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STEDT #90

*m/s-ŋa-y

SMALL / INFERIOR / OFFSPRING

Proto-Tibeto-Burman · exemplary

Reconstruction analysis

handleŋaprefixsinitialŋrhymea-ycoverM · VW

Intermediate reconstructions

Tani*ŋaː ‘BABY’JS-HCST: 149

Central Naga (Ao Group)*[h]ŋaj ‘BABY, CHILD’PCN #045

Connections

HPTB*ŋay ‘small / inferior / offspring’p. 209

Notes

This etymon has a range of meanings from ‘small’ to ‘child’ to ‘give birth’. Most reflexes descend from a diphthongal prototype in *-ay, but occasionally from monophthongal *-a (e.g. Yi Dafang a³³ ŋa⁵⁵ [see *g-sow above], and Bokar Lhoba a-ŋaː), so that this is a good candidate for a putative PTB palatal suffix, one of the functions of which is to mark diminutives. See Matisoff 1995 and DL:783-784.

Chinese 兒 ‘child’ (Mand. ér) is a plausible comparandum.

Chinese comparandum

兒 OC *ńi̯ĕg, GSR #873a-d ‘child’; Li 1971: *ngrjig; Baxter 1992 #1452: *ngje; Mand. ér.

In Li’s system, *-rj- is reconstructed to account for the palatalization of the velar initial in Middle Chinese. This palatalizing medial is no longer accepted by most scholars today. In Baxter’s system, medial *-r- blocks palatalization, and must be omitted.

The TB/Chinese correspondences look good. We would expect *a vocalism in Chinese, but *i (Li) / *e (Baxter) could be the result of an original *a fusing irregularly with the palatal suffix. As seen in #519 PTB *s-tay NAVEL / ABDOMEN / CENTER / SELF and #1160 PTB *ŋ-(w)aːy COPULATE / MAKE LOVE / LOVE / GENTLE), TB *-ay may correspond to OC *-əd (Li) / *-ɨj (Baxter), and there is some evidence that OC *-ig (Li) / *-e (Baxter) also can correspond to this same TB final. Consider, for example, ‘crab’ (STC #51), TB *d-kay, which is likely cognate to 蟹 OC *grigx ‘crab’ (Li), Mand xiè (see STC p. 166, GSR #861d).

Schuessler (2007:225) believes that this is an area word, with connections to forms in Austroasiatic and Miao-Yao.
[ZJH]

Reflexes & cognates78 reflexes · 14 subgroups

0.1Tibeto-Burman (previously published reconstructions)3

*Tibeto-Burmanŋay ‘small / inferior / offspring’Matisoff 85 GSTC: 111

*Tibeto-Burmanŋay ‘small / inferior / offspring’Matisoff 03 HPTB: 606

*Tibeto-Burmanŋay ‘small’[Source note] [G&C 111] (LaPolla 1987).LaPolla 87: 211

1.1.1Tani1

*Taniŋaː ‘baby’Sun J 93 HCST: 11

1.1.1.1Western Tani20

Apataniàprefix-ŋa ‘baby’Sun J 93 Tani

Apataniàprefix-ŋa ‘small child’Sun J 93 Tani

Apataniəprefix-ŋa ‘infant’Sun J 93 Tani

Apataniəprefix-ŋa gɯ#6339 PTani *gəː ‘CARRY ON BACK / PREGNANT’ ‘carry on back / pregnant’Sun J 93 HCST

Apataniəprefix-ŋa-gɯ#6339 PTani *gəː ‘CARRY ON BACK / PREGNANT’-nɯmorpheme ‘pregnant’Sun J 93 Tani

Apataniɯprefix-ŋa ‘infant’Sun J 93 Tani

Apataniɯprefix-ŋá-gɯmorpheme ‘pregnancy’Sun J 93 Tani

Bengniaprefix-ŋɯː ‘baby’Sun J 93 HCST

Bengniaprefix-ŋɯː ‘baby’Sun J 93 Tani

Bengniaprefix-ŋɯː ‘infant’Sun J 93 Tani

Bokaraprefix ŋaː aprefix kenmorpheme n‘orphan’Huang and Dai 92 TBL: 0252.24

Bokaraprefix-ŋaː ‘baby’Sun J 93 HCST

Bokaraprefix-ŋaː ‘child (small~)’Sun J 93 Tani

Bokaraprefix-ŋaː aprefix-kenmorpheme ‘orphan’Sun J 93 Tani

Bokarŋaː tɕiŋmorpheme n‘baby’Huang and Dai 92 TBL: 0170.24

Bokarŋəː-ǰiŋmorpheme ‘baby’Sun J 93 Tani

Bokar Lhobaaprefix◦ŋaː ‘child’Sun H 80 MLD

Galo`tamorpheme◦ɲaa n.‘child (last)’GLDC 09 Galo

Galo`uŋprefix◦ŋaa n.‘baby’GLDC 09 Galo

Galo`uŋprefix◦ŋaa n.‘infant’GLDC 09 Galo

1.1.1.2Eastern Tani3

Damuʔaprefix-ŋaː ‘baby’Sun J 93 Tani

Damuʔaprefix-ŋaː ʔaprefix ȵimorpheme xomorpheme dɯŋmorpheme ‘twin’Sun J 93 Tani

Milangŋa-ŋa ‘baby’Tayeng 76 Mil

1.3.1Central Naga (Ao Group)13

*Central Naga[h]ŋaj ‘BABY, CHILD’Bruhn 14 PCN: III.045

Lotha Nagaŋa³-roʔ³morpheme n.‘child, baby’Bruhn 14 PCN: III.045

Lotha Naganga◦romorpheme ‘baby’Marrison 67 Naga

Lotha Naganga◦romorpheme ‘child’Murry 78: 16

Lotha Naganga◦romorpheme ‘baby’Murry 78: 8

Lotha NagaNga◦romorpheme chumorpheme ‘meconium / baby shit’Nienu 90 LotQ: 9.12.2

Lotha NagaNga◦romorpheme◦ho#632 PTB *s/p-wa ‘TOOTH’PTani *fiː ‘TOOTH’PKC *haa ‘TOOTH’PCN *p-hwa ‘TOOTH’PTk *ha ‘TOOTH’PNN *swaᴮ ‘TOOTH’PLB *swa² ‘TOOTH’PL *swa² ‘TOOTH’ ‘baby tooth’Nienu 90 LotQ: 3.10.5

Lotha Nagaŋá◦ròmorpheme ‘baby’Acharya 75

Sangtamaprefix◦khumorpheme◦nga ‘baby’Marrison 67 Naga

Sangtam¹aprefix²kumorpheme²ŋa ‘baby’Weidert 87 TBTo: 375

Yimchungrükhumorpheme◦nga◦rümorpheme ‘child’Marrison 67 Naga

Yimchungrükhumorpheme◦nga◦rümorpheme ‘baby’Marrison 67 Naga

Yimchungrü¹kumorpheme¹ŋa¹rɯmorpheme ‘baby’Weidert 87 TBTo: 375

1.3.2Angami-Pochuri Group5

Ntenyiaprefix◦nga ‘baby’Marrison 67 Naga

Sema [Sumi]aprefix◦nga ‘baby’Marrison 67 Naga

Sema [Sumi]aprefix◦nga ba#575 PTB *baːl ‘SHIT / EXCREMENT / FILTH / BOWELS’ ‘meconium / baby shit’Achumi 98: 9.12.2

Sema [Sumi]aprefix◦nga polamorpheme ‘umbilical cord’Achumi 98: 10.4.12

Sema [Sumi]aprefix◦nga-hu#632 PTB *s/p-wa ‘TOOTH’PTani *fiː ‘TOOTH’PKC *haa ‘TOOTH’PCN *p-hwa ‘TOOTH’PTk *ha ‘TOOTH’PNN *swaᴮ ‘TOOTH’PLB *swa² ‘TOOTH’PL *swa² ‘TOOTH’ ‘baby tooth’Achumi 98: 3.10.5

1.4Meithei1

Meitheiəprefix-ŋaŋ ‘child’Meithei -ŋ perhaps result of assimilation to the syllable initial.Singh 91 MeiQ: 10.4.15

1.7.1.1Bodo3

Bodomaprefix◦ŋáy ‘small’Bhat 68 Boro

Bodomaprefix◦ŋáy ‘small’Matisoff 85 GSTC: 111

Bodomaprefix◦ŋáy ‘small’LaPolla 87: 211

1.7.3.1Jingpho8

Jingphochimorpheme◦ngai ‘birth, give’Marrison 67 Naga

Jingphošəprefix◦ŋài v‘birth, give’Matisoff 85 GSTC: 111

Jingphoʃa³¹prefix ŋai³¹ v‘bear children’LaPolla 87: 211

Jingphoʃă³¹prefix ŋai³¹ v.‘birth, give to’Huang and Dai 92 TBL: 1620.19

Jingphoʃă³¹prefixŋai³¹ n‘birthday’Huang and Dai 92 TBL: 0682.19

Jingphoʃă³¹prefixŋai³¹ ‘birth, give’Sun H 91 ZMYY: 774.47

Jingphoʃa¹prefix ŋai³¹ ‘birth, give (to child)’Liu 84

Jingphoʔŋāi v‘birth, give’Matisoff 85 GSTC: 111

3.3.1rGyalrong1

rGyalrong (NW)taprefix◦lŋamorpheme kʰŋɛ◦tʰimorpheme ‘birth, give’Sun H 91 rNW: 10.4.15

6.1.1Burmish20

Achang (Lianghe)ŋɛ⁵⁵ ‘small’Dai 85 AcJZ

Achang (Lianghe)ŋɛ⁵⁵ ‘small’LaPolla 87: 211

Achang (Luxi)ŋəi³¹ ‘small’Dai 85 AcJZ

Achang (Luxi)ŋəi³¹ ‘small’LaPolla 87: 211

Bola (Luxi)ŋai⁵⁵ adj‘small’Huang and Dai 92 TBL: 0965.32

Burmese (Rangoon)ŋɛ²² adj‘small’Huang and Dai 92 TBL: 0965.27

Burmese (Spoken Rangoon)ŋɛ²² ‘small’Sun H 91 ZMYY: 801.40

Burmese (Written)ṅay ‘small’Marrison 67 Naga

Burmese (Written)nây ‘small’Hansson 89 AHKP: 120

Burmese (Written)ŋai ‘small, little, inferior’Matisoff 85 GSTC: 111

Burmese (Written)ŋai ‘small, little, inferior’Benedict 76 WBur

Burmese (Written)ŋai ‘small, little, inferior’LaPolla 87: 211

Burmese (Written)ŋai cañmorpheme toŋmorpheme kyêmorpheme ‘since childhood’Matisoff 85 GSTC: 111

Burmese (Written)ŋai-ŋai kəthañmorpheme kamorpheme ‘since childhood’Matisoff 85 GSTC: 111

Burmese (Written)ŋɑj² adj‘small’Huang and Dai 92 TBL: 0965.26

Burmese (Written)ŋɑj² ‘small’Sun H 91 ZMYY: 801.39

Langsu (Luxi)ŋai³¹ adj‘small’Huang and Dai 92 TBL: 0965.31

Langsu (Luxi)ŋai³¹ ‘young’Huang and Dai 92 TBL: 1059.31

Leqi (Luxi)ŋɛː³¹ adj‘small’Huang and Dai 92 TBL: 0965.33

Maru [Langsu]ŋai³¹ ‘small’Sun H 91 ZMYY: 801.43

Cite this entry

STEDT etymon #90, *m/s-ŋa-y ‘SMALL / INFERIOR / OFFSPRING’.

Stable link: https://larc-iu.github.io/stedt/etymon/90

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

References: cf. HPTB p. 209

BibTeX

@misc{stedt-90,
  title  = {{*m/s-ŋa-y 'SMALL / INFERIOR / OFFSPRING'}},
  author = {STEDT},
  year   = {2017},
  note   = {Sino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary and Thesaurus (STEDT) v1.0, etymon #90},
  url    = {https://larc-iu.github.io/stedt/etymon/90}
}