*s-ta
Reconstruction analysis
Connections
Notes
The Qiangic forms are clearly borrowings from a Tibetan binome (cf. WT sta ri).
This root seems quite distinct from #5609 PTB *taŋ KNIFE.
Chinese comparandum
刀 OC *tog GSR #1131a ‘knife’; Schuessler 2007:207 *tâu; B & S 2011: *C.tˁaw; Mand. dāo.
Schuessler 2007:207 views Chinese 刀 dāo as perhaps an “…[A]rea word or CH loan”. As an alternative, we posit Sino-Tibetan *s-ta-w, with suffix *-w, on the assumption that the suffix was dropped in Tibeto-Burman, yielding PTB *s-ta, but was retained in Sinitic, yielding OC *C.tˁaw (cf. B & S 2011).
Comparative evidence for suffix *-w within Sinitic or Tibeto-Burman is sparse (cf. #1707 EAT, where the range of reconstructed finals awaits confirmation). Nonetheless, the fact remains that PTB *s-ta ‘knife, axe, sword’ and OC *C.tˁaw ‘knife’ are quite close phonologically, and appear to reside within very old, core lexicon of their respective subfamilies. We suggest the issue of cognacy be left open for further research, rather than rejected outright. [SPB].
Reflexes & cognates21 reflexes · 7 subgroups
0.1Tibeto-Burman (previously published reconstructions)1
2.1.2.1Tibetan5
3.2Qiangic5
6.1.1Burmish4
6.1.2Loloish2
6.1.2.1Northern Loloish1
6.1.2.2Central Loloish6
Cite this entry
*s-ta ‘KNIFE / AXE / SWORD’.https://larc-iu.github.io/stedt/etymon/2684BibTeX
@misc{stedt-2684,
title = {{*s-ta 'KNIFE / AXE / SWORD'}},
author = {STEDT},
year = {2017},
note = {Sino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary and Thesaurus (STEDT) v1.0, etymon #2684},
url = {https://larc-iu.github.io/stedt/etymon/2684}
}