STEDT #3457

*mam

BREAST

Reconstruction analysis

handlemaninitialmrhymea-ncoverM · VN

Notes

This root is evidently hypocoristic in origin (see also #3459 PTB *pa BREAST / NIPPLE / MILK, above), and in fact is practically identical to the Indo-European root *mā- ‘mother; breast’ (> e.g. Latin mamma), of which the American Heritage Dictionary (1981:1527) says “An imitative root derived from the child’s cry for the breast (a linguistic universal found in many of the world’s languages, often in reduplicated form).” The final nasal in this etymon might have arisen through the reduction of an earlier reduplicated form *ma-ma (as in Ao, Sangtam, and Bunan).

There is a phonologically similar but apparently unrelated root #3451 PTB *m-ʔum ⪤ *mum HOLD IN MOUTH / CHEW / EAT / KISS, below.

Reflexes & cognates27 reflexes · 6 subgroups

1.2.2Central Chin1

Paangkhuama◦'írmorpheme ‘breast’Løffler 85 Paa

1.3.1Central Naga (Ao Group)8

Ao (Chungli)ma◦ma ‘breast’Marrison 67 Naga

Ao (Chungli)ma◦ma◦tzü#1631 PTB *tsyu ‘WATER / LIQUID / BODY FLUID’PCN *a-tʃə ‘WATER’TGTM * ᴮkjui ‘WATER’ ‘milk’Marrison 67 Naga

Ao (Mongsen: Longchang)ma◦ma ‘breast’Marrison 67 Naga

Ao (Mongsen: Longchang)ma◦ma◦tzü#5539 PTB *dzy(ə/o)w ‘SUCK / KISS / BREAST / MILK’MesorootsPTk *ju ‘KISS’Allofams1a #5536 PTB *dz(y)wap ⪤ *ts(y)wap ‘SUCK / KISS / BREAST / MILK’1b #5541 PTB *m-ts(y)(u/i)p ‘SUCK / KISS / BREAST / MILK’1c #5537 PTB *dzyut ‘SUCK / KISS / BREAST / MILK’1d #5540 PTB *tsyuk ⪤ *dzyuk ‘SUCK / KISS / BREAST / MILK’1e #5539 PTB *dzy(ə/o)w ‘SUCK / KISS / BREAST / MILK’ ‘milk’Marrison 67 Naga

Ao (Mongsen: Mangmetong)mama n.‘breast’Coupe 07 Ao

Ao (Mongsen: Mangmetong)mama-tsə#1631 PTB *tsyu ‘WATER / LIQUID / BODY FLUID’PCN *a-tʃə ‘WATER’TGTM * ᴮkjui ‘WATER’ n.‘milk ('breast' + 'water')’Coupe 07 Ao

Sangtamma◦ma ‘breast’Marrison 67 Naga

Yacham-Tengsamam◦tü#298 PTB *m-t(w)əy-n ⪤ *m-ti-s ‘WATER / FLUID / LIQUID / RIVER / SOAK / SPIT’PKC *tuy ‘WATER / FLUID / LIQUID’PTk *dɨ ‘WATER’PLB *m/ʔ-titᴴ ‘WET / SOAK’PKar *thejᴬ ‘WATER’ ‘milk’Marrison 67 Naga

1.7.2.2Konyak-Chang4

Phomam⁵⁵prefixmæ⁵⁵ ‘breast / milk’Burling 98 Phom

Phomam⁵⁵prefixmæ⁵⁵ ‘milk / breast’Burling 98 Phom

Phomam⁵⁵prefixmæ⁵⁵ču⁵⁵morpheme ‘nipple (am⁵⁵mæ⁵⁵ 'breast'; ču⁵⁵ 'mouth')’Burling 98 Phom

Phomaprefix◦ma ‘breast’Marrison 67 Naga

2.1.1Western Himalayish1

Bunanma◦ma ‘breast’Sharma, S.R. 91 Bu: 5.4

5Tujia9

Tujiaman²¹ ‘breast’Sun H 91 ZMYY: 259.38

Tujiaman²¹tshie²¹#298 PTB *m-t(w)əy-n ⪤ *m-ti-s ‘WATER / FLUID / LIQUID / RIVER / SOAK / SPIT’PKC *tuy ‘WATER / FLUID / LIQUID’PTk *dɨ ‘WATER’PLB *m/ʔ-titᴴ ‘WET / SOAK’PKar *thejᴬ ‘WATER’ ‘milk’Sun H 91 ZMYY: 281.38

Tujiamã²¹ ‘breast’Chen 86 TuBQ: 5.4

Tujia (Northern)mã²¹ ‘milk’Tian 86

Tujiamã²¹ pu³⁵morpheme li⁵⁵morpheme ‘nipple’Chen 86 TuBQ: 5.4.1

Tujia (Northern)mã²¹ pʰɨe²¹morpheme ‘breast’Tian 86

Tujiamã²¹ tsʰe²¹#298 PTB *m-t(w)əy-n ⪤ *m-ti-s ‘WATER / FLUID / LIQUID / RIVER / SOAK / SPIT’PKC *tuy ‘WATER / FLUID / LIQUID’PTk *dɨ ‘WATER’PLB *m/ʔ-titᴴ ‘WET / SOAK’PKar *thejᴬ ‘WATER’ ‘milk’Chen 86 TuBQ: 5.4.3

Tujiamã⁵⁵ ‘breast’Chen 86 TuMQ: 5.4

Tujiamã⁵⁵ tsʰe³⁵#298 PTB *m-t(w)əy-n ⪤ *m-ti-s ‘WATER / FLUID / LIQUID / RIVER / SOAK / SPIT’PKC *tuy ‘WATER / FLUID / LIQUID’PTk *dɨ ‘WATER’PLB *m/ʔ-titᴴ ‘WET / SOAK’PKar *thejᴬ ‘WATER’ ‘milk’Chen 86 TuMQ: 5.4.3

6.1.2.2Central Loloish4

Jinuo (Baya/Banai)mɛ⁴⁴ po³¹morpheme ‘breast’Dai 89 JinA: 121

Jinuo (Youle)mɛ⁴⁴ po⁴²morpheme ‘breast’Gai 86

Jinuomɛ⁴⁴ji³³#1013 PTB *rəy ‘WATER / LIQUID / BODILY FLUID’PLB *rəy¹ ‘WATER’PL *re¹ ‘WATER’ ‘milk’Sun H 91 ZMYY: 281.34

Jinuomɛ⁴⁴po⁴²morpheme ‘breast’Sun H 91 ZMYY: 259.34

Cite this entry

STEDT etymon #3457, *mam ‘BREAST’.

Stable link: https://larc-iu.github.io/stedt/etymon/3457

Data: STEDT v1.0 (2017). Accessed: [date].

References: ("Kmr") often reduplicated; sound-symbolic (cf. Latin)

BibTeX

@misc{stedt-3457,
  title  = {{*mam 'BREAST'}},
  author = {STEDT},
  year   = {2017},
  note   = {Sino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary and Thesaurus (STEDT) v1.0, etymon #3457},
  url    = {https://larc-iu.github.io/stedt/etymon/3457}
}