*səw-t

TESTICLES / PENIS / VIRILITY / SEMEN

Proto-Tibeto-Burman

Reconstruction analysis

handlesuwinitialsrhymeəw-tcoverS · WT

Connections

HPTB (PLB)*səw¹/² ‘testicles / virility’p. 182

Notes

This etymon is firmly established in Lolo-Burmese (Burmese itself has reflexes of both the stopped and non-stopped allofams) and Jingpho. The first syllable of Kham zuh-riː ‘testicle’ is probably to be assigned to #3436 PTB *dz(y)u EGG rather than to the present root, in view of the 2nd syllable of the compound 'ba-zu-riː ‘(non-human) egg’, where the first syllable means ‘bird’. Palaychi (Karenic) shóq ‘penis’ seems unrelated.

The semantic center of the root seems to be VIRILITY. It occurs especially in compounds for intact (as opposed to castrated) male animals, with extensions into SEMEN, TESTICLES, and PENIS. This root was reconstructed for PLB in Matisoff 1988a:1225.

Reflexes & cognates22 reflexes · 6 subgroups

1.3.2Angami-Pochuri Group2

Khezhaʼèprefix◦sò ‘penis’Yabu 94 Khö: 10.3.1

Sema [Sumi]aphimorpheme-zü ‘semen / sperm’Achumi 98: 10.3.7

1.7.3.1Jingpho5

Jingphone#545 PTB *m-ney ‘PENIS’Allofams114 #1285 PTB *m-(l/n)ey ⪤ *m-li ‘PENIS’114a #1284 PTB *m-ley ⪤ *m-li ‘PENIS’114b #545 PTB *m-ney ‘PENIS’-zu ‘semen’Matisoff 87 BP

Jingphone³¹#545 PTB *m-ney ‘PENIS’Allofams114 #1285 PTB *m-(l/n)ey ⪤ *m-li ‘PENIS’114a #1284 PTB *m-ley ⪤ *m-li ‘PENIS’114b #545 PTB *m-ney ‘PENIS’tsu³³ n.‘semen’Dai 83 Jing

Jingphozū ‘semen’Matisoff 87 BP

Jingphozū ‘semen’Matisoff 74 TJLB: 83

Jingphoəprefix◦zu ‘semen’Matisoff 87 BP

4Nungic1

Rawangŋan³¹#2538 PTB *ŋwa ‘CATTLE’ ʃɯ³¹ ‘bull’LaPolla 03: 301

6.1Lolo-Burmese1

*Lolo-Burmesesəw¹/² ‘testicles / virility’Matisoff 03 HPTB: 612

6.1.1Burmish5

Burmese (Written)sui ‘penis’This form goes back to PLB Tone *1. It is the allofam sûi (< PLB Tone *2) which is directly cognate to Lahu šɔ̄.Matisoff 87 BP

Burmese (Written)sui ‘penis ( of animals )’Benedict 76 WBur

Burmese (Written)sut ‘semen’Matisoff 87 BP

Burmese (Written)sut ‘semen’Benedict 76 WBur

Burmese (Written)ʔəprefix◦sûi ‘testicle’Matisoff 87 BP

6.1.2.2Central Loloish9

Lahu (Black)g̈âʔ#1606 PTB *k-rak ‘FOWL / CHICKEN’PTani *rok ‘CHICKEN’-phu#1635 PTB *pu ‘MALE / MASCULINE SUFFIX’-šɔ̄ ‘uncastrated cock’Matisoff 88 DL: 1225

Lahu (Black)íprefix-mû#1431 PTB *s/m-raŋ ‘HORSE’PKC *raŋ ‘HORSE’PLB *mraŋ² ‘HORSE’-šɔ̄ ‘stallion’Matisoff 88 DL: 1225

Lahu (Black)nû#2538 PTB *ŋwa ‘CATTLE’-šɔ̄ ‘bull’Matisoff 88 DL: 1225

Lahu (Black)nû#2538 PTB *ŋwa ‘CATTLE’-ɔ̀prefix-pā#1634 PTB *p/ba ‘MALE / FATHER / 3p PRONOUN’PKC *paa ‘FATHER’PKC *paa ‘MALE’PCN *pa ‘HE / SHE (3sg.)’PTk *ba ‘FATHER / MALE’PKar *phaᴬ ‘MALE (OF ANIMALS), FATHER’-šɔ̄ ‘bull’Matisoff 87 BP

Lahu (Black)vàʔ#1006 PTB *pʷak ‘PIG’PKC *wok ‘PIG’PTk *hwok ‘PIG’PNN *wak ‘PIG’TGTM *ᴮɖwa ‘PIG’PLB *wakᴸ ‘PIG’PKar *thɔʔ / tháuʔ ‘PIG’PKar *thɔɁᴰ ‘PIG’PKar *thɔɁᴰmiᴬ ‘BOAR (WILD~)’PBai *te ‘PIG’-šɔ̄ ‘uncastrated boar’Matisoff 88 DL: 1225

Lahu (Black)ɔ̀#5450 PTB *ʔa(ŋ/k)- ‘NOUN PREFIX’-pā#1634 PTB *p/ba ‘MALE / FATHER / 3p PRONOUN’PKC *paa ‘FATHER’PKC *paa ‘MALE’PCN *pa ‘HE / SHE (3sg.)’PTk *ba ‘FATHER / MALE’PKar *phaᴬ ‘MALE (OF ANIMALS), FATHER’-šɔ̄ ‘intact male animal’Matisoff 88 DL: 1225

Lahu (Black)ɔ̀#5450 PTB *ʔa(ŋ/k)- ‘NOUN PREFIX’-phu#1635 PTB *pu ‘MALE / MASCULINE SUFFIX’-šɔ̄ ‘intact male’Matisoff 87 BP

Lahu (Black)ɔ̀prefix-šɔ̄-tɔ̂loanword ‘castrated animal’Matisoff 87 BP

Lisu (Central)ɲi²¹#2538 PTB *ŋwa ‘CATTLE’ʃɿ⁵⁵ ‘bull kept for stud’Bradley 94 Lisu

Cite this entry

STEDT etymon #642, *səw-t ‘TESTICLES / PENIS / VIRILITY / SEMEN’.

Stable link: https://larc-iu.github.io/stedt/etymon/642

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

BibTeX

@misc{stedt-642,
  title  = {{*səw-t 'TESTICLES / PENIS / VIRILITY / SEMEN'}},
  author = {STEDT},
  year   = {2017},
  note   = {Sino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary and Thesaurus (STEDT) v1.0, etymon #642},
  url    = {https://larc-iu.github.io/stedt/etymon/642}
}