2.0 Animals and Animal Verbs > 2.1 Animals of the Chinese Zodiac > 2.1.1 Rodents

#2663 PTB *s-(l/r)e(y/ŋ) SQUIRREL / WEASEL

Reconstructed mesoroots below:

The unusual *‑y*‑ŋ alternation in coda may also be interpreted as an instance of a nasal suffix (*s‑ley‑N ⪤ *s‑rey‑N), although such a suffix is usually reconstructed for the dental point of articulation.

The first syllable of the Kuki-Chin binomes is obviously from a general root for rodents, #2796 PTB *b‑yəw‑n RAT / RABBIT / HARE.

rnanalysislgidreflexglossgfnlanguagegrpidgrpnogrpgeneticcitationsrcabbrsrcidrn
304872663,2663,2663,2663177s-|ley ⪤ s-|leŋ ⪤ s-|rey ⪤ sreŋsquirrel / weasel*Tibeto-Burman20.1Tibeto-Burman (previously published reconstructions)0Matisoff 85 GSTCJAM-GSTC1510
5153472663,26632012s-|ley/|ŋ ⪤ s-|rey/|ŋsquirrel / weasel*Tibeto-Burman20.1Tibeto-Burman (previously published reconstructions)0Matisoff 03 HPTBJAM-HPTB5990
199662663174sre[ŋ]weasel / squirrel*Tibeto-Burman20.1Tibeto-Burman (previously published reconstructions)0Chou 72ACST812t0
50044426631920thia-hlaySQUIRREL*Chin81.2Kuki-Chin1VanBik 09 PKCKVB-PKC4130
50108426631920yu-|laySQUIRREL*Chin81.2Kuki-Chin1VanBik 09 PKCKVB-PKC10530
44355426631927te-lēsquirrelSizang681.2.1.1Northern Chin1VanBik 09 PKCKVB-PKC4130
4467822796,26631926zú-làysquirrelThado681.2.1.1Northern Chin1VanBik 09 PKCKVB-PKC10530
4467812796,26631925zu¹ lei¹squirrelTiddim681.2.1.1Northern Chin1VanBik 09 PKCKVB-PKC10530
44355526631948a ʻleˊˊsquirrelAsho691.2.1.2Southern Plains Chin1VanBik 09 PKCKVB-PKC4130
44355626631929kthiesquirrelKhumi691.2.1.2Southern Plains Chin1VanBik 09 PKCKVB-PKC4130
44355226631947thìa-hlǎysquirrelLai (Hakha)701.2.2Central Chin1VanBik 09 PKCKVB-PKC4130
4467802796,26631947zu-lâysquirrelLai (Hakha)701.2.2Central Chin1VanBik 09 PKCKVB-PKC10530
44355326631924the-hlé̌isquirrelLushai [Mizo]701.2.2Central Chin1VanBik 09 PKCKVB-PKC4130
4467792796,26631921zā-léisquirrelLakher [Mara]711.2.3Maraic1VanBik 09 PKCKVB-PKC10530
52885126632031lejsquirrel*Tangkhulic661.3.4Tangkhulic1Mortensen 12 TkDRM-Tk4080
525207m,m,26632023ʔa-ku-lusquirrelHuishu661.3.4Tangkhulic1Mortensen 12 TkDRM-TkAnimals.0790
524781m,26632022kʰə-lisquirrelKachai661.3.4Tangkhulic1Mortensen 12 TkDRM-TkAnimals.0780
620515m,26632024kʰ-lasquirrelTusom661.3.4Tangkhulic1Mortensen 12 TkDRM-TkAnimals.0790
526786m,26632025kʰə-lejsquirrelUkhrul661.3.4Tangkhulic1Mortensen 12 TkDRM-Tk0
30147p,26631065iŋ◦renmongooseMikir [Karbi]141.5Mikir [Karbi]1Matisoff 85 GSTCJAM-GSTC1510
303928p,26631068iŋ◦renmongooseMikir [Karbi]141.5Mikir [Karbi]1Benedict 72 STCSTC79n2410
3617642663,m1848ʂe moŋweasel (yellow)nTibetan (Alike)242.1.2.1Tibetan1Huang and Dai 92 TBLTBL0322.050
3617612663,m1815tʂe⁵⁵moŋ⁵⁵weasel (yellow)nTibetan (Lhasa)242.1.2.1Tibetan1Huang and Dai 92 TBLTBL0322.020
3617602663,m1804sre moweasel (yellow)nTibetan (Written)242.1.2.1Tibetan1Huang and Dai 92 TBLTBL0322.010
301462663,m1569sre-mo(ŋ)weaselTibetan (Written)242.1.2.1Tibetan1Matisoff 85 GSTCJAM-GSTC1510
3039272663,m1578sre-mo(ŋ)weaselTibetan (Written)242.1.2.1Tibetan1Benedict 72 STCSTC79n2410
2332002663,m1567sre-móŋweaselTibetan (Written)242.1.2.1Tibetan1Jäschke 1881HAJ-TED0
3617632663,m1837ʂe moŋweasel (yellow)nTibetan (Xiahe)242.1.2.1Tibetan1Huang and Dai 92 TBLTBL0322.040
301482663397hrañsquirrelBurmese (Written)446.1.1Burmish1Matisoff 85 GSTCJAM-GSTC1510
3039262663409hráńsquirrelBurmese (Written)446.1.1Burmish1Benedict 72 STCSTC79n2410
4388592663406hrañʼsquirrelBurmese (Written)446.1.1Burmish1Benedict 76 WBurPKB-WBRD0
36173426631822hrɑȵ̂¹squirrelnBurmese (Written)446.1.1Burmish1Huang and Dai 92 TBLTBL0321.260
2574512663392rhaññsquirrelBurmese (Written)446.1.1Burmish1Marrison 67 NagaGEM-CNL0
1462962630,2663833fâʔ-šwɛred-cheeked ground squirrel; long-nosed tree squirrelLahu (Black)476.1.2.2Central Loloish1Matisoff 85 GSTCJAM-GSTC1510
52955626632038hliᴮsquirrel*Karen507Karenic1Luangthongkum 13TL-PK276 1
52977526632039li²squirrel*Karen [Burling]507Karenic1Luangthongkum 13TL-PK2760
53115026632044li¹¹squirrelBwe507Karenic1Luangthongkum 13TL-PK2760
53030126632041li³³squirrelPa-O (Southern)507Karenic1Luangthongkum 13TL-PK2760
53003726632040li⁵⁵squirrelPa-O (Northern)507Karenic1Luangthongkum 13TL-PK2760
53234626632048lei³³squirrelPwo (Northern)507Karenic1Luangthongkum 13TL-PK2760
53264026632049lei⁵⁵squirrelPwo (Southern)507Karenic1Luangthongkum 13TL-PK2760
53175826632046liɁ⁴⁵lu¹¹¨squirrelSgaw (Northern)507Karenic1Luangthongkum 13TL-PK2760
53206226632047li⁴⁵’squirrelSgaw (Southern)507Karenic1Luangthongkum 13TL-PK2760
5859722663,2663481si̯ĕŋ/si̯ɑ̈ŋweaselChinese (Old/Mid)539.0.1Old Chinese0Karlgren 57 GSRGSR812t0
5859732663,2663481si̯ĕŋ/si̯ɑ̈ŋweaselChinese (Old/Mid)539.0.1Old Chinese0Karlgren 57 GSRGSR812u0
204702663,2663480sri̯ěŋ/si̯ɑ̈ŋweaselChinese (Old/Mid)539.0.1Old Chinese0Chou 72ACST812t0
301492663474sri̯ěŋweaselChinese (Old)539.0.1Old Chinese0Matisoff 85 GSTCJAM-GSTC1510
3015026632118si̯äŋweaselChinese (Middle)549.0.2Middle Chinese0Matisoff 85 GSTCJAM-GSTC1510

Chinese comparandum

鼪 OC *si̯ĕng, GSR #812u: ‘weasel’; Schuessler 2009:9-25tu *seŋh; B&S 2015: (*s.reŋ/*sreŋ); Mand. shēng.

貍/狸 OC *li̯əg, GSR #978hi: ‘small animal of unknown species’; Schuessler 2009:4-35hi *rə / C‑rə; B&S 2015: *p.rə; Mand. , cf. 狐狸 húlí ‘fox’.

Comparandum for 鼪 due to Schuessler 2009:9-25tu.


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[Source note] N.Sgaw has tone D while the other Karenic languages have tone B.