STEDT #5498

*la-y

QUESTION PARTICLE / INTERROGATIVE

Intermediate reconstructions

Lolo-Burmese*la² ‘yes/no question particle’

Lolo-Burmese*lay²/³ ‘substance question particle’

Notes

Lolo-Burmese distinguishes between the open syllable allofam *la and the suffixed form *lay, with a semantic difference: signaling yes/no questions vs. substance questions, respectively. See GSTC set #131, Matisoff 1995 (“Palatal suffixes”) #21, and HPTB p. 488.

Chinese comparandum

Chinese 與 or 歟 ‘final (yes/no or rhetorical) interrogative particle’ is reconstructed as OC *zi̯o in GSR #89b-d and #89e (Mand. yú), but as *lă in WHB’s system.

Reflexes & cognates18 reflexes · 14 subgroups

0.1Tibeto-Burman (previously published reconstructions)1

*Tibeto-Burmanla-y ‘question particle’Matisoff 03 HPTB: 599

1.1.1.1Western Tani2

Galo`laa pcl.‘Content question marker’GLDC 09 Galo

Galo`laa pcl.‘Question marker (content)’GLDC 09 Galo

1.3.4Tangkhulic1

Ukhrulla ‘question marker (yes-no)’Mortensen 12 Tk

1.4Meithei1

Meitheila ~ lə ‘yes/no question particle’Matisoff 03 HPTB: 488

1.7.1.1Bodo3

Kokborokkhprefix◦lay ‘content question particle’Matisoff 03 HPTB: 488

Kokboroklay ‘content question particle’Matisoff 03 HPTB: 488

Kokboroklay ‘wh- particle’Tripuri 88

2.2Newar2

Newar (Kathmandu)lā ‘yes/no question particle’Malla 07 PC: HPTB:488

Newar (Kathmandu)le ‘content question particle’Malla 07 PC: HPTB:488

2.4Kham-Magar-Chepang1

Chepang-lo fn2.‘Interrogative of Identification’Caughley 00 Chepang

5Tujia1

Tujia (Northern)la ‘interrogative sentential particle’Brassett 06 Tujia: 7.1

6.1Lolo-Burmese2

*Lolo-Burmeselay¹/² ‘question particle’Matisoff 85 GSTC: 131

*Lolo-Burmesela² ‘question particle’Matisoff 03 HPTB: 599

6.1.1Burmish2

Burmese (Written)lâ ‘( affix, interrog. )’Benedict 76 WBur

Burmese (Written)lâi ‘final particle marking substance questions’Matisoff 85 GSTC: 131

6.1.2Loloish2

*Loloishlay²/³ ‘substance question’Bradley 79 PLo: 859

*Loloishla² ‘yes / no question’Bradley 79 PLo: 858

6.1.2.2Central Loloish2

Lahu (Black)lâ ‘yes/no question particle’Matisoff 88 DL: 1347

Lahu (Black)le ‘substance question particle’Matisoff 88 DL: 1373

6.1.2.3Southern Loloish1

Mpilɑ² ‘question particle’Srinuan 76

7Karenic2

Kayan (Pekon)lá Pf‘interrogative question marker’Manson 10 Kayan

Kayan (Pekon)lé Pf‘question marker’Manson 10 Kayan

Cite this entry

STEDT etymon #5498, *la-y ‘QUESTION PARTICLE / INTERROGATIVE’.

Stable link: https://larc-iu.github.io/stedt/etymon/5498

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

References: cf. HPTB pp. 209, 231, 488

BibTeX

@misc{stedt-5498,
  title  = {{*la-y 'QUESTION PARTICLE / INTERROGATIVE'}},
  author = {STEDT},
  year   = {2017},
  note   = {Sino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary and Thesaurus (STEDT) v1.0, etymon #5498},
  url    = {https://larc-iu.github.io/stedt/etymon/5498}
}