*s/ʔ-n(w)ay

COHESIVE / STICKY / ELASTIC

Intermediate reconstructions

Lolo-Burmese*ʔ-nay²/³ ‘COHESIVE / STICKY / ELASTIC’

Notes

A glottal stop prefix is exceptionally reconstructed for this root at the PTB level, because of the pre-glottalized nasals in the Jingpho forms. (To reconstruct the *s- prefix here would be anomalous, since that prefix regularly gives Jingpho šə- ~ džə-.)

This etymon definitely seems related to #2493 PTB *m/s-naːy TWIST / KNEAD / SOFTEN.

Reflexes & cognates10 reflexes · 9 subgroups

0.1Tibeto-Burman (previously published reconstructions)2

*Tibeto-Burmans/ʔ-n(w)ay ‘cohesive / elastic’Matisoff 03 HPTB: 605

*Tibeto-Burmanʔ/s-nay ⪤ ʔ/s-nway ‘cohesive / sticky / elastic’Matisoff 85 GSTC: 097

1.2.3Maraic1

Lakher [Mara]hnei ‘have cohesion’Matisoff 85 GSTC: 097

1.3.4Tangkhulic2

Tangkhulkhəprefix◦məprefix◦nuy ‘sticky’Matisoff 85 GSTC: 097

Tangkhulnuy ‘sticky’Bhat 69 TNV: 98

1.5Mikir [Karbi]1

Mikir [Karbi]ne ‘heart / brains / mind’Matisoff 78 VSTB

1.7.3.1Jingpho4

Jingphoəprefix◦nāi ‘brain’Used only in the elaborate expression ənúʔ-enāi. Perhaps related to Jingpho ʔnāi ‘sticky; adhesive; pliable; elastic’, since the brain is sometimes perceived as a sticky object.Matisoff 93 PC

Jingphoʔnāi ‘sticky, adhesive, pliable; elastic’Matisoff 85 GSTC: 097

Jingphoʔnāi-ʔnāi ‘sticky and thus soft; flabby’Matisoff 85 GSTC: 097

Jingphoʔnōi ‘limp, soft, tender, pliable, elastic’Matisoff 85 GSTC: 097

6.1Lolo-Burmese1

*Lolo-Burmeseʔ-nay²/³ ‘cohesive / sticky / elastic’Matisoff 85 GSTC: 097

6.1.2Loloish1

*Loloishnay² ‘cohesive / sticky / elastic’Matisoff 85 GSTC: 097

6.1.2.2Central Loloish1

Lahu (Black)nê ‘have consistency; be cohesive, viscous, chewy’Matisoff 85 GSTC: 097

6.1.2.3Southern Loloish1

Akhanɛ̀ ‘tough, chewy’Matisoff 85 GSTC: 097

Cite this entry

STEDT etymon #434, *s/ʔ-n(w)ay ‘COHESIVE / STICKY / ELASTIC’.

Stable link: https://larc-iu.github.io/stedt/etymon/434

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

References: cf. HPTB p.214

BibTeX

@misc{stedt-434,
  title  = {{*s/ʔ-n(w)ay 'COHESIVE / STICKY / ELASTIC'}},
  author = {STEDT},
  year   = {2017},
  note   = {Sino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary and Thesaurus (STEDT) v1.0, etymon #434},
  url    = {https://larc-iu.github.io/stedt/etymon/434}
}