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STEDT #254

*s-nya-n

BREAST / MILK / SUCK
Proto-Tibeto-Burman

Reconstruction analysis

handlen/ŋye-initialn/ŋyrhymee-ncoverM · VN

Notes

This etymon, which frequently occurs reduplicated, may have a hypocoristic (baby-talk) flavor. It is sometimes difficult to distinguish reflexes of this etymon from those of #253 PTB *s-nəw BREAST / MILK / SUCK, which also often appear reduplicated. Particularly problematic are the Qiangic forms, many of which have front vowels, but which after much vacillation I have finally assigned to #253 PTB *s-nəw BREAST / MILK / SUCK instead of to the present set. Both #3585 PTB *s-nəw(-) BREAST / MILK / SUCK and #254 PTB *s-nya-n BREAST / MILK / SUCK occasionally take a nasal suffix, which further complicates the picture (cf. the *Tamang, Chepang, Hayu, and Pa-O forms, below).

A couple of Himalayish languages (Gurung, Thakali) have a velar initial, which appears to be a secondary development from the palatal nasal *ny-. A pair of other forms with voiceless nasals (Lushai [Mizo], E. Chepang) reflect the *s- prefix.

Chinese comparandum

嬭 OC *niər, GSR #359d-f ‘mother; breasts, milk’; Schuessler 2007:395 *nêʔ; Mand. nǎi.

Reflexes & cognates110 reflexes · 24 subgroups

1.1“North Assam”4

Sulung [Puroik]a³³prefixniɛ¹¹ ‘breast’Sun H 93 SulQ
Sulung [Puroik]a³³prefixniɛ¹¹ ‘breast’Sun H 91 ZMYY: 259.52
Sulung [Puroik]mə³³morphemeniɛ¹¹ ‘milk’Sun H 93 SulQ
Sulung [Puroik]mə³³morphemeniɛ¹¹ ‘milk’Sun H 91 ZMYY: 281.52

1.1.1.1Western Tani7

Apataniaprefix-ñi ‘milk’Sun J 93 Tani
Apataniaprefix-ñi hiʔmorpheme v‘milk’Sun J 93 Tani
Apataniàmorpheme-ñim-pjú#6531 PTani *pruk ‘SELL’-nɯmorpheme ‘milkman’Sun J 93 Tani
Apataniaprefix-ñíŋ ‘milk’Sun J 93 Tani
Apataniàprefix-ñiŋ gámorpheme-nɯŋmorpheme vt‘milk’Sun J 93 Tani

1.1.2Deng5

Darang [Taraon]ma:morpheme◦capmorpheme nye ceimorpheme ‘milk of cow’Anonymous xx Tar
Darang [Taraon]nye ceimorpheme ‘breast milk’Matisoff 87 BP
Darang [Taraon]nye ceimorpheme n‘milk’Anonymous xx Tar
Darang [Taraon]nye ma:morpheme◦ceimorpheme n‘milk’Anonymous xx Tar
Darang [Taraon]nye maːmorpheme◦ceimorpheme ‘breast milk’Matisoff 87 BP

1.2.2Central Chin1

1.3.2Angami-Pochuri Group4

Maone ‘suck’Marrison 67 Naga
Maooprefix◦ne ‘breast’Marrison 67 Naga

1.7.2.1Tangsa-Nocte1

Nocteni pomorpheme ‘breast’French 83: 490

2.1.2.1Tibetan1

2.1.4Tamangish33

*TGTMᴬneː ‘milk’Mazaudon 94 These: 555
Gurung³ŋẽ ‘breasts’Mazaudon 94 These: 213
Gurung³ŋe- v.t.‘milk (cow)’Mazaudon 94 These: 561
Gurung (Ghachok)ŋeh pipmorpheme◦basuffix ‘wean’Glover 72 GuVo: 6.B.2.3
Gurung (Ghachok)ŋeh◦basuffix v.t.‘milk (cow)’Glover 72 GuVo: 3.B.41
Gurung (Ghachok)ŋeh◦kramorpheme ‘nipple’Glover 72 GuVo: 2.A.35
Manang (Gyaru)nyᴇː³ basuffix V‘suck’Nagano 84 Man: 087
Manang (Prakaa)⁴ɲeː- ‘suck’Hoshi 84: 0287
Tamang (Risiangku)³ne-²tʰunmorpheme ‘nipple’Mazaudon 91 TamQ: 5.4.1
Tamang (Risiangku)³neː n‘breast, udder, milk’Mazaudon 91 TamQ: 5.4, 5.4.2
Tamang (Risiangku)³neː ‘breast / teat / milk’Mazaudon 94 These: 555
Tamang (Sahu)³ɲe ‘milk (a cow)’Mazaudon 94 These: 561
Thakali (Tukche)ŋjeh cohmorpheme ‘nipple’Hari 71a ThVo: 2.A.35
Thakali (Tukche)ŋjeh kʰamorpheme-lɔmorpheme v.‘nurse’Hari 71a ThVo: 6.B.2.1
Thakali (Tukche)ŋjeh pimorpheme-lasuffix ‘wean’Hari 71a ThVo: 6.B.2.3

2.3.1Eastern Kiranti1

2.3.4Western Kiranti1

Hayunyen ‘breast milk’Matisoff 87 BP

3.1Tangut1

Tangut [Xixia]nẹ² ‘breast’Sofronov 97

3.2Qiangic4

Muya [Minyak]nɯ³³#253 PTB *s-nəw ‘BREAST / MILK / SUCK’MesorootsPKC *hnooy ‘BREAST’PTk *nu ‘BREAST’PKar *nu' ‘BREAST’PKar *nuᴮ ‘BREASTS’Allofams2 #3585 PTB *s-nəw(-) ‘BREAST / MILK / SUCK’2a #253 PTB *s-nəw ‘BREAST / MILK / SUCK’2b #3586 PTB *s-nəw(t/n) ‘BREAST / MILK / SUCK’2c #259 PTB *s-nəw(k/ŋ) ‘BREAST / MILK’nø⁵³ ‘breast’Muya nɯ³³ likely derived from #253 PTB *s-nəw BREAST / MILK / SUCK, since PTB *-əw most often becomes Muya -ɯ, e.g. ‘steal’ PTB *r-kəw > WT rku, WB khûi, Muya kɯ⁵⁵; ‘sky’ PTB *r-məw > WT rmu-ba ‘fog’, WB mûi(gh), Muya mɯ⁵⁵.Sun H 91 MuyQ: 5.4

6.1.1Burmish5

Achang (Lianghe)ȵɛ̃³¹ ‘breast’Dai 85 AcJZ
Achang (Lianghe)ȵɛ̃³¹ ‘milk’Dai 85 AcJZ
Achang (Luxi)ȵɛn³¹ ‘breast’Dai 85 AcJZ
Achang (Luxi)ȵɛn³¹ ‘milk’Dai 85 AcJZ
Achang (Xiandao)ɲɔn³⁵ ‘breast’Dai 89 Xian: 118

6.1.2.1Northern Loloish17

Nesua⁵⁵prefix ȵi²¹ ʑ²¹morpheme ‘nipple’Chen 86 Yi: 5.4.1
Nesua⁵⁵prefix ȵi²¹ ʑʅ²¹morpheme ‘milk’Chen 86 Yi: 5.4.3
Nosua⁴⁴prefixne³³ ‘breast’Chen 86 Yi: 5.4
Nosua⁴⁴prefixne³³ ‘milk’Chen 86 Yi: 5.4.3
Nosua⁴⁴prefixne³³ma⁴⁴morphemema³³morpheme ‘nipple’Chen 86 Yi: 5.4.1
Yi (Mile)ne̱³³ v‘milk’Sun H 91 ZMYY: 611.25
Yi (Xide)a³⁴prefix-nᴇ³³ ‘breasts, milk’Chen 79 YiCh
Yi (Xide)a³⁴prefix-nᴇ³³ ma³⁴morpheme-ma³³morpheme ‘nipple’Chen 79 YiCh
Yi (Xide)a⁴⁴prefix ne³³ ‘milk’Chen 85 YiJZ
Yi (Xide)a⁴⁴prefixne³³ ‘breast’Sun H 91 ZMYY: 259.21
Yi (Xide)a⁴⁴prefixne³³ ‘milk’Sun H 91 ZMYY: 281.21
Yi (Xide)ȵi²¹ ‘breasts, milk’Chen 79 YiCh

6.1.2.2Central Loloish9

Lolo (Ni)aprefix◦gni ‘breasts’Luce 85: U.9
Jinuoȵɛ⁵⁵ v‘milk’Sun H 91 ZMYY: 611.34
Sani [Nyi]A³³prefixni³³ ‘milk’Wu 84
Sani [Nyi]ɑ⁴⁴prefix n̩³³ o⁵⁵#385 PTB *d-bu-s ‘HEAD / CENTER / SENIOR MALE RELATIVE / UNCLE’MesorootsPKC *ʔuu ‘ELDER SIBLING’Allofams1 #385 PTB *d-bu-s ‘HEAD / CENTER / SENIOR MALE RELATIVE / UNCLE’1a #1223 PTB *du ‘HEAD’ qo¹¹#387 PTB *s-kawŋ ‘HOLLOW / HOLLOW OBJECT / HEAD’ ‘nipple’Literally “breast-head”.Ma 89 SanQ: 368.3
Sani [Nyi]ɑ⁴⁴prefixn̩³³ ‘milk’Chen 86 Yi: 5.4.3

6.2Naxi2

Naxi (Eastern)ȵi³¹bi³³morpheme ‘milk’He 85
Naxi (Western)ȵi⁵⁵ȵi³³ ‘milk’He 85

7Karenic2

Pa-Onɛ̂n ‘breast’Jones 61: 23
Pa-O (Northern)nɛn² ‘breasts, nipple’Luce 85: G.53

8Bai1

Bai (Bijiang)ne³⁵pɑ⁴²morpheme v‘milk’Sun H 91 ZMYY: 611.37

Cite this entry

STEDT etymon #254, *s-nya-n ‘BREAST / MILK / SUCK’.
Stable link: https://larc-iu.github.io/stedt/etymon/254
Data: STEDT v1.0 (2017). Accessed: [date].
BibTeX
@misc{stedt-254,
  title  = {{*s-nya-n 'BREAST / MILK / SUCK'}},
  author = {STEDT},
  year   = {2017},
  note   = {Sino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary and Thesaurus (STEDT) v1.0, etymon #254},
  url    = {https://larc-iu.github.io/stedt/etymon/254}
}