1.0 The Body > 1.9 Reproductive System > 1.9.6 Womb

#1651 PTB *tsyul ⪤ *tsywal WOMB / PLACENTA / UMBILICAL CORD
Reconstructed mesoroots below:

Some reflexes of this etymon have simple sibilant initials (e.g. Paangkhua sùul, Kham sal), while some have dental or palatal affricates, others have dental stops (e.g. Matupi and Maru) or even prefixed affricates (e.g. Pumi stʃuɑ⁵⁵). The vocalism of the reflexes ranges from ‑u‑ to ‑wa‑ to ‑o‑ to ‑a‑. Semantically, this etymon varies in meaning from WOMB/PLACENTA to NEST and UMBILICAL CORD. This etymon is found throughout Chin and sporadically elsewhere in the NE Indian Areal Group (Mru); it also appears in Himalayish (often with the meaning UMBILICAL CORD and with ‑a‑ vocalism), and is also solidly attested in Qiangic. Inclusion of the Bai form is speculative.

rnanalysislgidreflexglossgfnlanguagegrpidgrpnogrpgeneticcitationsrcabbrsrcidrn
50064116511920tshuulWOMB / UTERUS*Chin81.2Kuki-Chin1VanBik 09 PKCKVB-PKC6100
162342p,16511535ăˋtʻuːn¹wombThanphum81.2Kuki-Chin1Luce 85GHL-PPBO.130
44453616511930sulwomb, uterusPaite681.2.1.1Northern Chin1VanBik 09 PKCKVB-PKC6100
44453716511927sūlwombSizang681.2.1.1Northern Chin1VanBik 09 PKCKVB-PKC6100
44453516511926sùulwombThado681.2.1.1Northern Chin1VanBik 09 PKCKVB-PKC6100
44453416511925suːl³wombTiddim681.2.1.1Northern Chin1VanBik 09 PKCKVB-PKC6100
31522916511778suːl³wombTiddim681.2.1.1Northern Chin1Bhaskararao 96 CDBPB-CLDB16510
16216716511592sʻul⁴wombTiddim681.2.1.1Northern Chin1Luce 85GHL-PPBO.130
16234116511035tʻul²wombMatupi691.2.1.2Southern Plains Chin1Luce 85GHL-PPBO.130
1621691651658sʻuːl⁴wombHwalngau701.2.2Central Chin1Luce 85GHL-PPBO.130
1621701651792sʻuːl⁴wombKhualsim701.2.2Central Chin1Luce 85GHL-PPBO.130
44453216511923sùulwomb, uterusLai (Falam)701.2.2Central Chin1VanBik 09 PKCKVB-PKC6100
1621711651620sʻul²wombLai (Hakha)701.2.2Central Chin1Luce 85GHL-PPBO.13 1
44453116511947tshǔulwomb, uterusLai (Hakha)701.2.2Central Chin1VanBik 09 PKCKVB-PKC6100
1163751651978chhûlplacentaLushai [Mizo]701.2.2Central Chin1Matisoff 87 BPJAM-Ety0
1164101651978chhûlwomb; placentaLushai [Mizo]701.2.2Central Chin1Matisoff 87 BPJAM-Ety0
44453316511924chhùulwomb, the uterus, the placenta, the afterbirthnLushai [Mizo]701.2.2Central Chin1VanBik 09 PKCKVB-PKC6100
31522816511779chhuːlwombLushai [Mizo]701.2.2Central Chin1Bhaskararao 96 CDBPB-CLDB16510
1164091651978chulwombLushai [Mizo]701.2.2Central Chin1Matisoff 87 BPJAM-Ety0
1446981651980chulwombLushai [Mizo]701.2.2Central Chin1Matisoff 78 VSTBJAM-VSTB0
1621681651977chʻuːl⁴wombLushai [Mizo]701.2.2Central Chin1Luce 85GHL-PPBO.130
54261651975tshùulwombLushai [Mizo]701.2.2Central Chin1Weidert 87 TBToAW-TBT4870
2335021651982tshùulwombLushai [Mizo]701.2.2Central Chin1Løffler 85 PaaLL-PRPL0
233501p,16511247ma◦sùulwombPaangkhua701.2.2Central Chin1Løffler 85 PaaLL-PRPL0
2335001651,16121248sùul-ìnwombPaangkhua701.2.2Central Chin1Løffler 85 PaaLL-PRPL0
162340p,1651862məˊcʻuʔ⁴wombLailenpi711.2.3Maraic1Luce 85GHL-PPBO.130
2335031651874chhi<tshuulwombLakher [Mara]711.2.3Maraic1Løffler 85 PaaLL-PRPL 2
54271651870²tshiwombLakher [Mara]711.2.3Maraic1Weidert 87 TBToAW-TBT4870
1623381651966tsə⁴wombLothvo (Hiranpi)711.2.3Maraic1Luce 85GHL-PPBO.130
1623391651966tsʻɤ⁴wombLothvo (Hiranpi)711.2.3Maraic1Luce 85GHL-PPBO.130
162173p,16511052ă◦tsʻiʔ¹wombMera711.2.3Maraic1Luce 85GHL-PPBO.130
162172p,16511052ă◦tsʻiʔ⁵wombMera711.2.3Maraic1Luce 85GHL-PPBO.130
16217416511700sʻwɛ⁵wombZotung711.2.3Maraic1Luce 85GHL-PPBO.13 3
11641516511123thuawombMru151.6Mru1Matisoff 87 BPJAM-Ety0
14469716511125thuawombMru151.6Mru1Matisoff 78 VSTBJAM-VSTB0
13141316511005šwalplacentaPattani [Manchati]202.1.1Western Himalayish0Sharma, S.R. 91 MaSTP-ManQ10.4.110
13141416511005šwalumbilical cordPattani [Manchati]202.1.1Western Himalayish0Sharma, S.R. 91 MaSTP-ManQ10.4.120
2965451651,s1567śa-maplacenta, afterbirthTibetan (Written)242.1.2.1Tibetan1Jäschke 1881HAJ-TED556 4
116369p,672,1651894a◦yen̊◦tyólplacentaLepcha212.1.3Lepcha1Matisoff 87 BPJAM-Ety0
116098m,1651,m894bam-tyól matcopulateLepcha212.1.3Lepcha1Matisoff 87 BPJAM-Ety 5
116403m,1651894kŭp-tʻorwombLepcha212.1.3Lepcha1Matisoff 87 BPJAM-Ety 6
117486m,m,1651894tǎ-a'yŭ tyólmensesLepcha212.1.3Lepcha1Matisoff 87 BPJAM-Ety 7
1278081651436salplacentaChantyal232.1.4Tamangish1Noonan 92NPB-ChanQ10.4.110
11773516511527sālumbilical cordThakali (Tukche)232.1.4Tamangish1Matisoff 87 BPJAM-Ety0
6870516511531salumbilical cordThakali (Tukche)232.1.4Tamangish1Hari 71a ThVoSIL-Thak2.A.390
2697591651,16511166swa̩/swa̩n-nestnNewar272.2Newar1Hale 73 CSDAH-CSDPN03a.0130
1138091651,677,m913sāi◦be-rāplacentaLimbu312.3.1Eastern Kiranti1Matisoff 87 BPJAM-Ety0
1177361651763'sālumbilical cordKham282.4Kham-Magar-Chepang1Matisoff 87 BPJAM-Ety0
669111651766salumbilical cordKham282.4Kham-Magar-Chepang1Watters 89 KhQDNW-KhamQ2.A.390
1987611606,1651561xuɑi⁵⁵ntʂhɛ⁵⁵nestErsu343.2Qiangic1Sun H 91 ZMYYZMYYC368.180
19873316511306stʃuɑ⁵⁵nestPumi (Qinghua)343.2Qiangic1Sun H 91 ZMYYZMYYC368.110
42897m,16511304tsy⁵⁵ tsuɑ̃⁵⁵placentaPumi (Qinghua)343.2Qiangic1Lu 83 PumiJZ-Pumi0
19875716511309ɕua⁵³nestPumi (Taoba)343.2Qiangic1Sun H 91 ZMYYZMYYC368.100
12936216511319tsʌamniotic fluidQiang (Mawo)343.2Qiangic1Sun H 91 MawQSHK-MawoQ10.4.100
507173p,1651,17331997ì tshè búnestQiang (Mianchi)343.2Qiangic1Evans 99 QiangJPE-SQiang4050
198732p,1651,17331323i³¹tshie⁵⁵χbu²⁴¹nestQiang (Taoping)343.2Qiangic1Sun H 91 ZMYYZMYYC368.90
1987621651,16111409dʑyɛ³³khuɐ⁵⁵nestXumi343.2Qiangic1Sun H 91 ZMYYZMYYC368.200
1987591651557mdʑonestErgong (Danba)353.3rGyalrongic1Sun H 91 ZMYYZMYYC368.14 8
1286701651560tɕʰə⁵³placentaErgong (Northern)353.3rGyalrongic1Sun H 91 ErNQSHK-ErgNQ10.4.110
14151p,1651606ta lɟjaplacentarGyalrong783.3.1rGyalrong1Dai 89 JiarDQ-Jiarong10.4.110
198745m,1651311tso⁵⁵tsheʴ⁴²nestBai (Bijiang)518Bai1Sun H 91 ZMYYZMYYC368.370

^ 1.
It is not clear what phonetic feature Luce was attempting to transcribe with his symbol <s'> (e.g. in Hakha, Hwalngau, Khualsim, Tiddim, and Zotung); a Hakha consultant in Berkeley pronounces this word with what sounds like an ordinary [s]. In general, PTB *s‑ > Proto-Chin *t(h)‑, while PTB *ts‑ > Proto-Chin *s‑.
^ 2.
Contra Löffler 1966, I do not assign the Lushai (Mizo) and Mru forms to #661 PTB *s‑tu VAGINA / VULVA.
^ 3.
Luce gives another Zotung form ʃɯ¹ for WOMB that I include under #1613 PTB *(t)s(i/u)p NEST / WOMB / SCROTUM.
^ 4.
The cognacy of WT śa is not certain, since WT does preserve final *‑l. The first syllable is homophonous with śa (< #34 PTB *sya‑n FLESH / MEAT / GAME ANIMAL), though Jäschke (p.556) does not include it under that lemma, evidently considering it to be a separate morpheme. The Newar form saː ‘placenta’ apparently means “house”, but Newar swa̩ ‘nest’ seems to be a genuine reflex of *tsywal.
^ 5.
Lepcha bam‑tyól ‘concubine’ (Mainwaring 1898, p. 255).
^ 6.
This Lepcha syllable ‑t'or may in fact descend from a separate etymon than Lepcha ‑tyól (cf. Karbi tar ‘nest’).
^ 7.
Lepcha tǎ‑a'yŭ ‘female’.
^ 8.
Qiangic shows evidence both for a nasal prefix (Ergong mdʑo, Ersu xuɑi⁵⁵ntʂhɛ⁵⁵) and prefixal *s‑ (Pumi Jinghua stʃuɑ⁵⁵).