Vagina

Etyma for VAGINA and PENIS show frequent interchange and/or phonological similarity, by a phenomenon felicitously dubbed “genital flipflop” by Benedict.¹ The roots where this interchange is most evident include: #661 PTB *s-tu VAGINA / VULVA : #3420 PTB *k-tu-k PENIS; #1616 PTB *li-n VAGINA : #1284 PTB *m-ley ⪤ *m-li PENIS; #1352 PTB *s/m-ti CLITORIS / VAGINA : #641 PTB *ti-k PENIS; #1353 NEIA *mo VAGINA : #547 PENIS / MALE / SON-IN-LAW. This relationship is indicated by a yin-yang curve in the semantic diagram.

Roots for VAGINA also show interchange with etyma for MOUTH. See especially #1356 PTB *dzyuk ⪤ *tsyuk VULVA; #686 PTB *si(ŋ/k) MOUTH / LIP; and #667 PTB *tsyin VAGINA / CLITORIS / MOUTH / LIP.

There is also an association between VAGINA and ANUS (see, e.g. #3432 PTB *huŋ HOLE and #665 PTB *kwar HOLE / ORIFICE / INNARDS).

An association between CLITORIS and UVULA is shown by Mizo daŋ-mɔn ‘uvula’, literally “palate-clitoris”. See VSTB, p. 67.

We are not including roots for FEMALE/WOMAN in this chapter, since they seem quite independent of etyma for the “female organs”. (Apparent exceptions are a few forms from rGyalrong, e.g. NW rGyalrong tə◦stə ‘female’ < #661 PTB *s-tu VAGINA / VULVA; but these may be misglossed.) On the other hand, words for MALE do frequently interchange with words for the male genitals; some of these etyma are accordingly discussed in Chapter 1.9.7 below.