*ya

DIMINUTIVE

Intermediate reconstructions

Loloish*s-yakᴸ ‘BABY’

Notes

This root, discussed in detail in JAM 1995 “Sino-Tibetan palatal suffixes revisited”, appears in reduced form as -i or -y in a large number of etymologies. See also HPTB:482-489.

The high-rising tone of Lahu ɛ́ ‘baby, child’ is evidence for a final stop at the Proto-Loloish level, which motivates Bradley’s reconstruction of PL *s-yak^L.

For a similar though distinct root, see #2806 PTB *z(y)əy LITTLE / SMALL / TINY.

Reflexes & cognates15 reflexes · 6 subgroups

0.1Tibeto-Burman (previously published reconstructions)1

*Tibeto-Burmanya ‘diminutive’Matisoff 03 HPTB: 482

1.1.1.1Western Tani3

Galo-yaa adj:mono.‘small’GLDC 09 Galo

Galo-yaa...-caamorpheme adjs:rcom.‘tiny’GLDC 09 Galo

Galoaprefix◦yaa adj.‘small’GLDC 09 Galo

1.1.2Deng9

Darang [Taraon]a:-◦a: ‘small’Anonymous xx Tar

Darang [Taraon]hu:imorpheme-a: ‘bamboo (small)’Anonymous xx Tar

Darang [Taraon]huimorpheme-a: ‘bamboo (small)’Anonymous xx Tar

Darang [Taraon]ma:morpheme◦sa:ng#2658 PTB *si(ŋ/k) ‘TREE / WOOD / FIREWOOD’PTani *sɯŋ ‘WOOD / TREE’PKC *thiŋ ‘TREE / WOOD’PCN *siŋ ‘WOOD’PTk *tʰiŋ ‘WOOD’TGTM *ᴮsiŋ ‘TREE’PKir *siŋ ‘TREE’PLB *sikᴴ ⪤ *siŋ ‘TREE’-a: ‘tree (small)’Anonymous xx Tar

Darang [Taraon]ta:morpheme◦nyumorpheme-a: ‘basket (small, for women)’Anonymous xx Tar

Darang [Taraon]ɑ⁵³ɑ⁵⁵ adj‘thin (in diameter) / fine / tiny’Huang and Dai 92 TBL: 0967.22

Idui⁵⁵morphemetsi⁵⁵morphemege⁵⁵morphemeɑ⁵⁵ ‘little / few’Sun H 91 ZMYY: 820.50

Yidubɹɑŋ³⁵morphemetɕi⁵⁵morphemeɑ⁵⁵ adj‘thin (in diameter) / fine / tiny’Huang and Dai 92 TBL: 0967.25

Yidui⁵⁵morphemetsi⁵⁵morphemege⁵⁵morphemeɑ⁵⁵ adj‘few / little’Huang and Dai 92 TBL: 0988.25

Cite this entry

STEDT etymon #549, *ya ‘DIMINUTIVE’.

Stable link: https://larc-iu.github.io/stedt/etymon/549

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

References: cf. HPTB p.482

BibTeX

@misc{stedt-549,
  title  = {{*ya 'DIMINUTIVE'}},
  author = {STEDT},
  year   = {2017},
  note   = {Sino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary and Thesaurus (STEDT) v1.0, etymon #549},
  url    = {https://larc-iu.github.io/stedt/etymon/549}
}

*ya