STEDT
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STEDT #700

*dak

ARM / HAND
Proto-Tibeto-Burman · exemplary

Reconstruction analysis

handledakprefixdinitiald-rhymeakcoverT · T

Connections

Allofams

Notes

The Nocte forms require no further comment. Of special interest is the Jingpho form lətáʔ, for which several explanations have been offered (cf. STC nn. 102, 109, 137). In my opinion, what happened was, after the obstruentization of original l to t in Jingpho, yielding taʔ, the form was reprefixed by the general root *lak, here reduced to lə. Note that in Jingpho, a secondary prefix lə- occurs in many verbs describing action with either the hands or the feet (see my portion of STC, n. 308 and O. Hanson 358-85). The Tangut and Ergong forms seem to have a similar origin.

Another explanation might be in terms of metathesis, **d-lak > *l-dak, in order to avoid the disfavored dl- cluster.

Reflexes & cognates51 reflexes · 8 subgroups

1.6Mru1

Mrudɑkˉ◦dɔ⁴morpheme ‘armpit’Luce 85: Q.42

1.7.3.1Jingpho17

Jingpholata◦laphanmorpheme ‘palm (of hand)’Marrison 67 Naga: 187
Jingphota̱ʔ⁵⁵ nbp‘hand’Huang and Dai 92 TBL: 0107.19
Jingphota̱ʔ⁵⁵; lă³¹ta̱ʔ⁵⁵ ‘hand’Sun H 91 ZMYY: 251.47
Jingpho³taʔ-¹ləmorpheme¹phanmorpheme ‘palm (hand)(1)’Weidert 87 TBTo: 175
Jingpho³taʔ-¹ləmorpheme¹phanmorpheme ‘palm (hand)’Weidert 87 TBTo: 358
Jingpho¹lə³taʔ -¹khriʔmorpheme¹khromorpheme ‘wrist’Weidert 87 TBTo: 1126

1.7.3.2Asakian8

Ganantak³pɑ²morpheme ‘hand; palm’Luce 85: K.50
Ganantă◦bɛ⁴morpheme ‘left (hand)’Luce 85: L.158
Gananʔtɑʔ¹bɛ⁴morpheme ‘left (hand)’Luce 85: L.158
Kadu (Kantu)tă◦pɛ³morpheme ‘left (hand)’Luce 85: L.158
Kadu (Kantu)tɑk³◦pɑ²[tɑhuˋ]morpheme ‘hand; palm’Luce 85: K.50
Saktaʔ◦miŋmorpheme ‘claw’Huziwara 08 Sak: 313
Saktaʔ◦miŋmorpheme ‘nail / claw’Huziwara 08 Sak: 32
Saktaʔ◦práiŋmorpheme ‘palm of hand’Huziwara 08 Sak: 30a

3.1Tangut1

Tangut [Xixia]lda ‘hand’This is M. V. Sofronov’s reconstruction (1968), cited in Kepping 1975:228. Nishida 1966:349 reconstructs ɬa.Dai 89 Xixi: 6.1.7

3.3rGyalrongic8

Ergong (Northern)lda³³ sqʰa⁵³morpheme ‘back of hand’Sun H 91 ErNQ: 6.1.7.2
Ergong (Northern)lda³³ ʁjon³³ pa³³ ‘left hand’Sun H 91 ErNQ: 6.1.7.5

3.3.1rGyalrong1

rGBenzhenkɐprefix-dət ‘hand’The dental final in rGBenzhen dət is unexplained.Sun J 97 rGB

Cite this entry

STEDT etymon #700, *dak ‘ARM / HAND’.
Stable link: https://larc-iu.github.io/stedt/etymon/700
Data: STEDT v1.0 (2017). Accessed: [date].
References: = d-[ ]ak. pfx preempt of 699
BibTeX
@misc{stedt-700,
  title  = {{*dak 'ARM / HAND'}},
  author = {STEDT},
  year   = {2017},
  note   = {Sino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary and Thesaurus (STEDT) v1.0, etymon #700},
  url    = {https://larc-iu.github.io/stedt/etymon/700}
}