*s-nyam

THINK / BRAIN

Notes

Three phonetically similar etyma must be distinguished in this semantic area: #66 PTB *s(y)am-s BREATH / LUNG / SPIRIT / VOICE / HEART, #689 PTB *s/k-n(y)i-k/ŋ HEART / MIND / BRAIN, #5554 PTB *s-nyam THINK / BRAIN.

The Tani reflexes of this etymon appear as the second element in the PTani binome *pVk-ni ‘brain’; these binomes are tagged under #252 PTB *p(u/i)-k BRAIN.

Chinese comparandum

念 OC *niəm, GSR #670a-c ‘think of, read’; B & S 2011: *nˁim-s ; Mand. niàn.
恁 OC *ńi̯əm, GSR #667q-r ‘think’; B & S 2011: *nəmʔ {n[ə]mʔ}; Mand. nèn.

Reflexes & cognates14 reflexes · 8 subgroups

0.1Tibeto-Burman (previously published reconstructions)1

*Tibeto-Burmans-nyam ‘think’Matisoff 03 HPTB: 605

1.1.2Deng4

Darang [Taraon]pí#252 PTB *p(u/i)-k ‘BRAIN’PTani *pVk-ni? ‘BRAIN’-ním ‘brain’Matisoff 87 BP

Darang [Taraon]pí#252 PTB *p(u/i)-k ‘BRAIN’PTani *pVk-ni? ‘BRAIN’◦ním ‘brain’Anonymous xx Tar

Darang [Taraon]pɯ³¹#252 PTB *p(u/i)-k ‘BRAIN’PTani *pVk-ni? ‘BRAIN’ ȵɯm⁵⁵ ‘brain’Sun H 80 MLD

Kaman [Miju]nɯn⁵³ ‘brain’Sun H 80 MLD

2.1.2.1Tibetan3

Tibetan (Written)nyɑm(s) ‘soul / mind / thought’Chou 72: 667q-r

Tibetan (Written)sñam ‘think’Marrison 67 Naga

Tibetan (Written)snyɑm-pɑsuffix ‘think / imagine / thought / mind’Chou 72: 667q-r

6.1.2.2Central Loloish1

Lisu (Northern)hã³³tɤ²¹morpheme ‘edge of field’Bradley 94 Lisu

9.0.1Old Chinese2

Chinese (Old/Mid)ńi̯əm ‘think’Chou 72: 667q-r

Chinese (Old/Mid)niəm ‘think of’Chou 72: 670a-c

Cite this entry

STEDT etymon #5554, *s-nyam ‘THINK / BRAIN’.

Stable link: https://larc-iu.github.io/stedt/etymon/5554

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

References: cf. HPTB p. 299

BibTeX

@misc{stedt-5554,
  title  = {{*s-nyam 'THINK / BRAIN'}},
  author = {STEDT},
  year   = {2017},
  note   = {Sino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary and Thesaurus (STEDT) v1.0, etymon #5554},
  url    = {https://larc-iu.github.io/stedt/etymon/5554}
}