*(h/k)ay

VAGINA

Proto-Tibeto-Burman · exemplary

Reconstruction analysis

handlehayinitialhrhymeaycoverH · W

Intermediate reconstructions

Tangkhulic*haj ‘VAGINA’DRM#385

Notes

This root seems fairly well attested, although it shows an unusual alternation between initial *k- and *h-, which is perhaps paralleled in #2284 PTB *r-ka EARTH / GROUND / SOIL and #2365 PTB *r-kəw ⪤ *hu STEAL. See Matisoff 1997¹ and HPTB p. 57.

1 “Primary and secondary laryngeal initials in Tibeto-Burman.”

Reflexes & cognates14 reflexes · 4 subgroups

1.3.4Tangkhulic6

*Tangkhulichaj ‘vagina’Mortensen 12 Tk: 385

Tangkhulhai khur#665 PTB *kwar ‘HOLE / ORIFICE / INNARDS’PKC *kuar ‘HOLLOW / SUNKEN’PKC *kua ‘HOLE / BURROW / CAVITY’PKC *khur ⪤ *khor ‘DITCH / HOLE / PIT / WELL (n.)’PCN *a-ku ⪤ *a-khən ‘HOLE’PTk *kʰur ‘HOLE / ANUS’PNN *gor ‘HOLE / CAVE’ ‘vulva’Matisoff 87 BP

Tangkhulhai◦ra#1614 PTB *(r/w)a ‘SEMEN’ ‘semen’Tangkhul hai ra certainly looks like a case of “genital flipflop”, i.e. semen is viewed as “vagina-semen”, since that is its destination.Lit. “vagina-semen”. This certainly looks like a case of “genital flipflop”, i.e. semen is viewed as “vagina-semen”, since that is its destination.Matisoff 87 BP

Tangkhulhay(-khur#665 PTB *kwar ‘HOLE / ORIFICE / INNARDS’PKC *kuar ‘HOLLOW / SUNKEN’PKC *kua ‘HOLE / BURROW / CAVITY’PKC *khur ⪤ *khor ‘DITCH / HOLE / PIT / WELL (n.)’PCN *a-ku ⪤ *a-khən ‘HOLE’PTk *kʰur ‘HOLE / ANUS’PNN *gor ‘HOLE / CAVE’) ‘vulva’Matisoff 85 GSTC: 184

Tusomʔimorpheme-ʃie ‘vagina’Mortensen 12 Tk: BodyParts.305

Ukhrulhaj ‘vagina / vulva’Mortensen 12 Tk

1.6Mru2

Mrukai ‘vagina’Matisoff 87 BP

Mrukai ‘vulva’Matisoff 85 GSTC: 184

1.7.1.1Bodo1

Mecheki◦ʈuʔ#661 PTB *s-tu ‘VAGINA / VULVA’PTani *tɯ ‘VULVA / VAGINA’PKC *tshuu ‘VULVA / VAGINA’PKir *tu ‘VAGINA’ ‘vagina’Weidert 87 TBTo: 62

2.3.1Eastern Kiranti6

Limbuhi-rāmorpheme ‘vulva’The first syllable hi- is a lookalike of the vulgar Siamese word hǐi.Matisoff 87 BP

Limbuhi-rāmorpheme ‘vulva’Matisoff 85 GSTC: 184

Limbuhi-rāmorpheme-hong#3432 PTB *huŋ ‘HOLE’PKir *hoŋ ‘HOLE’ ‘vagina’Matisoff 87 BP

Limbuhi-rāmorpheme-hong#3432 PTB *huŋ ‘HOLE’PKir *hoŋ ‘HOLE’ ‘vagina’Matisoff 85 GSTC: 184

Limbuhi-rāmorpheme-mu#363 PTB *s/r-mul ⪤ *s-mil ⪤ *s-myal ‘HAIR / FUR / FEATHER’MesorootsPKC *mul ⪤ *hmul ‘HAIR (body) / FUR / WOOL’Allofams1 #363 PTB *s/r-mul ⪤ *s-mil ⪤ *s-myal ‘HAIR / FUR / FEATHER’1a #1429 PTB *s-mu-t ‘BEARD / FACIAL HAIR / HAIR’1b #2058 PTB *mum ‘CHIN / BEARD’-rik#3428 PKir *rik ‘PUBIC HAIR’ ‘female pubic hair’Matisoff 87 BP

Limbuhi◦ramorpheme ‘vagina’Michailovsky 89 Lm

Cite this entry

STEDT etymon #664, *(h/k)ay ‘VAGINA’.

Stable link: https://larc-iu.github.io/stedt/etymon/664

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

BibTeX

@misc{stedt-664,
  title  = {{*(h/k)ay 'VAGINA'}},
  author = {STEDT},
  year   = {2017},
  note   = {Sino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary and Thesaurus (STEDT) v1.0, etymon #664},
  url    = {https://larc-iu.github.io/stedt/etymon/664}
}