STEDT
The Body  ›  Limbs, Joints, and Body Measures  ›  Lame/Limp
STEDT #6133

*(p/b)aːy

LAME / LIMP / ASKEW
Proto-Tibeto-Burman

Intermediate reconstructions

Kuki-Chin*ɓa(a)y ⪤ *pa(a)y ‘LAME / LIMP / HALTING (speech)’PKC #33
Northern Naga/Konyakian*baːy ‘JUMP’

Connections

HPTB*paːy ⪤ *baːy ‘lame / limp / askew’pp. 210, 221

Notes

W.T. French 1983:503 reconstructs Proto Northern Naga *baːy with the meaning JUMP, clearly a related notion to LAME / LIMP in the sense that special movements of the lower limbs are involved.

This etymon is certainly co-allofamic with #2154 PTB *b(w)ay LEFT (HAND), via a set of semantic associations familiar from Western languages, where left-handedness has been regarded as “gauche” or “sinister”.

Chinese comparandum

The following set of Chinese etyma is offered on the basis of discussion in Schuessler 2007:158-9, 170-71 et pass; (also see Matisoff 1995: ST Palatal Suffixes Revisited). These etyma can be considered allofams within Chinese, as well as primary comparanda for PTB *(p/b)aːy on both phonological and semantic grounds:

跛 OC *pwɑ̂, GSR #25m ‘walk lame’; Schuessler 2007:171 *pâiʔ; B & S 2011: *pˁajʔ; Mand. bǒ.
頗 OC *p’wɑ̂, GSR #25p ‘slanting, oblique, perverse’; Schuessler 2007:158 *phâi; Mand. pō.
坡 OC (*p’wɑ̂), (not in GSR #25) ‘slope, slanted’; Schuessler 2007:158 *phâi; Mand. pō.
陂 OC *piɑ, GSR #25i ‘river bank, dike’; Schuessler 2007: *pai; B & S 2011: *paj {p(r)a[j]}; Mand. bēi, bī.
詖 OC *piɑ, GSR #25h ‘biased, insincere’; Schuessler 2007:158 *paih; Mand. bì.

Reflexes & cognates32 reflexes · 11 subgroups

0.1Tibeto-Burman (previously published reconstructions)3

*Tibeto-Burmanpay ⪤ bay ‘lame / limp / askew’Matisoff 85 GSTC: 124
*Tibeto-Burmanpaːy ⪤ baːy ‘lame / limp / askew’Matisoff 03 HPTB: 606

1.1.1.2Eastern Tani1

Milangtolmorpheme-ŋemorpheme-pi-lumorpheme-mamorpheme ‘limp’Tayeng 76 Mil

1.1.2Deng3

Kaman [Miju]plɑ⁵⁵morpheme ɑ³¹prefix be³⁵ ‘lame person’Sun H 80 MLD
Kaman [Miju]plɑ⁵⁵morphemeɑ³¹morphemebe³⁵ n‘lame person’Huang and Dai 92 TBL: 0203.23
Kaman [Miju]plɑ⁵⁵morphemeɑ³¹prefixbe³⁵ ‘lame person’Sun H 91 ZMYY: 304.48

1.2Kuki-Chin1

*Chinɓa(a)y ⪤ pa(a)y ‘LAME / LIMP / HALTING (speech)’VanBik 09 PKC: 33

1.2.1.1Northern Chin12

Kuki-Chinelmorpheme◦bai ‘crippled / lame’Haokip 98: 6.2.7
Kuki-Chinkimorpheme◦bai v‘limp’Haokip 98: 6.2.8
Sizangbaī hī ‘lame’VanBik 09 PKC: 33
Thadokìprefix-báay-I, kì-bày-II be v.‘lame’VanBik 09 PKC: 33
Thadoɛ̀lmorpheme◦bài ‘lame (one side only)’Thirumalai 72: 15
Tiddim-baːi be v.‘lame’Matisoff 85 GSTC: 124
Tiddim-baːi/ˋbaːi v‘lame’Henderson 65 TidC
Tiddimbaːi² ‘lame’VanBik 09 PKC: 33
Tiddimbaːi² vi‘lame’Bhaskararao 96 CDB: 55
Tiddimbaːi² ‘lame’Bhaskararao 94 TCV
Tiddimˋbaːi be v.‘lame’Matisoff 85 GSTC: 124

1.2.1.2Southern Plains Chin1

Khumitbaáy ‘lame, unable to walk’VanBik 09 PKC: 33

1.2.2Central Chin7

Lai (Hakha)bày-I, bǎy-II ‘lame, limp’VanBik 09 PKC: 33
Lai (Falam)báy-I, bày-II, bǎy be v.‘lame, limp’VanBik 09 PKC: 33
Lushai [Mizo]bǎi ‘limp, be lame; hop’Matisoff 85 GSTC: 124
Lushai [Mizo]bǎi be v.‘lame, to limp’VanBik 09 PKC: 33
Lushai [Mizo]bai vi‘lame; walk lamely’Bhaskararao 96 CDB: 2111
Lushai [Mizo]kemorpheme◦bai ‘lame’Marrison 67 Naga
Lushai [Mizo]pǎi ‘stagger, reel; have a foreign accent; be out of line askew’Matisoff 85 GSTC: 124

1.2.3Maraic1

Lakher [Mara]chāmorpheme-bìa v‘limp, to hobble’VanBik 09 PKC: 33

1.7.2Northern Naga/Konyakian2

1.7.2.2Konyak-Chang6

Changai v‘jump’Marrison 67 Naga
Changai ‘lame / limp / askew’Matisoff 85 GSTC: 124
Changai ‘jump’French 83: 507
Phomtütmorpheme◦ei v‘jump’Marrison 67 Naga
Phomtətmorpheme ei ‘jump’French 83: 507
Phomtətmorpheme-ei ‘jump’Matisoff 85 GSTC: 124

3.3.1rGyalrong1

rGyalrongNbi ‘person who limps’Matisoff 85 GSTC: 124

Cite this entry

STEDT etymon #6133, *(p/b)aːy ‘LAME / LIMP / ASKEW’.
Stable link: https://larc-iu.github.io/stedt/etymon/6133
Data: STEDT v1.0 (2017). Accessed: [date].
References: cf. HPTB pp.210, 221
BibTeX
@misc{stedt-6133,
  title  = {{*(p/b)aːy 'LAME / LIMP / ASKEW'}},
  author = {STEDT},
  year   = {2017},
  note   = {Sino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary and Thesaurus (STEDT) v1.0, etymon #6133},
  url    = {https://larc-iu.github.io/stedt/etymon/6133}
}