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STEDT #6365

*l-tsyak

IRON / IRON INSTRUMENT
Proto-Tibeto-Burman · provisional

Reconstruction analysis

prefixlinitialtsyrhymeak

Intermediate reconstructions

Karenic*thaɁᴰ ‘IRON’TL#155
Karenic*th(á/a)ʔ ‘IRON / NEEDLE’RBJ-KLS: 84; STC: 9n33

Connections

HPTB*l-tsyak ‘iron / iron instrument’p. 317

Chinese comparandum

鐵 OC *t’iet, GSR #1256b ‘iron’; Coblin 1986:98-99 ST hliek* > PC *hlik > OC *thit; Schuessler 2003:497 *lhêt ~ lhît; B & S 2011: *l̥ˁik; Mand. tiě.

For 鐵, Karlgren posits OC *t’-; later reconstructions have ST, PC and/or OC voiceless lateral *lh-, *hl-, or *l̥- (at the MC stage, all reconstructions for 鐵 show initial *t’-, cf. B & S 2011 MC *thet).

Significantly, the recent ST, PC and OC reconstructions for 鐵 cited above, with initial *lh-, *hl-, or *l̥-, bear close comparison with PTB *l-tsyak ‘iron’. In fact, some scholars would prefer to derive WT lčags ‘iron’ via palatalization of earlier PT *hlyak (Coblin, ibid.) or earlier *lhyaks (Schuessler, ibid.). This looks phonetically plausible; however, it begs the question of subgroup relationships within TB. Is the same shift *hly/lhy- > *lč intended to account not only for WT lčags, but presumably, and ultimately also, WB jak ‘bit of a bridle (of iron)’ and Lotha Naga jon¹ tʃak² ‘iron’ (Bruhn 14 PCN:III.174)? For now, this intriguing issue will be left open for further inquiry. [SPB]

Reflexes & cognates49 reflexes · 5 subgroups

0.1Tibeto-Burman (previously published reconstructions)1

*Tibeto-Burmanl-tsyak ‘iron / iron instrument’Matisoff 03 HPTB: 617

6.1.1Burmish2

Burmese (Written)jak ‘bit of a bridle’Benedict 76 WBur

7Karenic26

*KarenthaɁᴰ ‘iron’Luangthongkum 13: 155
*Karentháʔ ‘iron / / needle’Jones 61: 84
Bwetha³³ ‘iron’Luangthongkum 13: 155
Karentθă³¹morphemebø³³morphemetha⁵⁵ n‘wok (large, iron) / pan’Huang and Dai 92 TBL: 0545.50
Kayahthe⁵⁵ ‘iron’Luangthongkum 13: 155
Kayan (Pekon)dèmorpheme◦tʰà N‘metal trap, mouse trap [lit. trap-iron]’Manson 10 Kayan
Kayan (Pekon)prà̤gwì̤morpheme◦tʰà N‘ironsmith [lit. person-forge-iron]’Manson 10 Kayan
Kayan (Pekon)pə̀morpheme◦tʰà V‘weave [lit. ?-iron]’Manson 10 Kayan
KayanthaɁ⁴⁵ ‘iron’Luangthongkum 13: 155
Kayan (Pekon)tʰà◦dìmorpheme N‘iron tongs [lit. iron-pinch]’Manson 10 Kayan
Kayan (Pekon)tʰà◦mà̤náimorpheme N‘chisel [lit. iron-do-?]’Manson 10 Kayan
Kayan (Pekon)tʰà◦sɨ̀morpheme N‘screwdriver [lit. iron-?]’Manson 10 Kayan
Kayan (Pekon)tʰà◦θyánmorpheme N‘nail [lit. iron-?]’Manson 10 Kayan
Kayawthɔ³³ ‘iron’Luangthongkum 13: 155

Cite this entry

STEDT etymon #6365, *l-tsyak ‘IRON / IRON INSTRUMENT’.
Stable link: https://larc-iu.github.io/stedt/etymon/6365
Data: STEDT v1.0 (2017). Accessed: [date].
References: cf. HPTB p.317
BibTeX
@misc{stedt-6365,
  title  = {{*l-tsyak 'IRON / IRON INSTRUMENT'}},
  author = {STEDT},
  year   = {2017},
  note   = {Sino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary and Thesaurus (STEDT) v1.0, etymon #6365},
  url    = {https://larc-iu.github.io/stedt/etymon/6365}
}