#3421 PTB *tyaŋ PENIS / CLITORIS / LONG

This etymon has been discovered in Himalayish (Chepang and Lepcha) and the NE Indian Areal Group (Karbi). A pair of superficially resemblant forms must be banished from this etymon:

Garo go'l‑teng ‘penis’ is analyzed by Burling as STICK + LONG. The gloss of go'l or gol◦dik as ‘stick’ is confirmed in K. W. Momin’s English-Achikku Dictionary (n.d.:227). I have no independent evidence that teng means ‘long’ in Garo, although several other NE Indian Areal Group languages have similar forms with that meaning: Khoirao ka◦tang◦ba, Liangmei ka‑theŋ‑bu, Maram tang, Karbi ke◦ding, Rengma ka◦thong, Tangkhul ka◦sang, etc.

Lepcha tălam t'yeṅ ‘testicle’ must also be rejected. According to Mainwaring/Grünwedel (1898:164), the second element t'yeṅ actually means ‘the chief or most precious part’, as in să‑bŭr t'yeṅ ‘the musk bag or gland of the musk-deer’. The true Lepcha cognate is probably the first syllable of čen̊ pă‑tin̊.