STEDT
STEDT #661

*s-tu

VAGINA / VULVA

Reconstruction analysis

handletuinitialtrhymeucoverT · V

Intermediate reconstructions

Tani* ‘VULVA / VAGINA’JS-HCST: 168
Kuki-Chin*tshuu ‘VULVA / VAGINA’PKC #609
Kiranti*tu ‘VAGINA’

Connections

HPTB*s-tu ‘vagina / vulva’p. 247

Notes

This is by far the best-attested root for VAGINA in TB, with reflexes in the NE Indian Areal Group, Himalayish, Lolo-Burmese, Karenic, and Qiangic. While most of the supporting forms point to a prefixal *s- plus *t- root-initial, a few reflexes seem to have undergone metathesis, e.g. Hayu pep-tshu, Lakher (Mara) ³tshu, etc.

Some of the reflexes are transcribed with high front vowel -i instead of -u, but this fronting seems to be secondary. Compare, e.g. the Abor-Miri, Apatani, and Galo forms; or the Chepang, Dumi, and Bantawa reflexes, etc.

Chinese comparandum

Comment: Cf. comparanda for #5689 PTB *tuk ⪤ *(t/d)wa(k/ŋ) MEET, in particular the etyma zhǔ and shǔ.

Reflexes & cognates134 reflexes · 37 subgroups

0.1Tibeto-Burman (previously published reconstructions)1

*Tibeto-Burmans-tu ‘vagina / vulva’Matisoff 03 HPTB: 615

1.1“North Assam”1

Sulung [Puroik]a³¹morpheme tɯi⁵⁵ ‘vagina’Matisoff 93 PC

1.1.1Tani1

*Tani ‘vulva / vagina’Sun J 93 HCST: 450

1.1.1.1Western Tani5

Apataniaprefix- ‘vagina’Sun J 93 Tani
Apatani²aprefix²tu ‘vagina’Weidert 87 TBTo: 526
Bengnitiː ‘vulva / vagina’Sun J 93 HCST
Galoɨtprefix n.‘vagina’GLDC 09 Galo
Galoˆɯtprefix- ‘vagina’Weidert 87 TBTo: 526

1.2Kuki-Chin1

*Chintshuu ‘VULVA / VAGINA’VanBik 09 PKC: 609

1.2.1.2Southern Plains Chin2

Khumithuu ‘vulva, vagina’VanBik 09 PKC: 609

1.2.2Central Chin7

Lai (Hakha)bêelmorpheme-tshùu ‘dimple (lit. "cheek vagina")’Van Bik, K. 95 Lai
Lai (Falam)sûu ‘vulva, vagina’VanBik 09 PKC: 609
Lushai [Mizo]chhû ‘vulva, private parts (of a female)’VanBik 09 PKC: 609
Lushai [Mizo]tśhu ‘vulva / notch (v.)’STC tentatively assigns Lushai (Mizo) tśhu to *tsyuk (below, #1356 PTB *dzyuk ⪤ *tsyuk VULVA), though I prefer the present analysis.Benedict 72 STC: 53n178

1.2.4“Old Kuki”8

Kom Remsu-morpheme ‘hymen’Toba 91 KRQ: 10.4.3
Kom Remsu-mətʰermorpheme ‘clitoris’Toba 91 KRQ: 10.4.4
Kom Remsu-nermorpheme ‘vulva / labia’Toba 91 KRQ: 10.4.2
Moyonsòw ‘vagina’Kosha 90: 10.4.1

1.3.1Central Naga (Ao Group)2

Lotha Naga¹oprefix²šɯ(ʔ) ‘vagina’Weidert 87 TBTo: 526
Yimchungrü(¹)tšuʔ ‘vagina’Weidert 87 TBTo: 526

1.4Meithei4

Meitheithù ‘vagina’Matisoff 87 BP
Meitheithuməkhunmorpheme ‘vagina’Singh 91 MeiQ: 10.4.1

1.7.2.1Tangsa-Nocte1

Nocte¹thu ‘vagina’Weidert 87 TBTo: 526

1.7.2.2Konyak-Chang2

Khiamngan¹²taᴜʔ ‘vagina’Weidert 87 TBTo: 62
Phomʃɯʔ³³ ‘vagina’Matisoff 93 PC

2.1.2Bodic1

2.1.3Lepcha1

Lepcha ‘pudenda muliebria’Matisoff 87 BP

2.1.5Dhimal1

Dhimalcucu ‘vagina’King 94 DhBP

2.3Kiranti1

2.3.1Eastern Kiranti1

Limbutsutsupmorphememasuffix ‘<penis,vagina> child's sex organ’Driem 88? LimA

2.3.3Central Kiranti2

Dumikaːprefixdiʔ ‘vagina’For the front vowel in Dumi diʔ, cf. the variously transcribed Bantawa forms, probably actually with [ɨ].Michailovsky 91 Kr: 195
Dumikaːprefixdiʔ ‘vagina’Driem 93 Dumi

2.3.4Western Kiranti3

Thulungteormorphemeciu ‘vagina’Allen 75
Thulungthiu ?‘vagina’Allen 75

3.1Tangut1

Tangut [Xixia]tə̣¹ ‘vulva’Sofronov 97

3.3.1rGyalrong15

rGyalrongprefix ɕtu ‘genitalia / pudenda’Dai 89 Jiar: 10.1
rGyalrongprefix ɕtu ‘vagina’Dai 89 Jiar: 10.4.1
rGyalrong (NW)prefixstə ‘female; female organ’Sun H 91 rNW: 10.4
rGyalrong (NW)prefixstə tɕʰimmorpheme ‘hymen’Sun H 91 rNW: 10.4.3
rGyalrong (Eastern)prefixʃtu ‘female; female organ’Sun H 91 rEQ: 10.4
rGyalrong (Northern)prefixʃtu ‘female; female organ’Sun H 91 rNQ: 10.4
rGyalrong (Northern)prefixʃtu r̥qʰumorpheme ‘vulva / labia’Sun H 91 rNQ: 10.4.2

6.1.1Burmish1

Hpun (Northern)tsù máʔsuffix ‘vulva’Henderson 86 Hpun

6.1.2.2Central Loloish15

Ahito⁵⁵ bi̱²¹#662 PTB *b(y)at ‘VAGINA’ ‘genitalia / pudenda (general)’Luo 90: 10.1
Ahito⁵⁵ bi̱²¹#662 PTB *b(y)at ‘VAGINA’ ne̱³³morpheme ba⁵⁵morpheme ‘vagina’Luo 90: 10.4.1
Ahito⁵⁵ bi̱²¹#662 PTB *b(y)at ‘VAGINA’ ni²¹morpheme ‘vulva / labia’Ahi ni²¹ is the same as the first syllable of Ahi ni²¹ tɕi²² ‘lip’.Luo 90: 10.4.2
Ahito⁵⁵ bi̱²¹#662 PTB *b(y)at ‘VAGINA’ tʂʻɛ²²morpheme v.‘copulate’Luo 90: 10.2
Ahito⁵⁵ lo²²M zo²¹M ‘clitoris’Luo 90: 10.4.4
Ahito⁵⁵ nɯ̱³³morpheme ‘female pubic hair’Luo 90: 10.4.5
Ahito⁵⁵ tɕi²²morpheme zo²¹morpheme ‘hymen’Luo 90: 10.4.3
Ahito⁵⁵bi̱²¹morphemenɯ̱³³morpheme ‘female pubic hair’Chen 86 Yi: 10.4.5

7Karenic2

Palaychizu ‘vagina’Matisoff 87 BP
Palaychi ‘vagina’Jones 61: 17

Cite this entry

STEDT etymon #661, *s-tu ‘VAGINA / VULVA’.
Stable link: https://larc-iu.github.io/stedt/etymon/661
Data: STEDT v1.0 (2017). Accessed: [date].
BibTeX
@misc{stedt-661,
  title  = {{*s-tu 'VAGINA / VULVA'}},
  author = {STEDT},
  year   = {2017},
  note   = {Sino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary and Thesaurus (STEDT) v1.0, etymon #661},
  url    = {https://larc-iu.github.io/stedt/etymon/661}
}