chinese comparanda

Additional comparanda:

圈 OC *gʼi̯wɑn ~ *gʼi̯wɑ̆n, GSR #226k ‘enclosure for pigs’; Mand. juàn ‘pen, corral’, juān ‘shut in, confine to (e.g. a corral, jail)’.

圈 OC *ki̯wɑ̆n ~ *kʼi̯wɑ̆n, GSR #226k; cf. Mand. quān ‘a circle; to draw a circle, delineate’.

圈 GSR #226k includes two separate, yet semantically related etyma, distinguished by the voicing of the initial consonant: 1) ‘corral/to confine’, and 2) ‘circle/to draw a circle’ (Karlgren glosses 2) as ‘turn around on foot’; in modern Chinese, however, the predominant sense is ‘circle’).

No reconstruction for 圈 is offered by B & S 2011 or Schuessler 2007. [SPB]

#2060 PTB *wal ROUND / CIRCULAR
#6077 PTB *kwa(ŋ/k) FENCE / ENCLOSURE / CIRCLE / RING
#4045 PKC *ɓial ROUND / CIRCLE
#2270 PTB *hwaŋ ENCIRCLE / CIRCULAR / FENCE
#4267 PKC *kual COIL / LOOP
#5138 PKC *weel CIRCLE / GO (round)

Reflexes & cognates59 reflexes · 8 subgroups

0.1Tibeto-Burman (previously published reconstructions)4

*Tibeto-Burmanwal ‘round / circular / enclosure’Matisoff 03 HPTB: 618
*Tibeto-Burmanwal ‘circular, round’Benedict 72 STC: 91
*Tibeto-Burmanwɑl ‘round / circular’Chou 72: 425a-b

1.2.2Central Chin5

Lai (Hakha)vâl-I, vǎl-II ‘encircle, to make ring (as with rope on the ground)’VanBik 09 PKC: 1145
Lushai [Mizo]vǎl v‘form a ring or circle’VanBik 09 PKC: 1145
Lushai [Mizo]val ‘circular, round’Benedict 72 STC: 91

1.7.3.1Jingpho1

Jingphowan ‘circular, round’Benedict 72 STC: 91

6.1.1Burmish5

Burmese (Written)wân v.‘round, surround’Matisoff 74 TJLB: 248
Burmese (Written)wân ‘round, circular’Benedict 76 WBur
Burmese (Written)wàn ‘circular, round’Benedict 72 STC: 91

9.0.1Old Chinese17

Chinese (Old/Mid)gi̯wɑn/ji̯wɑ̈n ‘round’Chou 72: 227c
Chinese (Old/Mid)gi̯wɑn/ji̯wɑ̈n ‘wall (round a courtyard)’Chou 72: 257u
Chinese (Old/Mid)gʻiwɑn/ɣiwen ‘tie around / encircle’Chou 72: 256q
Chinese (Old/Mid)gʻwɑn/ɣwɑn ‘turn round / return’Chou 72: 256k-m
Chinese (Old/Mid)gʻwɑn/ɣwɑn v.‘ring / encircle’Chou 72: 256n
Chinese (Old/Mid)ʔi̯wɑ̆n/ʔi̯wɒn: ‘park / enclosure for animals’Karlgren 57 GSR: 260q
Chinese (Old/Mid)ʔi̯wət/ʔi̯uət ‘park / enclosure for animals’Karlgren 57 GSR: 260q
Chinese (Old)Cprefix.ɢʷˤren n.‘ring’BaxterSagart 2011: 1118
Chinese (Old)gi̯wɑn ‘circle / circumference / round / return’Chou 72: 227a-b
Chinese (Old)sprefix-ɢʷen {s-[ɢ]ʷe[n]} ‘turn round; return’BaxterSagart 2011: 3227
Chinese (Old)sprefix-ɢʷen {s-[ɢ]ʷen} ‘turn round, return’BaxterSagart 2011: 3229
Chinese (Old)ɢʷran-ssuffix {ɢʷra[n]-s} ‘wall round a courtyard’BaxterSagart 2011: 3656
Chinese (Old)ɢʷren {[ɢ]ʷre[n]} ‘circle; round’BaxterSagart 2011: 3636
Chinese (Old)ɢʷren {[ɢ]ʷre[n]} ‘round’BaxterSagart 2011: 3637
Chinese (Old)ɢʷren {[ɢ]ʷren} ‘round’BaxterSagart 2011: 3638
Chinese (Old)ɢʷər-ssuffix {[ɢ]ʷər-s} ‘turn round, move’BaxterSagart 2011: 3690

9.0.2Middle Chinese8

Chinese (Middle)hjunH ‘turn round, move’BaxterSagart 2011: 3690
Chinese (Middle)hjwenH ‘wall round a courtyard’BaxterSagart 2011: 3656
Chinese (Middle)zjwen ‘turn round; return’BaxterSagart 2011: 3227
Chinese (Middle)zjwen ‘turn round, return’BaxterSagart 2011: 3229

Cite this entry

STEDT etymon #2060, *wal ‘ROUND / CIRCULAR’.
Stable link: https://larc-iu.github.io/stedt/etymon/2060
Data: STEDT v1.0 (2017). Accessed: [date].
References: cf. STC#091, HPTB pp.404, 406, 424
BibTeX
@misc{stedt-2060,
  title  = {{*wal 'ROUND / CIRCULAR'}},
  author = {STEDT},
  year   = {2017},
  note   = {Sino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary and Thesaurus (STEDT) v1.0, etymon #2060},
  url    = {https://larc-iu.github.io/stedt/etymon/2060}
}