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STEDT #62

*mwa-n/s

LIFE / BREATH
Proto-Tibeto-Burman

Reconstruction analysis

handlemwaNinitialmwrhymea-(n/s)suffix(ncoverM · VNS

Notes

This etymon is well-attested in Karenic and Newar, with likely cognates in Limbu and Loloish. Qiangic has developed an -s suffix.

Many of the Karenic forms are compounds containing both #32 PTB *m-sak BREATH(E) / LIFE and the present root.

Reflexes & cognates40 reflexes · 6 subgroups

2.2Newar4

Newarmwa: ‘alive / be living’Shakya 89: 1.12
Newar (Dolakhali)mwa◦kusuffix ‘alive’Genetti 90 Dola

2.3.1Eastern Kiranti1

Limbumui ‘breath / life’Matisoff 87 BP

3.2Qiangic6

Qiang (Mawo)məs ‘breath’Sun J 86 Mawo
Qiang (Mawo)məs tɕʰimorpheme◦tɕʰimorpheme v‘breathe’Sun H 91 MawQ: 9.2.1
Qiang (Mawo)məs χumorpheme◦χumorpheme v‘pant’Sun H 91 MawQ: 9.2.2
Qiang (Yadu)məs memorpheme◦ɕimorpheme ‘die (breath one's last)’Dai 89 Qian: 1846

6.1.2.1Northern Loloish7

Nusu (Central)miɚ⁵⁵ ‘life-span’Dai 89 NusB: 194.
Nusu (Central/Zhizhiluo)miɚ̃⁵⁵ bio³¹morpheme ‘die (breath one's last)’Dai 89 NusA: 1781.
Nusu (Central)miɚ⁵⁵ bio³¹morpheme ‘die (breath one's last)’Dai 89 NusB: 1781.
Nusu (Central/Zhizhiluo)miɚ⁵⁵ bʴɚ̃³⁵morpheme ‘life’Dai 89 NusA: 193.
Yi (Xide)mu⁵⁵ ‘breath, vapor’Chen 79 YiCh

7Karenic22

*Karenmùnh ‘alive’Jones 61: 172
Karenmu̱⁵⁵ v.‘alive, become / active’Huang and Dai 92 TBL: 1396.50
Kayan (Pekon)myə́n N‘life’Manson 10 Kayan
Kayan (Pekon)myə́n ADJ‘alive’Manson 10 Kayan
Pa-Omùn ‘alive’Solnit 89 PaO
Pa-O (Northern)mᴜn⁶ ‘alive’Luce 85: I.171
Pakumu¹ ‘alive’Luce 85: I.171
Pwo (Delta)mə̃⁴ ‘alive’Luce 85: I.171
Pwo (Tenasserim)mə̃⁶ ‘alive’Luce 85: I.171
Sgawmu¹ ‘alive’Luce 85: I.171
Karen (Sgaw/Hinthada)mu̱⁵⁵ tʰɔ³¹morpheme ge³³morpheme ‘come alive (huoliao)’Dai 89 KarB: 2003

Cite this entry

STEDT etymon #62, *mwa-n/s ‘LIFE / BREATH’.
Stable link: https://larc-iu.github.io/stedt/etymon/62
Data: STEDT v1.0 (2017). Accessed: [date].
BibTeX
@misc{stedt-62,
  title  = {{*mwa-n/s 'LIFE / BREATH'}},
  author = {STEDT},
  year   = {2017},
  note   = {Sino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary and Thesaurus (STEDT) v1.0, etymon #62},
  url    = {https://larc-iu.github.io/stedt/etymon/62}
}