STEDT
STEDT #3461

*m-bawŋ

BREAST / MILK

Reconstruction analysis

handleboŋinitialbrhymecoverP · N

Intermediate reconstructions

Northern Naga/Konyakian*puːŋ ‘BREAST / FLOWER’

Notes

This root is solidly attested in the NE Indian Areal Group. There is also an excellent match between the Kaman reflex and the reconstructed Tangut form, on the basis of which we set up a nasal prefix for the etymon. W.T. French (1983:490-1) suggests that this root shows an association in Northern Naga between BREAST and FLOWER (“flower” = tree + breast).

Reflexes & cognates11 reflexes · 7 subgroups

1.5Mikir [Karbi]2

Mikir [Karbi]chù#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’-bōng-chethèmorpheme ‘nipple’Karbi chethè is defined as ‘life, breath, stature; pipe’ in Walker 1925:31, as in chethè ari ‘larynx, windpipe’. Thus this form seems to mean ‘breast-pipe’. For reasons of space, this semantic association is not diagrammed in the chart at the beginning of this chapter.Grüssner 79 BP: 74

1.7.2Northern Naga/Konyakian1

*Northern Nagapuːŋ ‘breast / flower’French 83: 490

1.7.2.1Tangsa-Nocte3

Tangsa (Yogli)pilmorpheme pauŋ ‘flower’French 83: 490

1.7.2.2Konyak-Chang1

Changsammorpheme puŋ ‘flower / (breast)’French 83: 490

Cite this entry

STEDT etymon #3461, *m-bawŋ ‘BREAST / MILK’.
Stable link: https://larc-iu.github.io/stedt/etymon/3461
Data: STEDT v1.0 (2017). Accessed: [date].
BibTeX
@misc{stedt-3461,
  title  = {{*m-bawŋ 'BREAST / MILK'}},
  author = {STEDT},
  year   = {2017},
  note   = {Sino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary and Thesaurus (STEDT) v1.0, etymon #3461},
  url    = {https://larc-iu.github.io/stedt/etymon/3461}
}